July 19th: Cadbury Dairy Milk / White Buttons

Dairy Milk Buttons Kcal 170 Fat 9.6g Carbs 18.4g
White Buttons Kcal 180 Fat 11.0g Carbs 18.9g

Word on the marketing grapevine is that a certain Milkybar kid is getting a tad trounced this year in the war between the chocolate buttons. From what I have read Milkybar button sales are down over 25% in Q1 2008 - with consumers shifting spend into the Cadbury Buttons brand...being a huge Milkybar fan I decided it was about time I checked out the competition.

To make sure I had both bases covered I today sampled both the Dairy Milk and white chocolate variants of Cadbury buttons.....ohhhhh the labourous task it was :D

Both came in 37.5g bar servings, in nicely presented foil packs. The Dairy Milk variant scored slightly higher in appearance due to there being the nice touch of the Cadbury logo enscribed on the bottom of each of the pieces....on the white chocolate variant they were just smooted over.

The Dairy Milk Buttons had a very familiar Dairy Milk aroma when I opened the packet...deliciously milky smelling the aroma all but confirmed these were the same quality Dairy Milk as per the standard bar. Personally I dont think many products smell quite as good as Dairy Milk. Placing a few buttons on my tongue they took literally a few seconds to melt; as the aroma indicated these did indeed taste remarkably similar to the standard Dairy Milk bar....there was just one problem!! Due to the nature of the shape of the Buttons the chocolate melted extremely fast and thus meant the flavour development and enjoyment time was cut way too short in the mouth. The shape of the Buttons meant that they simply didnt last long enough to savour the taste and thus meant for a product that was really unsubstantial.

Though working at detriment to the Dairy Milk variant, the shape of the buttons actually worked in favour of the white chocolate. Anyone who follows Chocolate Mission will know that I had serious problems handling the sweetness of the Cadbury Dream. The white buttons were still super sweet but due to the rate at which they melted the Buttons didnt last long enough in the mouth for the flavour to become as sweet as in the bar format. The White buttons had a nice vanilla like aroma and genuinely smelt quite appetising. As I have said they tasted very sweet but had a pleasant enough creamy milk like base flavour. The sweetness of the product meant that these felt like a more fulfiling product compared to the Dairy Milk variant...the 37.5g was about the right amount that you would probably want to eat of these.

Overall I found neither of these to be overly spectacular products, but as you can see by the scores the white chocolate variant benefitted greatily from this 'Button' format. The Dairy Milk Buttons ingredient quality is not to be doubted...they still contain the same Dairy Milk goodness, however the tasting experience just wasnt the same as with the bar format. With the blocks in the bar format, the flavours can really be savoured and the milky flavours are allowed to develop as the nature of the blocks means it takes longer to melt in the mouth...the Button format does not allow this flavour development to happen and the taste is all but gone from the mouth to quickly. Though the fast melting nature of the Buttons did not work for the Dairy Milk variant it actually reflected well on the White variant and the shorter length of the taste worked in its favour. Personally I cant see myself having either of these again in the near future...for Dairy Milk there are better formats and to be honest although this format works for the Cadbury white chocolate...if I was to consume some white chocolate I wouldn't choose Cadbury lol! I guess its now up to me to try the Milkybar Buttons to make a comparison, so I cant make a judgement there yet - that verdict will be delivered soon....its a hard life being a reviewer of chocolate :D

Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons 7.3 out of 10
Cadbury White Buttons 6.9 out of 10