Tim Hortons Korea's matcha and black sesame Iced Capps
A Calgary writer tried the Korean-exclusive menu and found creative layers that outshine what Canadians get at home.
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When Tim Hortons Korea introduced a lineup of Bingsu Iced Capps on May 13 — reinterpreting the Canadian chain's signature iced drink with Korean flavours — one Calgary writer made sure to visit during a trip to Seoul.
Bingsu are Korean milk-based shaved ice desserts with sweet toppings that typically include fruit, condensed milk, rice cakes, and red bean. The new lineup includes flavours like Tomato, Red Bean, Apple Mango, Black Sesame, and Matcha. The menu also features new cruller flavours — mugwort cream, black sesame cream, and injeolmi cream — plus injeolmi and hotteok Timbits.
The writer tried the matcha version, which included layers of matcha and injeolmi-flavoured (a sweet Korean rice cake covered in nutty, roasted soybean powder) slush, topped with red bean, a mini yakgwa (Korean honey cookie), rice cakes, and rice puffs. A friend got the black sesame version with the same toppings minus the matcha slush.
The toppings reminded the writer of halo-halo, a Filipino shaved ice dessert. The rice puffs added crunch to the soft textures of the red bean, rice cake, and matcha slush. The matcha flavour could've been stronger — the black sesame version, which didn't shy away from its earthy character, was the more memorable of the two.
Prices ranged from ₩5,900 to ₩6,500 (roughly C$5.28 to C$5.81).
The Korea location also offered cute Timmies merch, including Mr. Moochul key chains and dinnerware, plus a fun stamp station where customers could stamp receipts with designs inspired by major Canadian cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria — a level of branding playfulness that rarely shows up in Canadian stores.
The experience highlights what many Canadians have noticed online: Tim Hortons seems to have more fun with its brand everywhere else.