I ranked Canada's biggest coffee chains from worst to best — and my #1 might be controversial

#4. Starbucks

Listen, it's Starbucks.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend it isn't good just because I've ranked it last. It is good, and that makes putting it at the bottom here a tough decision for me.

There's a reason Starbucks is everywhere. It's convenient; there are a million locations, plenty have drive-thrus and the menu is massive. If you want an iced latte, matcha, chai, refresher, Frappuccino or a wildly customized beverage, they've got you covered.

The food is good too. I'm personally a fan of the jalapeño chicken pocket, which somehow makes me feel like I'm making a healthier choice than eating at McDonald's, even though that feeling has absolutely no basis in nutritional reality.

But Starbucks has one gigantic problem for me: the price and the ambiance (and believe it or not, this isn't even the most expensive on the list).

A small iced latte is around $4.55, and the second you add customizations or order food alongside it, your daily coffee run can become an expense you need to cut in your next budgeting session.

And while we're here, I still find the size names annoying. I know what tall, grande and venti mean. I have known for years, and I still think it's pretentious.

Starbucks has an enormous menu, good food, great seasonal drinks and undeniable convenience, but when value is part of my criteria, I just can't put it above the competition.

Price: $4.55 for a small iced coffee

Score: 2/5

#3. Second Cup

Second Cup gets immediate bonus points from me for being Canadian.

The chain was founded right here in Toronto, and after its rebrand, I think it's become significantly cuter. It feels more modern and less like a 2008 Panera.

Second Cup has a pretty solid breakfast. If you know anything about me, you know I'm obsessed with a breakfast sandwich. I would absolutely add one to my death-row meal, and Second Cup has several solid options, including egg, sausage and Jack cheese on an English muffin; egg and cheddar on an English muffin; and an egg white, pesto and Swiss sandwich on naan.

The problem is that the menu gets pretty small pretty quickly.

Lunch is similarly simple, with a grilled cheese, a ham-and-cheese melt, falafel and tuna wraps, and a couple of soups. They also have your standard coffee-shop baked goods, and I have to admit the iced fudge brownie square looks extremely enticing.

Second Cup does get an extra point from me for smoothies, with options like almond date with flax, chocolate banana with oat and green mango protein.

The drink menu has all the coffee-shop standards plus seasonal options like pumpkin spice lattes and apple-inspired drinks — although the seasonal selection isn't quite as extensive as some of the bigger competitors'.

It's reliable, the food is good, and I enjoy the atmosphere. But compared with the chains higher on my list, it doesn't give me quite enough reasons to seek one out. And more surprising than anything, the price is wild.

Price: $5.75 for a small iced coffee

Score: 2.5/5

#2. McDonald's

Let's be serious: is anything better than a McDonald's hash brown?

Actually, I can answer that. A sausage McGriddle with no egg might be better.

McDonald's has an enormous advantage over almost everyone on this list because we already know the food is good. My personal breakfast order is a breakfast burrito combo with extra cheese, which I'm almost embarrassed to admit publicly.

And that's part of my problem with McDonald's.

There is a weird psychological difference between telling someone you grabbed breakfast at a coffee shop and admitting you went to McDonald's for breakfast. None of the food on this list exactly screams health food, but somehow Tim Hortons feels healthier to me.

Is that necessarily true? No.

Does it affect the experience anyway? Unfortunately.

What McDonald's absolutely nails is coffee and value. Its coffee is genuinely good, and you can get a small for around $1.79. That is very difficult to argue with.

You also have locations everywhere, drive-thrus, consistently good breakfast food and prices that don't make you question your financial decisions before 9 a.m.

My biggest personal grievance? No chamomile tea. Boooooo.

It sounds minor until you learn that chamomile tea is one of my go-to coffee-shop orders, at which point this becomes a serious ranking criterion.

Still, McDonald's takes second because it's cheap, convenient, reliable and serves arguably some of the best fast-food breakfast items in the country.

Price: $1.79 for a small iced coffee

Score: 4/5

#1. Tim Hortons

I know. I can already hear people yelling at me, but I don't get the Tim Hortons hate.

I genuinely think Tim Hortons deserves first place.

First of all, Tim Hortons gets a point simply for being such an aggressively Canadian institution. Especially at a time when Canadians are feeling particularly protective of homegrown identity, there's something comforting about a Tim's run.

More importantly for this ranking, it is everywhere.

Drive-thru? Easy. Storefront? Easy. Random highway stop in the middle of nowhere? There is probably a Tim Hortons waiting for you.

It doesn't have the charm of a small coffee shop, obviously, but that isn't what Tim Hortons is for. It's well-priced, reliable and ridiculously convenient.

And I think we sometimes underestimate how extensive the menu has become.

Food-wise, there is basically every variety of fast-food breakfast imaginable: classic bacon and sausage breakfast sandwiches on biscuits, English muffins or bagels; omelet bites; savoury egg pastries; loaded breakfast boxes; BLTs; the Simply Sausage biscuit, and the Farmer's Wrap.

They've also clearly been working overtime to keep up with changing coffee trends.

There are protein lattes now. There's matcha. Chai. Espresso-based drinks. Refreshers. Seasonal drinks like pumpkin spice and cinnamon caramel apple lattes.

They even went as far as to step up their activation game. In August, Tim Hortons launched a Harry Potter collaboration featuring themed donuts, drinks and merchandise.

This is not the Tim Hortons menu of 15 years ago.

And the price is on the lower end. A small iced coffee is around $2.49, making it one of the cheapest cold coffee options in this ranking.

My actual Tim Hortons order might be the most surprising thing about this entire article: a chamomile tea and a sausage Farmer's Wrap with no chipotle mayo.

Price: $2.49 for a small iced coffee

Score: 5/5