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Kcal 480 Fat 20.8g Fat(sats) 12.8g Carbs 62.4g (per 100.0g)Just before Christmas I exchanged Tweets with a company called The Big Yum on Twitter (See HERE) who kindly offered me the opportunity to sample some of their delicious sounding Chocolate Swerves. The Big Yum are a UK company founded by two people called Pippa & Aaron, a couple devoted to 'providing a refined snacking safe haven where discerning nibbles enthusiasts can take heart, learning what it’s like to be truly appreciated.' oooooh fancy guys :D (More on The Big Yum HERE). Before I take the mick too much, it is worth pointing out that as they expand their company they have committed to supporting several Charities & Foundations as they grow, so this is definitely a company with it's heart in the right place ... if only some of these mass manufactures were so generous eh!?
Pippa & Aaron were kind enough to send me a few packs of their 70.0g Chocolate Swerves, which came described as the tempting combination of 'milk and white chocolate coated salted pretzels'. These packs were in actual fact very groovy looking laminate pouches. For such a small company I thought the quality of the presentation was outstanding and the pretzels themselves were similarly impressive aesthetically. Before anyone *ahem Richard :D haha!! ahem* asks the question, these Chocolate Swerves sell on The Big Yum website for 6 x 70.0g bags for £11.40, or a 250.0g bag for £4.50.
I consumed most of my packs of these as afternoon snacks, occasionally offering some to my work colleagues for their all important second opinions. My preferred method of eating these was to place the pieces on the tongue, to let the chocolate coating melt away, before crunching down on the remaining pretzels. Eating them this way allowed the full spectrum of the sweet and salty flavours to be enjoyed - they tasted just fantastic. The outer chocolate that coated each piece was as tasty as it looked. It had a soft melt and struck a nice balance of cream and sweet cocoa flavours to deliver the desired chocolate flavour hit despite it's thin application. Once the chocolate had melted away, the crunchy pretzels hidden below burst with the promised saltiness. These Chocolate Swerves were so very moreish, but utterly, 100.0% delicious.
Overall I think the long running campaigns demanding the return of the Nestle Flipz (See HERE) can come to abrupt end because these Chocolate Swerves are even better. Comparing the products like-for-like, there obviously isn't much difference the pretzels, but when it comes to chocolate quality and standards of presentation, there is really only one winner - The Big Yum (just in case it wasn't bleedingly obvious haha!). Sweet and salty snacks are a combination that I love, and these Chocolate Swerves are a fine example of just how addictive the two together can be together. If you have any interest in reuniting yourself with the Nestle Flipz experience, or just plain fancy supporting a worthwhile UK small company then I suggest you head on over to The Big Yum website and buy yourself some Chocolate Swerves. These are some very, very tasty pretzels - well worthy of a ChocolateMission recommendation that's for sure.
8.6 out of 10
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56 comments:
Thanks for the review Jim you know we love seeing reviews about new and upcoming companies.
Out of interest how did you come across them? I've not heard of them before to be honest. Their pretzels look well nice.
Do they make any other swerves flavours or is it just the one? They sound v good from what you say Jim.
What groovey packaging, I'm liking it alot.
I would give them a try if I saw them just because they look so cool lol.
Sorry I dont see how the whole salty snacks and chocolate works out. My friend is like obsessed with chocolate peanuts and she is forever trying to get me to try them.
I have given them a go but I still dont think you should mix the two. BTW I dont like stuff like sweet and sour meals so that is probably a good explanation as to why I don't.
Sorry for being a downer. I still liked reading your review.
Lol what a name The Big YUM I love it. These do bring the memories of Nestles flipz thingies come flooding back. I always wondered why they stopped making them. Oh well its great news if a nice British company are now doing the same thing.
Rxxx
Is it too early to submit my entry for review of the year?
I'm going to buy some of these right away. They sound lush man, thanks for showing them to me.
I like the increased focused on the UK brands and manufactures mate. There was that point last year when it was like you were refusing to review anything from our own country ;) Its not even a month gone and you have unearthed so cool British gems for us. Nice one Jim, just keep up your fine work.
Ewwww pretzels should never be with chocolate. I like sour cream and chive ones best :-) nom nom
Dx
It would be amazing if they did a reverse set of these with white chocolate the main one and then milk chocolate as the decoration.
That would be dreamy but still I would be more than happy to settle for a bag of these for the minute. If you get any spare you can send them to me LOL.
Jim do I get extra points towards your competition for retweeting it on Twitter ;) I have 300 followers so your site should get a good amount of them looking at it.
Come on mate I need that Ritter more than anyone else :)
@Midgey44
Admittedly I hadn't seen or heard of these big yum people before this but I'm sure glad you have shown us them now.
I wont be buying anything from them for the minute because im poor lol but maybe in the future sometime. Pretzels and chocolate are a good idea.
This review has totally given me the biggest wave of nostalgia ever. I remember the days back in the playground when Flipz were like the ultimate snack swap currency. For one of the small bags you could literally swap for anything from where I came from. The fudge ones were the top dollar, the holy grail of all packed lunch boxs.
If the big yum can make it as big as the flipz did they will make loads of money.
If TBY are reading this please please please run a competition so we can try these. Come on Jim use your powers to sort something out. They sound wicked.
Hi Jim
You didn't say anything about my predictions yesterday? I was right about the man u vs spuds game. I told you it was going to be a draw ;) No way are you going to stay unbeaten all year, I think you were lucky again.
Back on topic lol these do look very good. I think at first they will be weird because its not normal to have chocolate and pretzels together. I would happily eat them though lol.
Yummy pretzels. You got me hungry now. Time for breakfast and a cup of tea.
Hotel Chocolat Mondays? A thing of the past or just not this week :(
I saw these on Chocablog a few months ago but not anything else since then.
Do you know the people at the company personally or something. They dont look like they are a very big firm if they only have four people. It would be impossible to have heard of them unless they were local to you. Good on you for reviewing them though Jim. Well more interesting than another cadburys reviews or something like that.
Mmm lush nice find.
off target but has anyone found the Aero Orange yet? I have been trying to find it for since I saw it was coming back but haven't had any luck yet grrrr.
Didn't there used to be a company that made chocolate covered crisps? I wish someone would do that idea. I love eating walkers ready salted or prawn cocktail crisps at the same time as a kit kat. If you think im talking nonsense give it a try. Its so nice =)
I love the chocolate covered popcorn that marks and spencers make and buy that all time. I see no reason why pretzels and chocolate cant work. Thanks for the review, back on form jim.
I think my boyfriend would love these. He eats one of those big bags of pretzels to himself like everytime we go to the cinema.
Im not sure what he would make of them having chocolate on but I could always buy some just to try.
Luvs
Fifi
x
I sit on the 'no to sweet and salt' bandwagon I'm afraid so these aren't of much interest to me.
Its awesome seeing you give some attention to smaller people Jim. Keep on doing that cause they make for the best reviews if you ask me.
I suggest you head on over to The Big Yum website and buy yourself some Chocolate Swerves. These are some very, very tasty pretzels - well worthy of a ChocolateMission recommendation that's for sure.
You dont realise how literally I have to take your recommendations. When the banks comes after me to payy off my credit card I will be blaming you
;p
Once the chocolate had melted away, the crunchy pretzels hidden below burst with the promised saltiness. These Chocolate Swerves were so very moreish, but utterly, 100.0% delicious.
Someone might say you have a talent for this chocolate writing stuff. Well done for another gorgeous post.
I have a cool idea. Instead of changing the type of chocolate they use (i.e. to dark or white), why dont they change the flavour of the pretzel to be truley unique.
You could use like salt and vinegar, or BBQ or cheese and onion. It sounds a bit mental but it could work you never know.
Their website is a bit confusing. Its not obvious how you order some :S Feed that back to them Jim. Nice looking product but terrible site.
Ten out of ten for presentation? I dont think I have seen you award that to anyone before.
From what I can see from your photos it does all look very impressive. I am a bit of a fussy person when it comes to packaging and how stuff looks, I think it is more important than most brands think. I like it that they have been so detailed decorating the pretzels with the white chocolate stripes. Count me impressed.
Im delighted to see such a high score for these.
One thing i dont quite get is the name chocolate swerves? I wasn't expected pretzels when I saw the name in my inbox this morning :s I suppose it doesn't matter what something is called, but I think people would be more intrigued if they knew they were pretzels right away. Thats just my 2cents.
On the most depressing day of the year (thats a fact you know). This review managed to bring a big smile to my face :) The Big Yum :) what a wonderful name for a company I love it.
Chocolate and pretzels aren't what I would associate with being a natural pairing but if you say it works then I will take your word for it. If anything I guess it covers off sweet and savoury in one go :D Its like a two course meal in one in some effect. Thank you for the review mate.
By the way I am still struggling to pick out my best three 2010 posts. I keep looking back across all of the reviews and losing track of time reading them again. You covered the most incredible amount of things. Its mental looking back at everything.
While I'm no lover of Pretzels (and Flipz were never on my radar atall.. I'd never heard of them until your reveiw Jim lol)these do look cool and the packaging so retro cool!
Did you know 'real' american pretzels (and another country i cant remember)are actually much bigger and are not hard biscuit type things but pastries, much like cheese straws you buy in bakeries. They are in the traditional shape though like above. My sister made some and theyre lovely.
Heres a good example and blurb!
http://www.giftstumped.com/2008/05/12/stuffed-pretzels-sounds-like-a-delicious-gift-idea/
click the pic for a bigger view!
The big yum should be pleased with a score like that. You obviously rated these alot for you to go that high on so many of the measures.
10/10 for presentation? Hmmm they look nice but are they really better looking than some previous products you have scored lower? Hmmmmm just my random thoughts for you.
I used to like the white chocolate pretzel flipz when they were out, so I'm sure 'The big yum' are even better. I'm not one for buying snacks online but kudos to them, I hope they do well.
@Alan - I've tried some of those types of pretzels before in Germany, they're delicious!
Thanks for the review, it's always great to see smaller companies feature on the site. I loved Pretzel Flipz but have so far avoided buying any from American shops because of the price. I might, in the furture, give these a try because they're a smaller company. With the Flipz, the salt/chocolate combination works really well and makes them addictive so I wonder just how addictive these will be if they are even better than Nestle's attempt! Finally, I also really like the packaging, it would stand out on a shelf and it looks re-sealable which is always a bonus.
@Christine is that true about it being the most depressing day of the year? How random and silly lol.
Thank you for the review Jim I thought it was cool. Its always awesome seeing new brands I haven't heard of.
Hi Jim, and all you lovely reviewers!
This is Pippa from The Big Yum...we're over the moon you love our Swerves! We are a very small company at the moment so need all the support we can get, but growing steadily...and are bringing out Dark Chocolate Swerves very soon - of course we'll happily send some to Jim to review!
If you have any specific questions, you can email us, or we're on facebook too so 'like' our fanpage and we'll keep you updated with developments!
Thanks again...and if you're tempted to try our pretzels, please see our website to order or find out your local stockists!
Pippa (Chief Yum)
We still have Flipz here in the States, though they're made by DeMets, not Nestle now. (Though it's all the same factory and they still use Nestle's crappy chocolate.)
In North America we have lots of chocolate covered pretzel options. Most chocolate shops do them fresh on site in a wide variety of shapes.
Alan - that's an interesting view of pretzels in America. Mostly the soft variety is a Northeast Atlantic States thing, they're quite hard to find out here in the West. Unless you count the place at the mall that makes them, but those are more like twisty bagels than pretzels. (I like both soft and hard varieties.)
Hi all
Aaron from The Big Yum here, I wanted to post a response to Jim's excellent review and everyone's comments...plus it's always good to prove that companies do read feedback about their products :-) Getting 10/10 for presentation definitely made our day!
In answer to your questions...
The Big Yum is only two people - myself and Pippa - we're based in Buckinghamshire and our products are made for us in the UK.
We also loved Flipz when they came out, and when we realised no-one else did anything like them, we decided to make our own!
We're planning to release 70% dark chocolate Swerves before Easter, and have many other tasty treats planned for the future!
Why Swerves? - Basically it's a legal technicality, we couldn't call them 'Chocolate Pretzels' as they are not pretzels made out of chocolate, and we thought 'Milk Chocolate Covered Pretzels' was a bit too clunky, so we came to a happy medium with Swerves.
In terms of navigating the website, we appreciate the feedback and are working on it...but please keep checking back!
As for giving some packs away to Chocolate Mission readers, we certainly feel a competition in the offing....over to you, Jim!
Thanks all
Aaron (& Pippa)
I would love to hear if they are planning any different flavours. These look like they have a great deal of potential.
Just imagine how amazing they would be if they had caramel or peanut butter running through them. Yummo!
Wheres the review for Tuesday?
Omg Im so embarrassed @Pippa and @Aaron.
I never meant to have a go at the Swerves name. I just didn't get it but I do now you have explained it. Thanks for not being nasty to me about it, I can see how you would of thought I was being rude lol.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to peoples questions. Lol its great (and a little big brother) to hear you take on board the random rubbish we all talk. I guess it must be useful for you in the long run when you can change things more easily.
Sorry but is this whole thing just a set up?
Its very convenient that Jim reviews something one day and then within 24 hours the owners of the company find the review. Do you idiots not see how obvious this all is? Fools.
You have to run a competition now mate lol. You have no excuses at all you cant wriggle out of it.
Speaking as someone who used to eat the nestle flipz by the barrel load I have to say I am mega meggggga excited to see these swerves.
As soon as I get some money at the end of the month Im going to be ordering some :) I hope they have the dark chocolate ones by then. I always thought flipz would of been amazin in dark chocolate but it wasn't a flavour they ever did. Cheers for the review Jimbob.
@Alex
We 'found' the review because Chocolate Swerves appeared on Google Alerts and because Jim tweeted it, and for no other reason. There's no ulterior motive.
Thank you.
Aaron
I miss Pretzel Flipz. I can't believe nobody else came in to fill the gap they left! These look awesome. :)
Lauren - I found Aero Orange in Blockbusters last week.
Lisa - You do get Flipz in dark chocolate in America. You also get double-dipped peanut butter and chocolate. They are great but just not quite as amazing as they should be. I wonder how hard it would be to make your own? Probably not very! I'm gonna try that.
There's a sweet shop an hour away from me which imports american things and they have milk, white and dark Flipz :)
Speaking of Aero, I tried the new caramel one last night. It was rubbish! Cheap tasting waxy chocolate, and overly sweet caramel that tastes like it's from a supermarket value brand. It's worse than the one they brought out a few years ago - that one was actually quite nice, I thought. Nestle are getting really rubbish recently, I just hope Kitkat isn't next.
Loving this review Jim. At first I was unconvinced by the pretzel and chocolate thing but now you have managed to make me come around to thinking they might be matched well together.
When I have some spare cash I will stick a few bags on order.
I whole heartily agree with some others here, it is nice to see another small UK company featured on your site. And if the taste of their products is in line with their name, then even better! :) I think cinebar over at FF reviewed them a while ago as well and came to similar conclusions as you did. I probably will give them a try at some stage (though the review reminded me again that I wanted to make some chocolate covered pretzels myself) and it will be interesting to see what other tempting treats the company will develop in the future. The 70% dark chocolate ones Aaaron mentions above, certainly also sound good.
Hi All,
The response to this review has been fantastic. Thank you both Pippa and Aaron for coming on the site and answering some of the questions everyone has had to ask :D you have certainly made my life a lot easier this evening haha :D
Regarding everyone liking me looking at smaller British brands. If these are the sort of reviews you want to see you just have to say :D If you ever have any suggestions or requests just send them along. I will be more than happy to get in contact with them to see if they fancy being on the site.
Regarding a Big Yum competition .... well let me see what I can do about that. Since they are keen themselves I see no reason why not.
Nick - I saw them first on some other chocolate sites.
Ben - Review of the year? There is still another 11 months to come haha :D
Emma - I agree some white chocolate ones would be great.
Midgey - Haha no chap, no extra points for retweeting.
Henry - :D Flipz were rarely seen in my school. I can imagine they would command top currency vs the penguins and kit kats of this world.
Nigel - You weren't totally right about Liverpool were you :D You didn't back your own team. I disbelieve all this King Kenny hype going on :D It will all end in tears trust me haha.
Sarah - I dont have any Hotel Chocolat products to review for the minute. I have some in the post on their way though. Watch this space.
Lauren - Still not found the Orange Aero yet. I have my eyes and ears open though dont you worry.
Mysterio - Nope I dont recall ever seeing any chocolate covered crisps myself. Sorry but prawn cocktail crisps and kit kats sound totally gross :D I will leave that to you for the minute.
Katie - Why thank you for being so kind :D Are you ill? You aren't are your usual sarcastic self :D
Andrew - I like your thinking there. I would love to see what these would taste like with rock salt and pepper pretzels. They are the best pretzels in my opinion.
Duncan - I may not review as many things this year but if you look at the quality of the discussion on the reviews I would say things have improved ten fold.
Alan - Indeed I did chap. When I have been on holiday in America previously I have tried freshly baked pretzels and they are superb. Nice picture of the stuff pretzel there :D You got me feeling hungry damn you :D
Julie - These have to be reviewed in a different context to Hotel Chocolat. HC go for stylish, upper end sophisticated chocolate. These are more your fun filled snack that are presented beautifully. Trust me the product in hand looks the business.
Phil - You should buck the trend of not buying online. Seriosuly you are missing out on Heavenly Cakes and The Big Yum if you employ that policy. I hate to think of you missing out :D
Ria - Are you going to consider trying them then? You seem to be very impressed by what you see. It would be great to have your second opinion on these.
Cybele - Demets have taken over a few licenses from Nestle haven't they. Aren't they the people that now produce the 'turtles' aswell? I'm surprised to hear you have lots of options open to you, I wish we could say the same about the UK. As you can see by the comments we have been pretty unexposed to this sort of thing.
Sue - Peanut Butter Swerves? Yeah I could be convinced to try them :D
Anon - No reviews on Tuesdays and Thursdays!
Alex - OK OK I ADMIT IT!!!!!!! They gave me a million pounds to say these Chocolate Swerves were great. Boy you saw straight through this one didn't you :D :D
Linz - I will have to look in my local Blockbuster now. Thanks for the top. I have actually tried the double-dipped peanut butter ones. There should be a review knocking about somewhere. Let me know if you struggle to find it.
Phil - I wish I hadn't read your comment regarding the Aero Caramel. You have filled me with dread writing that review now. I can see the amount of flak I will take if I dare criticise Nestle.
Thanks for all the feedback and comments everyone. As you can see from Pippa and Aaron's responses these companies do genuinely listen to you guys.
If I have missed out any glaring questions just shout at me again. I have tried my best to pick them out. If not enjoy the review tomorrow.
JIM
@ Phil.. my siste and I also tried the new Aero Caramel last night.. what a disaster! We thought them very poor indeed, the caramel just disappeared without a trace it was so thin and had no impact on the taste atall except for making it sweeter. If theyre hoping people will buy them as a Wispa Gold substitute I think theyll be disappointed lol. The old version wasnt great but ok (but maybe that was due to not having WG for along time!) but these... urgh.
@Alan - I'm glad you agree as I was thinking maybe it was just me being too critical.
Jim - just say what you think haha, we all know Alex will complain anyway. Honestly I used to like Nestle products but recently they've had a sharp dip in quality.
Alan/Phil - Dont you worry chaps you know me :D I dont hold back my opinion no matter what. Just out of interest where are you guys buying this aero from? Its not made its way round my parts yet by the looks of things.
I got mine from Tesco Express, but also I noticed Morrisons have started stocking them. They're in special stands away from the main chocolate section.
I got mine in my Sainsburys, the main one, it wasnt ona special stand or anything just hidden amongst all the normal bars.. certain nothing like the demand created for Wispa Golds :P Id love to see some one walk out with a box of these!
I'm still searching for Aero Orange mnd you...
@Phil, no youre definitely not being over critical.. we thought the same.. i wonder what everyone else will think, and how long it will be around for this time round. The 'new' tag still amkes me laugh!
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