AMERICA runs on Dunkin', according to the brand's motto, but a different chain keeps our Canadian neighbors awake through morning meetings.

When I tried Tim Hortons for the first time, I was surprised to find the brand hit it out of the park in my most important category – but the chain still fell short in a big way.

Until recently, I didn't realize Tim Hortons had locations in the United States. And why would I? Since there's a Dunkin' just one block away from my apartment, I've never needed to seek out other fast-food coffee.

Then, I spotted a Tim Hortons sign on the way to hang out with a friend. I wondered how the two brands' coffees would compare, if Timbits could possibly be any different from Munchkins, and whether the Canadian staple carried my number-one breakfast item.

WHAT I ORDERED

The closest Tim Horton's is not a single block from my apartment. It's all the way across town, and tucked away in a convenience store, but the shiny counters and tidy branding are as welcoming as a standalone restaurant.

To make an accurate comparison between the brands, I decided to replicate my "greatest hits" and try the Tim Hortons versions of my favorite Dunkin' menu items.

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There was only one problem. When I reached the counter, I was able to successfully order my donuts and my coffee drinks, but I learned the location didn't carry any savory snacks or breakfast items.

So, I ended up visiting two Tim Hortons locations to complete my comprehensive research.

Here's what I tried, and how much each item cost me.

• Large Vanilla Cream Cold Brew (aka the Biebs Brew), $4.19
• Small Iced Capp, $3.89
• Four-piece Timbits, half Blueberry Sour Cream, half Birthday Cake, $1.59
• Canadian Maple Donut, $1.59
• Hashbrowns, $1.40

I rated the items on four factors: the taste, the price compared to a Dunkin', equivalent, whether the item was a good value, and my overall impression.

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My first order, comprised of all the donuts and two specialty coffees, was ready very quickly, and the employee even added a sweet bonus I've seldom encountered at Dunkin'.

While finishing off my frozen cappuccino – Tim Hortons calls it an "iced capp," because they, like me, know puns to be the highest form of humor – the barista asked if I wanted whipped cream and caramel at no extra cost.

I said yes, of course. Those add-ons will typically cost me a few extra cents at Dunkin' and I'm not one to pass up an opportunity for more sugar.

THE COFFEE

First, I tried the large cold brew with French Vanilla flavor and cream, which Tim Hortons has branded "the Biebs Brew."

That's a coffee named after Justin Bieber, another Canadian export beloved in the US. I laughed when I saw the item on the menu – not because Justin Bieber is inherently funny (what is this, 2011?) but because Dunkin' also has a celeb-branded brew.

Developed as an homage to influencer Charli D’Amelio, The Charli Cold Foam is a cold brew with "three pumps of caramel, topped with sweet cold foam and cinnamon sugar."

But Dunkin' lists the Charli drink at $4.82 for a medium, and I got a large Biebs for only $4.19.

When I first tried a sip of the Biebs Brew, I was surprised. It didn't taste like Dunkin' and it didn't taste like a convenience store iced coffee.

Actually, it tasted more like a Starbucks cold brew: smooth and flavorful and maybe even a little above my pay grade.

The vanilla was sweet, but tasted "real," and there was just enough flavoring and cream to balance out the flavor of the coffee.

Though the coffee wasn't watered down by the ice, I did think it underdelivered slightly on the caffeine content, but maybe that's why it tasted so superior to Dunkin' blends.

TASTE: 5/5

PRICE: 4/5

VALUE: 4/5

OVERALL: 4.5/5

Next, I was ready to try my whipped-cream-and-caramel-topped Iced Capp. Until I downloaded the Dunkin' app and started earning rewards points, I was not a frozen coffee person.

But every time I reach 200 points in the Dunkin' app, I get a free coffee. During the summer, I trade my points for a large frozen coffee made with cream and a flavor swirl (usually cake batter or caramel).

I decided to order a plain old "traditional" Iced Capp at Tim's, in a size small, since I was downing so much sugar in one sitting.

The drink was still a hefty 10 ounces, without the additional toppings, so I wasn't worried about being under-caffeinated even though the cold brew didn't pack a punch like I expected.

Once again, Tim Hortons had my heart from the very first sip. My Iced Capp was tasty, flavorful, and just sweet enough.

It didn't have the weird, over-brewed bitterness that the frozen coffees at Dunkin' sometimes suffer from, and the "frozen" parts were blended smoothly through the drink.

The large Iced Capp is listed at $4.65, a considerable discount from the $4.99 large frozen coffee at Dunkin'.

TASTE: 5/5

PRICE: 5/5

VALUE: 5/5

OVERALL: 5/5

THE DONUTS

Even if they officially dropped the "donuts" from their name, Dunkin' is still known for the pastry above all else.

When it comes to donut flavors I'm pretty easygoing. I'd rather have a variety of donut holes than a single massive donut. For this experiment, I sampled two types of Timbits and a signature donut with added Canadian flair.

Along with the free whipped cream on my drink, the Tim Hortons employee gave me a few extra Timbits in my order, likely because I was so enthusiastic about everything on the menu.

First, I bit into the Sour Cream Blueberry Glazed Timbits, which sounded like the most promising "normal" flavor.

My immediate response was wow, these are dense. The texture didn't strike me as particularly donut-like.

Though their size generally makes donut holes have a slightly different texture from a full donut, the Timbits felt almost bread-like.

Maybe it was the blueberries that contributed to my perception, but these felt and tasted more like muffins than donut holes. They were still delicious! But they weren't quite what I expected.

As you might guess, the cakey texture of the Timbits was even more apparent when I tried…the birthday cake Timbits.

Once again, a Tim Hortons menu item reminded me of Starbucks. This time, it was the chain's cake pops, which is almost exactly what the Timbits tasted like.

The tiny treats weren't what I was hoping for, but I did flag one major benefit to their odd texture: unlike Dunkin' Munchkins, which can sometimes taste greasy, Timbits don't have an oily finish whatsoever.

TASTE: 3/5

PRICE: 5/5

VALUE: 2/5

OVERALL: 3/5

When I spotted a Canadian Maple Donut on the Tim Hortons menu board, I rubbed my hands together in glee like an evil villain.

I'm one of those mirthless people who doesn't like pumpkin flavoring, so every fall, I am left ordering boring permanent-menu lattes and counting the days until peppermint mocha season.

The only fall flavor I truly love is maple, and the moment I smelled my Tim Hortons maple donut, I started drooling.

With a coating of shiny golden-brown glaze on the top, the maple donut smelled like a warm stack of waffles at my favorite breakfast spot.

I should have known things were too good to be true. Even though the donut had a very strong maple smell, the flavor didn't carry through to the pastry or the glaze.

When I reached the center, I was surprised to find a plain cream filling. Plain? Why wouldn't it be filled with more maple?

I made it halfway through this donut before I got bored and packed away the leftovers to take home.

Later that night, I returned to my half-eaten donut. I took a tentative nibble: the dough was good, and the glaze, while nothing more than maple-scented, represented the platonic ideal of a simple, sugary donut.

I found myself wishing it had sprinkles, or cinnamon sugar, or some sort of crunch topping instead.

Then, in a stroke of genius, I spooned out the remaining filling from inside the donut and stuffed it full of cereal. My addition made the leftover donut considerably better.

Still, the brand's decision to make a maple-scented donut with a nothing-flavored filling continues to perplex me.

TASTE: 2/5

PRICE: 4/5

VALUE: 2/5

OVERALL: 3/5

THE HASHBROWNS

As I mentioned earlier, I live right by a Dunkin'. Along with iced coffee, the menu item that features most prominently in my order history is hashbrowns.

For $1.29, you can visit your nearest Dunkin' location and walk away with a tiny bag of happiness. The company sells bite-size hashbrowns rounds that are so easy to gobble up, I often find myself eating two or three orders at once.

When the first Tim Hortons I visited didn't offer any savory snacks or lunch items, I was undeterred. Hopping back on the train, I charted my route to the next Tim's and put on some music.

Just 40 minutes later, I had reached my destination. And what luck! The barista told me that he had exactly one order of hashbrowns left, and that none of the other snack items on the menu were available.

While he cooked what appeared to be the last Tim Hortons hashbrowns in New York City, I marveled at the unattainable items pictured on the menu board. Wraps, biscuit sandwiches, croissants – someday!

At Tim Hortons, $1.40 doesn't get you eight to 12 tiny circles of salty potato goodness; instead, the brand serves two palm-wide patties cooked to a crisp.

When my hashbrowns were ready, I hurried outside and implored a handsome man in the parking lot to take a photo of me with my loot before I chowed down. Out of all the Tim Hortons delicacies I was sampling, the hashbrowns were the menu item I was most excited to try.

It's difficult to mess up potatoes. I remember the last time I did: mid-September, 2020. Homemade french fries, cut inconsistently and cooked without enough oil, leaving them dry and tough.

But nowhere near as dry and tough as the hashbrowns at Tim Hortons. The moment I took a bite, I felt my face fall. How could this be? They looked so beautiful, but biting into the hashbrowns felt like chomping down onto corrugated cardboard.

Hoping the first patty was a dud, I slipped the second hashbrown out of the sleeve, but it, too, was stiff, bland, and deeply unpleasant to eat.

Thinking about things on the ride home, I tried to give the Tim Hortons hashbrowns a break. It was early afternoon by the time I reached a location with hashbrowns in stock – surely that merited a little leeway.

But then, my mind created a montage of the hundreds of hashbrowns I've ordered from Dunkin', in the early morning, the late afternoon, and the middle of the night.

All of them have been perfect, or at least good, and I have never encountered a Dunkin' hashbrown that disappointed me the way Tim Hortons did.

TASTE: 1/5

PRICE: 3/5

VALUE: 1/5

OVERALL: 1/5

FINAL VERDICT

America will continue running on Dunkin' until Tim Hortons becomes more widely available – and tweaks its donut menu a bit.

After that, though, my beloved Dunks better watch out, because Tim Hortons is an undisputed champion in the coffee arena.

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Were my horrible hashbrowns a one-off, a fluke failure? I'm not sure, but the next-closest Tim Hortons location was inside John F. Kennedy International Airport, and I don't think it's worth a plane ticket to find out.

Until the Canadian chain finds its footing in the US, I'll stay loyal to Dunkin'. If the location near my house gets replaced by a Tim Hortons, though, I'll become an Iced Capp devotee and never look back.

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