Cat's peanut better cup review(yes there is more than one brand)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I trundled off to town for a walk and after walking into the local Tesco,it seems they are best buds with Hersheys ATM, and they are doing 9 Reese's peanut butter cups for only £1.20! However,going into Asdas,I was surprised to see a pretender to the throne....Nestle Butterfinger Cups with a peanut butter filling!! 4 for a £1. Now,that really confused the Moose,as he didn't know what one to eat off the shelf.

Hence,I decided to take a great risk(both financial and Moose related) to see which is still king of the very minor hill. I bring you the...peanut butter cup!



Now comparing the packaging - Reeses has its "classic" eye assaulting orange and yellow packaging which is great if you want to spot the sweetest thing in the store(outside a Twinkie bar). Butterfinger packaging seems more refined and more suave,so wins here,but apparently the US ones are just as migraine inducing as the Reese's packaging.



The packaging states each Reese's cup is 17g and the Nestle pretender to the very buttery throne is 21.5g or a whole 26.4% bigger,ie,if you are on a diet and are allowed on a single cup,get the Nestle one as it will fill your gob quicker. The Reese's are patriotically made in the USA(some can be made in Mexico or China),and Nestle apparently due to utter shame doesn't list country of origin. So Reese's wins here.



A comparison of the cups - Reese's is smaller and circular and the Nestle one is squarer and less ridged. However,more of the fake chocolate gets on your hands with the Nestle cup,as the cheapskates have avoided not covering it in paper. OTH,it is probably the more environmentally friendly cup.

Now,lets look deeper into...the cup.



The fake chocolate coating on the Nestle copy is actually much thicker and the Reese's cup is actually much softer overall. It started to disintegrate when I tried to break it in half hence not so good for sharing. Definitely more a selfish cup,and is not made for the socialists out there. Figures.

Those little dots in the Nestle cups,are actually pieces of Toffee,which is actually only mentioned in little writing at the back. Cheated,I feel,cheated!! Less peanut butter!!

OK,now to the taste test. The Nestle cups are definitely more substantial,and the filling is much crunchier. The Reese's cups are much softer overall and tend to melt quicker in the mouth. What about the taste?? The fake chocolate coating on the Nestle cups,is much less sweeter and less sickly than the Reese's ones. However,this more than compensated by the pointless addition of Toffee pieces which amps up the sweetness to near Reese's level. However,the peanut butter seems much creamier and nicer in the Reese's cups(possibly a bit more saltier).

I would say the Reese's have the edge,and at current prices is better value. The Moose likes both now,since it can assault the shelves at two supermarkets now.

However,after having two of each,I feel thoroughly sick now. The sacrifices I make for all of you!!

[peterb]

I feel slightly sick just reading that - and I like peanut butter. Not so keen on Hershey's chocolate though.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I feel slightly sick just reading that - and I like peanut butter. Not so keen on Hershey's chocolate though.

If I find amy more peanut butter cups brands,I will add them here and see which is the top of the butter cup!

[DanceswithUnix]

Ah context of where you read things, I look at the square ones and wonder how well they would work as a thermal compound

Edit: They are around the magic 100kcal value for a snack, though I think a chocolate hobnob is a better use.

[Saracen]

Two fundamental laws of civilised life ...

1) Don't ruin good scotch with Coke. A little water if you really must, but it should be as God intended .... neat.

2) Don't dilute good peanut butter with .... shudder .... cheap chocolate.


Me? I'm hardcore. I like my peanut butter with, at most, a bit of dry toast. And I make my own. Peanut butter, I mean, not toast. Though make my own toast, too. And I make the bread I toast.

Amateurs. Honestly.

[Bagnaj97]

2) Don't dilute good peanut butter with .... shudder .... cheap chocolate.

No worries here then. It may be cheap chocolate, but it's not good peanut butter!

[MrJim]

Gotta love the marketing gurus at Nestle:
"lets make a sweet made from peanut butter!".
"Great idea! One problem though, some people like smooth peanut butter, but others like it crunchy!"
"Damn, that is a conundrum..."
"I know, let's just put 'smooth & crunchy' on the packet...everybody wins!"

[kompukare]

2) Don't dilute good peanut butter with .... shudder .... cheap chocolate.

Isn't cheap chocolate a given when buying stuff American food technology companies? They make Cadburys look like they have a high cocoa content.

Of course the worst offender is surely food tech 'guacamole' where the likes of Old El Paso get away with 14% avocados, although that's a lot compared to something like the Asda own brand at 5%.

[Ttaskmaster]

A little water if you really must, but it should be as God intended .... neat.

Oh dear.

Had you said whiskey, I'd have perhaps understood....
But for actual whisky, or even Scotch, water has been the norm since 1494. Neat is for brooding American cops in movies.

[peterb]

1) Don't ruin good scotch with Coke. A little water if you really must, but it should be as God intended .... neat.

<pedant mode>

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as neat scotch - and if there was it would be undrinkable. Scotch is available in a a number of strengths, which are obtained by diluting the spirit with water. For example, I have some cask conditioned Laphroaig at 57.3% by volume - which is as it leaves the distillery - so probably as 'neat' as you can get - but (for me) is undrinkable without adding water.

Next to it I have some Laphroaig at 43% by volume so it has already been diluted!

</pedant mode>

But I agree, a single malt should not be further diluted with anything else but more water

[Saracen]

<pedant mode>

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as neat scotch - and if there was it would be undrinkable. Scotch is available in a a number of strengths, which are obtained by diluting the spirit with water. For example, I have some cask conditioned Laphroaig at 57.3% by volume - which is as it leaves the distillery - so probably as 'neat' as you can get - but (for me) is undrinkable without adding water.

Next to it I have some Laphroaig at 43% by volume so it has already been diluted!

</pedant mode>

But I agree, a single malt should not be further diluted with anything else but more water

Having done enough "pedant mode" posts myself, I deserved that.

For clarification, for peasa... sorry, pesants, by "good Scotcb" I was referring to the bottled output as sold retail, not the raw spirit that is part of the process.

I leave it to the good judgement and palate of the reader as to which are, and are not, 'good".

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Another day,another encounter with a Reese's product. It looks like they are trying to take on Cadbury's Creme Egg now.



Now,the Moose was very protective of its nearly acquired peanut butter confectionary. A nearby cliff served as a suitable distraction.

The egg in its unwrapped goodness.



What the egg looks like on the inside.



There is a fair amount of peanut butter in there,but the bottom has a slight air gap.

After trying one,it is very sweet,and comparable to the Cadbury's Creme Egg and most of that is the fake chocolate. Luckily the peanut butter is not sweet so,its a bit easier to eat overall. However,one is enough TBH - even though the peanut quantity is more than the Reese's pieces,the extra fake chocolate,means you will probably be less likely to have more than one.

[AGTDenton]

When I went to the good ol' US of A in Oct, I noticed they had fallen out of love with Peanut Butter compared to when I went in the 90s.
They used to have restaurants dedicated to the stuff, and menu items with various Peanut Butter dishes everywhere, but not today. They have literally wiped it from every restaurant for peanut allergens. Gutted I was! You're not even allowed to take an open bag of peanuts in the street anymore.

I didn't like much of their confectionery, the annoying part was that you had to buy a massive multipack bag just to try 1 in a lot of cases. There was very little there that you couldnt get here, and the scary thing is its now cheaper to buy it here.
Of the few things Europe is good at, chocolate confectionery is one of them. I've yet to have it better outside.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

When I went to the good ol' US of A in Oct, I noticed they had fallen out of love with Peanut Butter compared to when I went in the 90s.
They used to have restaurants dedicated to the stuff, and menu items with various Peanut Butter dishes everywhere, but not today. They have literally wiped it from every restaurant for peanut allergens. Gutted I was! You're not even allowed to take an open bag of peanuts in the street anymore.

I didn't like much of their confectionery, the annoying part was that you had to buy a massive multipack bag just to try 1 in a lot of cases. There was very little there that you couldnt get here, and the scary thing is its now cheaper to buy it here.
Of the few things Europe is good at, chocolate confectionery is one of them. I've yet to have it better outside.

Twinkies are horrible. I felt like I was going to have a sugar overdose after having one. I don't understand why their chocolate is so sweet. Having said that apparently the US chocolate in the early days used slightly soured milk(down to transport distances) and people got so used to it they artificially added flavouring in many chocolate brands.

Technically Reese's is using fake chocolate as it lacks Coco butter.

[Ttaskmaster]

Of the few things Europe is good at, chocolate confectionery is one of them. I've yet to have it better outside.

South Africa...

Y'know how eating too much chocolate makes you feel sick?
You don't get that with Saffa choccies, even the same make/model like Astros, Cadbury's dairy milk, or Top Deck(yes, they still make that one out there).

Summat to do with the type of sugar they use, I believe.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

South Africa...

Y'know how eating too much chocolate makes you feel sick?
You don't get that with Saffa choccies, even the same make/model like Astros, Cadbury's dairy milk, or Top Deck(yes, they still make that one out there).

Summat to do with the type of sugar they use, I believe.

It could be also down to the coco they used especially if its sourced more locally. I remember in Asia trying some chocolate,and it seemed to not only taste different but had more coco content.