There's a reason we threw tea in the harbor and not British chocolate.
WASAW is nothing if not patriotic. To prove this, look no further than the set of laminated Declaration of Independence bar coasters we each proudly display on our respective desks. Four-out-of-five of us can name at least 40 states when given only the first three letters of each. Two of us even know up to 15 state capitals.
But most telling of all, we hold our annual eating contests on the Friday before Independence Day. A simple gesture, sure, but it's a reminder to all of us of yet another freedom we're allowed as American citizens -- namely, the right to make ourselves sick on pizza cheese during our office lunch-hour.
And while all five of us would openly applaud any reference to "gritty American soldiers bravely fighting stilted Redcoats and their hired Hussian henchmen" in fourth grade Social Studies class, we'll give the English this much: British chocolate kicks MAJOR ass.
So when Jessica Norwood of Berkshire, England, recently offered to send us free Galaxy Minstrels to try, we hid our bar coasters and proclaimed Sir Snackalot's office to be 6 square feet of British soil.
Jessica sent not only two packages of Galaxy Minstrels (think large size M&Ms with a chocolatey center as smooth as a baby's bottom), but she threw in a Cadbury Twirl bar, as well. And after splitting the two thin fingers of crumbly choclate that is a Twirl, we all agreed that there is no such thing as poor British chocolate. Just poorly-put together British chocolate. (Twirl -- melts in your mouth, AND in your hands, desk, freezer...)
I'll let Kid Nougat take it from here.
-- Paddy O'
First, a special thanks to Jessica Norwood for giving some Yankee blokes a slice of the UK snacking scene!
Galaxy Minstrels:
Kind of like M&M's fat British cousin that no one likes to talk about
(he's not too interesting-looking and his clothes seem to fit too tight),
but if you take the time to get to know the chubby chap, you'll find he's
got PLENTY of personality. If you put a single M&M and a slice of devil's
food cake into some kind of flavor-meshing machine, you'd get the Minstrels.
Tally ho, baby! A big thumbs-up!
Jessica's original WASAW email:
Very cool site, and I'm glad you liked the British snacks you reviewed.
Just one thing, in response to Lisa Flaherty's comment about Bounties in the Peter Paul interview: Bounty is far from defunct here in the UK, I'd say it's one of the more popular chocolate bars (apparently Kit Kat is currently #1). However, we don't have Peter Paul or Hershey here, so maybe Bounties are just a poor substitute!
-- Jess (Berkshire, England)
PS: If you can get them, how about reviewing Galaxy Minstrels? If not, I'll send you some :)
Cadbury's Twirl:
A little bit flaky, a little bit shaky - and a whole lotta TASTE! Once inside
your oral cavity, the twists transmogrify from intimidating shavings of
petrified wood to a silky-smooth chocolate milk shake! Let's see some lame-ass
American magician like David Copperfield try to pull THAT off! Don't think
so, baby! Another thumbs up (although not so big).
-- Kid Nougat