Mince Pie Reviews

 

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Price per pie: ~31p

Review: I’ve liked these in past years, I’m a fan of apple turnovers so these appeal to me. Puff pastry is lovely and the sugar on top usually helps.

The Co-op’s puff pastry pies for 2020 feel very similar to those reviewed in 2017. The puff pastry is good and has a gentle brittleness – it also has a subtle golden brown top with a sprinkle of coarse sugar.

Hiding inside the puff pastry is a small but sweet portion of mincemeat. There’s nothing special about the mincemeat though – it’s not spiced and doesn’t have any fancy fruits, but it’s tasty.

Some people will undoubtedly be disappointed with amount of mincemeat, and this kind of ratio in a standard mince pie would be crazy.

This isn’t a pie you’d have as a workhorse of the festive period – it’s a show pony. And it’s actually pretty good too

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Well here we are….closing in on Christmas 2020. Things aren’t going *quite* to plan are they… I questioned whether to even do this again, considering how we’ll all be sat apart on Christmas day, saddened by the global pandemic, the lockdowns, the masks, the tests, the deaths and the bloody god damn misery of it all.

But some things must go on. Bin collections, the school run, government cockups, the big shop – and, it seems, lumped in with those fine institutions is the annual reviewing of UK mince pies. Who knew?

So it falls to Tesco, that bastion of British supermarkets, to offer up the first pie. It’s their standard, their bread and butter. Let’s get to it…

Overall rating: 4/10

Price per pie: ~31p

Review: I didn’t expect a superstar performance here, they’ve not faired well in previous years but they’ve certainly not been that awful.

The box promises a “butter enriched pastry”, but to be honest he pastry doesn’t have a very nice taste to it at all, and its claggy – damp almost. The mincemeat is neither sweet, spiced nor very fruity which is shame.

Not sure how they’ve managed that.

I mean just look at it…have you seen a sadder looking mince pie? Poor thing.

This is the sort of mince pie that’s put out in great numbers at large scale catering events, it’s cheap but barely cheerful. The sugar on top and the nice star are the only saving graces really.

Describing this as the “2020” of mince pies would be overly harsh…so maybe it’s the “August 2020” of mince pies.

If you think that’s unfair, maybe grab a pack and let me know what you reckon ‍♂️

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 0/10

Review: Shocking. What a state. Co-op’s most standard pie is an abomination.

What can I say? This is not good at all. To provide a bit of context, my middle son is a big mince pie fan too, he tried this one before I did and ended up spitting it out into the bin…

I can see why. It’s maybe the plainest and driest looking pie ever. And that translates to the taste. It’s like the ‘spoon of nutmeg challenge’ (if you haven’t seen that, Google it), the pastry sucks every ounce of moisture out of your mouth and the mincemeat doesn’t help you out at all.

Disappointed in Co-op for letting this out the door. They’ve had a good showing in recent years, but this one leaves a bad taste in the mouth – quite literally.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 9/10

Review: The best fancy mince pie of 2019? Certainly up there with the finest. It’s rich and sweet with lovely biscuity pastry.

These mince pies look the business, very fancy and would make a fine centerpiece on your table after Christmas lunch. The crumble pastry really makes this pie the special specimen it is – it’s so good. Crumbles but still holds it’s shape. The filling is lovely too – with probably the strongest punch of booze this year from the French brandy, without overpowering a fruity snack of mincemeat with whole fruit. Whilst these are maybe a touch rich for a “workhorse pie”, these will impress any visitor over Christmas.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Review: These filled cookies from ASDA are the first non-mince pie, mince pie items I’ve come across this year. They’re good.

Last year we had popcorn, cocktails, cream and all sorts – this year the mince pie flavoured stuff has been hard to come by. Not sure why.

I’m a fan of anyone having a go at making an unusual item that tastes of mince pies. Sometimes they taste good and other times they’re just vaguely cinnamon and fruit. These cookies have a good punch of ginger and cinnamon in the dough, then the mince pie flavour comes from a good dollop of mincemeat underneath the dough in the centre of each cookie. They taste nice, the cookie is soft and the mincemeat is a good mix of fruits. They’re quite sweet but for a quick mince pie flavour fix they’ll do for me. Nice work.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 9/10

Review: Well I’m as surprised as you are! Standard supermarket mince pies have been lazy this year – too soft, tasteless. Not this one.

It’s safe to say my expectations for this mince pie were low, Sainsbury’s have smashed past those and pushed their way into the upper echelons of 2019 mince pies.

The pastry isn’t soggy on the bottom or too crumbly – instead we’re greeted with a great bite, not crumbly but sweet and almost biscuit-like.

The mincemeat is sweet, fruity and rich with some great whole fruit that so many of the standard pies are missing. No ‘paste’ in here!

To finish off there’s a generous sprinkle of sugar on top and a nice design. I think this will be hard to beat in the standard category this year – buy it in bulk and serve it when you have guests over the festive period.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 2/10

Review: Like so many fancy looking mince pies this year, Sainsbury’s have managed to miss the mark.

The first thing you notice when you bit into this mince pie is the cavernous gap where the mincemeat should be…its over half empty! The second thing you notice is just how dry the mincemeat is – I had to double check the box to make sure they hadn’t been left over from last year.

The final observation is the taste – the mincemeat has a slightly strange after taste, almost chemical. Very unpleasant. The only saving grace is the pastry which is decent. But overall a big waste of money…did anyone taste these Sainsbury’s? I’m available all year, you just need to ask.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 6/10

Review: The best gluten free vegan mince pie I’ve ever eaten…but also my first!

I’ve had many requests to review some gluten free and vegan mince pie options. Done it in one here!

I’ve reviewed this as a mince pie – no preferential treatment for the GF or V.

Interesting to note that most mincemeat on the market is already gluten free and vegan. If there’s brandy added then that can complicate matters as some aren’t vegan. Keep your eyes peeled vegan folks.

Onto this mince pie…I’m pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be a tasteless, squishy mess. I was wrong.

The pastry is a decent consistency but is let down by having a bit of a grainy after taste and texture. There’s a very clear spiced flavour to the whole pie which is potentially in there to make up for the lack of flavour from the butter etc in the pastry. It’s actually a little overpowering.

The mincemeat is good and juicy, pretty decent actually. Very happy with that, some nice whole fruits in there.

All in all this isn’t one of the best mince pies I’ve had this year….but it’s the best gluten free vegan one. One to try if you’re looking for GF/V options.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Review: Another Co-op pie…how many do they have? This one is middle of the road – certainly not very luxury.

Pastry on this one is quite nice but there’s better out there. It’s very slightly too soft and crumbly. Similar for the mincemeat. It’s certainly not bad, it’s just mediocre, not very tasty…

As a mince pie it looks right and tastes ok, but nothing to get excited about. There’s better mince pies out there from Co-op in 2019.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.

 

Overall rating: 8/10

Review: Look at that box! These are some fancy mince pies. M&S know how to do food so I’m excited about trying these…

The pie is quite large, it doesn’t taper towards the bottom like most do. The top is as fancy as the box, with an intricate star motif and icing sugar to finish. On first bite I think it’s a bit soft – not too soft but not perfect either.

The filling is the star of the show here, full of delightful fruit and a glug of cognac. But the overriding flavour is orange from the clementine advertised on the box. Glad to see a mince pie tasting like it’s advertised for once, but the orange maybe causes the spice and fruit of the mincemeat to fade a little too far into the background.

Still a very good mince pie M&S, happy to have these at the table over Christmas.

See more mince pie reviews, or check out the mince pie leaderboard.