Almost 4 years ago now (2006), McDonald's entered the coffee wars, completely replacing its regular coffee with something that it felt embodied "gourmet." Essentially, it followed the leads of 7-Eleven convenience stores, Dunkin Donuts, and direct competitor Burger King. The idea, pair a re-formulated "premium roast" coffee with items on its regular menu at McDonald's value-oriented prices. It's not a bad one. Whereas most large coffee house chains like Starbuck's offer snacks to tempt the sweet tooth, sandwiches, and the odd soup, McDonald's offers a more meal-oriented menu. McDonald's, in turn, does not offer scones or biscotti, but does sell muffins. Presumably, its intention was to increase the convenience of purchasing coffee for harried parents of Happy Meal-aged children and young adults who stop by for a quick and inexpensive bite.

In Canada, the battlefield McDonald's entered with its premium roast coffee is presently dominated by national chain, Tim Hortons (Timmies). While Timmies doesn't serve burgers or fries, its many franchises are equipped to serve a full menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It does offer scones, tarts, and, its primary product, doughnuts. Also, a number of Timmies are paired with Wendy's, so patrons can pickup burgers and fries, walk a few paces, and purchase coffee.

Me, I tried McDonald's premium roast coffee last year. I found it on par with Timmie's, quality-wise.

Left: Tim Hortons, Right: McDonald's Coffee
Please note that I prefer coffee from any one of Ottawa's Bridgehead coffee houses, that only serve fair trade coffee. I find Timmie's a necessary evil, when I am not in the walking vicinity of a Bridgehead coffee house. I very rarely visit a McDonald's restaurant, but am a fan of their fries.

On January 25, 2010, Timmies, with 500 franchises in the United States since 2008, entered the breakfast wars by offering an English muffin-based breakfast sandwich at $1.99/each for a limited time. According to the Financial Post, NPD Group Canada tabulated a statistic that "Canada's biggest coffee chain has seemingly triumphed in the breakfast-sandwich segment over competitors McDonald's and Starbuck's with a 51% share." Analysts feel that Timmies intends to further its lead by directly competing with McDonald's.

To date, Timmies has avoided the confrontation, selling bagel-based and home-style biscuit-based breakfast sandwiches. Here is one I picked up while traveling on business to North Vancouver last summer.

Tim Horton's Breakfast Combo

Biscuit-based Breakfast Sandwich
The biscuit-based breakfast sandwich consisted of a hash brown (yes...a hash brown), a sausage pattie, an egg, a slice of processed cheese. It was a very salty and greasy meal.

Regarding English-muffin based breakfast sandwiches, McDonald's McMuffin breakfast icon was created in 1972 when the late Herb Peterson (a franchisee), decided to make a portable eggs benedict. I have yet to try Tim Horton's interpretation. It will be interesting to see what Tim Horton's does with it.

Several weeks ago, the LA Times published a piece on the subject of food producers and manufacturers actively pursuing endorsements from mommy bloggers. Some mommies-turned-bloggers have even been flown to events, hosted by celebrities, all expenses paid. Accordingly, mommy bloggers have become an explosively popular segment of the blogosphere. Indeed, I follow a half dozen mommy bloggers myself. Some belong to Erica Ehm's Yummy Mummy network. Many share my interests in great food and entertaining.

In a similar vein, appliance manufacturer Bosch hired a marketing firm, OgilvyOne Worldwide, and embarked on an innovative campaign, targeting social networks. Bosch had revamped its cartridge-based (called t-discs) coffee system, the Tassimo. OgilvyOne was tasked with giving away hundreds of coffee machines to anyone with significant influence, lots of connections. Together, they happened on several mommy bloggers on Twitter. What happened next is the stuff of social media dreams. The twitterverse was inundated with recommendations for who should receive a free Tassimo Coffee System next. Only those with 1000 or more followers were eligible. With mommy bloggers heavily organized and inter-networked, Tassimo Coffee Systems quickly became a convenient home appliance that brought specialty coffees home. With modern mothers often balancing having a career or running a business, being active in the community, keeping themselves fit, and raising young children, OgilvyOne found quite the niche. One mommy blogger, local Kelli Daisy (@kellidaisy), generously recommended me as a recipient for a machine.

Given that food bloggers are notorious for being critical of restaurants, food, and drink, I honestly expected OgilvyOne to "misplace" mine. Though very late arriving, I still received a red coloured machine almost a month before the Tassimo line hit stores. Incredulous, I left it in the corner of my apartment, still boxed, continuing a monogamous relationship with my single serving Black and Decker coffee machine and my beloved fair trade ground coffee from Ottawa's Bridgehead. Then, several mommy bloggers mentioned that the Tassimo coffee system was intuitive enough their young children could use it. Several, making their own hot chocolate drinks with supervision, of course.

Skeptical, I opened my package. Here is what I was couriered:

A very large box, containing another box and a lot of sealed packages

A very pleasant form letter

Many varieties of coffee and tea

Smaller box, containing the Tassimo

When unpacking the Tassimo, here is what I found:

Manuals

One handsome looking machine

A friend who witnessed the unboxing, mentioned that she recognized the machine. There is a commercial grade one in the cafeteria of the hospital she works at. She told me it makes great cups of coffee.

Finding no fair trade cartridges, I didn't think my determination would be objective if I tested it, so I went looking for a connoisseur.

Bosch, if you are reading this blog entry, please know that I want to write a fair review, so I loaned the Tassimo and gave all of the coffee to a friend who runs a hair salon, called Celebrity Hair Design. He and his staff will be comparing it and the coffee it makes to their Hamilton Beach coffee machine. It too is single serving.

Do check back for their observations in a couple weeks.

For reference, here is what a Tassimo coffee system and cartridges cost during a promotion at Staples Business Depot effective November 19, 2009. These prices were copied from an in-store display.

• Bosch Tassimo Coffee Brewer: $139.82
• Tassimo Nabob Cappuccino: $6.83
• Tassimo Nabob Colombian: $5.96
• Tassimo Nabob Latte: $6.83
• Tassimo Starbucks House Blend: $10.94
• Tassimo Suchard Hot Chocolate: $5.96
• Tassimo Twinings Green Tea: $3.26

Sometime early November, Cassandra Evanas of DivineCaroline published a blog, listing "Seven Terrible Ideas for Breakfast." Among them were Jimmy Dean Pancakes and Sausage on a Stick (the blueberry pancakes looking oddly diseased), Vanilla Milkshake Pop Tarts, Kraft Apple Cinnamon and Cream Cheese Bagel-fuls , and Liquid Cereal. Liquid Cereal happens to be packaged in a pop can and reminded me of two equally questionable foods I came across this summer.

The first, I tweeted about a week ago as something I would "not be trying again", a hash-tagged list of foods one regrets trying that was initiated by the pioneering food blogger Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim:

#nottryingthatagain "barely embryo" milk black tea from the "Go For Tea" bubble tea house in Markham, ON: http://flic.kr/p/7eK49c

Please don't get me wrong, the "Go for Tea" bubble tea house in Markham, Ontario (Unit 2-230 Commerce Valley Dr E) is a fine establishment.

Go for Tea Logo on Menu

Super Cool Wireless Device to Call Waitress
My judgment just happened to slip, when I let someone order me a "new experience" in bubble tea.

Barley Embryo Milk Black Tea $3.99

Barley Embryo Milk Black Tea with Tapioca Pearls Served

Unfortunately, the "Barley Embryo" milk black tea with pearls was not a new flavour experience.

Cereal-tasting Bits
Instead, it was a combination of old experiences that proved disconcerting. It was a mixture of weak tea, enriched with what tasted like whole milk, and cereal-tasting bits. Its texture reminded me of soggy cereal. Add to this softened tapioca pearls and you have something that I'd rather not try again.

The second, is bottled coffee, which I have read is popular in Japan. Loblaws and Loblaws Superstore even included a brand of canned coffee in its "Chinese New Year" sales last year. Having no experience with the specific brand, I opted against trying it. When I was in a Toronto T&T this summer, I changed my mind.

Nescafe Canned Coffee
After all, Nescafe is a trusted brand of instant coffee in North America. What came out of the can was precisely what I expected, cold instant coffee, with milk added. It was rather bitter and had me wondering why such products even have a market. There are times when convenience should not supersede quality. I only wonder when Starbucks will start marketing canned "VIA."

Lessons learned:

• Neither cereal nor coffee should come out of a can.
• Bubble tea should not taste of or like cereal.

Particulars:
Go for Tea
230 Commerce Valley Drive East, Thornhill
(905)886-0221

Those of you who know me know that I am a proud Canadian and I fervently believe in supporting local businesses, especially locally owned restaurants. It is one of the reasons I live in an area of Ottawa that has one of the highest concentrations of locally-owned eateries and fine food stores outside of downtown Ottawa, the Wellington Village.

Imagine my glee when I had the task of putting together a Canadian Care Package to send to Texas. I literally had an overabundance of ideas to balance against shipping restrictions. Heavier and larger packages become increasingly difficult to ship. To solve the dilemma, I first consulted the Internet to see what foods are common up north, but less so down south. On J.J's Complete Guide to Canada, I found a "Foods of Canada" list. The list includes everything from nanaimo bars to butter tarts (something I thought was British in origin), Beaver tails, Poutine, ketchup chips, and several chocolate bars. I was rather surprised to find that Coffee Crisp, Aero, Big Turk and Smarties are rather Canadian. After selecting two items from that list, I decided that I had to include coffee from my favourite local purveyor of Fair Trade brew, Bridgehead.

The rest of the package I promised myself would come from outdoor markets, preferably local farmers' markets and absolutely local producers. Here is the what I ended up putting together:

One Canadian Care Package
Top row:

• Dark Maple Syrup from the Byward Market
• Apple Jelly from the Marche Vieux Hull
• Ketchup chips
• Whole bean Columbian from Bridgehead

Middle rows:

• Cherry Blossoms
• Red Deer Pepperettes from the Marche Vieux Hull

Bottom row:

• Maple syrup candies from the Byward Market
• A fall picture of Ottawa's Parliament Buildings from the Collected Works Bookstore, an independent bookstore

I originally wanted to include some locally produced honey, but realized that Texan bees can easily produce comparable wild flower honey. Though, they arguably have different plant blossoms to feast on.

Aside: Speaking of the Marche Vieux Hull, when I went wandering that Thursday on rue Laval for care package fodder, I happened to come back with an apple pie from the Verger Lacroix Cider House.

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie
The label actually reads "Grandma's Pies."

Here's what it looks like unboxed:

Not your ordinary boxed pie
Unboxed, the crust smelled distinctly of butter and was brushed with an egg wash. Though, it also flaked as if the crust were made with shortening.

Here's a slice:

Sliced, served
What are my characteristics of a good boxed pie? Cooked apples, non-soggy bottom pie crust, flaky strata in the top crust, egg wash to colour. This pie met all the requirements. Best of all, the apples tasted incredibly fresh.

How can you serve a slice of great apple pie better?

A la mode
Top it with rich ice cream from Pascale's. The ice cream of choice, dulce de leche, to add just a bit more caramel flavours.

Recently, I've written a pair of entries on the subject of coffee, encouraging Ottawans to buy their cups of premium coffee from local Bridgehead coffee houses.

Here's why. As per its website, Bridgehead coffees, black and green teas, cocoa and chocolate products, brittles, cashews, and sugar are all certified fair trade by Transfair. Further, Bridgehead proudly displays the TransFair certified logo.

Transfair is Canada's certification organization for fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and sugar. Displaying the fair trade certified logo demonstrates that the business has undergone an independent assessment according to monitoring criteria and standard set out by Fairtrade Labeling Organizations (FLO). It guarantees that the products purchased have been produced with fairness and global social responsibility in international trade. Most importantly, farmers and workers in developing countries, such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia, have been paid a fair price.

Moreover, what Bridgehead products are sold, whose ingredients are not subject to certification, employ locally sourced organic ingredients.

And yes, I practice what I preach. On weekends, I pickup a cup of medium roast coffee from the Bridgehead establishment, located in the Wellington Village (1277 Wellington Street W.). During weekdays, I carry Bridgehead coffee with me to work in a little yellow thermos that I picked up at Mountain Equipment Co-op two Christmases ago.

Bridgehead Ground Coffee
Instead of going to the local Bridgehead at the break of dawn before work, I buy pre-ground coffee and brew my morning cup with a coffee maker. Pictured is a 1/4 lb package of Columbian, my preferred variety of medium roast. With tax, the pictured cup (medium) of store brewed coffee and a 1/4 lb bag of pre-ground Columbian cost $5.90. I've now switched to picking up 1/2 lb packages. They last me just about to the end of the month.

Bridgehead serves bakery to go with their hot drinks. Employing fair trade or organic ingredients does not make them any less tasty. They are slightly pricey though (approx. $1.29/cookie).

Cookies with Hot Apple Cider

Ginger on Oatmeal
The ginger cookie tasted distinctly of its namesake spice (ginger). It was also not overly sweet, definitely not a traditional gingerbread. Regarding texture, it was cakey and substantial. The oatmeal cookie was likewise cakey and substantial. It too tasted sweet, but not cloyingly so.

Again, here is Bridgehead's business card.

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