Christmas In Shops 2017 (ft Oreo Tins, Giant Toblerone, Mint Lindor & More!)

It's beginning to feel a lot like...actually, this year it felt like Christmas way back in September since most Christmas products started appearing on shelves then, but nevertheless I felt the need to do my yearly round up of some of the coolest/bestest/newest Christmassy products on shelves. You know you love it! So without further ado let's crack on and take a look at what's in the supermarkets this festive season...hopefully you might get a bit of gift inspiration! 

Firstly I have to mention the Oreo Cookie Tins (pictured above), which contain Original and Golden Oreos. They're £3 in Morrisons currently and supposed to be shared...yeah right!

Lindt Lindor Mint Limited Edition:

There's a new Lindor Limited Edition every year and this year it's the turn of Mint. Not groundbreaking perhaps, but it certainly sounds tasty. Spotted in Tesco.

Giant Toblerone 4.5kg:

Last year this Giant Toblerone was available from Iceland but Tesco are stocking it too this year. It costs a whopping £60...nice if you have the money!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Oreo Balls:

Mondelez brought these bite-sized Dairy Milk Oreo balls out last year and they're back again... Spotted in Sainsbury's.

Kellogg's Variety Cereal Advent Calendar:

There's a lot of unique advent calendars this year, with everything from cheese to beer to makeup to Pringles...but Kellogg's may have won the battle with this calendar containing Kellogg's cereals, a small box for every day until Christmas. Available at Tesco.

Tesco Festive Filled Cookies:

The mincemeat filled cookies return to Tesco, hurrah!

Whitworths Christmas Turkish Delight Fudge, Raisin & Chocolate Bags:

A festive snack mix of turkish delight fudge, raisins and chocolate chunks, available at Poundland.

Maynards Bassetts Jelly Babies Snowmen:

Jelly Babies have become snowmen! Available in festive colours, so basically red and green. How original. Available in Tesco, Asda, Wilko etc.

Haagen-Dazs Rum & Raisin:

A new variety of Haagen-Dazs just in time for the festive season. As a lover of the classic Rum & Raisin combo I really want to try this...I hope it'll be on special offer at some point! Spotted in Tesco.

Cadbury Layers of Joy Christmas Trifle:

A Christmas trifle with layers of white chocolate mousse, cinnamon sponge, Cadbury milk chocolate dessert topped with fresh cream...this sounds delicious! Spotted in Tesco.

San Pellegrino Clementine Winter Edition:

A Winter Edition of San Pellegrino sparkling juice, with clementine instead of orange. Spotted in Waitrose.

Ilchester Cheese Advent Calendar:

Another one of this years unique advent calendars, dedicated to cheese lovers. Because a cheese a day keeps the doctor away...or not?! Spotted in Asda.

Craft Beer Advent Calendar (Iceland):

Another unique advent calendar, this is one for those who like to start their days with a bit of booze! (No judgements here) Available in Iceland.

Bailey's Alcoholic Advent Calendar (Iceland):

For those who like some booze and cream, there's this Bailey's variety available in Iceland. You only get a bottle of mini Bailey's for Christmas Day; the other days you get chocolate.

Smirnoff Alcoholic Advent Calendar (Iceland):

Containing chocolates and a bottle of Vodka for Christmas day...because who doesn't love vodka for breakfast on Christmas day? Available in Iceland.

Merry Pringles Advent Calendar:

Confusingly, Pringles have opted for this 12 Days of Chrsitmas calendar, supposedly to save on costs. Spotted in B&M Bargains.

M&M's and Friends Advent Calendar:

For the chocolate lovers, this one contains mini bags of M&M's, as well as Snickers, Mars, Milky Way etc. Spotted in Tesco.

Cadbury Heroes Christmas Advent-ure:

Cadbury chocolates are pretty crap nowadays, but if you fancy a mini bar of Heroes every day then this is the calendar for you! Available in Tesco, Wilko etc.

Nestle Aero Festive Orange Sharing Bar:

Not a new bar at all, but it's made a comeback in the form of this Festive Orange Sharing Bar. Nice if you like orangey chocolates! Available in Tesco, Wilko etc.

Nestle Orange Smarties Tubes:

Another orangey chocolate making a welcome return are Orange Smarties in big tubes. Hurrah! They're also due to be given their own Orange Smarties Mini Eggs Easter Eggs next year, Double hurrah! Spotted in Asda.

Oykos Choc Orange (Asda Exclusive):

There's also this Oykos Greek Yoghurt with a choc orange layer, exclusive to Asda.

Galaxy Chocolate Orange Festive Cake Bars:

Another treat for chocolate orange lovers this year are these Galaxy Orange Festive Cake Bars. Spotted in Tesco.

Cadbury Roses Cake Bars Orange Creme:

If you prefer Cadbury chocolate there's also these Orange Creme Cadbury Roses cake bars. Available in Tesco.

Cadbury Roses Cake Bars Strawberry Dream:

If you're more a fan of strawberry flavours there's also these Strawberry Dream cake bars, with a layer of strawberry fondant. Available in Tesco.

Celebrations Cake Bar Selection Cracker:

This 11 pack contains all the various cake cars made by Mars, perfect for any "Celebration"! With Mars, Galaxy, Galaxy Caramel, Bounty, Snickers and Milky Way. Spotted in Tesco.

McVitie's Digestives White Chocolate Nibbles:

Limited Edition white chocolate coated nibbly biscuits - the perfect snack for the festive season!  Available at Tesco, Asda etc.

Haribo Sweet Medley Selection Box:

A selection pack containing Starmix, Jelly Babies, Goldbears, Tangfastics, and Super Mix. Perfect for any Haribo lover! Spotted in B&M Bargains.

Maltesers Teasers Gift Pack:

It may look like a giant Malteser, but don't be fooled, it's not! This is a gift pack containing mini Maltesers Teasers truffles. Spotted in Sainsbury's.

Maltesers Luxury Chocolates:

Seemingly a cross between Ferrero Rocher and Maltesers, these Luxury chocolates are available in Sainsbury's.

Ferrero Nutella with Festive Design:

A lot of products have been given a festive makeover, but probably the best is this cute snowman wrapper on Nutella jars. Because snowmen like Nutella for breakfast...even if Ferrero have changed the Nutella recipe recently! Available in Tesco.

Cadbury's Dairy Milk Classic Collection:

Cadbury's chocolate used to taste pretty good back in the day and they also had different wrapper designs. Now you can buy their classic bars in these selection boxes with the old designs, but not with the old chocolate recipe. Sadface. Available in Tesco, Wilko etc.

Green & Blacks Velvet Edition Dark Chocolate Pralines:

Mondelez continue their push of the Green & Blacks Velvet Edition range with these new Pralines, containing dark chocolate, praline and whole hazelnuts. Also available in Milk Chocolate. Spotted in Tesco.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Snowy Delight Pots of Joy:

Cadbury have brought back their limited edition Pots of Joy Snowy Delight, containing milk and white chocolate dessert. Available in Tesco.

Reese's Lovers Collection Box:

Peanut Butter lovers rejoice, there's a special selection box just for you this Christmas! Containing all your favourite Reese's products: Reese's Cups, Reese's White Cups, Reese's Dark Cups, Nutrageous, Reese's Sticks and Reese's Nut Bar. Sounds like heaven! Spotted in Bargain Buys/Poundworld Plus.

Thorntons Seasonal Selection:

The classic Thorntons selection includes a spiced fudge chocolate for the festive season, available in Tesco, The Co Op etc.

Haribo Giant Trees:

Some new Christmas gummies from Haribo, these Giant Trees are available from Asda.

Treat Factory Unicorn Lolly:

Unicorns are the biggets trend of 2017, and it's culimanted in these Unicorn Lollies. Facepalm. Spotted in Peacocks and Fenwicks.

Muller Corner Christmas Bakery Limited Edition:

Containing gingerbread biscuits with vanilla yogurts, these limited edition Muller Corners sounds nice. Spotted in Asda.

Muller Corner Winter Limited Edition:

With spiced plum yoghurts there's also this fruity festive limited edition from Muller. Spotted in Asda.

Tesco Finest Candy Cane Limited Edition Crisps:

In case you haven't already seen it, check out my review of these novel and quite weird seasonal crisps from Tesco.

Kellogg's Cornflakes Season's Greetings Edition:

The yearly festive design for Kellogg's Cornflakes boxes is this smiley, jolly Santa. He clearly must love his cornflakes! Spotted in Asda.

Choc on Choc White Chocolate Unicorn Slab:

Another Unicorn product, this one is made by Choc on Choc, available in Fenwicks.

Taylor's of Harrogate Limited Edition Christmas Blend:

A crisp Winter roast from Taylor's of Harrogate. Spotted in Home Bargains.

Food Connections Winter Spice Flapjack:

A vegan flapjack containing spiced mincemeat, available from Holland and Barrett. The perfect snack for doing some Chrimbo shopping!

Phew...that's a lot of festive food! But it doesn't stop there because supermarkets are doing lots of own-brand goodies which I'll be doing a separate blog post for in the coming days...stay tuned for that! And Happy Festive Snacks Hunting!

Green & Blacks Velvet Edition 70% Dark Chocolate

Another day, another review of Green & Blacks Velvet Edition. Why do I do this to myself? I should have learnt my lesson from trying the Velvet Edition Orange & Almond and Mint Dark Chocolate varieties, but as a dark chocolate lover I'm often tempted by special offers in supermarkets. When Green & Blacks 85% bar is on offer I'l buy it, but on this occasion the Velvet Edition range was on offer at £1.50 a bar in Tesco, so I thought I would see how the 70% tastes...naked so to speak, free from other flavours or nuts.

One thing I do like about these bars is that they contain no soy lecithin, which is always a plus. They're also dairy free and suitable for vegans (except for the Salted Caramel variety). I like the designs of the bars, too - they have nice clean squares that are easier to break than the likes of Lindt or regular Green & Blacks bars. This variety contains vanilla bean powder in the ingredients, so I was curious if this would enhance the taste at all.

To my surprise this bar was a tad nicer than some of the others I've tried in the range. It's definitely "smooth" in the sense that there's no distinct punchy cocoa flavours, instead this is replaced by a "softer" flavour of vanilla. It's pleasant, and a nice sweet bar, but I really don't see the point of it. If you're buying a 70% cocoa dark chocolate, surely you want it to taste rich, dark and punchy?

Overall, again I have to conclude that this is another pointless product from Green and Blacks and I honestly can't see this range sticking around. They've been given a good marketing push that's for sure, but fans of G&B's regular bars won't be buying them and fans of sweeter chocolates certainly won't either. I just don't think there's a gap in the market for them.

If you've tried these bars, do let me know your thoughts in the comments!

6 out of 10. 

Green & Blacks Velvet Edition Mint Dark Chocolate

Mondelez have done a few questionable things in recent years, but perhaps the most questionable yet is their move away from organic chocolate within the Green & Blacks range. It remains to be seen if all G&B bars will no longer be organic, but so far they've been giving this new non organic Velvet Edition range quite a push in supermarkets.

After the disappointing Almond & Blood Orange bar I wasn't going to bother trying any more of the range, however curiosity got the better of me with this Mint version. I do love a minty chocolate, and was curious how this might compare to the regular mint chocolate bar from G&B.

The range is reduced to £1.50 at the moment in Tesco, which is still too much for inferior chocolate if you ask me. The bars contain 90g which I believe is less than a regular Green & Blacks bar. So not only are they non organic they're giving you less too. Way to go Mondelez!

Do forgive my grainy photo, I took it as I was exiting Tesco on a dark night haha! The chocolate did look a bit odd on closer inspection, with a slightly grainy appearance despite there being no crunchy mint pieces added.

It tasted of pretty much nothing...there is very little flavour to the dark chocolate (according to Mondelez, consumers don't want dark chocolate to taste of dark chocolate!), and the mint is no different to that from any other bar. In fact it's quite tame and not punchy enough. Overall the bar tastes less appetizing than the Tesco Mint dark chocolate bars that cost £1 (which aren't actually half bad!) As for the regular Green and Blacks mint bar, it's far superior to this of course - with a richer cocoa flavour and fresher mint taste. Hopefully it hasn't been discontinued to make way for this nonsense!

Overall, this bar just reaffirms my feeling that this G&B Velvet Edition range is utterly pointless. The chocolate is flavourless and bland, you get less for your money and still pay a lot. Maybe I should have tried the Raspberry and Hazelnut or Salted Caramel versions, but alas I'm done with them now!

5 out of 10. 

Green & Blacks Velvet Edition Orange & Almond Dark Chocolate

I've been skeptical of this new "Velvet Edition" range from Green & Blacks since it suddenly started popping up on shelves over the last month or so. It seems to be a ploy to move away from the Organic ethics of regular Green & Blacks bars, since these are not organic or fairtrade certified. Instead they are part of the "Cocoa Life" program, that supposedly invests in sustainable farming and improves the lives of communities. Exactly how much they pledge towards such projects is anyone's guess.

Velvet Edition chocolate is supposedly crafted by "Taste Specialists" using the delictate character and soft texture of the finest Ghanian cocoa balanced with sweet Madagascan vanilla. It has "a rich cocoa content yet exceptionally smooth flavour".

This variety is combined with Sicilian blood orange oil and chopped caramelised almonds. It contains no soy lecithin, which is a plus for those with soy allergies. I found it in Waitrose on an introductory offer of £1.79.

The bar comes in a different block shape to regular Green & Blacks bars, and is actually a bit easier to split apart. One of the pieces is longer than the others. The chocolate smelled nice enough, although without that distinctive earthiness that regular G&B chocolate is well known for.

It tasted pleasant, the blood orange wasn't as strong as I was expecting, whilst the chopped almonds were most prominent. The chocolate is definitely smooth compared to some 70% cocoa bars, but I wouldn't say that's a good thing as it seemed to lack any real distinctive flavour. It was a bit non descript to be honest. The almonds brought a nice savoury flavour, blended with the orange, although something about it didn't taste quite right. It was neither orangey enough or nutty enough, certainly not as good as the similar Lindt Orange and Almond bar.

Overall, as my first introduction to G&B's Velvet Edition range I can't say I'm too impressed with this bar. It was okay but a bit middle of the road for something billing itself as oh-so-fancy.

Nutrition Information (per 18g row): 8.7g Fat, 5.9g Carbohydrates, 4.9g Sugars, 1.7g Fibre, 1.2g Protein.

6 out of 10.