two part question for coffee afficianados: i need my tim hortons

I am a Canuck in Cali and that Canadian Favourites link above is key to get your hook up for Tim Hortons coffee, Swiss Chalet diping sauce, Heinz Ketchup, the "right" Oreos and so many other little things I miss on a weekly basis. They often run free shipping promos which is an excellent time to stock up. Also Smarties and custard powder...

i don't have the language or skill for it. the best i can express it is that it's "strong but not dark roasted" I don't know what Tim Hortons coffee is like, but since no better-informed coffee geeks have shown up, I can offer some background info. You're exactly right to distinguish between "dark" and "strong." Coffee isn't like chocolate, where darker==stronger. It's like steak, where darker==less flavorful and more burnt tasting. (As coffee roasts it goes through https://www.sweetmarias.com/library/content/using-sight-determine-degree-roast -- the flavor compounds emerge and fade away, the sugars caramelize, and everything eventually carbonizes. A dark roast is further along the way to carbon -- you get the universal flavor of burnt coffee beans, rather than the individual flavor of the particular beans you started with. That's cheaper because it doesn't matter as much what beans you start with, so we get a lot of ads for cheap coffee saying that dark is bold! and intense! and whatnot.) So when you're looking for alternate brands you want a lighter roast than what you've tried so far. (Probably still relatively dark, in the scheme of things, since it's a national brand and needs to be cheap and consistent). But you also want it stronger. What makes coffee stronger is (1) using more coffee; (2) brewing longer; (3) hotter water; (4) a finer grind. The easy ones to change in your coffee maker are using more coffee with a finer grind. Perhaps Tim's coffee is ground finer than the other ones you've tried, or the bags are larger? Ultimately what you like is what you like; if that's Tim's, I would say buy that and be happy. (With or without the scoop -- it's not so much slower than the individual bags.) But if you want to go looking for similar brands, I'd start with medium roasts with a fine grind and then play with the quantity.

I think this is basically FreezBoy's link, but from the Tim Hortons site rather than Amazon. http://www.timhortons.com/us/en/shop/shop-the-tim-shop.php Tim Hortons does have a US presence, at least in the upstate New York-ish area.

Have you checked out the http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=tim%20hortons on Amazon?

I think Tim Hortons is what is known as a "cinnamon roast" -- ie a very light roast.

So - would you like someone in Canada to ship you a box? This might not be cheap, or particularly fast, but I could give it a shot …

How about you buy a can of Tim's and fill small ziploc bags with 56g portions? You can do this after you've had your first few cups of the day, and then you're set for weeks eh?

An update should anyone ever need this information: the trader joes medium roast CFTO coffee is perfect and we just measure out 2.5oz and put them in baggies... Perfect.

That reminds me to order some Hickory Sticks.