Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky (double caramel)

Product name: Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky (double caramel)
Calories: 109 for half a 42g bar (218 per bar)
Country of origin: Bulgaria

I’ve been looking out for this Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky (double caramel) for a couple of weeks but was unsuccessful in the shops I’d visited. Thankfully, my colleague was able to locate it in a newsagent, although she refused payment so I don’t know how much it set her back!

I had been wondering why there’d been no advertising campaign around this variety but, on reading the gold-themed wrapper, I realised it had been imported by Nestlé Singapore so figured this was the reason.

The bar felt noticeably lighter and less, well...chunky, than the other varieties I’ve reviewed. It turned out that all the UK versions are 48g – it’s amazing what a difference those extra 6g made! The image on the wrapper showed that there was something else different about this bar, though, since it was split into two milk chocolate covered ‘chunks topped with contrasting fillings’: one contained smooth caramel and the other was crunchy with caramel pieces (the bar contained 3% caramel flakes overall). I was vaguely aware of this multi-flavour concept existing overseas but this was the first time I’d come across it in reality so I couldn’t wait to try it.

Still containing no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives, the chocolate looked a tiny bit paler than that used on the traditional Chunky. There was a nice, deep dent to make it easy to split the sections apart, although I did think it was silly that a portion was only supposed to be one half. The smooth side’s caramel had a lovely, gooey appearance, whilst the crunchy filling was a much milkier colour and contained lots of dark flecks. These toppings produced a really sweet scent that was more like caramel than chocolate but, if I hadn’t know that’s what it was, I’m not sure I would have made the connection.

I tried the runny side first and found that the thick, smooth caramel was properly soft and gooey. Its flavour contrasted really nicely against the chocolate and wafer and gave an overall feel of brown sugar.

I expected to prefer the crunchy side and thought it would be like a textured version of the old Kit Kat: Chunky (caramel). In reality, it was a lot sweeter than the other side of the bar, but not quite as enjoyable in comparison. However, it still tasted good, with the tiny pieces providing a buttery toffee flavour and a brittle-like texture that blended with the crispy wafer beneath.

In terms of the Chunky’s basic features, I found the smaller size was noticeable but, thankfully, the chocolate still felt pretty chunky. However, one thing that wasn’t quite as enjoyable was the wafer’s texture which was a little chewy in places. Whether this was down to a different recipe or just having softened from being in contact with the toppings, I’m not sure, but this was only a minor issue for me anyway.

Eating this bar was certainly a pleasurable experience and, whilst I preferred the smooth side, I could happily eat a whole bar of either flavour. I think Nestlé UK need to get more adventurous!

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla)

Product name: Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla)
Purchase details: £1.49 for a 57g tub (americansoda.co.uk)
Calories: 150 per 30g portion (300 per tub)
Country of origin: Singapore

When American Soda (see here) recently had a free delivery offer in honour of Independence Day, I just couldn’t say ‘no’, and today’s review goes to one of the items I picked up in this order: Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla).

I had previously come across the Meiji brand in one of my local sweet shops and, as a result, have already tried and enjoyed the strawberry and vanilla versions of their Hello Panda biscuit snacks. Browsing the American Soda website, though, was the first time I’d come across this Yan Yan product which seemed to be an interesting alternative to the more familiar KP Choc Dip snack that’s widely available in the UK.

I’ve previously mentioned my love of vanilla so I had no problem opting for the creamy vanilla variety of this product. Being used to the short stature of Choc Dips, I was impressed, on receiving my delivery, at how big a tub these Yan Yan came in. However, on the flip-side, the packaging did suggest that it contained two servings which seemed a bit strange to me as I didn’t see how the ‘creamy vanilla dip’ could easily be preserved once the lid had been peeled off the tub. In addition, I didn’t regard it as a snack that could easily be shared, but maybe that’s just me!

On removing the lid, I thought the inner packaging was neatly presented and designed – despite the amount of miles they had travelled, not one of the biscuit sticks had broken! Whilst not emitting strong aromas, the vanilla dip did have a mild vanilla scent, and the biscuits smelt of a sweeter Rich Tea biscuit.

Each biscuit has a picture and name of an animal, along with a comment about said animal. Whilst I thought this was a bit odd, I admit it was a nice touch!

The snack itself was delicious. The biscuits glided easily through the sweet and silky vanilla cream. The biscuit sticks were obviously simple but this was all that was needed when combined with the dip. Alone, they didn’t taste of much and would have been a bit dry when eating them all, but the vanilla transformed their taste and added much-needed moisture.

Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the creamy dip and found that not much was needed on each biscuit to make a significant difference to the product experience. My only criticism of the dip is that I would have liked it to have had tasted a little more vanilla-like and a little less sugary.

Other than that, the only other issue I had with Meiji Yan Yan was that it was hard to judge how much dip to use on each biscuit. I quickly realised I needed to use a lot less than my photograph shows, but my early rookie mistake meant that I was running out of cream towards the end of the pack. Therefore, I don’t think it would hurt to provide a slightly larger quantity of the cream in each tub – there is certainly room for it!

I thoroughly enjoyed Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla) and look forward to trying some more of Meiji’s products in the future.  

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10