Single Serve Coffee Forums

Hello! I am new to the forum and have printed and highlighted most of the reviews marked as stickies above. Thanks so much to you guys for putting the time and detail into doing those, it really does help!

We just got our Keurig B70 and I bought a bunch of K-cups to start sampling. I'm looking forward to comparing some of my thoughts with the thoughts of the reviewers, so I can see whose tastes are close to my own (I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but know it when I like a cup). I really do enjoy Tim Horton's coffee though (with 1 cream 1 sugar), can anyone tell me what this means, or whose reviews might be similar to my own? I just want to find a few K-cups that will be good stand-bys. I tried to search the forum for "Tim Horton", and didn't find anything, but apologize if it has already been asked.

Thanks!

Welcome! I haven't had Timmy's coffee yet, I don't think. I'm assuming it's a medium roast. Maybe Jolly's favorites would best line up with yours? It's hard to say though because a bunch of us who do reviews like both medium *and* darker roasts. My advice to you: sample widely and take notes on which k-cups you like and why!

I had this same question, I really enjoy Tim Horton's once a day--I find Timothy's columbian to be very similar. As a matter of fact, I thought they were the same company, but they are not.

I don't have a Tim Horton's near me, but I had it once on vacation and I thought it was pretty good..

pre-Keurig my staples were black coffee from McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts...

so again, I only had Tim Horton's once, and I really liked it, so it may not be the same, but the others that I really liked are McDonalds and DD, so maybe this would help...


my favories are 6 ounce of GM Breakfast Blend and 8 ounce of Newman's special blend

Thanks, Josh, fliggie and Mike! Josh, thanks for the welcome and I think you might be right, that Jolly's tastes might be similar to my own (I saw similarities in the characters I liked in Jolly's review). I'll look into that further. Hopefully I'll have a review of my own to share one day!

fliggie, I'll definitely pick up a few Timothy's columbian and give it a try. Thanks for the tip.

Mike, I have had Dunkin Donuts coffee while on trips to NYC and Chicago, as I was told the taste is similar to Tim Horton's, and I did enjoy DD coffee. So I'll give your 2 faves a try too. Thanks for the recommendations.

I tried Tree Hugger today and quite liked it but I thought it was a bit thin tasting, I'm not sure if that's the right way to describe it, but I did like the smoothness of it. I just wish it had had more behind it. Maybe I just made too large a cup of it (10 oz).

Thanks again for the help!

scout wrote:fliggie, I'll definitely pick up a few Timothy's columbian and give it a try. Thanks for the tip.

Timothy's makes two Colombians. If I were you, I'd stick with the Colombian La Vereda, which I liked a lot more than the Colombian Dorado. Just my two cents. I'm not sure which one fliggie meant.

Thanks again, Josh. I will pick up the Colombian La Vereda. I've been trying a few these past few days and have started my list. I sure wish I could figure out "why" I like or dislike some of them like you guys can though. I just know I like it or not (or if it's too weak or too strong).

Thanks again - this is fun!

Your tongue and nose can tell you the whole story. I find that asking yourself if you taste some of the undertones works best. Do I taste chocolate, citrus, smoke, fruit, wine, etc. Do I smell those same things? Do they linger on the tongue after a few sips. Does C&S diminish, enhance, or completely negate these tastes? How about while the coffee cools? I take a few whiffs while brewing, a few whiffs right from the mug, slurp a few sips from a spoon (like cupping) then a few normal sips from the mug.
After all it is much much easier to find what you are looking for if you know what you are looking for aye?

HTH
Matt

scout wrote:Thanks again, Josh. I will pick up the Colombian La Vereda. I've been trying a few these past few days and have started my list. I sure wish I could figure out "why" I like or dislike some of them like you guys can though. I just know I like it or not (or if it's too weak or too strong).

Thanks again - this is fun!

I'm in the same boat as you, I like it or I don't... if I try to think about it I come up with something dumb like, "this one is more blah than that one"

I have seen people, including myself, ask this before when first starting out. Here is the really cool thing that I have discovered ...

Once you start trying different types of coffees, you might just not even care about trying to find a match to Tim Horton's anymore. Whenever I go to Tim's drive-thru now, I only go for a sandwhich, and bring it home to have with one of my other coffees. I (and my wife) loooovvved Tim Horton's coffee - but now ... I can take it or leave it.

Anyway, my general tastes are still in that Tim's range, so here is what I suggest (remember - these are just MY opinion) ...

Note: I use the next larger setting (4 on my B70) - lots of people on here find that weak, but it's what's needed to compare to Tim's. I also drink a lot of decaf.

Timothy's Donut Blend - Probably the closest to Tim Horton's we've tasted, but better (our new favorite)
Green Mountain Donut House Decaf - Insanely good decaf in the same Tim Horton's range (it's extra bold, so use largest setting (5 on my B70))

Green Mountain Breakfast Blend - Another similar match but perhaps a bit light (this used to be our favorite)
Newman's Special Blend Decaf - Damn good decaf. I tried the regular (a sample cup) and didn't like, but may have just been a bad day.
Timothy's Columbian Decaf - Very smooth. Most columbian coffees scratch the back of my throat, but not this one.

For something a little different, try these ...

These first two are both similar tasting...
Tully's House Blend
Green Mountain Dark Magic Bold Decaf - largest setting

Diebrich Columbia - Another smooth columbian, but a more distinct flavour than the Timothy's one above.
Timothy's Decaf Hazelnut - A really great tasting night time coffee.
Timothy's Kona Blend - Something interesting to experience

Again ... it's my (and my wife's) considered opinion that if you like Tim Horton's coffee, you'll probably like the above.

Tim Horton's arabica robusta blended coffee has gotten worse and weaker over the years and I now dislike it. McDonald's coffee in Canada tastes almost identical but is slightly stronger.

That said, I am not surprised by Corpcon's note that Timothy's Donut Blend is the closest thing. The number of people that go out to Tim Horton to pick up a coffee instead of selecting a Timothy's from the Keurig machines at my workplace are staggering. I suspect this Timothy's coffee was introduced in part to try and keep office place coffee drinkers that wanted Tims from leaving the office.

bltman wrote:Tim Horton's arabica robusta blended coffee has gotten worse and weaker over the years and I now dislike it.

I couldn't agree more, I used to enjoy a cup of Tim Horton but now find it to be a wretched brew.

can80an wrote:

bltman wrote:Tim Horton's arabica robusta blended coffee has gotten worse and weaker over the years and I now dislike it.

I couldn't agree more, I used to enjoy a cup of Tim Horton but now find it to be a wretched brew.

i like the phrase "wretched brew"



FYI: I'm stealing that

Matt - thanks for the tips on detecting more from my coffee. I've been sniffing while it's brewing and sipping before adding c&s (if I do at all, some I realize now, don't need it). Thanks for telling me what to look (well, smell & taste) for, "aye"!

Mike-Mike! "this one is more blah than that one" - I think I've used that description before too!

corpcon - I actually have found a couple that I *think* I like more than Timmy's now. I really like the Tully's Madison (in the largest size) to name one off the top of my head, and my husband and I both like your favorite, the Timothy's Donut Blend . I actually have noticed that (even in the last year, pre-Keurig) I haven't loved Tim Horton's as much, and thought it was just me being weird. I still like it best out of all the coffee shops though. I have a few of the K-cups you recommended in my (evergrowing) stash, so I'll bring them forward to try next. Thanks for including the sizes you use as well, and some decafs. Going out to get the GM Donut House Decaf this weekend.

bitman, interesting about the beans getting worse and weaker. I am so glad I now have so many more options - I love my Keurig!

Thanks again for all the help, everyone.

Welcome to the forum scout. I will throw in my one cent (haven't been here long enough to have 2 cents ) about coffee tasting. I found a post in the Coffee 101 section of this forum that provides a good basis for "rating what you are tasting" - below is a link:

http://www.singleservecoffeeforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7086