Biscuit Blog: Belmont Oaties

Belmont Oaties

While not a Hobnob, these do very well.  They have that oaty flavour but without tasting something like ryebread.  They do not disintegrate on being bitten and you do not have to pick pieces from your teeth, though you get the oaty texture in them.  There is the hint of sweetness which is right to indicate that this is not a biscuit for cheese.  The packet is a little small, but the thickness of the biscuits is more than reasonable.  Overall good value oaty biscuit if that is what you want.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Belmont Rich Tea biscuits

Belmont Rich Tea biscuits

These are not bad as Rich Tea biscuits go; certainly not as small as some are now becoming.  They have a rather dry starting taste but some richness in the aftertaste and they are reasonably moreish.  They have a good snap and as you would hope for Rich Teas do not crumble easily.  Overall, for the standard range of a discount supermarket they do the job intended for them.  A little less dryness in them would raise them that bit higher.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Belmont All Butter Scottish Shortbread Fingers

Belmont All Butter Scottish Shortbread Fingers

I must apologise for the photo in this posting, the light level was lower than I realised even though I have always lived in unfortunately gloomy houses.  As seems typical with Belmont, the ordinary biscuit brand from Aldi, they have gone for a lengthy title.  These went into a head-to-head with the Lidl equivalent for a taste test by two members of my house and came off slightly worse.  They crumble easily, a trait common for shortbread, but the full biscuit lacks 'bulk' when bitten, it seems too dry.  There is no visible sugar, but the butteriness that you would hope for given the title also seems absent so it comes off as very plain biscuit with only a little of creamy after taste.  The Lidl version just wins out for having better structural integrity and some more of that creamy flavour that you look for in shortbread.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Hill Fruit Shortcake biscuits

Hill Fruit Shortcake biscuits

I bought these Hill biscuits from Aldi.  The first thing is that you get a very long packet, though the biscuits themselves are small.  Perhaps they have too much of a snap for a shortcake.  This is the start of the problem for the biscuit.  It takes more like a Digestive without the oaty pieces in it; the creaminess of a good shortcake biscuit is missing.  The fruit is lacking in sweetness, so effectively you end up with a kind of small - and they are small - Digestive biscuit with bits in it, not a pleasant experience.  If you were looking for a better value biscuit like this, then simply buy a Digestive, they are available from Aldi too.

P.P.  Just a warning: I found that these biscuits have a laxative effect which I put down to the hard currants and the wheaty texture of the biscuit.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Belmont Biscuits Coconut Cookies

Belmont Biscuits Coconut Cookies

These were a really pleasant surprise and found approval more widely in the Rooksmoor household than just from your reviewer.  There tend to be some gems among the own brand biscuits of stores and these are the one from Aldi's Belmont Biscuits range.  They are of a decent size and have a good snap.  Unlike some coconut biscuits they do not crumble.  They have a sweet flavour but do not overdo it.  There is a nice coconut taste but only with a few strands of coconut in each biscuit in contrast to some that are full of shreds.  They are very moreish.  I was pleased with these.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Belmont Biscuits Cookies 'N' Cream biscuits

Belmont Biscuits Cookies 'N' Cream biscuits

These are Aldi's version of Oreos.  However, both the biscuits and the packet itself are very small.  They come close to the taste of Oreos but the darkness of the chocolate biscuit is so strong that it almost gives a 'burn' to your tongue.  The filling is very creamy and these flavours are so at the extremes from each other to make it a very odd taste overall.  You can compare it unfavourably with other sandwich biscuits such as Bourbons and Custard Creams, in which the filling compliments the flavour of the biscuit.  I accept that Aldi has done reasonably well in creating a biscuit which has strong flavours rather than the blandness of too many biscuits I review, but I think it needs toning down on the two components.  The packet and the biscuits themselves both need to be larger no matter what other company's biscuit they may be aping.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Belmont Biscuits Malted Milk

Belmont Biscuits Malted Milk

Belmont Biscuits appear to b Aldi's equivalent of the Tower Gate brand for Lidl, i.e. their everyday version.  Their version of Malted Milk biscuits is not too bar.  It has a sound snap and they are not crumbly, even 'sandy' as some Malted Milks are unfortunately.  The creaminess I seek in a Malted Milk is largely lacking, but instead there is a 'tart' flavour which while not what you might be looking for is not unpleasant and means they avoid being yet another effectively Rich Tea in another form.  They have a reasonable level of moreishness.  If Aldi worked on these and tweaked them to bring out a creamy flavour, these could be very successful.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Memento French Mixed Berries Butter Biscuits

Memento French Mixed Berries Butter Biscuits

I am finding that Aldi likes very long titles for its biscuits.  These are from its Memento range of upmarket biscuits.  As can be seen from the illustration, the box contains a number of sub-packets each holding four biscuits.  These biscuits are pretty small as you can see from the picture.  They do have dried fruit in them but also, it seems, a rather artificial fruit flavour added on top.  I do not think the latter was necessary.  The biscuits are not buttery in flavour but have a reasonable level of snap for this kind of biscuit and are reasonably moreish.  Thus, they are not bad, but they certainly do not have the flavour whether in fruit or biscuit that you would expect to find in a genuine French equivalent.

Rating:
*****

Biscuit Blog: Memento Half Covered Fruit And Nut Cookies

 Memento Half Covered Fruit And Nut Cookies

I have finally located a branch of Aldi reasonably near my house so have rushed in an bought a range of their biscuits to try.  These are from their Memento range of slightly posher biscuits.  I was intrigued by the 'half covered' in the title, but I guess they have been very precise and you would not be misled.

I must say, they are very thick and they are tasty with creamy milk chocolate and a mix of currants and chocolate chips.  I could not detect the nuts mentioned in the name, but they were still tasty. They do not have a snap, but do not fall apart the way some 'cookies' do, especially ones with fruit or nut elements within them.

I hope this is a sign of good things to come from Aldi as I work through what they have on offer. 

Rating:
*****