A barista carefully crafts your drink, using a pour-over coffee maker and single origin coffee beans. Nearby, a pastry chef puts the finishing touches on a crème brûlée doughnut, using a blowtorch to caramelize the sugar on top of the handcrafted dessert.Is this the latest hipster coffee house on Ossington Ave.? The tail end of a meal at a four-star restaurant?Er, Tim Hortons, actually.More specifically, the newest Timmies’ location in the Exchange Tower at King St. and University Ave., set to open on July 25 in the heart of Toronto’s financial district.In addition to high-end “dream doughnuts,†such as crème brûlée, maple-bacon and a doughnut glazed with hibiscus, there will be seven different coffee-serving methods, including draft lattes, and the time-consuming pour-over method, prized by connoisseurs for producing a richer-tasting brew. There will also be seven milk options, including non-dairy alternatives like almond, soy and oat milk. Read more:Tough lessons from Tim Hortons: senior exec speaks out on successes — and failuresTim Hortons plans Thailand expansion as parent company on a global driveTim Hortons opens first Chinese location, offering salted egg yolk timbitThe sandwiches will also be more upscale than the traditional offerings, including a Tuscan Caprese sandwich and a Muffuletta. The soups, too, will get a makeover, with options including Thai green curry chicken, Moroccan vegetable and roasted red pepper with Gouda. Most of the doughnuts will be baked on-site (not frozen), and yes, your crème brûlée creation will indeed be finished off on the spot with a blowtorch (though not, for safety reasons, at the counter). Those new doughnuts won’t come cheap though — while standard Tim Hortons doughnuts go for 89 cents to $1.59, the new ones will set you back $1.99 each.The new 24-hour 130 King St.W. location — in the same building as the company’s headq ...
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