Category: Free Inquiry

Welcome back to the very last donut rate and review! I am pleased to share that this inquiry has benefited me in more ways than one that I will now share with you, and additionally, which final donut I had rated and my top 3 favourite Tim Hortons donuts.

As I mentioned previously, Tim Hortons is my favourite fast food chain restaurant, and therefore, I had originally decided to try a handful of their donuts. I can positively say that trying a bunch of donuts taught me so much about the technology aspect of what goes into promotion for these donuts, the creation Tim Hortons website, and how Tim Hortons uses their brand to support many companies and gives charitable donations to programs across Canada.

As the last donut was one I was stuck on choosing, I decided to go with a theme donut to end this whole project: The Cadbury Mini Eggs Dream donut! I can truly say this was a perfect donut to end this whole inquiry, as it checks off everything I would want in a donut, and it was oh-so-delicious! This Cadbury donut is a limited-time spring edition donut that is a vanilla classic with an assortment of colourful sprinkles and white fondant frosting with the addition of several mini eggs to finish it off. This donut is a no-brainer 5/5 rating for taste, appearance, and customer service, being the perfect treat. Here is an image of this beauty of a donut:

I also created a little Canva image of my top 3 rated donuts to finalize my thoughts on the whole donut taste testing in which is my multimedia strategy this week:

Now, as this experience has progressed, I truly can not believe how much I gained from this inquiry project that was quite literally trying donuts – soon to find out it was much more than that. The technology world is something that even I as part of the Gen Z generation I struggle to keep up with the latest technology, but I hadn’t realized how important it is in everything, and I emphasize EVERYTHING. The way it is used in every aspect of our lives and also lives within the simplicity of a Tim Hortons is unthinkable to me but thankfully, I had learned so much about how to incorporate certain types of technology tools into my classroom as I showcased these donuts in many multimedia strategies. I am grateful in having support along the way and recommendations from peers for the donuts I tried, and really enjoyed this project throughout the semester. Thank you for following along with my rate and review! 🙂

Welcome back to my weekly donut rate and review! This week’s donut is the one……the only….. classic chocolate dip!

Earlier this week, I was feeling stressed out and in NEED of a treat to get me through the day, so what better way to satisfy my craving than a Tim Hortons donut. It was comforting to know that by getting this donut I was also partially doing an assignment that made me feel a lot better, so yay!

The chocolate dip is a well-known classic amongst many others, but this donut is by far a favourite for me. If someone were to ask me, “Paige, which donut would you pick out of all the donuts in Tim Hortons?” well, I would answer with the chocolate dip. Simply delicious. Not too sweet, not too messy, the perfect amount of dipped chocolate and with the appealing price of $1.29, this donut is more than just a comforting treat, but a memory.

For this week’s technology aspect, I started to look more into the Tim Hortons website and stumbled upon these two images that showcase the chosen donut of this week, the classic chocolate dip, and a touching story behind a box of donuts. I initially thought to myself, wow, whoever is running the Tim Hortons website is making it look way more than just a fast food restaurant. Until I then realized it is more than just a fast food restaurant. Growing up, getting a box of donuts was a tradition in my family on our road trips or stopping to get treats on our way to family functions. Thinking about this advertisement made me think back on the memories I have attached to Tim Hortons, which is possibly why I chose to do this inquiry in the first place. Tim Hortons reminds me of a family-friendly business with the added bonus of being my all-time favourite fast-food chain. Overall this promotion of attaching memories to a box of donuts is such a smart idea and is honestly not even a fake promotion as I, too, have similar memories to the story shared in the image.

Good job this week, Timmies!

Welcome back to my donut rate and review! We are at our halfway point now in the semester and I am excited to talk about another Tim Hortons favourite: The Boston Cream donut!

The Boston Cream donut sores in popularity amongst all ages – for the most part. The settling price of $1.99 for this classic donut was dipped in chocolate frosting and piped with a favourable cream, making every bite of this donut worth every bit of money.

Though mentioned below that this donut was not in my top ratings when I was younger, I have come to enjoy this tasty and very sweet, tasty treat to now give it a fair rating of a solid 4/5. The Boston cream has just enough of everything that every bite feels like a dance party in your mouth, which who doesn’t want that for their cheat treat of the week! The customer service was lovely as usual, got it before work as a little snack and it just hit the spot. A scary amount of sugar, though but that’s all part of the experience right? (220 calories and 18g of sugar)

In regards to the technology aspect this week, I chose to do another screencasting video to showcase the Tim Hortons online website. I talk about certain aspects of the website I like and how it also is accessible to those who are visually impaired. However, I also critiquce the website in their updated pictures for each donut and my own theory behind it. (a must watch!)

Another little side critique I have as well is the bags for the donuts are TERRIBLE, if not the mini boxes I usually get it in as it took off my icing, as showcased in the pictures I also have chosen to include in this week’s reflection. Maybe now it’s fewer calories than intended, HA.

Welcome back to this week’s donut rate and review! This week we have what is supposed to be a light, sweet-tasting treat: The Honey Cruller donut

First things first, I was disappointed in this week’s donut tasting. The Honey Cruller, also known to be classic, was none the more than just sad and even, dare say…. a waste of money. 🙁 (well, Sophies money, actually, as we both tried it together for my blog)

With the lowest rating of a solid 1.5/5, this donut was promoted to be sweet, delicious, and, well, definitely not nutritious, haha, but a staple for some Canadians to-go order with their coffee; a very big letdown. Though the price was around the same as the others, It was airy, crunchy, and unpleasing to the eye. Though the customer service was fast, and the donut seemed to be fresher than my previous tastings, it did not by any number, beat the taste. Normally, I am not a huge honey fan, but I do like it some foods if done right. Needless to say, this donut is not one I would talk about. I give credit to the Tim Hortons website as they perceive this donut to look like the softest and sweetest donut in their glass case, but sadly it was just the opposite – maybe it should not have been crunchy now that I am analysing my tasting experience….

In regards to the technology aspect of this post, since this donut is a classic from one of the first-ever donuts to be showcased at Tim Hortons, I decided to compare it to a very popular food rating site: Chick Advisor. As shown in the image, the reviews that honey cruller was given were exceptionally high in comparison to my review. With a 4.6/5 rating and a scrumptious-looking picture of the donut posted on this website, mine had tasted and (when biten into) looked nothing of the sort. Just by personal preference, of course, this honey cruller was not my favourite donut though being publicly fantasized in how “good” this donut seemed to be for other costumers. I added an alt-text on my images to describe the photo in immense detail that I thought would be a nice touch in this weeks multi-media insertion.

Thanks for reading this weeks inquiry post and stay tuned for next weeks donut rate and review!

Welcome back again to this week’s donut rate and review! This week we do not have a super special donut, but one I have never tried in my 19 years of living – the sour cream glaze donut!

As per the name, this donut was not special but definitely a benchmark in my journey in trying a variety of different Tim Hortons donuts as I had never tasted this donut before until recently for this weeks inquiry. The reason for never trying the donut before today was mainly because of the name of course because sour cream in an actual donut does not sound at all appealing. However, I was proved wrong when I was encouraged to try it after proceeding to get my friend Sophie the donut that happens to be her favourite. (another shoutout to soph)

The sour cream glaze donut was tasty, fulfilling and perfect to eat as a snack. Due to the slightly crunchy edges, the donut curves up to which you can break off the perfect piece. I would give this donut a solid 4.7/5 as it lived up to his high reviews from my peers (in week three video of what everyone’s favourite donut was). This donut has inspired me to chose donuts to review that I have not either tired before, I remember trying if it has been that long since I have had it or, go for the crazy fun decorative ones that are special-cased donuts. As humans, when we find something we like we tend to stick with it not bother challenging it to something that could live up to its liking. I believe that this post should inspire others to try something new as the sour cream glaze donut has now become one of my favourites – even after 19 years of never trying it. In regards to technology, this donut I see not far as much promoted as other classics on the Tim Hortons website nor on the internet as the many controversial opinions on how not tasty this donut is and that the more you try it, the worse it becomes. It has come to my knowledge that despite opinions from most customers, or internet reviewers, this donut should still be displayed as a tasty treat that everyone should give a chance to try. This is one of the beautiful things about technology is having the website be neutral to those opinions who agree or disagree that this donut is beyond good.

Here are some pictures I took of the donut this week! For the self-portrait photos, each has a description to ensure the multimedia purpose of this week’s post. 🙂

Welcome back to my weekly donut rate and review! This week’s doughnut is particularly special as a limited-time edition: Special Olympics Donut.

Late evening on Thursday night, I received a message from my good friend Sophie who Instagram DM me about a new limited-time Tim Hortons donut special that was only available from Feb 3-5, insisting that I just had to try the donut for this week’s inquiry. Long story short, she was right.

After immediately viewing the ad promotion for the donut, I was hooked. A chocolate donut covered half with white fondant and the other half with coloured sprinkles, topped with whipped cream, gave the multicoloured design a 5/5 appearance rating with the reasonable price of $1.99. Though a bit more expensive than a classic vanilla dip, this donut had more to offer in first impression and taste-wise. With the addition of being less dry than the vanilla dip, this donut was super tasty. However, I felt the creativity was lacking as for a donut that only is available for three days – they could’ve done more with it. The customer service was just as good, if not better while buying this donut as I bought some breakfast along with it, to which the worker ensured I got every item before I headed out of the store.

In regards to the technology aspect of this week’s donut. As I looked more into why this donut was being promoted as a limited edition, it came to my attention that the money I used to buy this donut was in support of the “sports programs for athletes with an intellectual disability in communities across Canada”. (Tim Horton’s website) As per the screencast video, I further scrolled to the monumental statement that Tim Hortons has donated over $1.5 million dollars in support of the Special Olympics. This advertising was an excellent way to promote raising money for the Special Olympics, as before I saw the advertisement, I had no idea that the event was happening. Technology plays a huge role in spreading information to a broader platform. Anyone with the mobile app or who uses Instragam would have come across this advertising and want to buy this donut as its supporting accompaniment – as it did for me.

Here are some pictures I remembered taking this time of the Special Olympics donut!

Welcome to the first-rate review of my inquiry project! Just a recap that each week I will be reviewing a different Tim Horton’s donut and this week is a simple but classic, personally a fan favourite, the vanilla dip!

On Wednesday, January 25, I entered Tim Hortons with my gift card in hand and ready to start my inquiry project off strong with one of the best-reviewed donuts sitting at a solid 4.6/5 rating, the vanilla dip. The vanilla dip donut is an all-time favourite by those around as the Tim Horton’s website describes it as a “delicious baked good” with vanilla dipped frosting and an assortment of colourful sprinkles for a more appealing look that really suits the bill on this donut.

With the appealing price of only $1.29, the vanilla dip donut looked just as tasty sitting behind the glass as it was two inches away from my face about 10 minutes later. After resisting taking a small bite on the car ride home, I finally got to taste it, and it was what was to be expected. The frosting was gooey, and the sprinkles added a nice little crunch to the tasting experience. Though a little dried out and definitely not freshly made by any circumstances, it was still a tasty treat that satisfied the donut craving in that I would buy it again.

My experience was overall a delight. Despite it being lunchtime and having about 50 high school students sitting in all areas of the store, the line was non-existent, and the worker who had taken my order served a smile along with “Hi, “how are you doing today? What can I get for you?” in a nice comforting tone. This type of interaction with any fast food employee is always important because he showed a great amount of effort in making my 2-minute experience a memorable one that supports the Tim Hortons statement of “friendly, ready to help” Tim Horton’s workers.

Overall my first experience with this inquiry project is off to a good start and expanding this experience by also noticing that Tim Hortons is a great cheap place to go to get a dessert, especially for university students who need a pick-me-up. While browsing through their baked goods selection, most of the treats were no more than 5 dollars making Tim Hortons food tasty and affordable.

Though I was so eager to try this week’s donut I had seemed to forget to take a picture of it, so I have found one on unsplash.com that will do for this week! Very similar to the one I tried.

My free inquiry project that I have chosen to do is research, rate, and review a Tims Horton donut each week. Over the course of 2 months I will be trying a variety of different donuts that I will review based on these set questions: appearance, taste, creativity, would I buy it again, how good was the costumer service interaction each time, price, did the Tim Hortons website promotion of a certain donut fit the description.. etc) An idea to expand on this topic would be to compare donuts to other places that sell the same type of donut (the classics like apple fritter or vanilla dip ). Another expansion could be rating the top 5 donuts near the end to the best reviewed ones from the internet to see the similarities and or (biased) differences between what I think should be placed in the top 5.

I am very excited to start this project as firstly, its a treat I can have each week for homework! but overall Tim Hortons are most known for their donuts over the years more than other fast foods places and I am determined to figure out why that is and if this assumption of having good donuts has held its course. The only area I am unsure about is the biased opinion I will have subconsciously over what donuts I know I already like and dislike, so I may have to try ones I never thought of trying before, then later towards the end try all the top 5 best reviewed to get an unbiased but effectvie review so that it in includes their best known donuts as well. All in all I hope all goes well and I think I will greatly enjoy the process!

My next steps include next week buying the first donut of the project getting ready to review it.

Photo by Danny Ouimet on Unsplash