Which do you prefer-
Canadian coffee, ala Tim Horton's
American (US) coffee, ala Starbucks

Canadian beer, (insert favorite)
American beer (US), (ditto)

or????
European
Australian
Chinese
Japanese
Venusian
etc...

any theories as to why Canadian beer/coffee differs from that of the US? ie. many claim that American beer is watery and that American coffee is weak....

Any theories as to why banquo is suddenly interested in our taste buds?

As for the beer, I'm sure there's some regulatory reason added in the mix.

Two and a half percentage points in the beer, nicotine in the coffee.

No, seriously, Canadians like our beverages stronger (and are less wussy) than our southern friends.

Here's the question, while our Oz mates have what is generally acknowledged as the strongest beer, how strong's their coffee?

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[Dr. Horrible]___________________________[Penny]
Listen close to everybody's heart________And you believe there's good in everybody's heart
And hear that breaking sound_____________Keep it safe and sound
Hopes and dreams are shattering apart____With hope you can do your part
And crashing to the ground_______________To turn a life around

Mass-marketed American beer is watery. You don't have to drink the stuff. There are plenty of alternatives these days.

My personal cross-border beverage beef is with iced tea. Very difficult to get it without sweetener in Canada. I hate it sweet. Anyone can add their own, why force it on everyone?

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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

Where I come from nobody takes American coffee (Starbucks et al) seriously. On the other hand, American beers are considered strong down here.

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"Shut up and calculate" R. Feynman

Starbucks is terrible, Dunkin' Donuts or Caribou (among mass-marketed) are much better. I have not tried Tim Horton's, the closest one I know of is in Columbus, about a 2 hour drive away.

Most mass-marketed American beers are pretty bad too. I usually drink a local microbrew, such as Great Lakes Brewing Company.
\Homer mode\ mmmm, beer.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

There are plenty of Timmy fans who would say that's worth the drive.

__________________
[Dr. Horrible]___________________________[Penny]
Listen close to everybody's heart________And you believe there's good in everybody's heart
And hear that breaking sound_____________Keep it safe and sound
Hopes and dreams are shattering apart____With hope you can do your part
And crashing to the ground_______________To turn a life around

Starbucks has nothing to do with taste, its the caffeine. The've got a lot of people addicted to in (including my sister)

There's a chart in this article:
And the per ounce version
Snapple Lemon Tea (12 oz.) 31.5 mg [2.6 mg/oz]
Coca-Cola (12 oz.) 34 mg [2.8 mg/oz]
Pepsi-Cola (12 oz.) 38 mg [3.2 mg/oz]
Dr. Pepper (12 oz.) 41 mg [3.4 mg/oz]
Mountain Dew (12 oz.) 55 mg [4.6 mg/oz]
Red Bull (8.3 oz.) 80 mg [9.6 mg/oz]
Cocaine Energy Drink (8.4 oz.) 280 mg [33.3 mg/oz]
Starbucks coffee (16 oz.) 372 mg [23.2 mg/oz]

Worst coffee ever was on our road trip in 2005 from a gas station somewhere in the middle of Iowa. It was $0.43 - lukewarm dishwater. I still drank it.

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Earth First! We'll mine the rest later.

I dunno. I've got a cup of coffee sitting next to me right now you can stand a spoon up in.

The rule in the lab seems to be that if you fill a teaspoon with the morning coffee and can see through it, it's too weak.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

At the risk of getting banned, this thread reminds me of an old Australian joke, "Q: How is American beer like making love in a canoe? A: They're both ****ing close to water."

IIRC, I read or saw somewhere Canadian and American beers actually are comparable when it comes to strength, as alcohol content is measured differently. In Canada content is measured by volume (abv), whereas it is measured by weight in the US (abw). 5% abv is approximately the same as 4% abw. The rest just comes down to personal taste preference. I generally buy Moosehead, but buy a mix of international beers (available in 500ml bottles) on occasion.

Coffee, for brewing at home, I prefer dark roast. Buying from a coffee/doughnut shop, I prefer Tim Horton's.

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" The universe is running away
I heard it on the news just the other day
There's this new stuff called dark energy
We can't measure and we can't see..." - from Jimmy Buffett's What if the hokey pokey is all it really is about?

Well, risking derision, I dislike both American and Canadian mass-market beers and coffees. None is strong enough. I'll take the strongest coffee available, and I love Guiness. Microbrewed beers from either side of the border are excellent, generally, and I'm partial to Alexander Keith's.

The mass-market stuff is just too... processed.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

It's very rare for me to drink a beer. But if I'm going to drink a beer, it's going to be a REAL beer, so I prefer Guinness.

I also prefer Dunkin' Donuts coffee to Starbucks. It's not that the Starbucks is too strong (I like a good rich brew, myself), it's just that it tastes burnt. There's a big difference between strong coffee and burnt coffee.

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Yes, they laughed at Einstein, but only because of his silly hairstyle; no one was actually laughing at his science.

My feelings exactly.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

Hm. That brings up doughnuts. Who here likes Krispy Kreme? I can't stand it. The things have no substance. All fluff and sugar. No good. Tim's does doughnuts right.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

It was interesting the big craze about Krispy Kreme when they opened their store(s) in the Greater Vancouver area. I don't here or see them anywhere now. I'm not a huge donut fan, but your complaint about Krispy Kreme is similar to others I've heard.

As far I can see there is only one, compared to dozen's of Tim's.

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Earth First! We'll mine the rest later.

There's a reason, believe me. I don't often indulge in a doughnut (maybe once or twicea year - they're really not good for you), so it needs to be good when I get one.

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Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

I agree about mainstream domestic North American beers. One of the problems is that there is the idea that beer should be served ice-cold. That really hides the lack of flavour in North American brands. You get a lot more flavour in the full-bodied English-style ales when they’re not near freezing. Very similar to the reason red wine is served at room temperature.

By the way, European beers are served cool, not warm as most people think.

We have a pub here in Saskatoon the features beers from over 150 different countries. I've been working on getting through the menu, but it'll take some time.

And when I'm at home, I'll tip a pint of my homebrew. I'll put it up against anything on the market.