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But with so many options to choose from, how do you know which mince pies are truly worth the calories?
Instead of relying on reviews or online rankings, why not turn it into a fun family event and organise your own mince pie taste trial?
It’s the perfect way to embrace the Christmas spirit, have some laughs, and crown your family's favourite mince pie of the season!
Here’s a guide to organising your very own taste trial to determine which supermarket or café chain truly reigns supreme in the world of mince pies.
Step 1: Plan Ahead and Gather Your Pies
To make your mince pie taste trial a success, you’ll need a good selection of pies from various supermarkets and cafés. In the UK, many well-known names offer their take on the festive treat, so consider including options from:
Supermarkets: Marks & Spencer, Asda, Morrisons, Booths, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi, and Lidl.
Café chains: Costa Coffee, Caffè Nero, Pret A Manger, and Greggs.
Aim to include a mix of both budget-friendly and premium mince pies to see if price truly reflects quality. Depending on the size of your gathering, plan to get at least one pie per person from each brand so everyone can have a decent taste.
Tip: To ensure you’re tasting the latest batches, purchase the pies as close to the trial date as possible.
Step 2: Set Up the Taste Test
To keep things fair and unbiased, turn your taste trial into a blind taste test. Here’s how:
Remove all packaging: Take the mince pies out of their boxes and place them on plates, assigning each brand a number instead. Make a note of which brand corresponds to each number and keep this list hidden.
Keep it simple: Label each plate with a numbered card, so no one knows which brand they’re sampling.
Cut the pies into quarters: If you have a larger group, this ensures everyone gets to try a bit without getting too full. Plus, it allows you to stretch your budget further.
Step 3: Prepare Tasting Scorecards
Create scorecards for your guests to rate the mince pies on different criteria. You can either design your own cards or use a simple format like the one below:
Criteria Score (1-10)
Appearance
Pastry texture
Filling flavour
Balance of spices
Overall impression
Ask each family member to rate the pies from 1 to 10 for each category. Encourage everyone to make notes on what they liked or disliked about each pie. To make things even more fun, you can add extra categories like "Most Christmassy Aroma" or "Best for a Cup of Tea".
Step 4: Conduct the Tasting
Once everyone is seated and ready, hand out the scorecards and let the tasting begin! To cleanse the palate between samples, provide water, plain crackers, or apple slices. This helps prevent flavours from blending and ensures each mince pie gets a fair assessment.
Encourage your family to take their time savouring each pie, discussing their thoughts as they go along. This is where the festive fun really begins as opinions are shared, debated, and defended!
Step 5: Tally Up the Results and Announce the Winner
After the tasting is complete, collect everyone’s scorecards and add up the results. Reveal which mince pies correspond to each number and announce your family's top mince pie of the season!
For added excitement, you could even create fun awards such as:
Best Value for Money: The pie that offered the best taste for its price.
Most Traditional Flavour: For the mince pie that stayed true to classic tastes.
Best Pastry: Celebrating the crispiest, flakiest, and most buttery crust.
Family Favourite: The pie that received the highest overall score.
Step 6: Celebrate with a Hot Drink and Leftover Pies
Once the results are in, it’s time to relax and celebrate with a festive drink. Pair the remaining mince pies with a pot of spiced tea, mulled wine, or hot chocolate, and toast to a successful taste trial. It's a wonderful way to wrap up the evening and get into the Christmas spirit.
Bonus Tips for a Successful Taste Trial
Decorate your space: Add some festive decorations, play Christmas music, and light a few candles to create a cosy, celebratory atmosphere.
Get the kids involved: Children will love helping with the set-up and scorecards. You can also create a kid-friendly category, where they rate based on sweetness or the amount of fruit filling.
Document the fun: Capture photos of the tasting event, especially those funny moments when someone tries a particularly divisive pie! These memories will be lovely to look back on year after year.
Why This Tradition is Worth Starting
Organising a mince pie taste trial is a fantastic way to bring family together during the festive season. Not only does it add a bit of fun and excitement to your Christmas preparations, but it also gives everyone the chance to bond over a shared love of delicious festive treats.
And who knows? You might just discover a hidden gem that becomes your new go-to mince pie each year. So gather your loved ones, sharpen your taste buds, and let the mince pie judging begin!
Happy Tasting and Merry Christmas!
Incidentally the genesis of this blogpost came when I bought two different types of mince pie and I thought: "Hang on! This needs to be on That's Christmas!"¬