Ok, anyone else do a double take recently in Starbucks? What is it with coffee shops adopting the McBreakfast? First, it was Tim Hortons, and now Starbucks has jumped onto the bandwagon.

This does not appear to be a new thing in the US - first being test marketed around Chicago, and now in many cafes across the US. Yesterday was my first sight of them in Vancouver.

These "Breakfast Sandwiches" come in a variety of options, which were taste tested by the Chicago Sun Times (via Slashfood):

• Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Havarti - "a favorite"
• Sausage, Egg and Cheddar - "crisp but bland"
• Black Forest Ham, Eggs and Cheddar - "smoky ham is good"
• Peppered Bacon, Egg and Cheddar - "good bacon but bland"
• Low Fat Turkey Bacon, Cholesterol-free Egg and Reduced Fat Cheddar - tasters did not like this

I can’t find any news releases or coverage about when and where these new sandwiches appear in Canada.

McDonald’s has been encroaching on the Starbucks market for some time now, promoting their "Premium Coffee", and getting more of the breakfast crowd. Likely the equal response from Starbucks is to offer a Mc-like Breakfast. The testing across the US must have been successful enough to continue the expansion of this offering.

Tags: starbucks, mcdonalds, breakfast market, breakfast, mcmuffin, breakfast sandwich, vancouver coffee

On June 10th, we went to the JJ Bean Charity BBQ here in North Vancouver. This JJ Bean has easily become our default coffee hangout now. I’ve always loved the Main Street cafe, and they’ve used the same type of design over here in North Van.

They served up some great barbeque items, had a couple of draws for charity, and even had some fab tamales - something we just couldn’t resist. Too bad the weather was not so cooperative - been a cruddy summer so far, hey?

Tags: jj bean, coffee charity, vancouver, north vancouver, vancouver coffee