I was lucky enough to be able to pop into the Thorntons Christmas In July event yesterday. It's an early Christmas party where I got to meet Santa and even hang some chocolate decorations on a Christmas Tree! It was slightly surreal given how hot it is in London at the moment but seeing as I'm the type of person who looks forward to Christmas all year round, it was great fun! And the best part of course was finding out all about the new products for Christmas 2014 (and tasting a few of them too!).
At the selection table (first photo at the top of the post), I was told all about the latest Thorntons chocolates for Christmas 2014. Following on from the summer inspired Dreamy Desserts range will be a Dreamy WINTER desserts box of chocolates, with flavours such as Almond & Cranberry Torte, Clementine Creme Caramel and Ginger Cheesecake. The Almond & Cranberry Torte chocolate was particularly delicious, I loved the creamy almond flavor with the tart fruitiness of the cranberry (it's pictured in the box above, top row, second from left).
This year is the 60th birthday of the Continental range and to celebrate Thorntons is bringing back some classic recipes from years gone by, including Apricot Parfait, Mandarin Truffle and Brandy Noisette. Available as limited editions in single bags (above) or in the larger Continental selection boxes.
Classics like the Continental Alpini chocolates have new packaging for their Christmas boxes featuring the "Celebrating 60 Years" golden badge (Alpini box RRP £5.00).
I love the European city feel to the Continental collection box packaging, it's really beautifully decorated (Continental Birthday Box RRP £15.00).
This Christmas Collection box has a very fun and festive appeal. All the chocolates inside are Christmas themed in appearance and name; from Snowballs and Yule Logs to Star of Wonder chocolates. It's a great gift collection. (RRP £6.50).
There were quite a few Advent Calendars on display, from the traditional Continental Advent Calendar and the cute The Snowman and the Snowdog Advent Calendar, but I found this brand new Thorntons Smiles Advent Calendar (RRP £7.00) especially appealing. I'll definitely be buying this one for my kids in December, it's such a great idea. The packaging has a rotating panel at the front which you have to turn to find the correct door to open, with a few Christmas jokes along the way - it's a really fun product.
I was lucky enough to get one of The Snowman and the Snowdog white chocolate figures in my goody bag (RRP. £10.00), but there was also a 1kg model on display that will cost £50 - that's a lot of chocolate! Also new in The Snowman and the Snowdog range is a lovely gift pack designed as a bandstand, where the box can also be used to play with or for display (RRP. £10.00).
The Thorntons Irresistibles range is available in Belgian Truffle, Irish Cream, Gooey Caramel or Nutty Praline. There's also a new Limited Edition Smooth Coconut available now and a Limited Edition Salted Caramel too. I need to try those! (RRP. £5.00).
I also got to try my hand at gift wrapping my own box of chocolates in the professional Thorntons gift wrapped style. It's certainly a cut above my usual attempts at gift wrapping!
You can check out more photos from the Thorntons Christmas in July event through the #ThorntonsXmas hashtag on Twitter.
