Mince Pies 2022 | Supermarket Alcohol Flavour, It’s that time of year to look at this Christmas Mince pies, however this year we focus n those slightly different ones, the Alcohol Flavoured ones within the supermarket shops. These can be a little more money than the others and often tend to be the more fancy ones, but how did we get on?
Table of Contents
The Pies
In my annual tradition, I sample mince pies, and I’ve eaten a few…however this year we are looking at those slightly different choices. With money still, a concern for many, especially this year with raising bills, costs and prices, these Mince pies are also a factor. They have slightly increased but I you are going to treat yourself are they worth it? and what a great choice this year.
However these ones will have an Alcohol flavour at the forefront, but to remind you its the flavour not the actually alcohol inside., with regards to price all of these are within £1.25 and £2.50 at the time of purchase, as I ruled out some quite expensive ones from different shops.
Asda | Irish Cream Liqueur
Straight out of the box you are hit with the strong cream smell, being a cream-based ones the top is extremely soft and makes the who Pie much easier to eat and there’s a lot less pastry. The flavour of Whiskey is extremely subtle and the Cream almost Caramel like dominates.
5/10
Asda | Luxury Spice Rum
The remaining Asda pies are all similar in design and texture, this one has a top that’s a little uneven but a star on top, and lots of icing sugar. A definite taste and smell of Rum, I drink Rum as it’s my choice of drink so for me this one it’s all a little subtle and very pleasant but so I’m a little biased on this one.
7/10
Asda | Luxury Sloe Gin
Sloe Gin seems to have risen in popularity, in this one the design again is a slightly uneven Star on top with less Icing Sugar. The pastry is pretty standard, mildly crumbly but almost chewy, however, gets lost in the dominant Sloe Gin flavour. If you not use to this it’s almost fragrant, almost Rhubarb style flavour, but quite strong in Gin.
6/10
Asda | Luxury Pie with Ruby Port and Cognac
A Tweak in design as the star is different and doesn’t cover the whole top allowing us to see through a little to the pie, this pie was much more to an original Mince pie but just a little bit more extra special. There is a taste of the or the port and Cognac but it’s quite subtle and complimentary, the Orange which is the list of under the title, actually is the most dominant flavour and to be honest its all quite pleasant. It ate well, with the party a dryer but stronger pastry but this was all fine and is worked well with the Filling.
8/10
Lidl | Deluxe Mince pie with Brandy
This pie essentially was Lidl special ones over the basic, and it led with the Brandy flavour, this is quite a traditional flavour filling and even though the flavour wasn’t strong you can still taste the filling. The pastry was buttery and soft and again works well. Whether this pie was very special or that much an alcohol-inspired pie? is a little bit perhaps a miss, but eating it was pleasant.
6/10
Aldi | Sloe Gin Tart
The curveball on the list, this traditional Mince pie isn’t traditional, a Tart style with an almond finish on top looks very different, with a Sloe gin mince pie filling, however, this was not as thick as normal pie. At first, it looks tough but actually, it’s easy to eat and to be more of a tart than a pie it was also easy from the shape of it. even though I’m not loving this fascination of Sloe gin this with the almond Tart works well, is it a Pie? Umm no but something different.
7/10
Sainsbury’s | Taste the Difference with Brandy
This was quite a big standard and traditional pie from Sainsbury’s, a thick crumbly base with a large star design, a not-too-sweet filling with a taste of brandy. A pleasant Filling and aftertaste from this to be honest, no thrills Mince pie.
6/10
Tesco | Finest with Brandy and Port
This is Tesco’s special Mince pie, and again the normal Brandy and Port-style flavour is the choice, a well-cooked pastry with a star on top that overhangs but allows a little view inside. The pastry looks a little thick but actually still ok to eat, the filling though is fine with no real taste of the Brandy or port, ultimately it’s all a little boring and underwhelming.
5/10
Tesco | Finest Spiced Rum
A lattice style finishes to the top in a unique finish, the party like the other Tesco’s pie looks well cooked and a little thick, but again ok to eat. The filling does taste of Rum and is much better than the other pie, however, it’s very Sweet but the flavour overall was quite strong.
6/10
Overall
This year’s Pies definitely sees a pattern, Sloe gin seems to be the “in” flavour and if you like that Gin style then fine, for me I’m not a fan of it as it just tastes a bit off for the pie, Brandy, cognac and Port are flavours that still dominate the better ones howe er it was good to see some Rums pies which for me who loves Rum, it’s great.
I applaud the differences in some pies like the Crema Liqueur, Gin, Orange etc..some of these are hit-and-miss. I don’t really rate many of these pies as the fancy but traditional pies out there are probably better, but if you want something different for a more mature eat then its good.