I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday!

Sainsbury's - Mince Pie Reviews

The problem with being a Pierateer is that there are just so many delicious pies out there to review. Often a Pierateer will be found grumbling about their 'pie backlog' which is the list of all the pies we have eaten but have yet to review. Mine currently stands at about 8 'must do' reviews, some of which I have been planning to write for about a year. You know how it is, there is just too much to do in life and if there isn't too much to do then you're just too tired! If only Pierate was a paid job then we might just about have time to write all the reviews! I am currently trying my best to not eat any new pies so that I can get through my backlog, which is extremely difficult!

The reason that I am saying all this is because I am trying to build up my excuses for why this review is so late. Normally I can get away with taking a month or two to write a review, no one will know when it comes to reading it! However, in this case I am trying to review some mince pies of the spiced fruit variety. The trouble with mince pies is that they are far too seasonal. A month on from Christmas and no one is going to believe I just picked these up from Sainsbury's. Indeed I didn't actually pick them up at all. @SainsburysPR on Twitter were kind enough to send a box of pie boxes for us to review. But it is never too late to say thank you to them and add another mince pie to our pie rankings.

This is a sight for sore eyes!

And I certainly do owe Sainsbury's a thank you. These were not just any mince pies, Sainsbury's had spared no expense by sending two boxes of Taste the Difference mince pies, one box of Gluten Free iced mince pies and one box of Taste the Difference Ecclefechan mince tarts. I will say straight away that despite not being pies the Ecclefechan mince tarts were actually delicious! They had a lovely mix of flavours which included nuts making them a bit different to mince pies.

However, of course, the tarts were not really something I can officially review what with this being PIE-rate. The Gluten Free iced mince pies were also tarts really. They were intriguing creatures being somewhere between a mince pie and Christmas cake. The icing made them very sweet and was nice for a change. For Gluten Free pastry our Gluten Free reviewer Pierateer ALE said this was a decent attempt, but we would have liked to see more pastry by giving these a lid!

Sainsburys Taste the Difference All Butter Mince Pie

You will see that the other two boxes are genuine pies so get official scores. Firstly the regular TTD mince pies. The butter pastry was lovely and crumbly but at the same time not at all dry. The mince meat was amongst the best I had tasted all season with some nice variation to both texture and taste throughout. This kept the pie interesting from beginning to end of the consumption process. They looked every bit the festive treat they are supposed to with great packaging, Colour and Condition. These were tall pies so had good Capacity.

Sainsburys Taste the Difference All Butter Mini Mince Pie

For the mini versions they looked a bit different due to the star-shaped lid which made them quite appealing. The pastry to filling ratio was very decent despite these pies being small and not quite fully encased in pastry. The pastry tasted a bit different in these, it was more crumbly and tasted a bit more like shortbread than pastry. In this sense I think I preferred the pastry on the full sized version because the mini version was just too Crunchy. The mincemeat was again very good, I couldn't Taste the Difference between the two TTD fillings.

What made me realise that these were very good pies was the fact that everyone wanted to eat them. I shared them at work and they were gone within a matter of moments. The mini versions went down particularly well, given their small size people are more likely to be tempted. I would certainly consider buying them next year, despite the higher price for these premium pies. They would be ideal for any Christmas gathering. We have given the larger version 'Pierate Recommended' status. Good work Sainsbury's!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

TTD All Butter Mince Pie (Sainsbury's)
5.12/7

TTD All Butter Mini Mince Pie (Sainsbury's)
4.63/7

SJL