Vanilla Reindeer Beginning, Truffle Advent Calendar Review
Reviewed by Emma Rogers
Christmas advent calendars used to be aimed at children, and in my day, you were lucky to get the chocolate ones with tiny little moulds of chocolate in the shape of a star, or perhaps, Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. Well, today advent calendars are big business and there’s a bigger variety than ever out there, except not just for children. Adults get in on the festivities too, and that includes chocolate!
I was sent the ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Prosecco’ advent calendar from Vanilla Reindeer. Although chocolate truffles, it has more of a grown-up slant to it because the chocolate truffles are actually prosecco flavoured, so best not hand this one over to the kids! It’s a full-sized calendar which goes from 1 December up to 24th, unlike some of the newer adult ones which only cater for the 12 days of Christmas.
The first thing I noticed about it when I opened it is how heavy it is – 24 truffles which amount to 288g of chocolate. That’s more than couple of bars of chocolate in all, and 12g per truffle each day.
I had to send the company information on making it personalised as well, so with my Goddaughter’s photo and her name across the front (she’s actually in her late teens now, so she can try the Prosecco legally!) it says, “Imogen’s Calendar’ and has a photo of her. From memory, this would have been invaluable when I was a child as my brother and I fought endlessly over who’s calendar was whose until my Mum came up with the brainwave of getting us calendars for different brands the following years. No need with this calendar though as you can’t miss the photo and name across it! I was warned that the photos might not be good quality based on what I sent them, but the photo looked brilliant to me, even if it had been slightly lower quality that was my fault. However, it was a photo form my computer, so rest assured, you can send digital photos to them that aren’t high resolution and they still look great on the front of the calendar.
I know it’s not Christmas yet, but in the interest of trying the goods for your reading pleasure, I opened some of the windows to see what was inside. Each window has an individually wrapped truffle, which is Prosecco flavoured. The truffles themselves appear to be white chocolate with a milk chocolate coating, and the Prosecco flavour is subtle at first, but there’s popping candy inside which sets of the ‘fizz’ sensation with a few moment. They’re certainly rich – which I guess truffles are meant to be, and I ate a few of them (again, all in the name of research!) on the hop and soon realised that popping several in a row is too rich for me. However, you’re only going to be eating one a night for the whole of December, so one isn’t going to overload the tastebuds.
The calendar is sturdy and well made. It came in the post and was in tip top condition so there’s no problem in mailing them, just as long as you know the weight.
I’d recommend these calendars for grown-up children due to the Prosecco branding, but the website has plenty of other types that can be sent out. The personalisation makes them extra special if you’re sending them by post directly so it looks like more thought has gone into them.
Who doesn’t have a friend, relative or even a Secret Santa colleague who wouldn’t love a bit of indulgent Prosecco chocolate truffle treat for Christmas?
Rating: 4.5/5
RRP: £22.99
For more information or to buy visit www.vanillareindeer.com.
