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

Cadbury Dairy Milk: Freddo (strawberry)

Product name: Cadbury Dairy Milk: Freddo (strawberry)
Purchase details: £0.70 for a 20g bar (monstersweets.co.uk)
Calories: Unsure – estimate 96 per bar
Country of origin: Australia 

I think this is the most difficult review I’ve written so far. Having never tried an Australian Cadbury product before, I was really looking forward to sampling the strawberry Freddo, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting!

The ‘milk chocolate with strawberry flavoured centre’ was 2g heavier than the British popping candy version that I’ve recently reviewed but, for some reason, it felt a lot smaller. It came in a fun wrapper that contained a picture of the cartoon frog surfing on a Cadbury purple wave – very fitting for an Australian product! The strawberry element was represented by the packaging’s red tips and, since no nutritional information was available, I relied on MyFitnessPal to provide me with the number of calories.

The frog-shaped chocolate had the same outer appearance as the popping candy variety but without the marks – it looked a lot more attractive as a result! Inside, the filling was quite a deep shade of pink and, any associations with blood aside (having decapitated a chocolate animal), I thought this was appealing. It appeared to have a jelly-like texture and was almost like a solidified Calpol.

The Freddo had quite a standard strawberry fondant chocolate smell which was slightly sickly but pleasant nevertheless.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find the eating experience lived up to the bar’s initial impressions. The flavour was – put simply – odd. There was no familiar Dairy Milk creaminess and, if I’m honest, the overall product didn’t seem to taste of much at all. However, there was quite a nice (yet mild) fruity aftertaste.

I was also disappointed that the texture was only slightly better. There was a pretty decent contrast between the soft centre and the chunkier chocolate but, instead of the gooey texture I’d been expecting, it was more of a stringy paste. I think, in itself, this would have been ok, but it probably would have been better if this layer had been thicker so it dominated the chocolate rather than other way around.

I wanted so much to enjoy this bar, and I genuinely thought I would, but it wasn’t to be. What I don’t know is whether or not the difference in flavour was down to Cadbury Australia using a different Dairy Milk recipe or if it was simply the strawberry filling that affected the taste. I would certainly be willing to try more Australian Cadbury products, though, just to make sure!

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 5.5/10
Texture: 6/10
Overall score: 6.63/10