HKG3

Sorry for being ignorant, but I never heard of Tim Hortons before.

According to the news article in the link below, eight out of ten cups of coffee sold in Canada come from Tim Hortons.

What is so special about Tim Hortons?

Tim Hortons to open first UK cafe in Glasgow - BBC News

robin1234

I would have thought that sector was already pretty crowded in the UK, with Costa, Caffe Nero etc...

verystormy

Can't see it working. It looks like Macas and oddly, Macas is not actually very popular in Scotland, there not as common as many other places.

Editha

I thought Tim Horton's coffee was horrible, though marginally better than Canada's other chain Second Cup, which really did taste like dishwater. Strangely, Tim Horton's tea was quite drinkable. The doughnuts were OK. Given Glasgow's famed sweet tooth, if Tim Horton's can't succeed there, they should give up on the UK.

cheeky_monkey

i dont go near Tim Hortons...its tastes just like the crap coffee you get at work and thats free!

HKG3

If Tim Horton's coffee is that bad, how they managed to sell eight out of ten cups of coffee in Canada?

Editha

Well as a Swiss/Canadian friend said (although she was talking about the surreally enthusiastic reception of my own writing) "Canadians aren't very discriminating.'

not2old

My own opinion

its all about hockey, supporting a legend, when back in the 1960's Canada was 'hick' Tim's being the first truly [nationalism] Canadian [product] donut shop & the fact that Grandparents, parents stooped for their coffee en-route to taking the kids dark and early on the weekend to Hockey, or ball practice.. add gym & swim

In fact as I see it as anyone 'holding a Tim's coffee' is a reason for the not so distinguishing Canadian to speak to the person next to them, otherwise folks (adults) at a child's hockey/footy/rugby/gym/swim etc practice would stay silent

now the CBC take on Tim's

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-...ians-1.2748530


.

cheeky_monkey

Full of buzz words and BS...lets be honest Tin Horton's has cornered the market in cheap tasteless crap (maybe thats why they picked Glasgow)...also the UK has far more established coffee brands than Canada to compete against and UK customers are a bit more fickle in their choices.

not2old

rubbish & you know it

Where or when did the British public pick up the 'paper coffee cup with plastic' lid from (as can be seen on every British TV program) & when was coffee in the UK better than anywhere else? That coming from a country of tea drinkers & boozers, especially in Glasgow?

Tim's in Glasgow, will it work - well, Tim's top dogs are no fools when it comes to doing market research surveillance.

My preference is tea not coffee, so I wouldn't know if Tim Horton's, Starbucks, Second cup, McD's, Timothy's world or costa coffee are any different.

Costa Coffee, Starbucks or Caffe Nero: UK's favourite coffee shop revealed | Metro News

As a child living in the UK I tasted 'Camp coffee' & it was not till I came to Canada that I had ever heard of, smelled or seen peculated coffee - of course that was in the dark ages

dave2003

CBC in 2009 carried news about Tim Hortons outlets in England-reporting locations in Nottingham, London, and Newcastle among quite a few other locations.

Novocastrian

The brand takes its name (and was founded by) an eponymous, renowned, long dead Iced Hockey player.

That's enough edge for Canadians, even if the product is awful.

macadian

A bit like the popularity of the 'Tragically Hip' within Canada...and virtually unknown (and deservedly so) anywhere else.

Editha

I don't know about the rest of Canada, but in Edmonton a 'regular' Tim Horton's coffee came ready sugared. Also, Hortons use what I guess is an American (light) roast, which is why it seems weak to a European, since a French or Italian roast is darker and stronger.

Tim Horton's might do things differently in the UK. I prefer the UK Starbucks coffee to the Canadian Starbucks, and I suspect they tailor their coffee for the market.

But taste in coffee is very subjective. I have an acquaintance who nowadays lives near Toulouse, but used to be a barista in New York. He thinks French coffee is dreadful and his local café would make a killing if they started serving coffee American style. I long to be in the audience when he discusses the subject with his French neighbours, but the opportunity has never arisen.

robin1234

I'm so in the dark ages I've still never had peculated coffee.

We had Camp coffee ... But my mothers favourite coffee (she so despised everything English so wouldn't drink tea..) was Chico brand instant coffee. She boiled up a pan of milk, and dissolved the coffee in that. I believe it was 100% chicory, no coffee.