Tarshzay has Tim Tams*

Cafe Society
1

No, really!

According to Wikipedia Target is carrying Pepperidge Farms-branded Tim Tams. I was, of course, excited to read this. Partly because I live east of Lake Wobegon (which is slightly north of Target’s ground zero), but mostly because Tim Tams are the alpha and omega of cookie-dom.

I’ve been reading about the things for years. YEARS. Australian ex-pats miss them; Australian residents torture non-natives with the fact that no one else can get them; people who have visited Australia return home and play the “neener nee ne neeeeeeeeeener” game. So today I braved Target’s pre-Christmas post-working-hours bedlam, searched the aisles, and found them tucked up on the top shelf of the PF section, above the icky Chessman and the extraordinarily lovely raspberry-chocolate Milanos. I bought two packages, one for me and one for gramma. After-dinner dessert, y’see. I was so happy.

Then I bit into one. I am - so far - underwhelmed. I mean, they’re fine, but they’re a lot like Twix and the chocolate coating isn’t all that great - it reminds me of Nestle Crunch chocolate. If I had to choose between Tim Tams and McVitie’s chocolate digestives I’d go with the latter every time.

But I’m really tired right now and perhaps fatigue has altered my tastebuds. Or, perhaps, the PF-branded version isn’t the same as the Australian Arnott version. Or, perhaps, the Australian palate is even worse than the American palate.

There may be some people here who have not only had Original Tim Tams but also have access to an American Target. Those are the people I wish to sally forth to their local Tarzhay food aisle and report back post haste with their tasteful judgment. Because right now I’m all about the “eh?” and that seems to be culturally disrespectful.

So, please. Seek out, find, taste. Please tell me that the PF version sucks so that my vision of unattainable ambrosia can continue. Because if the PF version is equivalent…well. That’d just be wrong.

Go on, now. It’s 7p CST and Target won’t close for at least two hours for most of you. Please tell me that while Pepperidge Farms may have dashed my dreams the legend lives on.
*Since I am soooo far behind on the pop culture learning curve y’all probably know this already. Apologies if this has already been noted, with particular apologies to those pedants who read the thread title and went off and forded into the SDMB’s pathetic search function to find links to show me I’m slow. Not a lot of apologies. I didn’t kill your mother, after all; more along the lines of “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to lose my balance and fall over in your general direction”, if you catch my meaning.

2

I’m the perfect person to answer this question, as I had never eaten (or heard of) a Tim Tam until 1.5 years ago, then began a LDR with a woman from Australia, who has since moved here (and we’ve gotten engaged). She sent me some Tim Tams, then brought more with her on her first visit, then we found an Australia import store that sells them, and now we’ve gotten some from Target.

So:
(1) The Target ones are indistinguishable from the “real” ones (although they call them “cookies” on the package instead of “biscuits”, which is apparently heretical)
(2) The chocolate ones are much better than the caramel ones
(3) I like them a lot. They’re not necessarily the ubercookie in some nigh-mythical way, but they are really really good. They also hold up really well after repeated eating. They have just the right amount of chocolateyness.
(4) You should try a Tim Tam Slam.

3

That’s great news to hear that target is selling them. I’ve been buying mine from some distributor in Texas, luckily they aren’t marked up, just a bit expensive to ship. I think of 'em as an alternative to twix / kit-kat’s. I’ll try the PR kind next time I stop at target, but I’m assuming they will taste the same --there’s nothing super unique about them.

4

They’re OK. They’re chocolate biscuits. No more, no less. They don’t deserve to be up on the pedestal on which some people put them.

5

The issue you may be having is the apparently significant difference in taste buds for chocolate between Australia & America.

When it comes to Chocolate I can take it or leave it, but my missus lives and breaths chocolate. She was pretty non-complementary about much of the American chocolate, which apparently tasted quite different to our own.

That said, I agree with cunctator, they’re a chocolate biscuit, nice but nothing worth selling your mother for. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

For mine, it’s the texture of actual chocolate in between chocolate biscuits, with the whole thing coated in chocolate. It’s why I find them more satisfactory than KitKats. I hereby invent the concept of “Choclons”, the unit of choclatiness per bite. Somehow, Tim-tams seem to be a bit more Choclon dense.
I remember my first taste of them when I was about 8, being struck with wonder, and looking at my mother (who gave them to me) with a new respect. Sure, she gave me life, but giving me Tim-Tams was impressive.

Most sweet biscuit fillings were kind of a fondant thing, with a pretty nothing texture. The solid Cadbury chocolate in the middle gave heft to the whole thing in a way other biscuits didn’t. All in all, they are right up there, but I agree that there are other competitors for biscuity goodness. I guess its a bit like Vegemite - half the effect is childhood nostalgia.

For mine, the triumvirate are Tim-Tams, Iced Vo-Vos, Spicy Fruit Rolls, Scotch Fingers, Fruit Slice, Gingernuts and Milk Arrowroots. And yes I know there are more than 3 in that list. Daydreaming about biscuits makes me lose the capacity to understand the concept of natural numbers.

7

That is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks!

And that makes me feel a lot better. :slight_smile:

I don’t like most American chocolate, either (the average stuff, at least). Tim Tams seem to have this weird, saccharin-like bitter aftertaste.

That said:

:eek:

I take back everything bad I said about Tim Tams. Good god, that’s just pure awesome.

8

I first read about Tim Tams on this very message board! Recently I was shopping at Target (before the holiday rush, actually), standing in line at the check-out, and right in front of me was a display of Tim Tams from Pepperidge Farm. Could this be the Holy Grail of cookies, the sought-after Australian treat that I’d learned about on the SD? :eek: I bought a package of chocolate ones and really enjoyed them, but I’ll keep them for special occasions. Too rich for an every-day cookie.

Later I was in Cost Plus World Market and came across their version, which is what someone here on the SD had recommended, back before PF was marketing the Tim Tams. I bought the caramel ones, and have to say that they truly reminded me of Twix. I’d consider it more a candy treat than a cookie.

Can’t comment on the quality of chocolate in them or to compare them. I love chocolate. I’m American and grew up on Hershey bars. My husband is British and thinks that Hershey sucks. And since American Cadbury is made by Hershey, it sucks too. My feeling is that if it’s chocolate, it’s good. So there. :slight_smile:

9

That’s what I was going to come in to recommend - but I didn’t know it had a name. Warning, don’t do this in front of other people…

10

Correct. The proper poise is to bite the ends off and drink coffee through them, as any Aussie worth his salt will attest.

Edit: Spanked I see,

11

Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate, but I don’t get the Tim Tam worship at all. They’re ordinary little chocolate biscuits that aren’t especially nice. I do like the double choc raspberry ones, but otherwise Tim Tams would never be my first choice of biscuit.

12

I enjoy a Tim Tam every so often, especially the dark chocolate ones, but I also am one who does not worship them.

As far as choccy biccies are concerned, I prefer Mallowpuffs, which are known by many other names around the world (Australia calls them Chocolate Royals).

13

Never tried that – I had never heard of Tim Tams until this thread – but I do like to use a pure sugar peppermint stick as a straw for drinking iced tea. Yum.
RR

14

I think Tim Tams are overrated. I had so many of them two (Australian) winters back that I think I can go the rest of my life without having another one. They’re cloyingly sweet.