Right - tins of sweets...

[LollopingLil]

In the interests of saving everyone else some time and money, I have already sampled the big three this year . And they are ALL CRAP.

Celebrations - sickly. The twixes don't taste like twixes. And nobody could possibly need that many mini bounties.

Quality Street - chalky and artificial. Only ever snarf these at someone else's house as I avoid buying Nestlé but I don't think I'm missing out on much.

Roses - the fruit centres are meh. And they've taken out all the hard toffees! Why, why, why?!

Christmas is ruined. Ruined!

I have just bought M&S 'The Big Selection' box of assorted sweets. 800g for 5 quid. I have only sampled one toffee, but it was lovely. The assortment are soft caramels, hazelnut in caramel, chocolate covered toffee, orange fondant, choc truffle, biscuit in runny caramel, double Devon toffee, coffee creme strawberry creme, and caramel fudge. They are all in coloured cellophane and foil wraps, so would look very pretty in a dish.

I miss Terrys neapolitans too. They were just the right size for Advent calendars. However, M&S have some Swiss neapolitans but they are flat squares. Also good for Advent calendar filling.

I was offended by that Revels advert....lol

Might have a look at the M&S choccies....sounds tempting!

Toots sweet I'd sign that petition. Only used to buy celebrations for the truffles. Apparently you can buy them separately by the 10 kilo (or smaller amount is poss! ) but can't remember where from!

Am I the only one who likes after eights?

I love them too ferry - have you tried the straw shaped ones?

oh oh oh....Terry's Neapolitans, I LOVED THOSE

always used to get a box for christmas in my stocking.

I love after Eights, but they're made by fecking Nestle.

Nestle products only darken our doorstep when my mother decides to buy them for DH.

I sampled some of a whole box of Pergale fruit creams chocs from Poundland. Not too bad, but a bit sickly. Very reminiscent of the quality in the tins now, but paying much less for them.

Love After Eights and the mint Matchmakers!

Have bought Sainsburys own After Eights (mint thins, I think they're called). Don't have the little wrappers on them and are a little thicker, but still taste like After Eights! Cheaper too!

Oh, and Terry's Twilights

God, I miss coffee creams.
I live near a Cadbury's outlet and will post bags of misshapes for cost

We get matchmakers too. Love the mint ones but the orange ones are too strong for me.

There used to be tropical ones about 8-9 years ago, god they were gorgeous, white chocolate ones with flavours like pineapple. Wish they still did them :(

I am off to the city today. In the interests of research, I shall be popping into Marks, again. Sainsbugs, again. I really will have to do a hotel chocolat for adults only. Oh, and the Co-Op around here are doing the very large Thorntons boxes for a fiver.

I bought the Sainsbury's basics one's last year, put them in a nice bowl, they were really good and even FIL was impressed by my very posh chocs as he is quite fussy says he can sniff out a basics product a mile off

I've thought about buying the M and S one's, The Big Box or something like that. Suppose I should sample them first really, just to make sure off to Markies

I miss the real hazlenut whirls. My dad worked for Cadbury-Schweppes in the 80s and every Friday he would go to the staff shop and buy the brown paper bags of misshapes. And white paper bags of Fudges, Caramels and Frys Chocolate Creams. On Friday evenings we would all watch Cheers and The Two Ronnies and gorge ourselves on chocolate.

Co-op do a good own brand mint thin (after eights for us nestle avoiders) & a divine Turkish delight thin that DP & I LOVED last Christmas - got 2 boxes squirrelled away for this year! Don't know if I should be recommending them as they sell fast enough as it is round here!

We're a dairy free and nut free house so chocolates are a bit of a minefield and deffo none of the generic tins of chocs. Going to buy some 'moo free' or 'plamil' choc for the kids, maybe some plain dark choc from Hotel Chocolat and a nice selection from the latter for myself.

M&S have got their big boxes (wide, flat, square, one layer) chocs on for a fiver. Milk, plain, or mixed.

M&S Big Selection is looking like a goer.

Now, just got to test them...

I bought a tin of Roses this year (usually a staunch q Street eater but they were shite last year too!) and was stunned by their cheek, four of the varieties were caramel. FOUR i tell you. Albeit different shapes, but all tasting the same. Then there was fudge, strawberry Creme and toffee AND THAT WAS IT! Fecking Roses, never again.

I agree Canon, I found that the numbers of the different flavours were very unequal as well in the various tins. They seemed to be making up the weight with a lot of coffee, orange and strawberry cremes, which I presume are cheapest to produce. I wonder if Quality Street will shortly be breaking the trade descriptions act with their name, because they are getting worse all the time and clearly not quality.

Right then, M&S this year. I wont waste money on the usual roses tins

Thanks for the tip about sainsburys own 'after eights', I will try those rather than supporting Nestlé

Given that my favourite chocs are the fudge ones anyway, I think I will go to the local homemade fudge shop and choose some from there for Xmas, and I'll be supporting a local trader - even if they are called the San Francisco Fudge shop!

Ahh now Girly, had I had a lot of strawberry and Orange Cremes I'd have been happy, those are my favourite ones, but they don't even do the orange ones any more and there were about three strawberry!! Bah humbug!

It's the inconsistency that's the problem, an assortment should be just that. Although I will try some of the Sainsbury ones as well as the M&S ones I've already bought.

I think the problem with the taste is that they seem to put soya into the chocolate these days. Makes everything taste vaguely coconutty and bleurgh