The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
With warmer weather comes cold beverages, including iced coffee. But which place has a better cup?
Well, I tried iced coffee from Tim Hortons, McDonald's, Starbucks and Wendy's to find the best brew — and there were a few surprises!
Since I take my hot coffee with cream and sugar, I ordered each of these iced coffees the same way, "with cream and sugar, please."
It also keeps this ranking of which iced coffees are the best fair because I wouldn't like any of them without a bit of sugar and cream.
I've actually never had regular iced coffee from Tim Hortons, McDonald's, Starbucks or Wendy's before.
But these four places in Canada are all pretty well-known for offering coffee so I decided to give them all a try. Cue the caffeine rush!
Here's a comparison of Tim Hortons, McDonald's, Starbucks and Wendy's iced coffee, including how each brew tastes and the price for a cup of iced coffee.
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons iced coffee.
Tim Hortons iced coffee with cream and sugar is very sweet which I didn't expect.
Even with just one sip, it's almost too sweet because it masks most of the coffee's strong natural flavour.
It's still a smooth cup of coffee and isn't bad, but I think it would give me a sugar high if I were to drink the entire cup.
This is one of the cheapest iced coffees out of four that I ordered.
Price: $2.72, including tax
Rating: 3/5
McDonald's
McDonald's McCafe iced coffee.
McCafe iced coffee from McDonald's has a great balance of flavours.
With the cream and sugar, it's not too sweet but there's still a hint of sweetness so the coffee isn't bitter.
The coffee is strong and not weakened by the ice melting because it's a warm day.
With just one sip I can tell this is a good, smooth cup of iced coffee.
If it weren't for the caffeine having the potential to keep me up all night, I really would have chugged this McDonald's iced coffee!
Price: $2.51, including tax
Rating: 4.5/5
Wendy's
Wendy's iced coffee.
Wendy's iced coffee isn't too sweet, even with cream and sugar, and I can still taste the coffee.
What's unexpected about this brew — not just that it's from a fast food restaurant known for burgers — is that there's almost a smokey, roasted nut flavour to the coffee. It makes the coffee quite unique and tasty.
It was also a smooth and creamy cup of iced coffee.
Also, I just want to point out that I ordered a small iced coffee because there was no medium option at my local Wendy's, just small or large.
A small size at Wendy's is bigger than a medium at McDonald's and Tim Hortons!
Plus, it's only $0.40 to $0.60 more expensive than those places so you actually get some bang for your buck.
Price: $3.14, including tax
Rating: 4/5
Starbucks
Starbucks iced coffee.
Even with cream and sugar added to the iced coffee from Starbucks, it isn't sweet at all.
The coffee is really strong but that's not bad, in my opinion. I actually like strong coffee so that's a plus.
However, if I'm ordering a coffee with cream and sugar, I want at least a little bit of sweetness in the beverage.
This iced coffee from Starbucks is the most expensive of the four. Also, it costs $0.48 more than Wendy's even though the restaurant's coffee cup is much bigger.
Price: $3.62, including tax
Rating: 3/5
Which iced coffee brew is the best?
Starbucks, Wendy's, McDonald's and Tim Hortons iced coffees.
Which iced coffee is the better brew?
McDonald's has the best iced coffee, in my opinion. It's the perfect balance between rich coffee, sweetness from the sugar and smoothness from the cream.
It's also pretty cheap, just $2.51 with tax included for a medium-sized iced coffee with cream and sugar.
Wendy's is a close second which was unexpected because I didn't think a fast food burger joint would have good coffee.
Starbucks and Tim Hortons are at the bottom of the ranking for opposite reasons — Tim Hortons iced coffee was too sweet and Starbucks iced coffee wasn't sweet enough.
Tim Hortons having one of the cheapest prices for iced coffee doesn't give it the edge over Starbucks or Wendy's — and definitely not over McDonald's.