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Cadbury BiscBits Caramel CrunchKcal 135 Fat 6.2g Fat(sats) 3.3g Carbs 17.4g (per 8 biscuits)
On one of my frequent trips down the biscuit aisle in my local Tesco this week I was excited to see that they had changed up the arrangement of the shelves and obviously at the same time introduced several new products. Sat next to the some of the other Cadbury biscuit offerings (Cadbury Fingers etc), these Cadbury BiscBits Caramel Crunch were glistening at me with the bright Cadbury purple pouch catching my eye with it's foil fresh look. To my knowledge (which I believe is as extensive as it comes haha!), BiscBits is a whole new sub-brand for the Cadbury portfolio. After forking out £1.69, I have this week been slowly munching my way through my first pack.
This Cadbury BiscBits Caramel Crunch came described as 'caramel flavour biscuits covered with milk chocolate' and it came suggested that the pouch be eaten in four servings of eight biscuits. Presentation wise I liked the aesthetic design of the pouch with it's shiny, vibrant look, however as you can see by my photographs the actual biscuits looked worn and scuffed in comparison. This left me with a sense that these might be a bit lazy effort by Cadbury, and I will say that I was left a tiny bit disappointed by the eventual taste. Chocolate wise, the 14% cocoa recipe established the sugary Cadbury milk chocolate experience from the outset, though the texture was somewhat grainy due to the dusty nature of the surface. The inner biscuits were what let these down in my estimation, as the promised caramel element was nothing more than an extra injection of sweet, brown sugar like notes to the taste. The added rice particles to the biscuit innards did add interest texturally, but alone this wasn't enough to suppress my disappointment with the other issues raised. I wont be rushing back to buy these again in the near future.
6.2 out of 10
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Cadbury Snack Shortcake ShotsKcal 260 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 8.5g Carbs 30.2g (per 50.0g)
After Nestle's introduction of the Kit Kat Pop Chocs 'sharing pouch' earlier this month, it would seem that Cadbury have been quick to respond with their very own launch of these Cadbury Snack Shortcake Shots. Indeed, these took me by surprise when I found them on sale by the checkout in Sainsburys last week. In the FMCG business, being merchandised here is a giveaway sign of a product that has been very quickly developed and 'sold in' to the retailer as an unplanned development. All that may just be speculation, but the sound of 100.0g of 'milk chocolate coated shortcake balls' sounded like an interesting enough proposition, and at £1.00 a bag I couldn't help but pick one up.
I must admit when I first saw these on the till I did have to 'double-take' the packaging as the Cadbury branding was pretty small, and the usual purple colouring was much more reserved than normal on the front of the pack. The pieces themselves looked uncannily like the Kit Kat Pop Chocs in both size and appearance, though the aromas were distinctly Cadbury. You may have already guessed this but, these of course weren't coated with Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, but rather Cadbury's 14% cocoa recipe which meant the taste was predominantly more sugar than cream led. Whilst the chocolate wasn't at optimum Cadbury standards, the inner shortcake pieces were at least tasty enough and established short sharp bursts of buttery biscuit flavours to every mouthful. Whilst these were on the whole mostly unspectacular (and in my opinion less enjoyable than the Kit Kat Pop Chocs), I would suggest them a 'fine' snacking option, though I'm sure you are all aware there are better Cadbury options out there.
6.9 out of 10
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Cadbury Fingers Toffee CrunchKcal 120 Fat 6.1g Fat(sats) 3.3g Carbs 13.8g (per 25.0g serving)
Last but by no means least (I think we all know I save the best to finish with anyway haha!), we have these Cadbury Fingers Toffee Crunch. As far as I'm aware you should be able to buy this new variant of 'Fingers' in both pouch or 'carton' forms - I chose the 125.0g carton option as you can see in my photo. Aside from the rebranding of the white and dark chocolate Fingers last year (See HERE), Cadbury haven't done much in the way of new product development on this part of their biscuit line up for years. This Toffee Crunch variant however, appeared as part of the Tesco shelf rearrangement that I alluded to above, and were being sold on an introductory £1.00 offer.
These Cadbury Fingers Toffee Crunch came with a description of 'Crisp toffee flavoured mini biscuits covered with milk chocolate'. On the surface of things, these Toffee Crunch biscuits looked no different to the standard Cadbury Fingers, though once the inner biscuit portion was revealed they were noticeably more golden in colour compared with the usual white shortcake. Of course like all the biscuits today, the chocolate was Cadbury's secondary 14% recipe which again established that very familiar sugary sweet milk led cocoa taste with every bite. Thankfully I liked the biscuit portion here an awful lot more than the BiscBits Caramel Crunch, as the toffee element was in integrated far more subtly with it's more minor suggestions of butterscotch like flavours. Whilst the biscuit innards could have down with being just a touch more salty, I still on the whole enjoyed them and felt far more comfortable eating them in greater quantities than the other two featured products today. I don't often buy Cadbury Fingers, but if I was to again I would probably pick these up.
7.9 out of 10
Posts
63 comments:
Three reviews for the price of one!? Whatever have we done to deserve this my friend?
Your going to have to tell us how you find these things. I haven't seen any of these three in the shops at all and I would day that I do keep my a watch out way more than I used to. Are you sure you aren't fibbing us ;) I swear you must get pre-sells or something.
Cadbury fingers are the best. I'm always open to trying any new flavours they come up with but I don't think they will ever beat just the original fingers. Im a bit funny like that, I don't even like the double chocolate ones as much as the normal. I think the amounts of chocolate and biscuit etc are just right.
The only one out of three I might try are the caramel crunch biscuits. The other two have been around before and I think are just old flavours being released again. I know for sure that there have been toffee fingers before. Thanks for the reviews Jim.
For gods sake cadburys stop fannying around with silly little biscuit things like this.
It does make me angry you know. If they spent more time/resource concenctrating on just making chocolate bars instead of pimping themselves out all over the place then they might actually make a half decent new bar sometime. Instead we have to put up with crap like the Big Race. What a load of rubbish.
The caramel biscuits tickle my fancy but the other two are nothing any of us haven't seen before.
I swear it was only like a two years ago that those toffee fingers were out you know. You would of thought that if they had seen something hadn't worked in market before then they wouldn't of brought it back. Especially not so soon.
Thanks for sharing your reviews with us Jim. I haven't seen nor heard of the shortcake shots or the top biscuits, but I have seen the toffee fingers being sold in mini form in those big pouches. Its interesting to see you haven't rated them that highly even though we know you are the biggest Cadburys fanboy going :P
Thanks for the reviews hun. Its disappointing to see that none of these scored very highly with you. I do like the sound of the shortcake bite, they look loads like maltesers if you ask me. I hope they aren't as horrendously moreish. Once I open a bag of maltesers I can never stop myself. I have to limit myself to just the mini bags of them these days.
Rxxx
The best new cadburys chocs for ages have been the crunchie rocks. They're awesome man.
No offence cadburys but could you have been more boring if you tried? Caramel and toffee are so interchangeable in the way the likes of cadburys use them as words. Its almost like they chop and change between the two sporadically just to make things sound different when they are naturally just the same. The fingers are a prime example. There used to be caramel fingers up until a few years ago, now they just re-released them calling them toffee.
Whats the difference between a Cadbury Superpost and a Cadbury Bits & Bobs post? Please explain Mr Chocolate Man.
Forget these. Have you reviewed the cadbury mallows yet? They are teacakes with cadburys chocolate on top. You get twenty in just the one pack.
Why have they chosen to release all three of these in one waft? You would of thought it would be better for them that they release them slowly so that people get a chance to try them all. Its almost like they have taken a 'spaghetti test' approach and are just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
Wow you wouldn't immediatedly associate those biscuit shots were being made by Cadbury. The bag is way too yellow and the logo is so small. Its not like them to miss out on an opportunity to colour something purple lol.
A bits and bobs dedicated to one company and all of the products are new. This has to be a first.
I got a pack of the toffee crunch Fingers the other week and I didn't think much of them tbh with you. I thought they were going to have like a liquid toffee filling in the middle of the biscuit so to find out it was just the chocolate they tried to flavours was pretty disappointing. Especially considering I don't think they did a very good job of it. I think they just tasted more sugary than normal, lol thats hard to comprehend when you consider how sugary cadbury chocolate is already.
The order I want to try these in are the caramel biscuits first, then the fingers and then the shots. They are all pretty bland, but the caramel biscuits are the most exciting to me.
Everything these days just gets sold at a pound this isn't encouraging. This is just going to encourage the likes of cadbury just to make cheaper and cheaper products so they can keep their profit margins consistent.
Everything these days just gets sold at a pound this isn't encouraging. This is just going to encourage the likes of cadbury just to make cheaper and cheaper products so they can keep their profit margins consistent.
Nothing beats white chocolate fingers. nom nom nom.
I thought I saw a poster the other day that had toffee flavoured fingers on. It was on a bus stop as we passed it in the car but only managed to catch it out of the corner of my eye.
I think it would have been better if they had put the toffee in to the biscuit rather than the chocolate but that would have made too much sense huh :) lol oh well it wont stop me trying them if I see them. Top review again lad.
Great reviews Jim. I do enjoy a good old bits and bobs post. They are easily the best reviews you write.
Dx
Im going to be all over those fingers as soon as I see them.
Are these all things you can only find in Tesco? If so thats bloomin annoying cause we never shop there. No way would I think they would limit themselves to just there. It wouldn't make any sense at all if they did.
Loved the reviews today Jim. I always enjoy seeing anything new and hearing your thoughts on them first.
Whoever came up with these ideas needs the sack. Could they be lacking any more imagination if they tried? Get it sorted cadburys.
Jim if you are looking for new chocs to try you could always have a go at reviewing the new large sized milkybar buttons. For some reason I feel less embarassed buying them than I do when I buy the smaller buttons. They are less babyish I think.
My kids love cadburys fingers but I don't think both of them would be keen on the toffee ones.
I can see them both liking the shortcakes things though. They do love their biscuits.
Thank you J.
Cadburys are like a machine at the moment. They just keep on churning out all these new products.
Why are all the pictures now slanty. I don't like it, I have to bend my neck to look at them all properly :P
Go back to doing them like you used to.
Crikey two of these haven't scored all that well considering they are made by Cadburys. I would have expected far more from these guys given how well you rate chocolates like the Cadbury caramel etc.
Ah well, at least it shows you rate everything on its merits and dont have a particular agenda for each brand. Nice one Jimbo.
God that yellow pack of shots is ugly man. Im always game for trying new things but none of these excite me that much. If I was going to try one it would be the fingers but I genuinely cant see myself getting around to it.
If these stay at one pound I think that is fair. I think we all know it wont be long before they bump up the price of the ones that come in the pouches though.
Lol I was in my local cineworld at the weekend and I saw they had started charging £4 for a bag of cadburys buttons. I nearly spat out my drink. Thats like 300% marked up.
Yo J,
Cool reviews man I wasn't aware that any of these were coming along either. I used to be a big fan of cadburys fingers when I was smaller but they aren't something that we ever tend to buy anymore. I would be interested to see what those toffee ones taste like. Unlike some of the ppl here I wasn't aware that they existed before myself.
How you feel about tonight? I got a feeling Chelsea are going to take a 2 goal lead in to the next leg. I think it could be rather high scoring though so you might nick some away goals. Spurs getting tanked last night was so funny.
Cheers
N
In the review you say you've reviewed the new kit kat pop chocs? I can't find it anywhere!!!!! Is it me being blind or summit?
Whatever have they put in those shortcakes biscuits to make them so high in saturated fat?? Its a little disgusting eww
Well well. Cadburys aren't invinceable after all.
Sorry but these look well pants. Not interested in any of them to be honest with you.
What a shame, they could have made a decent flavour of fingers like mint or something. Even orange would have been better than just ramping up the sugar and labelling it toffee for gods sake.
All the people talking today are looking upon these so negatively.
Whatever have cadburys done to you lot they need to sort out sharpish lol. The daggers are out for the boys in purple.
Have you seen these new bars made by Mars Jim?They are called Balisto http://www.ay-da.com/images/balisto2.jpg They aren't bad at all.
Looks like Cadburys are definately trying ot make more of an impact in the biscuit market. Love it when new interesting products come out!
If you looked at all of these three without the cadburys logo on the packs and no prior knowledge of how they should look you would never have guessed that they are made by one company.
All of them look so different. Lol I think they need to consult the dummies guide to marketing at cadburys.
I agree with David, everyone is looking at everything way to negatively! lol
The BiscBits probably dont sound worth trying but I bought my ister the Snack Shots the other day as she likes the original Snack shortcake biscuits (I think everyones forgotten they are a spin off of those - they are in a yellow packet! - it would make no sense to put them in a different packet lol so they make perfect sense to me). She prefers the original version as she thought these didnt taste the same.
We bought the Toffee Fingers in pouch form a few weeks ago and while my sister didnt like them that much, mum dad and I did and I'm not a big Fingers fan. I much preferred them to all the other variants tbh! Also I've never seen them out previously before.
Nick - Jim clearly said he got the first ones in Tesco, and the second ones in Sainsburys! It's hardly exotic haha. The last ones can be found in Sainsburys as well, they've been out for ages. Do you not look for exciting new things in shops? Open your eyes man!! :P
The packaging for the Snack Shots might not be very "Cadbury", but it is in keeping with their Snack range which has a similar yellow wrapper. The wafer variant has an equally cheap-looking pale pink wrapper. If you're a fan of Cadbury Snack then you'd probably notice them. They are essentially the same as the Snack though, just in a ball shape rather than flat. Not very exciting, but I'll give them a go anyway!
I have to say all of these sound disappointing, except maybe the Fingers. I'm very disappointed that Cadbury (or at least Burtons who make their biscuits) are using that inferior chocolate on all their biscuits now. I understand that cocoa prices are high and all that, but still.
Also is it just me or are Cadbury bringing out loads of sub-brands recently, all of which are quite poor?
Sorry to be such a grump, I'm just fed up with almost every product I used to enjoy being watered down or ruined.
Cadbury have never made (or used, if we're blaming Burtons) good biscuits: fact. They at least used to be saved by a chunky chocolate layer, but this has been steadily eroded to a mere gossamer-like veneer over what is still cheap, under-flavoured biscuit. Bad enough. But the major problem for me now is the, ahem, Krafty reduction in cocoa solids. 27% was poor; 21-22% was pretty dire but 14%? 14?! That's not even chocolate. They may as well just sell biscuits and some milk. Cadbury need to be reminded of what chocolate is, and Kraft that this isn't America. Small wonder Green&Black's chose to cut their ties.
Cadbury does make good candy :=)
love there winegums!
@Phil I agree, I'd say Nestle are the main culprits or at least its most noticeable with their products. Some of the stuff they make now is awful.
@Claire.. I think that is ratehr a sweeping statement that is quite inaccurate.. granted I'm not overly keen on their 'everyday' biscuits (like the chocolate digestives, shorties etc.. McVities are the Kings there lol) but Cadbury/Burtons make some wonderful biscuits, all their latest biscuits have been reaslly nice, Jim's reviewed many if not all of them. And their tins at Christmas, well theyre by far the best biscuit tins to get, and all these biscuits are covered in a nice thick chunky layer of choc (and more often than not Dairy Milk). As for all that % stuff, I dont really care about it aslong as the choc tastes nice. I doubt very much it was ever 27% on biscuits anyway.
Hi All,
Cadbury better not come on here to look at some of the comments today :D I don't think it would make that nicer reading for them haha.
I have to say im was a little taken back by the amount of people who wouldn't even contemplate trying some of these. Just remember my jurisdiction on these things is just my own opinion (unless stated!). Thats why we have the comments feature - to create an open forum for everyone say what they think. No one persons opinion is anymore valid than anyone elses.
MARK - I do these sort of reviews all the time now chap. Where you been?
STEVEN - Funny you should mention the failure of the BIG RACE. Im just about to post an article on how the Stars V Stripes stuff has bombed.
SAM - Cadbury Superpost = all about chocolate bars. Cadbury Bit's n Bobs = anything such as biscuits/cakes etc .... that clear things up for you chap.
ANON - Nope I haven't seen them yet. Any idea where they sell them. I do like a good teacake but its going to be hard them beating Tunnocks.
HENRY - I think that is a good point chap. Perhaps they believe that these three different chocolates are going to be bought by three different types of consumers!? I can't see it myself, but that is the belief they must be under I guess.
JOEL - I wasn't that receptive of the yellow pack either. Im a fan of these companies keeping things the same. Cadbury products should always be identifiable by brash purple branding. Its a signpost for people when they go to buy their products, its only sensible.
JACK - Lets hope that isn't true. There is only so long they can keep cramping their margins on these pound deals. They will have to cut back eventually.
DARREN - Haha you and another reader have almost been identical in your sarcasm. You guys are butchering cadbury today.
COLIN - I will include them as part of a future B&B post if you want to see a review badly. I can't see that they are worth a full review though. They are essentially just bigger aren't they.
MARTIN - You don't like the angled shots? No one else seems to be complaining chap! If other people say the same I will go back to how I did them before.
RICHARD - Haha I can imagine you getting upset by cinema prices. They are ridiculous aren't they! You should always come prepared to cinemas unless you plan on spending a bomb for your snacks :D
NIGEL - I have nothing against Tottenham so I felt pretty bad for them last night. As for tonights game I think it will be pretty tight. All im hoping for is an away goal, if we get that then I think we will be set up nicely for the home leg. Im going to say 2-1 Chelsea tonight. United to score first.
ANON - Bit of a mix up on the review schedule there sorry. It will come about on the site soon enough. Sit tight.
ALICIA - I would imagine the vegetable fat in the chocolate would have something to do with the fat levels. I wouldn't get too hung up on these things. Just enjoy them in moderation and they will do you no harm.
TERRY - I swear they have done all of those flavours before.
YOSHILOVER - Check the site on Saturday :D Balisto are snack of the week.
LOTOCHOC - There is something kinda cool about finding new products isn't there. Its always exciting.
ALAN - Indeed I shuold have mentioned in the review that they are a spin off of part of the Cadbury Snack range. Good reminded! I've never been one to buy cadbury fingers before either. I always just associate them with being for finger food buffets. That shows you the quality of the establishments I usually attend haha :D
LINZ - I think some parts of the country get new products sooner than others depending on who is distributing them. Smaller towns etc are probably going to get less frequent deliveries from their manufactures, thus giving them less chance of getting all the new products delivered. Who knows!? Let me know what you think about some of these when you try them. I will be glad to hear your opinions on them.
PHIL - It is annoying to see that Cadbury are increasingly moving away from using Dairy Milk. It used to be a given that they would use Dairy Milk on most their products, but now it feels more like we are 'lucky' if they do use it. I know what you mean about some of the sub-brands. Personally I think they are becoming increasingly random and poorer in quality. They need to get back to basics.
CLAIRE - By the looks of it the quality of the ingrdients being used is only going one way. Its disappointing to see.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Im sure someone at Cadbury will be on the lookout at sites like this taking in all your comments. Its always worth leaving your opinion - if you don't give it then they wont know what you want!!
JIM
Someone needs to get ahold of the guys at cadbury and given them a talking to.
I have no issue with them whatsoever making the odd product that isn't pure chocolate, but to come out with the amount of cakes, cookies, biscuits and random pouch based chocolate things is just stupid. Im not marketing guru but have they ever thought about releasing a luxury line of cadbury dairy milk or anything like that? I would much rather they spent time developing an idea of that sort rather than thsese cheaper things.
Im with Nick on this Jim. How the blazes do you constantly get to try these things before the rest of us all the time? Are you sure you don't work for this company? Lol you could be a cadbury special agent and we could all be none the wiser lol.
Caramel crunch biscuits sound nice. The score doesn't fill me with much confidence though :( Meh I still might give them a go if I see them for a pound. Lol they have me hook, line and sinker on all these introductory deals they do. It would be funny to look at how many people ever bother buying these things again or just go back to good ol' relaiables.
Jim, off topic but have you ever thought about reviewing the chocolate flavoured snack-a-jacks. They are my 'snack of the week' as you would put it. I can't get enough of them. I would love to see what you make of them mate.
Fantastic reviews as always mate. Thanks for brining these three to my attention. I always enjoy trying a new cadbury product when they come about. Its just a matter of finding out about them in the first place for me.
I don't get all the negativity flying around. If you just accept these for what they are instead of having such high standard you might find yourself a little more forgiving of them.
The order I will be trying these is shortcake bites, caramel biscs and the maybe the toffee fingers if I ever get around to it.
Why do they insist on making everything in such large bags. Why do they not just sell them in cheaper smaller ones its so annoying. No one wants to be carting round huge pouches all day long. Why they don't think these things through I do not know.
I'm a big advocate of 'less being more'.
I wish cadburys would listen to this and think about it for a minute. They are starting to get a little silly with how many things they are putting to their name. has anyone seen that they have brought back the vanilla and jaffa flavours of their cake bars. *sigh*
The only reason I would try these is because they are so cheap. The pouches these days can cost upwards of 2 pounds if you happen to buy them in certain places.
If these were just normal price I don't think I woudl be tempted by any of them, they just aren't my sort of thing.
I don't want to give the impression that im overly enthusiastic about any of these but I would happily give any of them a try if offered.
They are such 'safe' flavours of things I can see why they have made them. Toffee/Caramel/Shortbread are all things that no one is going to turn their noses up at. Not unless they are weired lol. As innovation goes they are uninspired, but as individual products there nothing essentially wrong with them.
@Justin we all know Jim reviews things fairly all the time mate. Its getting boring people constantly criticsing him.
@Phil I don't think you are being grumpy. You're just telling the truth lol.
Its always useful seeing the reviews before they hit the shops Jim. Thanks for the reviews mate, I will be buying the fingers but probably not the others now.
Its always useful seeing the reviews before they hit the shops Jim. Thanks for the reviews mate, I will be buying the fingers but probably not the others now.
Brill reviews Jim your bits and bobs are always so interesting. I don't understand why one company would choose to release everything all in one go. Surely they must see the greater sense in doing them spaced out so they each create a better impact. Oh well what do we know hey? We are only the people meant to buy them lol.
IAN - I love that idea of a premium Dairy Milk. That could work!! It would have to actually be better though.
CHRISTOPHER - No I don't work for Cadbury. Lets just say I have a good eye for supermarket shopping.
ALICIA - Let me see what I can do. Request noted.
ANON - I think they know people will be more prepared to buy the larger bags inorder to be able to try something 'NEW'. Its a good strategy on their part, but yes annoying for us.
SELINA - I thought they would have been better spaced out as well. Most the time the dates products get released is dependent on when retailers review the contents of their shelves though. Not when these companies want to release their new products.
JIM
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