Kev's Snack Reviews

I have to say I'm surprised the Cadbury Darkmilk brand has stayed around, not because it's bad but I didn't think there was a demand for darker milk chocolate. However we now have an array of new Cadbury Darkmilk flavours, Easter eggs and now Buttons, so they must be doing something right! I'm pleased I have to say because I do enjoy the richer taste of Darkmilk, it feels a bit more grown up than Dairy Milk which seems too sweet these days. Let's not mention the abominable Galaxy Darker Milk from last year...what on earth was THAT?! These Buttons are simply large Buttons of Darkmilk, and capture all the moreishness of Cadbury Buttons but in a richer form. Cadbury Buttons have always been more addictive than the bars, I don't know how they manage it, but it's like some alchemy occurs when you put them in a round shape! The buttons are moreish, but yet more satisfying to eat than Dairy Milk, there's less of the sickly milk flavour and more rich coc...

One product a lot of people have been highly anticipating since their announcement this year has been these new Bournville Giant Buttons from Cadbury. Why you ask? Simply because they’re suitable for vegans and dairy free and the first widely available chocolate buttons of this type. Disclaimer: although dairy free they’re made in an environment with dairy so may not be suitable if you have a dairy allergy. There’s no warning about containing nuts so they appear to be safe for those with Nut allergies. These cost £1.50 a bag, currently only available in Sainsbury’s but I’m sure more stores will sell them soon (I’ll keep you updated). I think they’re a bit overpriced for 110g of chocolate but I guess people will pay it since they’re dairy free. Described as “smooth dark chocolate Giant Buttons with a distinctively chocolatey Bournville taste”, they have a somewhat dusty and scuffed appearance as chocolate buttons tend to. I tried making little stacks of them (channeling Eat Exp...

Another heads up; Mars UK are launching Maltesers Buttons! I'm not sure why there was a need for such a product (surely relaunching White Maltesers would have made more sense?) - rumour has it they're designed to contain less sugar due to the new UK Sugar Tax that recently came into force. These are due in shops in June.  Do you think Maltesers Buttons are a good idea? Let me know in the comments!

I do often bemoan the quality of Cadbury's chocolate, and with good reason - the taste and texture has gone way downhill in recent years. However I am still human and love most things sweet so when offered to try the Cadbury Christmas range I didn't say no. Their 2017 products include a few newbies in their stocking fillers, including Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Faces. I was sent those along with Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons so thought I'd do a head to head comparison of the two! Starting with the Freddo Faces these aren't all in one tube but rather in little packets inside the tubes, which is disappointing. It doesn't feel special but rather that they've just stuffed some regular products into a tube and given it a festive label. Still it makes them handy to give out as snacks and keeps them fresher. Well, in theory it does if you don't intend on eating them all at once! They tasted nice, sweet and sugary, pretty much what you'd expect from Cadbury F...

So it's round 2 of the Chocolate Button-Off...yesterday we had Milkybar Milkshake Mix Up , and today entering the ring we have...dun dun dun...good old Cadbury's! Yes, Cadbury have finally brought out a new product that the people actually wanted and have put Dairy Milk Buttons and White Chocolate Buttons in a sharing bag together...genius! I'm not actually being sarcastic when I say this is genius, it genuinely is a good idea. Everyone loves Cadbury Buttons, they're so moreish and addictive despite the poorer quality Dairy Milk they use in them these days...mix them with White Chocolate Buttons and you've got a winner! I found these in B&M Bargains for 99p, but they're also in Home Bargains and have started appearing in Poundland stores too. Seems like the discount market got first dibs on them! There's 115g of buttons per bag and there seemed to be a good amount of both Dairy Milk and White Chocolate buttons, although (hand selfie aler...

Both Nestle and Cadbury have recently launched two opposing versions of mixed chocolate buttons, Cadbury with their Dairy Milk Mixed Buttons (review soon) and Nestle with this Milkybar Giant Buttons Milkshake Mix Up...but which shall reign supreme?! Sadly it won't be Nestle! These Milkybar Giant Buttons Milkshake Mix Up contain a mixture of regular Milkybar Giant Buttons as well as Chocolate Milkshake flavoured buttons. Yes, that's right - not actual chocolate buttons but chocolate flavoured buttons. As you can see in the pic above (hand selfie alert!) the chocolate milkshake buttons look a lot paler than real milk chocolate buttons, more of a malty kind of colour, and that's how they tasted really; malty, milky, and very sweet without much chocolatey flavour. I was very disappointed, but I suppose they are called Milkshake Mix Up so it's no surprise they're more milky than chocolatey. I do think Nestle missed an opportunity here to make something rathe...

Over Christmas I was lucky enough to make regular visits to Aldi, the perfect place for a quick late night cheap choccy fix, and whilst there I spotted these Dairyfine Milk Chocolate Caramel Buttons...which look suspiciously similar to Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Nibbles! I mean, even the name Dairyfine is an obvious ripoff of Dairy Milk! I can't say I'm bothered though because Dairy Milk is a bit rubbish these days...but how does Aldi's version compare? Well, these Buttons cost a lot less than Cadbury Caramel Nibbles, I believe they were about 80p although I can't remember exactly. (For comparison the RRP for Cadbury Caramel Nibbles is about £1.99, although they're regularly on offer for £1) You get plenty in the bag too, no doubt more than the Cadbury version! They're shaped like...erm...nipples rather than buttons (come on, we were all thinking it!), they're slightly larger and chunkier than the Cadbury ones with a less scuffed appearance. S...

Last week, Nestlé UK announced the launch of new Caramac Giant Buttons, apparently the first product extension in the brands history (although they've strangely glossed over the fact that they produced a Kitkat Caramac in the mid 2000's, as well as a Caramac Breakaway). The Caramac name apparently comes from an amalgamation of the word caramel and Mackintosh - the company that originally produced Caramac before being taken over by Nestlé. The bar has been a staple of newsagents for a long time indeed, and as many will know it has a buttery, almost fudgey caramel flavour, although unfortunately it's gotten a lot sweeter over the years. The original bar actually used to contain butter, treacle and condensed milk, but unfortunately these new giant buttons don't contain any of those ingredients...boo! :( Apparently 10 buttons equals one serving, which doesn't seem too bad an amount compared to some products (*cough* half a tiny Aero Mousse! *cough*) ...