Product name: Celebrations
Calories: 344 per 70g box
This mini box of Celebrations was the other food item in the
goody bag I recently received.
Made by Mars for the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland,
this ‘assortment of milk chocolates and a milk chocolate covered biscuit’ is my
favourite mainstream variety box to receive as a gift since I think the
combination of eight brands inside is the best one!
Despite being a small box, this pack still featured the usual red design
and the great logo that incorporates the fonts used on the wrappers within –
images of these were also printed on the cardboard.
The milk chocolate used for the bite-sized treats contained
a minimum of 14% milk solids and 25% cocoa solids and each variety had a pretty
thick and chunky outer shell which made me a happy bunny.
Galaxy
I’ve made no secret of the fact that Galaxy milk chocolate
is my favourite kind. This glossy ‘G’-imprinted chunk came in the usual brown
wrapper and was the basic kind that, when sold alone, is now called ‘Smooth
Milk’.
The Galaxy website
described the chocolate as ‘smooth and creamy’ that had been ‘lovingly created
to melt in your mouth’. I couldn’t disagree with this since it featured the
same scent and strong flavour I experienced with the Bubbles (milk chocolate egg)
and a good melt that was slow, thick but smooth. It reminded me of the old adverts
that me and my brother used to imitate!
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8/10
Mars
I’ve always seen the Mars bar as being manly and basic but,
at the same time, I’ve always enjoyed it. However, I’ve previously found that
it doesn’t work quite as well on a smaller scale as the proportions aren’t
quite right.
This miniature Mars came in its distinctive black and red
wrapper but something seemed to have gone slightly wrong with the bumpy design
on the chocolate shell! The Mars website
described the product as ‘a delicious fusion of chocolate, caramel and nougat’
and I was pleased to see that the layer of nougat was far thicker than the
caramel and its mid-brown shade suggested it would have a chocolatey flavour.
The Mars’ scent was not dissimilar to the Galaxy’s and it
tasted very sweet and chocolatey. I didn’t think its flavour was of the highest
quality but it was very tasty and I did enjoy the soft nougat and overall chewy
but melting texture.
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.25/10
Bounty
As a big coconut fan, I do like Bounty bars, so I was
pleased to see that the tropical desert island-themed white, green and pale
blue wrapper was included in this selection. I did think the Mars website
was being a bit overdramatic in claiming ‘the moist, tender coconut tempts your
senses with the taste of paradise’ but I enjoyed this sweet nevertheless!
Unlike the Peter Paul Almond Joy,
the coconut in this chocolate shell had a fresh white appearance, although it
did still have a deep coconutty aroma.
The Bounty also had a strong, milky coconut flavour and I
was pleased that the chocolate’s taste was also evident. The coconut’s texture lived
up to the expectations raised by its moist and bitty appearance too.
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.5/10
Galaxy Caramel
The Galaxy Caramel had the same outer appearance as the
standard Galaxy chunk but, this time, it contained a fantastic-looking thick,
amber caramel centre. The wrapper was also similar but it featured the colour
yellow to distinguish it from the basic chocolate. (Thankfully there was no Honeycomb Crisp
variety included here to confuse this with!)
Galaxy's website claimed the inner caramel was ‘luscious’ and I certainly did enjoy this treat more
than Cadbury’s equivalent of Dairy Milk: Caramel
– I found it to be more silky and less stodgy.
The caramel didn’t really add anything to the aroma (in
fact, the scent didn’t seem as strong here) but I loved how it burst into the
mouth with its smooth texture reflecting the chocolate’s. It was very sweet and
quite sugary compared to other caramels, and I did prefer the flavour of the
chocolate on its own, but this was still very tasty.
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10
Snickers
I’m not actually a massive fan of the standard Snickers bar
as I find it a bit too bitty and chewy and, whilst there are actual peanuts,
there’s not peanut butter! Like the Mars, I also think of this brand as
male-orientated, and this was reflected with the chocolate-brown wrapper.
According to Mars' website,
I was surprised to see that the Snickers is actually the world’s best-selling
bar, whilst the Snickers site
gave the product description of being ‘packed with roasted peanuts, nougat,
caramel and milk chocolate’.
I was impressed by the neat inner appearance of this
bite-sized piece. The caramel was the main feature and was full of chopped
peanuts. The nougat was pale in colour and, on sampling it, there appeared to
be nuts in there too. The nougat itself was slightly sticky but added a
sweetness to the otherwise strong peanut flavour.
The chocolate tasted nice and creamy and I noticed that the
toasted aspect of the peanuts was also evident. The caramel provided a chewy
texture and I actually found I preferred this product in miniature form since
the nuts were a lot smaller and, for me, more manageable.
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.38/10
Maltesers Teasers
This has always been my first choice in a box of
Celebrations since, for so many years, it was the only Maltesers product like
it – I was delighted when Mars released the separate Malteaster products and,
now, the Teasers bars!
The red wrapper continued the theme of standard Maltesers
and, whilst still long and narrow, this was the only miniature with a
particularly curved appearance that featured a wave design. Inside, there were
lots of tiny, crispy honeycomb balls to reflect the centre of normal Maltesers.
The scent, again, was similar to Galaxy chocolate – it was
stronger than Maltesers
but weaker than Galaxy chocolate itself.
Having eaten this variety after a Galaxy, I could tell that
the chocolate tasted a bit less creamy than Galaxy but, in turn, it was more
chocolatey.
The texture was very crispy and, despite the small size of
the honeycomb pieces, I loved that it still managed to stick to the teeth and
it also provided a mild honey flavour.
As expected, I enjoyed having a higher ratio of chocolate to
honeycomb here since, whilst the flavour remained unchanged, the less rough
texture was preferable.
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10
Twix
I’ve reviewed the full-size Twix
previously so I have nothing more to add here!
I’ve marked down its aroma score slightly since it wasn’t
quite as strong but, other than that, everything else remained the same.
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10
Milky Way
The Milk Way featured its usual blue and Space-themed wrapper
design and was described on Mars' website
as ‘a light whipped centre covered in tasty milk chocolate’.
Its outer appearance was the same as the Snickers and its
very pale beige nougat appeared to have the same texture as the Mars.
The Milky Way had a milky scent and I enjoyed the quite mild
but nice and sweet flavour that its really soft nougat provided. I also liked
how the chocolate shell tasted creamy against this sugariness.
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10
Overall, this was the enjoyable selection that I expected – I was just
sorry I only had one of each variety to enjoy on this occasion!
Appearance: 7.44/10
Aroma: 7.31/10
Taste: 7.63/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.6/10
