I love Tim Tams. Growing up, I was always spoiled by the unlimited supply of Tim Tams because I have family in Australia. This in turn made Tim Tam one of my favourite chocolate snacks
Since moving to Canada for school, my supply of Tim Tams have been cut short – I could never have these oh-so-crunchy-and-delicious biscuits as often. So when I went back home last summer, I knew I had to return to Canada with my beloved Tim Tams
Before I forget, I’m going to tell you about Tim Tams.
It was sometime after 1958 that Ian Norris, the food technology director of Arnott’s Biscuits (Arnott’s), developed this snack. He was inspired by the British McVitie's Penguin biscuits but stepped it up a notch by making a bar out of two crunchy biscuit sandwiched together coated with Arnott’s special chocolate. Once establishing the product, Arnott's released Australia’s favourite chocolate biscuit in 1964.
Fun fact: Tim Tam was named after the winning horse during the US’s 1958 Kentucky Derby.
Tim Tam took Australia by a storm and still does – in 2016, Arnott’s sold 500 million packs of Tim Tams. Tim Tams are now available mainly in the Asia Pacific region but early this year, Arnott’s rolled out Tim Tams in the US of A, which allow those craving a little Aussie spirit to have them.
Despite it being sold in the States, Tim Tams aren’t available in Canada and so I thought, “Let’s be a nice person and share some of my Tim Tams with my fellow Canadians,” which I did.
On Halloween, I brought these two kinds of Tim Tams – Original and Double Coat – to our Spoon meeting and got a few of our Spoonies to try it out.
Here’s what they had to say about it:
Connor
Connor tried the Original first, as one should. He said he thought it was going to taste a lot more like a cookie but instead it “tastes like a Kit Kat to me.”
Once he was done with it, he immediately reached for the Double Coat and took a bite out of it. He said he didn’t think much of the Double Coat and “it tastes like the other one (Original) only twice as much.”
However, he said these two bars were delicious and would eat it again.
Hartley
Hartley said similar things.
“It’s just chocolate, the cookie doesn’t taste like anything,” he said about the Original.
As for the Double Coat, he said “You only taste the chocolate part and the middle’s bigger and more cookie.”
Aneta
Aneta said she’s tasted Tim Tams before but unsure of which one and loved it.
“I just thought it was a classic Europe biscuit [because] I’m from Europe and so I’m used to this,” she said. “But it’s so good and I ate the whole package.”
Aneta tried the Double Coat and immediately started shaking her head in disbelief.
“Oh my god, so good,” she said. “I think I had the Original [before], but this one – it’s life-changing.”
Fun fact: Arnott’s is always coming up with new flavours every time from Original, Classic Dark to Chewy Caramel. They also have limited editions like Messina Black Forest, Messina Coconut & Lychee, which they teamed up with Gelato Messina, an Australian gelato store.
Jordana
Jordana showed the most excitement for taste testing these biscuits.
“It’s like Kit Kat on steroids,” she said after biting into the Original.
She said she didn’t think much of the Double Coat and thought it tasted the same as the Original but would have it again.
Olivia
Olivia was a bit skeptical of it at first but changed her mind immediately upon biting into the Original Tim Tam.
“I wonder if that’s what it feels like to eat four bars of Kit Kats,” she said. “I see why this is a cult classic.”
Olivia also said it reminded her of digestive biscuits.
“It’s milk chocolatey as supposed to dark and similar to digestive you would have with tea only if you put chocolate on both sides,” she said.
She had similar opinions as the others about the Double Coat and prefers the Original
There you have it! Overall positive reviews, just as expected because Tim Tams are amazing.
Now that you’ve heard about Tim Tams and some of our Spoonies’ reviews, will you be trying them out? If you are, try using the biscuits as a straw for your hot beverage to do the Tim Tam Slam. It’s something worth adding to your Tim Tam experience.