I love Tim Hortons. Miss it sooo much being out here in Taiwan. Actually purchased a tin of coffee off ebay had it shipped to me here. Most expensive coffee in which I had to make in my life. It was worth it

Funny but I would buy McD before having to buy a cup of Starbucks.

I actually like Dunkin Donut coffee as well.

Each to his own.

I still have Torrefazione beans in my freezer (emergency backup when my regular fresh roast isn't roasted). Sadly it seems that Torrefazione no longer sells whole beans (at least not in the distribution channel that I was buying from). Starbucks seems to have bought them to shut down a competitor (or keep it from becoming a larger chain).

More important than coffee? The comments on this thread prove that it isn't the same at all -- even within the same chain. Don't get me started on the difference between Costa Rican dark roast and Blue Mountain and Folgers.

Does anyone know what happened to the Burger King experiment using Douwe Egberts coffee (several years ago)? This was great coffee (for fast food, similar to McD now), using some sort of packaged brewing system from Douwe Egberts (no skill required by staff to operate it). Saw it in several Burger King stores and then it disappeared a few months later. Was it a failed experiment, or did it cost a penny a cup more and BK ditched it?

If by that she means that finding herself awake at 330am after a 8am cup of starbucks decaf (as i do far too often), I recently saw the staff at my local starbucks grinding beans for a pot of decaf, right after grinding beans for a pot of regular...they don't clean those grinders, which means there easily could be some caffeinated coffee mixed in with the newly ground decaf.

When I asked about it, I was told it was SOP to grind one after the other...and that was confirmed by the manager of another local starbucks.

No.

Mmmmm.... Timbits.

They need to get into the PIT area, eh kipper?

I know there's one in Olean, as I'm originally from that area. That might be the closest to you. No Wegman's there, though.

I generally like Starbucks, but only because there's always one (or more) nearby, and they are reasonably consistent. I spent some time working in Seattle (where there were nine Starbucks within two miles of my hotel and 396 within 50 miles), and found that I actually preferred Tully's lattes to Starbucks. A good latte needs no sweetener, and Starbucks usually do.

I am not a "shop local or else" fanatic--I shop at Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble regularly--but I prefer a good local coffee bar when I can find one. In Pasadena, Jones Coffee Roasters on South Raymond and Equator in Mills Alley make a good latte; in Nashville, Sam & Zoe's is my usual stop on the way from the airport after a redeye. I'd also like to give a ^ to Late for the Train Coffee in Flagstaff, AZ--I've stopped there on a couple of cross-country drives. They make a great breve latte.

I'd camp out for their opening if they did!
I know of one in Erie.

I also have heard there's a Tim's somewhere off I-64 west of CRW. That's supposedly the only one here in WV.

Being owned by Wendy's (soon to be owned by Arby's), I'm surprised Tim's hasn't expanded more than it has in the states. I've been to one just south of CMH that's a half Wendy's and half Tim's.

Then again, I'm waiting for Sheetz to come to my area (Princeton) as our I-77 exit 9 would be a prime location for the snowbirds coming south. Sheetz has come to Wytheville and Blacksburg VA, so they're getting closer to us. And we just got one of those *$ stores with a drive thru at the exit about 2 months ago. No, I haven't gone there yet, and I hardly see many cars there. We have a Hardees, McD's and a Cracker Barrel there too.

I pretty much can't stand Starbucks espressos and hot coffees, they terrrrribly burn their beans during roasting and it tastes that way to the pallete on the final product.

If I want to just grab a cup of coffee on the road,I will usually seek out a Dunkin Donuts as they have some of the best brewed coffees of any chain, more consistant than others, the coffee tastes the same in Texas, as Florida as New Hampshire or New Jersey(and oh yea up there in the north east there is one on every corner!)

I am not a fan of anything else from dunkin, but the coffee is not bad.

I like to visit local coffee shops but really the quality varies to extremes on this, you can run into some great hidden treasures and then some horrible how are they in business shops(which may vary by shift even due to non standards or lack of training!)

as far as buying the coffee beans I like to roast my own or to buy from a local roaster, outside of local roasters the best I have had is: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

And generally up in VT, NH, CT and the surrounding areas that have Green Mountain, the coffee tastes great, even at the big fuel outlets, either Green Mountain sales a brewing system standard, or it is just hard to mess up green mountain coffee

We're getting a Sheetz 10 minutes from where we live out around Harrisburg. It's still under construction, but I think that Mr. Kipper will be there for opening day.

I'm surprised that Tim's hasn't expanded as well. I'm hoping they will but it means that it's such a special treat.

Starbucks is bitter, regardless of altitude. Give me McDonalds any day, or Caribou.

There's a Tim Horton's off of I-70 near Oglebay Resort. We were there recently.

I'm curious about how this list came together. If Tim Horton's is on there, where's Dunkin Donuts? The menus and such looked similar when I was there with Tim's maybe having more lunch items.

I rarely drink coffee at home but when I'm on the road I'll choose anyplace convenient.

Wow, it looks like I get to provide a fantastic counterpoint here. Again, there's yet more glorified anti-Starbucks attitude in here. I still have an unproven assumption that it's some sort of Napoleon complex that people have about those who shop in there. People love to Starbucks hate. There was even a thread here where some guy who doesn't go in them wishes they'd close. I think those people more hate the people who go to Starbucks rather than the store itself.

In terms of the rankings, I'd have to put Starbucks at the top for chains. Lately, I've been liking them even more than the indies on the west coast. I always get an appropriate number of shots in my drink depending upon the size. I love the small places, but they seem to think that two shots is enough no matter the size. Starbucks also still innovate. When on the road I love stopping by for their new protein shakes. They're awesome and very healthy. They also now have great food options. Where else can I stop by, grab a protein shake and a bowl of real fruit or a veg plate and be gone in 3 minutes. They're also piloting Clover coffee at a bunch of Seattle locations.

They are a model of efficiency and accuracy. I was waiting in a local shop here for 5 minutes as they'd forgotten my drink. Can't recall that ever happening at a Starbucks. The other big coffee chains just copy what they do.

In terms of the coffee, Starbucks and the other real coffee shops, unlike those donut shops that happen to serve coffee, have more than one variety of coffee. You're not stuck getting their regular blend, they always have lighter and darker blends. For most people who ..... about their coffee (and quite possibly only had it brewed for them in a plane), they could get a lighter blend at the store.

Yes, it's a large, corporate chain that has shut down a number of small coffee shops, but they are very good at what they do. Much of the hate that they see in many cases is just from people who begrudge those that go in there.