One of the most popular biscuits in Australia is the famous Tim Tam. Launched in 1964 by iconic Aussie brand, Arnott’s Biscuits, this chocolatey treat is a staple for locals and an absolute must-try food for you while you’re in Australia.
But which flavour do you start with? The classic Original? An oozy Chewy Caramel? Or one of the many limited edition offerings?
Guided by the expertise of four international taste testers from the Adelaide Hospitality & Tourism School (AHTS) Training and Education, we have ranked every flavour of Tim Tam and successfully uncovered the best Tim Tam on the market.
The taste testers
To effectively judge Australia’s most beloved biscuit, we needed taste testers who were an authority on good food. In come Valentina, Misty, El and Savi, four Commercial Cookery students. These chefs-in-training were able to review each individual Tim Tam, not only on its taste, but quality and technical merits.
The methodology
Considering variables such as quality of chocolate, richness and ‘moreish-ness’ (a.k.a. how much our judges wanted a second bite), our taste testers ranked each Tim Tam flavour out of 10.
We chose to only rank the 6 core Tim Tam flavours, excluding any seasonal, limited edition variants from the official ranking.
For the taste tester’s thoughts on a few of the unique limited edition flavours currently available, check out their YouTube review above!
The results
6th place – Tim Tam White
An Original Tim Tam, but with white chocolate instead of milk. El already knew what the taste testers would be in for:
“The sweetest Tim Tam ever.”
This divisive biscuit caused the following argument between two judges…
Valentina: Somebody once told me that white chocolate is not real chocolate and I was like, you’re not going to ruin my life right now.
Misty: It’s pure fat.
Valentina: No, it’s pure… yumminess!
Despite Valentina’s objections, the rest of our judges were not impressed with this white choc offering.
“It’s meh,” summarised Savi.
Final score:
5.75/10
5th place – Tim Tam Chewy Caramel
Break a Chewy Caramel Tim Tam apart and you’ll see the soft filling ooze out. Aesthetically pleasing, but how did our judges feel about the taste?
“I expected more caramel inside, it’s just like a little caramel worm inside,” shares Savi.
“You can’t taste the caramel, but you can see it,” explains Misty.
“You don’t taste it but you get the chewiness and the stickiness,” adds Valentina.
In a note for Arnott’s, the creators of Tim Tams, Valentina suggests including a contrast of flavours.
“If they could add some salt in to cut the sweetness, it would taste better,” agrees Misty.
Final score:
6.5/10
4th place – Tim Tam Dark
An Original Tim Tam, but with, you guessed it, dark chocolate instead of milk. For Misty it was an instant hit (she rated it 11/10!)
“I love dark chocolate. It’s richer than the Original ones – I like that strong flavour that comes from chocolate that contains a lot of cacao.”
Savi agreed, stating:
“It’s not what I expected. I expected it to be more bitter, because dark chocolate is generally bitter, but it’s actually a good combination with the biscuit. I like this better than the Original.”
Valentina, however, wasn’t so convinced.
“It’s too much. It’s overwhelming.”
Final score:
8/10
3rd place – Tim Tam Original
The classic, the OG, the quintessential Tim Tam. From the Tim Tam Wikipedia page: “two malted biscuits separated by a light chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate” – yum!
“This is the only Tim Tam I’ve actually tried – it tastes like old times!” explained Savi.
Valentina shared similar sentiments:
“You never go wrong with the original. It always tastes the same – I tried this probably 8 years ago when I came to Australia for the first time.”
Final score:
8.25/10
2nd place – Tim Tam Choc Mint
“I’m a bit sceptical of this one,” shares Savi. “I don’t like mint on my chocolate… I’ll just eat around it and leave the mint out.”
However, this controversial biscuit has ultimately taken out second place in our official ranking.
“It tastes fresh… I love this one,” El exclaims.
“They’re easy to eat, they’re refreshing… I could eat more than one,” thinks Valentina.
Meanwhile, Misty has a suggestion for Arnott’s when they’re developing Tim Tams of the future. She feels they need a little more texture:
“I recommend that they have mint chips in there.”
Final score:
8.5/10
⭐ 1st place – Tim Tam Double Coat ⭐
How do you make chocolate biscuits even more delicious? Add more chocolate, of course!
El felt Double Coat was a little too sweet, but nevertheless, this rich treat was crowned our winner.
“It’s like drinking hot chocolate, but in a cookie,” muses Valentina. “It’s so creamy. It gives you comfort. If I was sad, I would go for a Double Coat, straight away.”
Final score:
9.25/10
With over 40 years of experience, AHTS is South Australia’s first nationally accredited hospitality school, launching the careers of over 14,000 local and international graduates. From short courses like barista training and bar operations, to qualified hospitality, business, cookery and automotive courses, AHTS is the perfect place for you to kickstart your future.
