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Toronto Life - The Dish

The latest buzz on restaurants, chefs, bars, food shops and food events. Sign up for the Dish newsletter for weekly updates. Send tips to thedish@torontolife.com

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April 23, 2012 | 2:46 pm

Tim Hortons’ new-ish lattes now available iced (whipped cream and caramel shots optional)

(Image: Tim Hortons)

For many Tim Hortons devotees, the iced capp ushers in the start of summer. But this year, that iced coffee drink is going to have competition, thanks to new cold drink options from the coffee conglomerate. Today, Timmies announced that the lattes, part of its recent line of espresso-based drinks, will also be available iced. Starting at $2, the iced lattes can be topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle, or amped up with shots of caramel, vanilla, hazelnut or milk chocolate (the press release includes a handy infographic with all the options). No word yet on how Stuart Ross, the owner of Bulldog Coffee, is taking the news (regular Dish readers might remember he was no great fan of the original, non-iced versions). [Tim Hortons]

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April 3, 2012 | 12:30 pm

QUOTED: Dark Horse owner on what you shouldn’t be looking at in her cafés

No porn in the café!

—Dark Horse owner Deanna Zunde fills The Grid in on the ground rules for spending time in a coffee shop for their Urban Etiquette series. She also suggests you purchase one drink for every two hours you spend there, and that you treat the barista the same way you would a bartender—i.e., tip them fer chrissakes (even if it’s just a quarter)! [The Grid]

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March 20, 2012 | 2:02 pm

For only $200 a cup, you’ll soon be able to buy tea grown in panda dung

Tea drinkers finally have a drink as off-putting as kopi luwak to call their own. Reuters reports that An Yanshi, a businessman in southwest China, is growing green tea “using tonnes of excrement from pandas living at nearby breeding centres”—and he’s going to sell it for over $200 a cup. An says the secret to his tea is in the panda’s somewhat inefficient digestive process: “They absorb less than 30 per cent of the nutrition from the food, and that means more than 70 per cent of the nutrients are passed out in their feces.” In other words, tea grown in panda-feces fertilizer should contain all sorts of health benefits passed on by the pandas. Unfortunately for An, not everyone believes the hype. Though An dressed up in a panda suit to promote his tea (see the photo on the Star website), one of his initial tasters was less than impressed. Still, if the Toronto Zoo is looking for new and disgusting sources of revenue, perhaps it should consider putting the dung from those fancy pandas to good use. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

(Images: panda, Kevin Dooley; teapot, Jeremy Keith)

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March 15, 2012 | 4:39 pm

QUOTED: Sam James on the leg up he’s gotten from the good folks at Starbucks

I think the chains have done an incredible favour to anyone in the independent coffee business.

—Sam James, of Sam James Coffee Bar fame, musing on Metro Morning about the effect that coffee shop chains have on independent places like his. James credited the big chains with developing people’s knowledge and awareness of coffee, but said indie shops have them beat when it comes to craftsmanship and quality. Of course, coming from a guy who’s set to open a shop deep in Starbucks territory (i.e. the Path) in May, them’s (exceedingly polite) fighting words. [Metro Morning]

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March 7, 2012 | 11:07 am
Tim Hortons announces plans for global domination (also: panini) 

Yesterday, Tim Hortons announced a new expansion that sounds so aggressive you may want to make sure there isn’t one popping up in your living room right now. The Star reports that the company’s CEO is pushing for 700 more locations across Canada, including between 155 and 175 this year alone. There are currently 3,295 existing locations, but CEO Paul House thinks there’s room in the market for as many as 4,000. Also in the coffee empire’s sights: 80 to 100 new spots in the United States this year, and, if all goes according to plan, 120 in places like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait in five years (you might remember the enthusiastic reception that the first Dubai location received). Yes, some day you may be able to find the same questionable lattes no matter where you are in the world. If mere domination of the “value” end of the coffee market were not enough, it looks like Timmies will be entering the red-hot flat sandwich business as well. The Star reports that House “hinted that panini sandwiches, which were test-marketed in the U.S. last year with great early success, may make Canadian menus.” If they keep nabbing potential customers away from competitors, they might just need another 4,000 locations before long. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

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March 1, 2012 | 10:34 am

A $2-billion lawsuit against Tim Hortons dies, allowing parbaked doughnuts to live on

(Image: mjb84)

On Tuesday, Tim Hortons franchisees lost their $2-billion class action suit against the parent company—which means we’re in for parbaked doughnuts for the foreseeable future. See, several years ago, Timmies switched to a deeply paradoxical “always fresh” frozen doughnut system, whereby franchisees buy flash-frozen partially baked items from a centralized plant and finish baking them in store. The new parbaked goodies kind of suck (even Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce thought so), and they cost franchisees double what it cost to bake them from scratch. Their attempts to sue have now been stymied by a judge, who argued that they make a mint off the company’s trademarked coffee and should accept lower margins on food. The media, meanwhile, trotted out some puntastic headlines to mark the occasion. Read the entire story [National Post] »

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February 9, 2012 | 4:36 pm

Is drinking coffee simply too taxing? There’s an inhaler for that

Shoot ’em up (Image: Aeroshot)

After marvelling (and despairing a little) at breathable chocolate and bacon inhalers, only the latter of which turned out to be an April Fool’s joke, we were curious as to what the next breathable wonder to hit the market would be. Enter the AeroShot, a lipstick-sized tube containing four to six puffs (about 100 mg) of calorie-free, lime-flavoured caffeine. Developed by the same Harvard scientist who created Le Whif inhalable chocolate, the device is being promoted as an alternative to the oh-so gruelling task of drinking coffee or energy drinks: “pure energy” with “no liquid to slow you down or fill you up.”

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February 9, 2012 | 12:29 pm

Over a million Tassimo machines recalled for spraying hot water

The TAS651, one of the models being recalled (Image: Tassimo)

Canadians who like their cuppa joe produced through futuristic robotic labour will be upset to learn that nearly a million Tassimo coffee makers are being recalled in Canada, as well as about 800,000 units in the U.S. In case you’ve never used a Tassimo, the machines uses “T Discs”—small containers filled by one of the partner brands with coffee grinds, tea leaves or other stuff—to make single servings of hot beverages. Tattooed baristas might hate them for their prepackaged, pre-ground coffee; armchair environmentalists might direct their scorn at the packaging that goes in the trash with every cup. But the latest round of haters is more likely objecting to the burns they can cause. According to the Toronto Star, in the U.S. there have been 140 reports of the machines “dousing people” with scalding water. In 37 of those cases, the victims suffered second-degree burns. Apparently, the discs can explode during the brewing process, spraying hot water on the unlucky brewer—or, in one case, a two-year-old girl. Full details of the recall are available on the Tassimo website. If indeed this is the beginning of the robot uprising, it seems it will be well caffeinated. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

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January 26, 2012 | 12:00 pm

With its new blonde roast, Starbucks ups the ante in its simmering coffee war with Tim Hortons

Like us, you’ve probably pondered Starbucks’ complete and total domination by asking, rhetorically, “What’ll they serve next, beer and wine?” And the answer is yes—that’s exactly what they’ll serve next (in limited markets in the States). But while Starbucks is expanding into booze, Tim Hortons has been muscling into the Starbucks market with outlandishly sized coffees and espresso-based drinks. Sure, their espresso might “smell like aluminum” and their latte might taste “tinny,” but the move is a clear encroachment on Starbucks’ turf. Not to be outdone, Starbucks seems to be trying to woo some of Tim Hortons’ customers with its new blonde roast. In a promotional video, one of their roasters says the new offering is perfect “for the person who always wished that Starbucks had a roast like this.” In other words, writes Jessica Allen at Maclean’s, it’s perfect for the typical Tim Hortons customer. It’s a subtle play, but if Starbucks tries to sign Sidney Crosby or appeal to sleepy Canadian nationalism, we’ll know what’s going on. Read the entire story [Macleans] »

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January 16, 2012 | 4:25 pm

Tim Hortons adds new extra-large cup, outguns Starbucks

Starbucks vs. Tim Hortons cup sizes (N.B.: Starbucks’s trenta size not included, since it’s only for cold drinks)

In news that’s already sending shock waves across the nation, Tim Hortons announced today that it’s introducing a new, larger coffee size: the mammoth, 24-ounce extra large, which will appear in stores January 23. To accommodate the new name, the old 20-ounce extra large has been renamed large, the old 14-ounce large is now a medium, the old 10-ounce medium is now small and the old eight-ounce small is extra small. If this is a cash grab, it’s not a blatant one: consumers will pay the same price for the same amount of coffee (e.g. a new small will cost what an old medium used to cost). No word yet on retaliatory measures from Starbucks, whose puny 20-ounce venti has now been definitively outclassed (and no, its trenta doesn’t count; it’s only for cold drinks).

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January 9, 2012 | 3:39 pm
A pair of bandits makes off with nine Tim Hortons debit terminals 

When we first reported on the arrival of debit machines at Tim Hortons in 2010, we didn’t think it would come to this. Sure, we worried about the lines that would form as customers stabbed at the Interac terminals to pay for their double-doubles. But this is something else: last night, two men allegedly went on something of a PIN pad shopping spree, making off with the hand-held terminals from nine Tim Hortons drive-throughs in the GTA. Their M.O.? Distract the clerk, cut the cord connecting the device to the cash register and then speed off. Police finally nabbed the pair—clearly not criminal masterminds—as they were going for PIN pad number 10 at the Timmy’s in the east end at Kingston and Markham roads. As for the motive, Constable Tony Vella of the Toronto Police told reporters he couldn’t speculate on the case, but noted that some criminals have used stolen and altered PIN pads to collect sensitive banking data. We wonder whether these guys weren’t just hoping to move the lines along faster. Read the entire story [CBC] »

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December 22, 2011 | 1:02 pm

Sam James to open up shop in the Path

Coming soon to the Path: latte art (Image: Zack Simone from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)

In this season of giving, it’s only fitting that Toronto’s favourite coffee son, Sam James, would announce he’s taking pity on the poor downtown cubicle jockeys who’ve had to shuttle between Starbucks, Timmie’s, Second Cup and Timothy’s to get their fix. Starting February or March of next year, he’ll be opening up a second Sam James Coffee Bar in the Path beneath the Sun Life Financial Building at 150 King Street West. He first expanded from his original Harbord Street location with last year’s tiny Coffee Pocket on Bloor. Yesterday he told Post City that the new downtown location would preserve his signature bare-bones, no-seats vibe, and would be equipped with a pair of customized La Marzocco Lineas to handle the volume of traffic he’s expecting. He also took the opportunity to vent a little about the sterility of the financial district’s retail landscape: “The financial district in New York City is crammed with businesses; in Chicago, Intelligentsia has locked down the financial core. And Toronto’s financial district has nothing, but there are a ton of people who are looking for something good.” Read the entire story [Post City] »

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November 16, 2011 | 11:31 am

Taste testing the new Tim Hortons espresso drinks with Bulldog Coffee’s Stuart Ross

Bulldog owner Stuart Ross at his downtown coffee shop (Image: Meaghan Binstock)

Monday marked the arrival of the new line of Tim Hortons “premium espresso”–based drinks we told you about a couple weeks back. Nestled in next to the iced cappuccino machine at Ontario locations is a new spaceship-like contraption that spits out everything from a simple espresso ($1.19) to cappuccinos ($2) and fancy-flavoured lattes ($2) using powdered milk. With one press of the appropriate button, the drink comes out, coffee, milk and all (there’s also a happy face made out of sprinkled cocoa on top of each beverage). To mark the occasion—and satisfy our curiosity about the stuff—we asked Stuart Ross, the owner of Bulldog Coffee and a champion barista, for his professional’s opinion on Timmy’s latest creation. What followed was a lot of confusion and some less-than-smiley faces, starting with the espresso. »

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November 8, 2011 | 3:31 pm

Latte sippers rejoice: Starbucks just started taking mobile payments in Canada

Screen shot of the app’s home screen

Starting today, Toronto’s latte-sipping elite will be able to get their caffeine fix that much more quickly with the Canadian release of Starbucks’ new iPhone app. The app works in concert with the coffee chain’s Starbucks Cards, allowing users to load the card’s value into the phone and then tap the phone at stores to make payments. It’s also possible to reload the balance using a credit card, practise building a “virtual beverage” (presumably to allay front-of-the-line anxiety) and search for jobs at nearby branches. The service was rolled out in the U.S. earlier this year and will be available on Android and BlackBerry phones in the future. And while we have our doubts about whether mobile payments will actually be any faster, at least the new app might cut back on customers prattling away on their phones while at the front of the line.

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November 3, 2011 | 3:50 pm

Tim Hortons to bring espresso to the 99 per cent

See you latte; Tim Hortons executive chairman, president and CEO Paul House (Image: CNW Group/Tim Hortons Inc.)

Tim Hortons, that Canadian bastion of par-baked doughnuts and extreme folksiness, announced yesterday that it will soon be making espresso-based coffees available in 2,500 locations across Canada. The drinks, which include lattes, cappuccinos and espressos, will be selling for significantly less than at their competitors: a 10-ounce latte is priced at just $2, compared to $2.95 for 8-ounces at Starbucks.

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