Tim Hortons is famously known worldwide as Canada’s favourite coffee shop. Interestingly, the chain's iconic recipe hasn’t changed since it opened the doors to its first restaurant in 1964. So what goes into making every cup taste just right? Well, Narcity’s Ashna Bharkhada had an opportunity to tour the Tim Hortons Roastery in Ancaster, Ontario, and got a behind-the-scenes look at how their top-secret recipe goes from bean to brew to get that signature coffee taste.
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TravelTranscript
00:00So how often do you do this? Do you do this multiple times a day? I spend most of my day here.
00:06Mornings would be so hard without my coffee. Hi there can I please get a small
00:11regular double-cupped? So good. For so many Canadians, Tim Hortons is a part of
00:20their daily routine. It's cheap, it tastes good, and you can find one in basically
00:24every corner of the country. But did you know that all Tim Hortons coffee in
00:28Canada is produced in a small town just outside of Toronto? I was recently
00:32invited to take a tour of Tim Hortons roastery in Ancaster, Ontario. The
00:36warehouse stores and ships 1.5 million pounds of coffee a week and produces
00:40enough coffee to make 270,000 cups an hour. When I first stepped into the
00:45warehouse I got a big waft of that familiar Tim's coffee smell. The plant
00:49manager started the tour and showed us how Tim Hortons coffee goes from bean to
00:52brew. They really have their process down to a T. Their beans are shipped in from
00:57Central and South America from countries like Guatemala, Brazil, and
01:00Colombia. Tim Hortons is a blend of five bean types. Side note, did you know coffee
01:05beans are green in color and only turn brown before they get roasted? I'd never
01:09seen a raw coffee bean before. So the process starts with inspecting beans for
01:13defects and cleaning them to remove any sticks, stones, and metal. Then they move
01:17to the blending and roasting process. Tim's uses the Neptune 3000 roasters
01:21which according to them are the world's most advanced roasters. 10,000 pounds of
01:25coffee is roasted per hour and it takes approximately 12 minutes to roast a
01:29batch. After being cooled for two hours the beans head to the grinders and then
01:32move to the degassing stage to keep them fresh. Finally it's on to packing. The
01:36equivalent of 975 pots of Tim Hortons coffee are packaged every minute. And
01:41then you can see here where it's flickering it's adding 16 pouches on a
01:46layer to 144 pouches in a case. So we're doing about seven and a half cases per
01:52minute. Then a very cool-looking robot automatically stacks 64 boxes on each
01:57pallet. The plant manager called it one of the best employees because it works
02:0124 hours a day it doesn't go for a break. Then the boxes are put in storage and
02:05shipped within two days. The plant manager says they rarely have any issues with
02:09their process and if they do they're easily able to backtrack to which bag it
02:13came from. Which brings me to my next point. Something else that really amazed
02:17me about the roaster was quality control. They go through such great lengths to
02:20get that signature coffee taste profile. How would you describe the flavor notes
02:24of Tim Hortons coffee?
02:28Medium or dark? Medium.
02:30Medium coffee is all-urban.
02:32It's all mass.
02:34It's kind of medium range.
02:36Sweetness, acidity, quality.
02:38Everything is medium range.
02:40Sweet, caramel, nutty notes.
02:42Citrus, a touch of spiciness.
02:44Nothing is overpowering.
02:46While on tour
02:48Tim Hortons
02:50While on tour I learned this new term called cupping. Basically it's another
02:53word for sampling coffee. Tim's taste their coffee multiple times throughout
02:56the process to ensure it maintains the same taste and quality. Some employees
03:00that work at the plant actually cup coffee all day long. It's wild.
03:04So how often do you do this?
03:06Do you do this multiple times a day?
03:08Yes, actually.
03:10I spend most of my day here.
03:14In the morning I roast coffee
03:16and then cup
03:19for five tables.
03:21It's full of cups.
03:23So we cup 250-300 cups a day.
03:25As I mentioned, Tim Hortons coffee beans come from Central and South America.
03:29By the time they reach the warehouse
03:31they've already been sampled three times
03:33to ensure their quality has remained uncompromised
03:35throughout their journey.
03:37What percentage do you think is a bad match?
03:41We reach out to about 10% of coffee.
03:45Then the coffee is tested again
03:47after it's roasted and packed.
03:49Every hour we keep three pouches
03:51of the finished goods.
03:53Every fifth batch, which is every hour
03:55on each roaster,
03:57we take a sample and we cup that
03:59to make sure it's our standard.
04:01The other two pouches are kept in storage until their expiration date
04:03so the team can go back
04:05if there's ever an issue at store level.
04:07Does everyone work here have the exact smell memorized?
04:11How do you know what a bad batch is?
04:13You sip Tim Hortons coffee long enough,
04:15you get to find the fine notes, right?
04:17And you get to know them.
04:19And you can pick out defects very quickly.
04:21Now, how do you cup?
04:23Well, Tim's gave us a chance to blend her own coffee
04:25then taught us how to cup properly
04:27starting with smelling the coffee.
04:29I bring my notes, toast the cup,
04:31break the crust,
04:33stir coffee grounds,
04:35inhale the aroma.
04:37Then you go in for a taste.
04:45I made my own blend mixing the five types of beans available
04:47from Guatemala, Nicaragua,
04:49Brazil, Indonesia, and Colombia.
04:51Guatemalan coffee is known to have more nuttier notes
04:53whereas Indonesian coffee is stronger
04:55and has notes of chocolate.
04:57Okay, moment of truth.
04:59Let's taste my coffee.
05:05Let's just say I was right.
05:07I was right.
05:09I was right.
05:11I was right.
05:14Let's just say I will not be working
05:16at Tim Hortons anytime soon.
05:18My coffee tasted so bad.
05:20But I couldn't believe how meticulous
05:22the team at Tim Hortons was
05:24at ensuring that every cup of coffee
05:26that came out of that plant tasted just right.
05:28So it got me thinking.
05:30Now we know where Tim Hortons coffee beans come from.
05:32We know how the process works.
05:34But what actually goes into the blend
05:36that makes the recipe so unique?
05:38I've been here for 11 and a half years
05:40and I don't know the recipe.
05:42The identity group will be cupping
05:44the green beans
05:46and then they put in the formula.
05:48The formula will go into it
05:50in the background in the computer system.
05:52Then they'll send me an email
05:54saying here's the number
05:56that you're going to use today
05:58to use in recipe 419.
06:00We put in 419 and in the background
06:02it starts drawing the amounts of coffee for the roast.
06:08You know,
06:11I don't know what is in the blend.
06:13There's only a select few of us
06:15that can tell you what that is.
06:17No one on the tour can actually tell me
06:19what goes into the Tim Hortons recipe
06:21because no one actually knows.
06:23Clearly a highly guarded company secret.
06:25I have to say, the Tim Hortons
06:27roastery tour was exceptional.
06:29It really gave me insight into everything
06:31that goes into making this beloved Canadian drink.
06:33What surprised you most about the tour?
06:35Let us know in the comments.