I Tried Tim Hortons' New Summer Drinks, And I'll Be Sugar Buzzed For Days

Sweltering summer days are here, and it looks like every coffee chain is vying for the honor of helping vacationers and idle high schoolers cool off with fruity refreshers, chilled, coffee-based drinks, and summer-inspired brews. Tim Hortons is on board with the trend and recently revealed its newest menu options for the season.

I'm always excited to try new menu items, and Tim Hortons is just a hop and skip from my place. So, I headed there on the sunny afternoon of June 15, a few days after the company released the new items, to see what I thought. I tried the Blackberry Citrus Refresher, Strawberries & Cream Iced Capp made with Oreo, S'mores Iced Capp, and Strawberry Cold Foam to see which of them was worth ordering. Even better, the names on the menu reflect exactly what's in each drink, so I didn't have to guess or read small-print descriptions when ordering. Would any of these drinks become my go-tos when the weather got really hot? Read on to find out. 

Some people will die defending their favorite coffee chain, but I am not one of them. I feel no particular loyalty in this regard, not to Tim Hortons or any other coffee chain. That means I could judge this summer menu without carrying any preconceived ideas or biases. 

There were also a few specific criteria I paid close attention to as I sipped, including what each drink looked like, if they had a noticeable aroma, how their texture was, and how they tasted. Were the textures smooth, slushy, grainy, or syrupy? For each coffee-based drink, I wanted to know if the coffee flavor was obvious or covered by other ingredients. As I drank, I also looked to see whether I could identify the drink's components, including the marshmallow flavoring, strawberry syrup, or blackberries.

I ordered the drinks before leaving home through the Tim Hortons app with no modifications. When I picked them up, though, I got a bit of a surprise — the espresso machine was broken, so the S'mores Latte I'd paid for wasn't available. The staff didn't know how to refund me, so they offered to give me a replacement drink, which is why I got to try the Strawberry Cold Foam two ways. 

You can't deny how beautiful the pastel pink hue of Tim Hortons Strawberry Cold Foam looked on an Iced Matcha (around $5 for a small) and on Cold Brew (about $4.50 for a small). The cold foam costs an additional $1 on top of the base drink price and is only available with these two drinks. Looks aren't everything, but, fortunately, the taste didn't disappoint either.

When I tried a dollop of just the cold foam, it tasted similar to smooth melted strawberry ice cream, but slightly airier. That's a texture and flavor I can get behind, although the foam would have been even better if it were lighter and more cloud-like. It sort of melted into the drink without creating the frothy top that a high-quality grocery-store cold foam would provide. 

Sweet and bitter go well together, and that's the idea behind this product. The matcha and cold brew are both creamy, but taste pleasantly bitter and earthy. The Strawberry Cold Foam tones down the flavor of both and adds sweetness. I particularly loved the foam on the matcha because I thought strawberry really complemented the grassy taste. It was also acceptable on the cold brew, but strawberry isn't as compatible with coffee. I plan on buying myself another matcha with strawberry cold foam as a treat at least once more before the summer's over.

My discontent with Tim Hortons' Strawberries & Cream Iced Capp made with Oreo was threefold. First, I'm not crazy about the way strawberry and coffee flavors combine. Coffee is acidic and bitter, and strawberries are acidic, bright, tart, and sweet. To work together, these tastes need to be bridged with cream, sugar, and chocolate. While this drink does just that, it went too far, as these ingredients created a flavor and texture that was just too rich. 

That leads me to my second complaint: This drink is too sweet and sumptuous. A small has 72 grams of sugar, which is slightly more than a large chocolate shake from McDonald's, and nearly double the amount of sugar in a 12-ounce can of Coke. That makes me assume this product is intended for people with a sweet tooth. If it didn't have coffee in it, I'd think it was for kids. 

I also didn't like the texture, as it pairs a liquid with grainy clumps of cookies. Even if it's made with a slushie-like coffee and tasty Oreos, the feeling in my mouth was still uncomfortable and unpleasant. Just because it's not something I want to spend about $5 on ever again doesn't mean other people can't appreciate it, though.

My feelings about the S'mores Iced Capp were complicated. On the one hand, I thought it was way too sweet. Even so, I relished it for the first few sips. It had a burnt caramel flavor that tasted just like roasted marshmallows. The creamy topping fits well, too. This profile makes it seem sweeter than the Strawberries & Cream Iced Capp, although the nutrition label says it contains less sugar — 57 grams for a small. 

The tiny marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs sprinkled over the whipped topping were another thing I loved about this item. It looked super cute and felt just like the physical embodiment of summer fun. Of course, the garnish also brought the coziness and warmth of campfires to mind. Since the toppings were only sprinkled over the surface, it was easy to use a spoon to eat them separately so they didn't mess with the texture of the actual drink.

Next time I feel like going out for ice cream, I'll consider picking up one of these instead for around $4.50, particularly if I'm in need of a sugar rush. I'm also interested in trying this flavor as a hot or iced latte, both of which also appear on Tim Hortons' menu.

The Blackberry Citrus Refresher stood out from Tim Hortons' other new drink menu items because it wasn't creamy or heavy. Even before I tasted it, I could smell its aroma from the drink carrier. It smelled like berries and oranges. The taste was syrupy sweet, especially before the ice had a chance to melt. I loved that it came with a few blackberries floating on the top. The cool, fresh, fruity flavor makes this drink an adequate thirst quencher on a hot day.

As I sipped this, the flavor seemed familiar. Later at home, I poured my son a glass of Minute Maid Fruit Punch. It smelled and tasted astoundingly similar to the refresher I'd tried at Tim Hortons earlier in the day, although the ingredients were somewhat different. They both contained apple juice from concentrate, which might have been what I detected The refresher had sugar and blackberry and orange juices from concentrate while the punch had high-fructose corn syrup and concentrated pineapple and grape juices. The end results closely resembled each other, though.

I would probably spend $3.50 (for a small) on this again, especially if I were out with a friend at Tim Hortons, but wouldn't go out of my way to pick up this drink. It's too much like other fruit juices that combine several flavors. A base of coconut milk or lemonade might take this drink up a notch.

Tim Hortons' new summer offerings are balanced, and everyone is bound to find one thing on it that they like. The Blackberry Citrus Refresher is ideal for cooling down, and would be a good choice for someone who likes fruit juice and/or can't tolerate lactose. People who love sweet, creamy treats will prefer either of the Iced Capps. I'd recommend ordering the Strawberry Cold Foam on one of the more bitter drinks if you're looking for something more complex than sugary sweet. Overall, Tim Hortons managed to keep the seasonal menu simple, but diverse at the same time — I applaud that.

All of these drinks have a beautiful presentation. The products are well thought-out in terms of how flavors are balanced and the way they are decorated, and the prices are accessible. So, Tim Hortons has given me more than one reason to return this summer, but mostly I'll be headed there for the Strawberry Cold Foam on the Iced Matcha.