Arnott's Tim Tam: Original

Product name: Arnott’s Tim Tam: Original
Purchase details: £4.00 for a 200g packet (monstersweets.co.uk)
Calories: 95 per 18.3g biscuit
Country of origin: Australia

I’m a big Ant and Dec fan and it was through one of their interviews, several years ago, that I first heard about Arnott’s Tim Tam. Dec (my favourite!) absolutely raved about them so I knew I had to try them one day. Thankfully, I was able to obtain a packet of the Original variety from the wonderful Monster Sweets, although this was a while ago now – I’ve waited quite a long time to open it!

Described as ‘the most irresistible chocolate biscuit’, the product was essentially Australia’s answer to the McVitie’s Penguin, but watch Ant and Dec’s chocolate challenge here to find out more!

The biscuits came in a lovely chocolatey brown packet but I did think it was a shame that they weren’t individually wrapped, meaning they had to be stored carefully in an airtight container. However, this did mean I could class them as ‘biscuits’ rather than ‘chocolate bars’ – I’m very specific about these things!

Each piece consisted of a purple-grey chocolate creme sandwiched between two chocolate biscuits which, in turn, were coated with chocolate. Cutting through a biscuit really emphasised these layers as the contrast between hard, soft and hard again was really obvious. In total, the biscuits contained 38% milk chocolate, and this produced a slightly milky, sweet scent.

I was less impressed by the taste, unfortunately. It was certainly chocolatey, with a milky aspect, but I just didn’t find the flavour was as good as British chocolate, but maybe that’s because I’m more used to British. I also felt the coating felt a bit synthetic and almost rubbery, which was a shame, but I did like the biscuits’ centres, so that was a positive. The texture was also good, with a similar chew to the aforementioned Penguin, despite the flavour being completely different!

Now, if you didn’t watch the Ant and Dec video I mentioned at the start of this review, you might want to have a little look before you read any further, because I just had to try the ‘Tim Tam slam’. I’m not going to beat around the bush...it was pretty incredible. The whole biscuit became so soft that it was almost like cake, and the flavour became much better too, even throwing in a creamy aftertaste.

The ‘slam’ definitely redeemed these biscuits for me but, on the whole, I wasn’t quite sure what all the fuss was about (for the record, I had heard people other than the Geordie duo recommend them!). However, I still found Arnott’s Tim Tam: Original to be an interesting product, and I’d definitely like to give the white chocolate version a go. As for the rest of the packet, I’ll be slamming all the way!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10