Recently some of the big supermarkets have started selling Irish Dairy Milk bars in their world foods sections. I've seen them in Tesco and Morrisons so far - not sure about other supermarkets. When I found these at Tesco I was very excited - I haven't had a Cadbury Tiffin in years! It was widely available in the 90's in the UK, I believe, and was one of my favorite Cadbury bars - I loved the combination of crunchy biscuit and chewy raisins. I've never understood why it was discontinued.
As well as Dairy Milk Tiffin, Tesco also sell Dairy Milk Mint Crisp, which is similar to a bar available in the UK in the mid-2000's - "Dairy Milk with Mint Chips". I think it was last seen around 2005.
Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin:
This is described as "Milk chocolate with raisins and biscuits" and I'm sure there will be many like me who remember it from the 90's - they came in medium sized bars, as I recall. And they were the perfect combination - crunchy biscuits with chewy raisins, all embedded in comforting Dairy Milk chocolate. The Dairy Milk with Shortcake Biscuit released in the early 2000's kind of made up for their loss, but it lacked the chewy raisins which make Tiffin so unique.
So how does this Irish version compare? Well, it tasted just as good as I remember! Firstly the bar comes in the old-style square blocks that Cadbury used to make (they've changed them to a new curved shape recently), which is very important because it gives the bar a more substantial feel. The chocolate had the familiar comforting smell that Dairy Milk always has - very creamy and enticing. And it actually tasted better than the Dairy Milk we get here in the UK. I'm assuming the UK version has had a recipe change in recent years, because this Irish one tasted much richer and creamier, and just how I remember Dairy Milk used to taste.
The combination of biscuit and chewy raisins was as delicious as I remember - the biscuit being crunchy and slightly buttery, whilst the raisins provided a nice chewiness. Both combined with the creamy chocolate tasted fantastic. It's hard to explain why or how but to me it's just the perfect combination of tastes and textures. I couldn't get enough of this bar and was very disappointed with the small size - why are these bars so small?!
Overall, this is a fantastic chocolate bar, and if like me you were a fan of these in the 90's I would highly recommend seeking them out at Tesco or Morrisons. They're a bit small and expensive for their size, but definitely worth the nostalgia trip!
Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint Crisp:
Not being a fan of the discontinued UK version of Dairy Milk Mint Chips, I wasn't all that excited to try this although it turns out it's actually slightly different. It's described as "Mint flavoured milk chocolate with honeycombed granules", so it doesn't actually contain mint-flavoured chips like the UK version did.
It smelled as delicious as the Tiffin, but with added mintyness. It was quite overpowering actually.
And it tasted overpowering too. The honeycomb pieces were nice and crunchy, but the strong mint taste overpowered the creaminess of the Dairy Milk chocolate. I kind of enjoyed it for the strong minty hit...but I don't think mint is a flavor that works with Dairy Milk. I think it'd be more suited to Bournville chocolate. The crunchiness from the honeycomb granules was nice, but they didn't offer a lot other than a bit of extra sweetness flavour-wise.
Overall, if you were a fan of Dairy Milk Mint Chips in the early 2000's I would recommend seeking this out, but personally I don't think the combination really works.
Overall
I am so pleased that Tesco and Morrisons have started selling these Irish Dairy Milk bars, they are excellent quality and the Dairy Milk actually tastes superior to the UK version. The bars may be a bit pricey but I think they're worth it for the difference in variety and quality, plus I've seen them reduced in price occasionally.
Please stay tuned for my review of the Irish Dairy Milk Golden Crisp and Caramello bars!
Price: 95p each at Tesco - not sure about Morrisons.
Ingredients: Both bars are suitable for vegetarians.
Allergy Advice: (Tiffin): Contains milk & wheat. (Mint Crisp): Contains Milk. Both bars may contain nuts.
