Mince pie reviews

photonic69

Can't have them any more as they spike my blood sugars too much Well, I will have them if I'm going on a hard ride right after or take a carefully wrapped one with me, but that never goes well. I really prefer home made ones anyway as they are often less sweet. I'll get the daughter baking tomorrow so best put mincemeat on the shopping list.

pinno

dannbodge said:

Tesco finest ones are my favourite.
Nice and sweet with a decent taste of brandy.

I can vouch for that.

Bought £2.00/6.

Nice, fruity and moist. Pastry is nice - v. short and crumbly.
The best MP I have tasted yet.
I would give them a 5 but just a tad too sweet for me. I suppose you could dust the sugar off the top of them.
Although I didn't get the taste of Brandy as much.

4.8/5

pblakeney

Yet to have my first one of the season.
Slacker. 😉

rick_chasey

Slightly tangential but the M&S stollen is excellent and I would even stick it above even Lidl. A solid 8/10

seanoconn

rick_chasey said:

Slightly tangential but the M&S stollen is excellent and I would even stick it above even Lidl. A solid 8/10

Love the idea of Stollen and the Olde German Christmas vibe generally but stollen is way too sweet for me. Unless I haven’t had a good one.

rick_chasey

If you don’t want your stollen sweet then ignore my reviews!

bianchi_dave

The Morrisons in-store baked are on old favourite of mine. I used to work close to a store and going in around 0800 ensured you got them fresh, and importantly still warm. So no need for the microwave, which can easily overheat the fruit. Don't live anywhere near a Morrisons unfortunately. A memorable 4.5/5.

After advice above I've been trying the Aldi SS this week. Very nice but not as good as the Morrisons, to my memory at least! Not sure if I prefer them warm or cold - warm seems to bring out the mincemeat more, but had one cold this pm and thought it tasted more buttery. A solid 4/5 (warm or cold).

I had a thing for Tesco's iced mince pies for a while, but now think they're a bit too sweet. The icing is quite thick too, which makes them a little gloopy on the palate.

Mince pies can be like a fine malt, everyone's taste is a little different and I think it depends on what you may have eaten beforehand too

pinno

I had 2 Kipling MP's, just to make sure.
Pastry was ok if a little heavy on the palate and a bit thick leaving little room for the filling.
They were alright. Sort of Toyota Corolla rather than Ford ST.
3.5/5.

Charlie_Croker

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

seanoconn

Charlie_Croker said:

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

Charlie, you’ve gone above and beyond. Bravo sir. 👍

laurentian

Charlie_Croker said:

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

This is great work!

Mrs Laurentian and I are big mince pie affecianados and our consumption begins as soon as they appear in the shops and continues until supply runs out.

So far, so good.

Only slight issue is that Mrs L is vegan.

Now, there seem to be a few vegan options out there and they are acceptable (the best probably being a 3/5 on the Croker Scale). I think this is due mainly to the pastry being made without butter.

Any suggestions as to a highly rated vegan mince pie would be greatly appreciated.

pinno

laurentian said:

Charlie_Croker said:

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

This is great work!

Mrs Laurentian and I are big mince pie affecianados and our consumption begins as soon as they appear in the shops and continues until supply runs out.

So far, so good.

Only slight issue is that Mrs L is vegan.

Now, there seem to be a few vegan options out there and they are acceptable (the best probably being a 3/5 on the Croker Scale). I think this is due mainly to the pastry being made without butter.

Any suggestions as to a highly rated vegan mince pie would be greatly appreciated.

A split pea, black bean, lentil and sugar filled cardboard casing.

veronese68

That's great work Mr Croker, I doff my cap to you. I had to pick up a birthday cake for my daughter today so popped into a Waitrose, whilst I was there I picked up a box of their mince pies, purely for research purposes of course. Unfortunately due to the aforementioned birthday I probably won't get round to trying one today, but will report back when I have.

surrey_commuter

laurentian said:

Charlie_Croker said:

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

This is great work!

Mrs Laurentian and I are big mince pie affecianados and our consumption begins as soon as they appear in the shops and continues until supply runs out.

So far, so good.

Only slight issue is that Mrs L is vegan.

Now, there seem to be a few vegan options out there and they are acceptable (the best probably being a 3/5 on the Croker Scale). I think this is due mainly to the pastry being made without butter.

Any suggestions as to a highly rated vegan mince pie would be greatly appreciated.

I was in Lidl to get 2kgs of Serrano ham and thought I would widen my mince pie repertoire. Just for you I bought gluten/dairy free mince pies. Initial bite was surprising as the pastry was more like shortbread or a biscuit in texture, after the initial surprise I rather enjoyed it and will give it 3/5.

I would check whether Waitrose essential are vegan enough for her as ingredients only have “may contain dairy”

laurentian

surrey_commuter said:

laurentian said:

Charlie_Croker said:

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

This is great work!

Mrs Laurentian and I are big mince pie affecianados and our consumption begins as soon as they appear in the shops and continues until supply runs out.

So far, so good.

Only slight issue is that Mrs L is vegan.

Now, there seem to be a few vegan options out there and they are acceptable (the best probably being a 3/5 on the Croker Scale). I think this is due mainly to the pastry being made without butter.

Any suggestions as to a highly rated vegan mince pie would be greatly appreciated.

I was in Lidl to get 2kgs of Serrano ham and thought I would widen my mince pie repertoire. Just for you I bought gluten/dairy free mince pies. Initial bite was surprising as the pastry was more like shortbread or a biscuit in texture, after the initial surprise I rather enjoyed it and will give it 3/5.

I would check whether Waitrose essential are vegan enough for her as ingredients only have “may contain dairy”

Haven't tried either of those so will make a point of seeing if I can get some. Mrs L is usually cool with the "may contain dairy" thing so Waitrose looking promising. Many thanks.

surrey_commuter

laurentian said:

surrey_commuter said:

laurentian said:

Charlie_Croker said:

My Mince Pie testing after a slow start this year has been progressing nicely.
A pack of the cheapest, basic (no cream or icing on top) pies were bought to try, and also keep the field level (comparing apples with apples)*
.
.

Shop     Personal rating
Aldi       not tested
Asda       4/5
Booths     3.5/5
Lidl       3/5
M&S        not tested
Morrisons  2/5
Tesco      3.5/5
Sainsburys 4.5/5
Waitrose   not tested

*Washed down with a mug of tea or pint of ale

This is great work!

Mrs Laurentian and I are big mince pie affecianados and our consumption begins as soon as they appear in the shops and continues until supply runs out.

So far, so good.

Only slight issue is that Mrs L is vegan.

Now, there seem to be a few vegan options out there and they are acceptable (the best probably being a 3/5 on the Croker Scale). I think this is due mainly to the pastry being made without butter.

Any suggestions as to a highly rated vegan mince pie would be greatly appreciated.

I was in Lidl to get 2kgs of Serrano ham and thought I would widen my mince pie repertoire. Just for you I bought gluten/dairy free mince pies. Initial bite was surprising as the pastry was more like shortbread or a biscuit in texture, after the initial surprise I rather enjoyed it and will give it 3/5.

I would check whether Waitrose essential are vegan enough for her as ingredients only have “may contain dairy”

Haven't tried either of those so will make a point of seeing if I can get some. Mrs L is usually cool with the "may contain dairy" thing so Waitrose looking promising. Many thanks.

It was literally my pleasure

DeVlaeminck

Aldi Specially Selected. Not bad at all. Filling very nice, pastry a little on the thick side but most shop bought are this style, pie did break up too easily while eating. I'd give it 3.5/5 - certainly above average.

briantrumpet

Are all mince pies above average?

Charlie_Croker

briantrumpet said:

Are all mince pies above average?

Certainly not by definition.
That’s not to say that most are very good and enjoyable, at least the one’s I’ve tried so far.
The testing continues …

briantrumpet

Charlie_Croker said:

briantrumpet said:

Are all mince pies above average?

Certainly not by definition.
That’s not to say that most are very good and enjoyable, at least the one’s I’ve tried so far.
The testing continues …

I might have been channeling the brain of an education minister who was shocked that so many pupils' reading ability was below average.

surrey_commuter

briantrumpet said:

Are all mince pies above average?

briantrumpet said:

Are all mince pies above average?

Definitely not, yesterday I tried Lidl Deluxe mini and they were awful, I can’t make my mind up whether the lack of mince meat is a good thing so 1/5

Inspired by this thread also tried Mr Kipling which were very average so 2.5/5

seanoconn

Current rankings….

1: Lidl deluxe 4.5/5
Morrisons in store baked 4.5/5

2: Sainsbury’s taste the
difference 4.25/5*

3: Tesco’s finest 4.1/5*

4: Waitrose essential 4/5
Asda 4/5

5: Greggs 3.75/5*
Aldi specially selected 3.75/5*

6: Booths 3.5/5

7: Lidl gluten/dairy free 3/5
Mr Kipling 3/5*

8: Morrisons own 2.9/5*

9: Lidl bog standard 2.8/5*

10: M&S 2/5
Waitrose Heston
Blumenthal 2/5

11: Lidl deluxe mini 1/5

* more than 1 review average.

rick_chasey

I'd rate M&S a 4/5 fwiw.

seanoconn

rick_chasey said:

I'd rate M&S a 4/5 fwiw.

Now you tell me! 😓

rick_chasey

Sorry Sean!

pblakeney

Well done Sean! I'm going shopping tomorrow and could pass a Sainsbury's* so some may fall my way. Finally!

*Not passing any of the higher rated shops.

pinno

seanoconn said:

Current rankings….

1: Lidl deluxe 4.5/5
Morrisons in store baked 4.5/5

2: Sainsbury’s taste the
difference 4.25/5*

3: Tesco’s finest 4.1/5*

4: Waitrose essential 4/5
Asda 4/5

5: Greggs 3.75/5*
Aldi specially selected 3.75/5*

6: Booths 3.5/5

7: Lidl gluten/dairy free 3/5
Mr Kipling 3/5*

8: Morrisons own 2.9/5*

9: Lidl bog standard 2.8/5*

10: M&S 2/5
Waitrose Heston
Blumenthal 2/5

11: Lidl deluxe mini 1/5

* more than 1 review average.

You're quite clever when you want to be.

veronese68

Top work Seano, much appreciated. Will you be updating as more scores come in?
Tried a Sainsbury's TTD with brandy infused filling. Could have been good if only there was more of it, they are bite sized which makes them a disappointment. I'd stick to the standard TTD and add brandy cream. That's a small cup and a 20p to give perspective.

Actually as the 20p is further away it makes the mince pie look bigger than it really is. I should go and snaffle another one.

seanoconn

veronese68 said:

Top work Seano, much appreciated. Will you be updating as more scores come in?
Tried a Sainsbury's TTD with brandy infused filling. Could have been good if only there was more of it, they are bite sized which makes them a disappointment. I'd stick to the standard TTD and add brandy cream. That's a small cup and a 20p to give perspective.

Actually as the 20p is further away it makes the mince pie look bigger than it really is. I should go and snaffle another one.

I will update as more scores come in yes. The review a min after my rankings (mention no names) was soul destroying but I’ll bounce back.

surrey_commuter

Could you aggregate the scores by standard and mini as I think I am seeing a trend

anyway here is the 20p test with Lidl mini (which will remain uneaten) and yes that took a lot of glue