Mince Pie Reviews

 

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Review: Blimey. This is a cracker.

Remember the Co-op 10/10 from 2017? This is the closest I’ve found in 2018. Surprised to find it at Lidl to be honest – the box hides the delights inside, that could be improved for next year TBH (but it doesn’t matter at all on the taste front).

They’ve got a lovely pastry – solid enough to hold but still a great crumble, nicely sweet too. This has been the downfall of so many this year so far.

Mincemeat is great as well – it’s full of spiced fruit – not too wet, not too dry – and nicely tinged with cognac that makes itself known, but doesn’t overpower. Overall it’s sweet and fruity with a near-perfect pastry. It’ll take some beating.

 

Overall rating: 4/10

Review: This probably sounded like a good idea in a product development meeting. It’s not. They’re neither a mince pie, nor salted caramel. It’s a horrible mix of the two that I would urge you to avoid. It’s easy to get carried away on the salted caramel bandwagon…Aldi need to get off. The pastry is terribly pale too…insult to injury.

 

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Review: There must only be a few places in the UK that supply nationwide food retailers with mince pies – and I wonder if Aldi and Tesco have switched suppliers this year? This cognac laced, deep filled finest mince pie is really good – let down only slightly by pastry that could be a tiny bit crumblier – a touch on the soft side. Last year Aldi’s specially selected pie was one of the top picks – and Tesco have managed to leapfrog them with a very solid 8.5/10 for this pie. You can definitely get a nice hit of the VS cognac and the mincemeat tastes expensive too. It looks nice and festive and I’m sure guests would be suitably impressed if you served these up over the Christmas period. I expect these to be the pick of the Tesco pies this year.

 

 

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Review: Tesco have a large range of pies out for 2018 and this lattice topped number caught my eye the other day. As you can see from the picture, the lattice top isn’t as structurally sound as a normal top – so it does crumble a bit more than you’d expect. However the pastry is tasty and not too claggy with a hint of sweetness. The mincemeat is probably not as firm as I’d like which makes the whole thing a little bit tricky to eat. Having said that the flavours from the mincemeat are all good – sultanas, currants and raisins in numbers too. This is a very enjoyable mince pie – but the overall structure and the mincemeat let it down a little. All in all it’s worth the money and will go down well at Christmas I’m sure!

 

Overall Rating: 6.5

Review: Aldi did quite well in 2017 with a range of good standard mince pies and fancy numbers too. Their mini pies were a big hit too.

Disappointingly something’s gone wrong this year. Their posh standard pie with courvoisier VS cognac isn’t a patch on last year. Overall the taste is far from unpleasant but there’s just too much soft pastry. In fact of the few I sampled, both had soggy bottoms. The pastry almost collapses as you handle it. You can get a hint of the cognac, but the mincemeat is a bit on the dry side which doesn’t help matters. Certainly wouldn’t be a disaster if you served these up on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but you can get a nicer box (this year’s isn’t particularly good) and a nice pie for a similar price.

 

Overall Rating: 8/10

Review: I didn’t know this existed – but seeing as how much people know I like mince pies, a colleague brought this by my desk for me to try (I encourage this by the way!). I’ve had Joe&Sephs popcorn before and so it’s more the flavours that I’m reviewing here. The packet says “Popcorn with Caramel, Brandy, Fruit and Almonds” and so it’s not quite a mince pie taste or smell, but it’s certainly festive. The popcorn is quite dark so it has a ‘burnt’ look to it – but pop some in your mouth and it’s really nice. The caramel and fruit come through and you do get a hint of the brandy – so safe for kids too. Seems like the sort of thing you could pop in a bowl at a Christmas gathering and it would get a fair bit of interest – a conversation starter maybe. You can pick some up here if you want to try it > Joe&Sephs Gourmet Mince Pie Popcorn

 

Overall Rating: 7/10

Review: Another decent ‘standard’ mince pie from Co-op. It’s the luxury range so I’m judging this expecting good things. However the pastry lets this pie down in my books – it’s very soft, no crumble to it at all and verging on a soggy bottom. Having said that the taste is very good and the fill is great. The mincemeat is very different to the Brandy Buttercream mince pie (also from Co-op) which is a good thing – it’s a nice mix and the texture is lovely. The icing sugar on top plus the soft pastry means the overall feel from eating this isn’t amazing. Not a disaster but there’s got to be better to come this year.

 

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Review: An enticing looking mince pie, with a nice brandy buttercream topping – this Co-op ‘fancy pie’ is actually decent. The mincemeat filling it a little on the drier, coarser side but not at all unpleasant. In fact it maybe feels a little more upmarket as a result – you can feel the bits of fruit and nut, all very tasty. The brandy buttercream that draws you in is nice as well – a definite hint of brandy but not too much. Last year the pastry on a few of the Co-op mince pies let them down but this one is very good – the crumble you want and a little bit of sweetness too. However, the added buttercream does make the whole thing a little sweet but I think 7.5/10 is a fair score. Within the ‘fancy pie’ range I think this could be one of the top scorers this year – they do sometimes look better than they taste!

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Overall Rating: 10/10

Ladies and gentlemen, after weeks of looking, I’ve found a 10. And in the most unlikely place imaginable – amongst the terrible selection Co-op have managed to put out to date.

The pastry is a perfect mixture of crumbly, soft, sweet and firm. I’m not sure how they’ve done it, but they have.

The mincemeat is the best too – lovely full fruit, juicy and brandy-soaked (just the right amount of brandy) and the perfect amount to.

The top is sugary but crucially not too sweet. Again, not sure how they’ve done that.

This is a tall pie – it does say deep filled but lots of them say that and they disappoint. It’s 1 1/2 inches tall and flat on top – a real big eat. Only comes in a pack of two though – and I can’t work out why?! Maybe on some stores they sell them in 4? I’ll have to tweet Co-op and find out…watch this space.

Find these. Buy them. Goodnight.

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Overall Rating: 5/10

Bloody hell. If you thought the last Co-op Mince Pie was bad…this is worse.

It’s filled to the brim, but with a paste.

The pastry is…dismal.

Go and read about the lack of a deal Theresa May’s managed to get instead. You’ll be happier than me – cos I’ve just had to eat this mince pie…so you don’t have to.