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Advent calendars are one of the most exciting parts about Christmas. Cracking open the first door on December 1 really gets you in the festive mood and Mirror writer Niamh has reviewed some of the most popular to see which offers up the best chocolate
The run up to Christmas Day is one of the best parts about the festive season – especially when you have a chocolate advent calendar to help you countdown.
But as advent calendar frenzy is now almost upon us there are too many of them on the shelves to choose from. Pretty much every brand of chocolate is now in advent calendar form and it can be almost impossible know which one to choose. Advent calendars are no longer limited to pictures of chocolates, almost everything you can imagine now comes in Christmas countdown form.
From makeup and skincare advent calendars to crisp and stationery calendars and now even jewellery offerings, there’s something for everyone but you just cannot beat the classic chocolate advent calendar. Whether you’re a Cadbury’s lover, a Galaxy fanatic or after something a little different, there will always be something for you. However to make that choice a little easier, I have taken the hard job (aherm) of reviewing a range of the most popular advent calendars and found which one offers up the best chocolate…
Dairy Milk – £2.00
A true chocolate classic for those who know exactly what they want and know exactly what they will get. For some reason, when in small advent calendar form, the chocolate always tastes so much better than a bar. While I do love Dairy Milk, I feel like there are so many other types you could go for that are a little bit more fun. However, it’s a classic for a reason.
3/5
Aldi’s Kevin the carrot – £1.49
Aldi have joined in on the Christmas fun and brought back their sell-out Kevin the carrot advent calendar. The highly anticipated calendar returns for another year with Aldi’s Christmas mascot Kevin. As part of their special buys, Kevin’s calendar will only be available while stocks last. However, I can’t say I’m very impressed. The chocolate is very small and very thin so it is hard to enjoy it, although it did have a little design of a carrot on, which was fun. However, when it came to the taste, the chocolate tasted a lot like cardboard and I think this may be because it was the only one without foil wrapping and was placed in the tray.
1/5
Galaxy – £2.50
Another true classic, Galaxy advent calendars are always popular. This one was one of the thicker ones, which had the added bonus of meaning you get more chocolate for your buck, which was surprising as it was still quite cheap. Once I opened the door I was impressed with the size and chunkiness of the chocolate, it was shaped into a little Christmas tree as well. It was creamy and delicious, and again, seemed much nicer than a regular bar of Galaxy chocolate – maybe because it’s in a smaller size you savour it more, but nevertheless, I would be tempted to open another door of this calendar.
5/5
Dairy Milk Creamy – £5
This is a brand new contender in the advent calendar race, so I just knew I had to try. It was by far the biggest and thickest out of the six I sampled and it looked a lot more premium than the rest by the designs on the front but as it was the most expensive I wasn’t surprised. When I opened the first door I was impressed as it was the most sizeable chunk of chocolate of all the advent calendars and was shaped into a square with a Christmas tree on. The chocolate is definitely creamy as it has a soft centre in the middle which almost melts in your mouth. A square of this each day will be a real treat and is by far my favourite and I think it is very reasonably priced too.
5/5
Kinnerton Barbie – 99p
As a cheaper option, I can’t say I was expecting much. But this may be ideal for parents with young children, especially if you don’t want to give them big chunks of chocolate each day. Kinnerton always make child-friendly advent calendars. While it may be cheap, it definitely wasn’t as bad as I thought. The chocolate was very milky and had a little reindeer on, although it was very small so hard to enjoy – but that may be ideal for small children.
3/5
KitKat – £2.50
I was intrigued by this KatKat advent calendar due to ther chocolate having small pieces of KitKat inside. However I can’t say I was very impressed, the chocolate tasted quite cheap and the chunks were actually rice puffs so I was a little let down. However each chocolate was a decent size which I was pleased about.
2/5
There are definitely some classics on this list, but for me the winner was the brand new Cadbury’s calendar. I was chocolate that I had neevr tried before, and although it was sweet, it is a real treat on the run up to Christmas – and the only time you can get away with chocolate for breakfast is over Christmas.
Do you have a story to share? Email niamh.kirk@reachplc.com
