I acquired a taste for them a year ago when I visited Australia for the first time. John and Sara had a pack of them at their place when Dave, Joe, and I stopped by for a barbie one night after Web Essentials 2004 was over. Maxine asked, “Would you like a Tim Tam, Doug?” Me: “What’s a Tim Tam?” Maxine, shocked at my response: “You’ve never had a Tim Tam?!”
I remember my first bite tasting kind of strange. Different. But the Tim Tam grew on me. It helps that I have a particular preference for just about any type of chocolate. Tim Tams are small “chocolate biscuits”, uniquely Australian, produced in NSW by Arnott’s Biscuits. Some of us would call them cookies. The chocolate coating is soft, and melts instantly in the mouth (and the fingers). The “biscuit” is a perfect crunch of more chocolate.
Haven’t had one yourself? Imagine the taste of a Girl Scout Thin Mint, without the mint. And a chocolate coating a little more toward the milky side. And twice as thick with more chocolate in the middle. That’s a Tim Tam.
It’s been a little over a year since my introduction to the Tim Tam. I haven’t had any since. Last week, just before leaving Sydney, I bought a small bag of them. They were gone the day I got back to San Francisco.
I’ve never seen them for sale at stores here in the States. How does one fill the craving for more of these chocolatey, biscuity gems when one is 6000 miles away from Australia? Ever seen them outside of Australia and New Zealand? (Oddly, the bag of 12 individually wrapped biscuits I bought in Sydney states that it was imported into Singapore.)
Need more. Clicked “Online Store” link on the Arnott’s site. Buggah! Closed for administrative reasons. Keep searching. Find an article on our own local SF Gate titled, Surviving outside of the Outback. Read about AussieProducts.com, a small Aussie importer that helps fellow Aussies battle homesickness and takes orders online. Discover that they’re just down the road in Santa Clara. Place an order for a few packs at US$3.60/unit, plus $10 for ground shipping. (For reference in Oz, that’s almost $5 AUD, not including shipping.) Order arrives today. All is right with the world again. Now it’s just a matter of discipline and self-control.
If you’ve never had a Tim Tam, and you’re into chocolate, find a pack of Tim Tams and try one if you ever find yourself Down Under. Alternatively, if you can’t wait to get to Oz, or if you’re from Oz and craving a taste of home, order your fix and have it in your sticky little hands within a few days.
And yes, you can also add a 5-pound tub of Vegemite to your order if you’re into that kind of thing.
(Note, I have no affiliation with Aussie Products, other than the fact that I just placed my first order with them a few days ago.)
The sweet irony. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to get root beer here in Oz, but I can toddle down the street and buy Tim Tams any time I like.
On a sidenote, did Maxine happen to show you how to take tiny bites out of opposite corners and suck your coffee through them like a straw? Heavenly.
My girlfriend is Australian and I’m a Pom (for those that don’t know, Pom is Aussie slang for a Brit – It comes from the phrase Prisoner Of Her Majesty back when we were shipping our in-mates out there).
Our kitchen cupboards are absolutely filled with Aussie snack food and sweets (candy, or lollys as they call them) from Tim Tams to Mintos to some funny Aussie make of Liquorice.
You missed a very valuable addition to Tim Tams and Vegemite – Nestle’s Milo. She loves the stuff. Especially on Ice Cream. In fact she’s converted me to it too. It’s especially good in a cold glass of milk – but make sure it isn’t completely dissolved so you have nice chunks of Milo floating on the top…
Mmmmmm chocolate malty goodness…
I was taken aback by Tim Tams when I was in Oz earlier this year. After tasting one, I realised it was the Australian version of our ‘Penguin’ biscuit! So next time you’re in the UK, look for Penguins to satisfy your TimTam needs…
Alternatively Jon, my local Sainsbury’s sell Tim Tams so I would imagine yours does too… ;)
I’ve known about half a dozen people who either come from Australia or went down under to visit in the past few years, and, without exception, ALL of them are crazy for Tim-Tams. I half suspect they are laced with cocaine because of the effect it has on people. I haven’t tried them myself, mostly because they seem to be impossible to obtain outside of Oz.
I use to send packs of Tim Tams and Mint Slices to American friends as presents/rewards/thank yous, never understood why they loved them so much. Them somebody explained that Australian chocolate biscuits (cookies to you yanks :-) are made with real cane sugar and that gives them a total different and “addictive taste”.
Doug have you tried a Dangerous Liaisons Chilli Choc Fling Tim Tam? Yes that is their name and yes they have chilli in them and they do taste great. Reviewed here, Wikipedia entry for Tim Tams.
If you desperately need some chilli chocolate tim tams let me know, they will survive posting to the US, in return you will just have to buy me a beer or two at WE06.
And they’ve just introduced Tim Tam Balls!. Probably lure you back next year with Tim tams?
Saw your presentations both in WE04 and WE05, great stuff!
According to UK biscuit bible Nice cup of tea and a sit down, Tim Tams are available all over the UK. I’ve only ever seen Penguins.
Alternatively, you can go to Indonesia for Tim Tams. I never thought that it could be that good. Now you write about it, I suddenly feel the urge to buy some on the nearest store :)
You can get them in the UK at australia type shops but theyre way expensive. But hehe… We just received a pack in the mail for my girlfriends birthday. Mmmm, chocolatey, biscuity goodness. sorry to rub it in. Just couldnt help myself.
Hmmm, Tim Tams with chili pepper. That’d be interesting. Seems like there are quite a few variations on the original.
Earlier this year, Peter Merholz and I were in Hong Kong, and had some kind of super-charged chili-chocolate gelato that practically kicked our butts over to Kowloon. Started off sweet, then began burning the heck out of my tongue and throat, even though I had been thoroughly numbed earlier by a really good Sizchuan dinner. I could hardly finish the gelato, and I really enjoy spicy/hot food.
All Tim Tam fans need to try the Tim Tam Slam, as briefly mentioned above.
Bite the very tip off each end of the Tim Tam, then use like a straw with the hot drink of your choice. The trick is, the biscuit disolves as the hot liquid is drawn up it, so as soon as you taste the hot drink you need to slurp the whole Tim Tam into your mouth, where it explodes with chocloatey goodness :>
No doubt it would work with other similarly constructed biscuits/cookies/whatever…
My brother brought back Tim Tams from his time in Oz, but he also brought a new way of consuming them: the Tim Tam Torpedo. Apparently very popular where he was (all over the place, so not sure of the specifics.)
This is exactly what Chris Clark is talking about, but I thought it might be good to clarify, or things could get messy:
1. Tim Tams
2. hot black coffee
3. bite off the top 2mm or so from each end of the Tim Tam
4. you now have, essentially, a flattened biscuity tube filled with chocolate and covered in chocolate
5. get ready
6. use the Tim Tam as a straw to suck up the coffee
7. sounds like it won’t work. it does
8. as soon as the coffee hits your mouth, cram the whole Tim Tam in. you have about 1 second before you are covered in melted chocolate and coffee
9. enjoy enjoy enjoy
This also works with UK Penguins, though there’s something about the T-T-T that works better than ‘Penguin Torpedo’. Also Tim Tams are less dense than Penguins, so the whole timing thing needs to be carefully considered. It’s an art, but one worth perfecting, I think you’ll find.
(And by the way, it’s Marmite, the original, all the way.)
:-)
I’m an Aussie, and whenever we send packages of presents to family in America, we fill up all the spare space in the box with Tim Tam packets… and when they send us stuff, we get peanut butter M&Ms! There’s hardly any peanut butter chocolate down here. But Tim Tams make up for it.
If you were still down here, I’d recommend you go to Gloria Jeans and try their Tim Tam ice chocolate. Yummy.
I can’t believe you don’t have Tim Tams over there. Have you tried a “Tim Tam Slam” yet? They’re are even better!
1. You start with a frozen, or atleast refrigerated, Tim Tam. (That stops it melting in your fingers too early)
2. Next, boil the kettle and make yourself a nice hot cuppa coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
3. Bite the ends off the Tim Tam, dunk it in the drink and suck.
It just melts in your mouth, it’s so delicious… Sure, it’s messy, but the experience is worth it!
Tim Tams, I’ll see if I can get my hands on some. Plenty of ‘expat’ shops in the Netherlands. We can get root beer here too. My girlfriend (an american) always had a few cans in the fridge all to herself because the dutch don’t like the stuff. I do and that caused quite a bit of resentment on her part. Oh btw, we’ve split up and it wasn’t because of the root beer. :)
Once you’ve had a tim tam, there is no going back.
Have you used one to drink your coffee through yet? Kind of like Lachlan says in 15, but different.
Keep your tim tams in the fridge
Make a cuppa
Bite one corner (not the entire end) off a tim tam, bite the diagonally opposite corner off. Dip bitten corner in cuppa, and suck beverage through tim tam. As fast as possible before tim tam disolves.
Divine!
Oh, and the other reason they are so addictive is that they are made with real milk chocolate – not compound chocolate, not cooking chocolate, but top notch stuff that you would get in a good chocolate shop.
I fell in love with Tim Tams while visiting Singapore. I don’t think we should stop talking about them until Arnott’s gets the hint and stocks every store shelf in America.
And I also recommend the Tim Tam Slam. How can you not love a cookie with such a mythology and system built up around it?
I generally try to stay away from Tim Tams because they are, without doubt, the work of satan. However, a while ago in Oz they started selling Tim Tams with alcoholic flavouring. If you thought normal Tim Tams were great, try Kahlua or Tia Maria flavoured ones.
I’m off to find myself a carrot stick to munch on now. Even thinking about Tim Tams is fattening :/
Martin (20): I don’t think we should stop talking about them until Arnott’s gets the hint and stocks every store shelf in America.
Now there’s an idea.
I have heard there are a few specialty stores in the States that stock Tim Tams (just like Aussie Products). Finding them is the challenge. Or maybe that would make them too easy to get.
i hate to say it but now you’ve got myself, kelly, and the entire gotomedia team hooked on tams. doug, i thought you were our friend. “no affiliation with aussie products”? hmmph, you prolly been pushing their tams for years.
in unrelated news, beautiful site! got any more tams?
I lived in Australia for a few years and got hooked on Tim Tams and Nutella. That was more than 10 years ago, now you can get Nutella in the US. I still haven’t found Tim Tams though.
Like others have mentioned (Rich, comment #13) you really need to try out the Tim Tam straw. One change to the steps though, step 2 (hot black coffee) needs to be replaced with a hot fresh cup of Milo. In the US we’d probably call Milo hot chocolate, but just like calling Tim Tams cookies, it doesn’t quite do it justice. With hot Milo and Tim Tams combined, it really is amazing chocolate melt down.
just got back from hong kong where i got the chance to hang out with some aussies and steal all their tim tams. i’m slowly working on fighting my new addiction to them.
as for the vegemite, well, to each their own. but that stuff’s just vile.
Yeah, specialty stores are the way to go if you have some nearby. I managed to find a regular source of Tim Tams after we got back last year at the local specialty candy shop. They regularly import UK candy, and thankfully Australian too. Stores like that aren’t common, but I’d be surprised if you didn’t have an equivalent somewhere in the Bay area.
An Australian friend also introduced me to them. I’ve seen them for sale at Safeway in Canada, so you might be able to pick them up from there.
Yum those sound good!
Hey a sidenote, how do you get the comments that you write to be different than the rest? Is there a Movable Type tag that you can use for that, or did you use a php variable?
Damn you, Bowman! I’m a recovering TimTam addict, and you’ve just rekindled a desire for that chocolate-laden gob of goodness. I haven’t had TimTams (or a proper slam) in well over three years since moving back to the States from Melbourne. I do believe someone could make a very lucrative living peddling the cocoa-based crack on the streets.
Small story about TimTam Slams:
The first month I was in Melbourne (living in a flat in Glenroy), I was challenged to a sort of “Slam-off” with my roommates. Keep in mind, I was a much portlier version of my present self at the time, and I couldn’t have my pride sullied, so I went to great lengths to down more TimTams than anyone else.
TimTams + Milo are a devious combination… after a few slams, people are generally feeling rather sick. The most my roommates could handle was four TimTams before they went green.
I did eleven. And promptly… ahem… chundered.
Well if you can’t get Tim Tam’s in the States, I think you’re facing the harsh reality of having to permanently relocate down under to satisfy said vice. We’re practically drowning in a sea of Tim Tam’s here! I’m surprised no one has thought of marketing the Tim Tam Slam into a viable product. They did it with fruit juice and lemonade after someone noticed that kids love to mix their juice and soda drinks at birthday parties and BBQ’s etc – hence we now have Just Juice Bubbles (NZ).
Now that ‘Merika and ‘Straya have a free trade agreement, I can only assume that the Tim Tam container ships are already plying the Pacific. I’m pretty sure securing a controllable supply of Tim Tams was the prime motivation behind the FTA.
mmmm… Tim Tams! My own Tim Tam story concerns my daughter and her boyfriend. These days there are many different flavours of Tim Tam, so that when said boy went to the shop to buy a packet, he couldn’t remember her favourite flavour. A man of true initiative, he bought one of each – I think about 8 packs! We feasted for days.
Even I, a Pom with an Australian wife and son, have to concede that Tim Tams are much better than Penguins. Tim Tams are the world’s best chocolate-coated biscuits.
Not being a chocolate girl I respect Tim Tams, but even one is too much for me. It’s a sure path to Death By Chocolate.
The thing with vegemite is that it’s not so much the flavour, but the experience of the flavour that’s the key, as with chilli or soy sauce. With vegemite, you get the salt taste on the roof of your mouth just before a radiating dark gorgeousness at the back of your mouth. Salty, smooth, sharp, endless.
Go with it and you’ll get there. Resist and your lost.
I reckon it’s a key Australian flavour because the the flavour is reminiscent of the taste in your mouth after surfacing from your first wave at the beach, or of summers spent in the ocean.
New to vegemite? Tread carefully. Best introduction is to prepare your favourite toast, spread lashings of butters, then add a fine layer of vegemite on top … more than you might for hot english mustard, but enough for it to swim in the butter. Eat hot and enjoy the sensation. Expect the flavour to surprise you more than win you on first taste.
Another product that seems to get overseas visitors addicted is Darrell Lea liquorice. Rumour had it that Lionel Ritchie (no, not my taste in music) had a regular supply airfreighted to the US.
Must be that pure sugarcane thing again.
In my Place I was taste this one too… It’s really delicous. Not just Choco. More than that :)
And the Price not expensive much.
Australian Products Co.
294 Brokaw Road
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Mon-Sat: 9am -5pm (Closed Sunday)
Santa Clara is a bit out of the way, but still closer than Sydney.
Oh, and yes that is the same Aussie Products of aussieproducts.com, was just pointing out their storefront location and business hours. Next time you’re in the vicinity pop in and stock up.
Via NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown.com you can hear all about the launch of TimTams in the uk at the Australian High Commission.
Also click on the image for a rathergood surpise…
According to an Aussie mate, Oz has been exporting Tim Tams to the US but *not one shipment has ever got through*. No wonder those Pacific islanders are so damn happy!
Btw – Vegemite is for beginners – Marmite is the real McCoy! Try:
– toasted Marmite soldiers dipped in a soft-boiled egg
– grilled cheese on Marmite on toast
– Heinz baked beans on grilled cheese on Marmite on toast
or just dip your finger in the jar!
Dark Chocolate Tim Tams.
Heaven!
You can get various Tim Tams at some of the crazier shops in Tokyo. As an Aussie here, though, it’s Milo that I miss most – the Japanese Milo is completely different, and I found another (Malaysian?) that also failed to satisfy.
Interestingly, there are only 11 Tim Tams in each pack. I think it’s a prime number on purpose so you can’t evenly share just one pack…
tim tams taste much better than penguins… penguins are like the poor man’s tim tams. the elements of the penguins are there but they just dont gel quite as nicely as tim tams.
Thanks Douglas!
It’s been more than a year since I left Australia, where I spent six months, and I didn’t remember Tim Tams. Awesome snack. The problem is I can’t buy them here in the Basque Country, and now I feel like Doctor Zoidberg not been able to get anchovies. I want more! More!
BTW, you have to try the dark chocolate ones as Drogo mentioned.
Thanks again for bringing me memories of Australia.
I gave up chocolate about a decade ago (I’d been eating too much, and it was either go cold turkey or get so fat I’d develop tides) so it’s only a memory now, but Tim Tams were definitely it as far as biscuits go. Everything else is inferior; sorry, but that’s how it is.
However: honeymoon in South Island of New Zealand introduced me to two taste sensations that can almost compare, for fellow chocophobes at least: Nice & Natural fruit/nut/yoghurt bars, and Tip Top ice cream. Both utterly delicious, and both impossible to find back here in Oz. My parents popped over to Christchurch for a quick holiday and like a fool I forgot to ask them to bring some back (granted the ice cream may have melted in their carry-on luggage…). Never mind; we’ll just have to emigrate to Dunedin.
Incidentally, NZ has Tim Tams, as far as I know, so it really is the most civilised country on earth.
Keeping an eye open for the TTs now.
I am a fiend for Marmite or Vegemite. My Wife complains about finding “jars of that vile stuff” stashed all over the place. You can’t buy it easily in Wisconsin but I do not intend to run out! Nobody has mentioned that Roasted Potatoes kick some serious ass if basted with the stuff during cooking. I have seen Marmite haters go weak at the knees for them!
You must try the coffee trick. I was lucky enough during university to frequent a local coffee shop enough to be allowed to do it at their tables. We’d rock up late and stay late while they packed up and did the books; so they didn’t mind us sneaking tim tams in.
The coffee trick works amazingly well with a good latte :) Never tried it with a hot mocha though, hmmm….
Maybe we should get the WE gang to include Tim Tams in the WE06 goodies :)
I’m Hungarian and I’ve never been to Australia for that matter (although the AUS Open seems to be a major reason going there, mates!) but one of my then-classmate lived there and she’d brought back some of this chocolate bars in question.
I know it must have been Tim Tam’s because we were using the “Torpedo” method to consume them. It was a nice experience regardless of the fact that we used tea as the liquid.
I wanted to share my experiences with this chocolate bar. And now for something completely different..
Doug, you really should try a Tim Tam with a Brixton. What is a Brixton, you ask? It’s two parts Bombay Sapphire (or other gin) and one part Kahl√∫a in a shot glass.
My Austrialian roommate introduced me to this delight, which also demands that the person consuming the Brixton and Tim Tam does so in a ritual way:
1. When the drink is ready, bite off two diagonally opposite corners of the Tim Tam.
2. Insert the Tim Tam in the drink and use it as a straw.
3. Enjoy the sweetness of the Tim Tam in contrast to the biting gin.
The name of the Brixton stems from the UK city which experienced race riots in the 1980s; the gin and Kahl√∫a in the drink do not mix. Its taste experience is harsh at first and becomes softer and sweeter the closer you get to the bottom (where the Kahl√∫a is).
I haven’t the slightest clue how the Tim Tam came into this, but I like it. If it weren’t for my Oz roomie and his Brixton, I may well never have been able to share your affection to this lovely biscuit.
Mmmm Tim Tams! Just be careful – they’re deadly. You’ll deny it to begin with, but soon your addiction will start to affect your family and friends and that’s when you need to get help!
Vegemite is the nectar of the Gods. Promite is almost as good (like Vegemite, but not as strong and a bit sweeter).
I had a Norwegian flatmate at university, and he wanted me to try his salt-liquorice lollies: a boiled aniseed lolly encrusted with salt. Absolutely disgusting! But don’t worry – I got him with the Vegemite ;)
Eric TF Bat wrote:
Incidentally, NZ has Tim Tams, as far as I know, so it really is the most civilised country on earth.
I couldn’t possibly comment on that, but NZ has Chit Chats which are the same concept as Tim Tams but totally kick their ass taste-wise!
That aussie shop in santa clara is pretty cool, they have alot of NZ and aussie stuff
good place to check out if you are around the sjc airport.
NZ has tim tams, and a gang of other biscuits, you got to try the cookie time.
side note: hey I randomly stumbled on you site, I am using one of your templates (Minima Black) via blogger, thanks for that mate!
Mmm, just finished a Tim-Tam just now! And Bathurst is on. It’s a good day to be an Aussie! :)
Anyway, I’ll be coming over to San Jose at the end of November for a six month stint so if you would like me to bring some over please let me know. :)
I do have a 350 kilo shipping limit though. ;)
This has been a great read – I never thought about things like Tim Tams and Milo not being available everywhere in this day and age. I still can’t believe that we have Tim Tams pretty much to ourselves!
Might go and grab one out of the fridge now… (Couldn’t resist the opportunity for a stir!)
[homer]Hmmm… Tim Tams…[/homer]
Great reading for me as well :) It’s been my dream for years to get to Australia. Now, I have one more reason to make my dream come truth…
Talking about tim tams and Chit-chats, Vegemite and Marmite, there is also Mars bars and Moro Bars.
I’ve never seen a Moro Bar outside of New Zealand so I’d be interested to hear if they do exist elsewhere. Essentially, comparing a Mars Bar to a Moro bar is like comparing a plain wine biscuit to a Tim Tam. Unlike Mars Bars, Moro Bars are weighty, with a similar density to Snickers bars. However, unlike snickers bars, there is very little peanut incased in its chocolately goodness. Rather it has a thicker version of the internals of a Mars bar on the bottom half with a thick toffee style layer on top. This is then all surrounded by very milky dairy milk chocolate. To top it off, it also comes in a “Mega” Size… enough to completely satisfy even the most hungry of stomachs at a total weight of 100g. Here’s some pics I found: http://www.sixthseal.com/001457.html
I don’t understand the Tim Tam addiction myself. As far as Arnott’s Biscuits go, Mint slice is where it’s at.
In Indonesia, Tim Tam from Arnotts have a long-size stick pack :) it’s only Rp. 1.000,- or 10 Cent US Dollar…
Yummy!
I too have been introduced to Tim Tam’s studying here in New Zealand. They are truly something amazing!
For those that are lucky enough to have some, try dipping them in peanut butter! I have become addicted to eating Tim Tams this way, also, I find the double coated ones to be the best.
A friend of mine in the states had sampled Tim Tams once and was ‘jonesing’ (well, ‘jane-ing’ more accurately.) I hunted and found http://www.everythingaustralian.com. They also do email gift vouchers, so you can buy Tim Tams for people and not have to have their home address – very useful for internet chocolate orders for people who you know, but not that well. Tim Tams ordered, sent, and a very happy American resulted.
Something in case you have emergency cravings and your area’s out of chocolate wonderments :)
(And no, I’m not affiliated with them either, but if I was in the U.S. without Tim Tams or Mint Slices I’d be going mental also.)
You must try them with a good port using the straw method. A winning combination. Heaven!!!!!! An Australian friend of mine got me hooked on this.
I was at a local movie theater last night here in Boulder, Colorado and lo and behold, they were stocked to the gills with Tim Tam bars and other Arnott’s finery. It’s a small world sometimes.
I first had Tim tams in NZ and yes they are great. I have seen them here in the UK a few times, in a shop in Covent Garden I think.
They are the second best biscuit for doing a tea torpedo after the Cadburys chocolate finger. YUM YUM :)
You are a life saver Doug! Many thanks for pointing out the links. I just recently visited Australia myself in March of 2005 and could only get so many into my luggage for the trip home. Upon arriving back in the states, I could not find them online or at least for a reasonable price. I’ve been having cravings lately for them and was wondering how I was going to get my fix. Thanks again for the links!!
Glad I live in Australia, where Tim Tams are plentiful and cheap!
Tim Tam Slams are the ONLY way to eat these delicious babies. I can easily devour one whole packet in one sitting with a couple of cups of coffee.
Don’t know if you’re aware, but Arnotts have brought out lots of different Tim Tam flavours like chewy caramel Tim Tams, Chili Tim Tams, double choc Tim Tams, dark choc Tim Tams, Indulgence etc.
Mmmm… think I’ll go have myself a Tim Tam Slam now!
Are they selling those things for $3.60 USD each??
Or is that for a pack of five or something?
$3.60 USD each? EACH?
Yes, we get Tim-Tams in Singapore. But let me tell you, they taste like a watered down version of a true Aussie Tim-tam!!
I lived in Melbourne for a good 5 years and enjoyed glorious chocolate (without the extra veggie fat they put in Singapore chocolate to delay melting), and of course Tim-tams and Mint Slices.
When I came home I was real happy to see that we actually had them yummy thing here. Disappointedly, they tasted half-arsed compared to the Aussie stock. Dunno what it is, but just didn’t taste as good.
Perhaps it is the great Australian air that makes it taste so good… :P
And yes, I am an Asian who LOVES Vegemite and does the Tim-tam suck!!
I’ve been living in Indonesia for a few years now – I had never had a Tim Tam until arriving here. (I’m American).
People cannot understand why we love ’em so much.
Oh, and they’re only about 50 Cents (USD) over here for an entire package!?
It’s something I’ll seriously miss when I decide to leave.
When we lived in Brisbane we had Japanese homestay students & they loved them – they started buying them in duty free stores until we twigged – they were in heaven when we showed them the biscuit aisles at our local supermarket (only 1/3rd the price). Now we ship a carton to them every few months
Also Streets have combined my 2 favorite vegetables – Tim Tam & Ice cream. They are selling Tim Tam & Mint Slice Cornettos (conical icecream in chocolate lined waffle cone).
My wife & sister own a take-away food store & I am banned from the ice cream freezer – although I am allowed one as treat from time to time.
My family had to bring over Tim Tams, Cadbury Milk Chocolate and a large tin of Milo for some friends when we visited the States several years ago.
Many American celebrities have mentioned importing them, whereas others seem to visit Australia more often to stock up on them! I’ve even seen a few Australian talk show interviews where the celebrity talks about Tim Tams for most of their alloted time, only briefly mentioning their new movie/album/book they are meant to be promoting!
Patrick, you can sort of get Moros in Australia, but not full-size bars. They only come as the tiny bite-size in certain selection boxes. I do have vague memories of actual Moros being available here long ago though.
That does it, all this talk of tim tams and mint slices – I’ll have to drop into the convenient (pun intended) store on the way home from work and buy some.
We get them in New Zealand too. My favourites (all though I think they’re usually a limited release?) are the Berry flavoured ones. They’ve also got white chocolate ones with a really gooey caramel center.
i have no idea who you are, i just followed a stack of links and found myself here reading your timtam rant. i am however happy to send timtams to anyone around the world that wishes some, so please feel free to email me with your request and i will be happy to oblige. timtam love forever.
n
I spent three months in Oz in 2002 and became a serious tim-tam addict – and I mean serious; I was eating at least 2 boxes of the bloody things every day.
It got to the stage where my wife would have to accompany me to the supermarket to stop me buying a sneaky box to eat on the way home.
When I got back to Ireland I was immediately distraught at only having Tim Tam’s poor English relative ‘Penguin bars’ to eat.
Even thinking about the white chocolate variety makes me drool…
Good God, this post makes me sound like a lunatic!
The Tim Tam Slam is the absolute best thing, can be done with Penguins too… yeah ok i have too much time on my hands :)
There is an Australian gift shop in Covent Garden, London, sell all the different varieties, and Tesco, probably all around the UK, sell them too.
Now I really want a tim tam!
:O)
I got addicted to both Milo bars and Tim Tams while over in Sydney. I think they were the main cause of me gaining the weight that I did.
Man, this entry and all the comments (thanks, by the way for finally clearning up the real name for the hot cocoa with tim tams (Tim Tam Slam)) are making me nostalgic. I miss Aussie land.
hmmm…. chocolate…
I recently moved to Ireland for grad school and am having a bit of a chocolate withdrawal as every bar of chocolate I see is milk chocolate. Endless arrays of milk chocolate, of which I do not like.
Semi-sweet dark? I can only find mint & dark or lemon & dark, but not rasberries and dark chocolate.
Now I will go back to eating my apple. ;o)
Douglas,
As mentioned earlier by Jon Hicks, they are the same as “Penguins” which you can by from a few outlets in SF, such as the British Grocery on Potrero at 14th, You Say Tomato on California nr. Polk or the convenience store at Haight and Pierce.
Happy munching!
How are these not being sold to us fat Americans? We’ll eat anything containing chocolate!
Those Aussies are sitting on a gold mine!
I was going to say Clint … holy!
The next time you’re in the East Bay you might try Mangal’s Market in San Leandro. I see they have Tim Tams advertised: http://www.anzfjfoods.com/cookies.htm
A little closer than Santa Clara, but not a whole lot.
While I have to agree (being an Aussie) that Tim Tams are fantastic, an even better biscuit is the Jaffa Cake.
You can’t get them here (well I have been unable to find them) so I find it vitally important to make friends with English people so that they can post them to me. Waiting on a delivery of them as we speak….
So next time you are in the UK try McVitties Jaffa Cakes. They’re a godsend.
Tina’s not wrong, Jaffa Cakes are a fine biscuit. Incredibly moorish.
dear god, i though i was the only one!! i swear, they’re like crack cookies…
big thanks (or maybe not) to cobrien for the info on Mangal’s — i’m driving over there now!!!
It is hard to believe that so many have been touched by this little slice of Heaven. I absolute love em, and could eat a whole packet. There are quite a few new flavours, caramel, choc chilli, a strange coconut (dont ask just swallow) and of course the double choc.
I have been out of Australia, 2 years now and they are truly on my top five things I miss. If you haven’t partaken, i strongly suggest picking a packet up.
I was just sitting down to lunch when I noticed this poster explaining the Tim Tam Slam. Clearly my first thought was Stopdesign!
This was in the food court at the 277 mall, Newmarket, Auckland, NZ.
Have not seen them here in NY.
I work at a supermarket in Cairns. They are the number one seller of Tim-Tams in the world. It’s kinda scary — Japanese tourists come in and buy 20 or 30 packets of Tim-Tams to take back to Japan.
(The dark chocolate Tim-Tams are better)
tim tams balls became one big ball in the heat for lions club supper ..maybe these could be packaged in foil to prevent this problem.
I’ve also had the tasty Tim Tams! The first (and only) time I’ve eaten them was when I went to Indonesia this last summer. I agree that they are quite strange at first but then highly addicting. Thanks for bringing back such chocolatey good memories!
There is also a Tim Tam flavoured ice-cream available for sale in the great land of Oz. I wonder if it ever turns up on US shores..
Never been a big fan of tim tams, too sweet for me.
I miss biguns from New Zealand.
Are you aware of the very famous Tim Tam commercials.
Gennie: You Have Three Wishes
after a couple of stupid wishes
the final wish is
“A never ending packet of Tim Tams”
sound like you need to Gennie to provide you with A never ending packet of Tim Tams.
While in tasmania my hubby developed an addiction to the Tim Tam Slam. It’s like the tim tam torpedo that someone mentioned above, but with hot chocolate. I have never had the pleasure of experiencing it myself, but he says it’s absolutely divine.
Seems really odd reading about a tim tam addiction and trying to get some. I always have some in the fridge, advantages of being an aussies 1 / disadvantages of being an aussie 0.
You dont like vegemite?
Forgot to mention, there was a bit of a discussion between politicians and the sort when arnotts were bringing out a Liquer Tim-tam with alochol etc and all that jazz. I think they were banned but i might have to check the shops next time i go get some. I was looking for a story about it on news.com.au but they are having issues so maybe if your looking for tim-tam reading material then have a look.
Nice to see you are addicted to Australian-produced-but-foreign-owned foods Doug!
Us aussies are all addicted.
As an Australian living on the otherside of the world (Ireland), I feel your pain. I especially miss however mainly Milo, Arnotts Shapes, Arnotts Saladas and ofcourse Vegemite. Also, the standard chicken salt avaible in all you corner stores that do chips! And dim-sims, and potato cakes, and so much more!!! I miss alot of Australian food, all very hard to find substitutes for in a foreign country. Just be glad you only got hooked on Tim Tams!
As an Aussie in Hawaii I am fortunate to have fellow Aussie’s in the office who have many visitors. We have Tim Tam, Cherry Ripe, Caramello Koala fix on almost a monthly basis. It is wonderful, I get homesick for all the goodies we have become accustom to. We recently found out that American Samoa do stock Tim Tams. This website aussieproducts.com is amazing. We plan to order some good old Aussie meat pies and sausage rolls!!! Thanks!
I don’t know if they have this sold internationally, but in Australia there is a bigger range of TimTams, featuring double coat, caromello, Tia Maria, mint etc… I personally find the double coat the most tasty, but there is also dark chocolate, white chocolate etc. you get the hint? lol!
I saw on the homesick.com.au forum that some specialty stores in Canada carry Tim Tams. I’m kinda intersted in trying them out now.
I’m interested in trying Tim Tams now. Except, I don’t like shopping online…too bad for me, I guess :P
i’m an aussie, i’ve come to berkeley to study, and i have been craving vegemite and tim tams since the day i arrived here.
i actually didn’t eat too much of it back home,
but now that i can’t have them, i’m going crazy.
i rung my mum last week, and she’s shipped over a few packets of tim tams, and a jar of vegemite.
hopefully that’ll bloody statisfy my craving for good aussie tucker!!!
Your article has made me very hungry! I better pop my head out to the supermarket and buy some. Good thing I am an Ausssie! Well better not waste any more time and head off.
Tim Tams are amazing! I get them from an Australian import shop in Leavenworth, Washington, ironically a Bavarian tourist village.
What a shame…I guess you will all just have to make your way down here (NZ) for Webstock 05!
Not long ago one of the radio stations here held a competition for the fastest Tim Tam Slam time.
I’m not too fond of the chilli Tim Tams, but the chocolate fudge ones are good!
We’re practically drowning in a sea of Tim Tam’s here! I’m surprised no one has thought of marketing the Tim Tam Slam into a viable product.
Hey mates!!!
I was in Australia a couple years ago and I tried the Tim Tam…oh my god it is like heaven in my mouth, I almost died!!! My favorite is caramel, those are just great. When I was there I actually purchased a separate suitcase just to bring Tim Tams home, but sadly they did not last very long. I am lucky enough to have a friend who has a pen pal in Australia so I still manage to get my Tim Tams every now and then, but I need more!!! SEND ME MORE, I NEED TIM TAMS, PLEASSSSSSSSE!!!!!!!
I spent only three weeks in Australia this past summer (Northern Hemisphere summer), but fell in love with Tim-Tams, especailly with the Tim-Tam slam, taught to me by a native of Boston who now lives there. I was so determined to introduce my family and friends to them that I travelled with a pack or two from Sydney to Bangkok and from there to Israel! Then I found out a higher truth: Some random markets in Israel sell Tim-Tams. It’s still a far distance from the States to go, even for the best biscuit in the world1
I can’t believe there are over 100 comments in response to this post!
I hereby declare that I have comment-envy.
I suppose most of it is good reading, but they’re just biscuits.
And before I get shouted down for not knowing anything about it, I live in Melbourne and enjoy Tim Tams but I don’t wet myself every time I think of them. In fact I’d rather have a Vo-vo.
Rgds,
marty
Hehe, it looks good and tasty :D!
Hm, I think it is like our “yes tortie” biscuit and some other..(Germany) I dont know the names ^^ shame on me!
=)
Just been in Tesco, where of all things they now sell Tim Tams! Bought 2 packs before the Christmas mob discover them.
They sound delicious, any place in the states that sells them?
I spent five weeks in Palau (a very small Pacific island, for those of you who don’t watch Survivor) and was extremely surprised to find Tim-Tams at some of the local markets!! I guess that Palau is not too far from Australia, so maybe it is esier to get them there than it is here in the States. I got hooked on the Tim-Tam Slam when I was in New Zealand for three months. I brought a bunch of packages home for my friends, and taught them all how to slam. It was a blast.
I’ll have to try these. Have you had Chocolate Hob Nobs? Try them they are awesome.
http://www.englishteastore.com/cok009.html
Yep… as an Aussie currently State-side, the Tim Tam is right up there in my most missed indulgence category, along with Maltesers, Fruit & Nut, and meat pies of course.
Of course, got plenty of Vegemite. That’s the advantage of of a black foul-smelling butter-like spread that lasts for about 8 years! And we love it. :)
http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/ is a good set of shops and website in the uk. for all oz, nz sa etc sweets, very handy for cherry ripe craving in london though no cherry ripe ice-cream! :( now cadburys own them though maybe ;) otherwise i’ll just have to go back to nz or oz for some more.
t
Was looking for some css information and i bumped into your candy page. Just incredible sweet, but i still prefer chocolate mouse…
i have brought tim tams as gifts for my friend that have gone to the United States before.
i found it cheaper to buy them in Bulk here:
http://about-australia-shop.com/product_info.php/products_id/565
Contents: 20 packets per Box, 11 tim tams per 200g (7oz) packet.
US$66.50 + postage.
it works out to be about US$3.30 a packet.
hope that helps your cravings…
i superduperlikey Tim Tam!
the chocolate just melts in my mouth, and crunchy.
Yeah those look like Penguin biscuits which I liked when I was in the UK, they are good dipped in fruit yoghurt.
Mik
Since there’s so much interest, perhaps I can shed some light on the whole export situation.
I worked on the Arnott’s online shop several years ago (the one Doug linked to above). It was a feasibility test website specifically targeted at ex-pat Aussies.
You could only buy Tim Tam’s by the carton (box of 12 packs of 12, I think). And they cost s**t loads, but the response was still good.
It closed down in 2002 or 2003, and as far as I know it never opened up again. Some political decision, possibly related to quality issues during shipping.
So, they did at least try to export them! :)
Pat
I just got over a painful Tim Tam addiction. Thanks. Now I want a billion Tim Tams.
I just got over a painful Tim Tam addiction. Thanks. Now I want a billion Tim Tams.
Oh my God how do I miss those yummy Tim Tams. I lived in Australia for 2 years and I think Tim Tams have to be the number one thing I miss from that country!
OMG: Tim Tams… LOL
So many posts over chocolate biscuits which I don’t favour… there are now so many varieties, black forest, kahlua, dark chocolate, milk chocolate etc.
I’m surprised they don’t sell them in the US given that Arrnots is now a US brand… along with Kraft the makers of vegimite and now the in-a-biscuits have be sold!!!
We aussies can’t seem to hold on to anything, at least we still get them all thought I suppose.
I just know I’m gonna die the day Kraft decide to cut the Vegimite line.
The biscuits are available in Canada. I live in B.C and they are available at the Real Canadian Superstore which is a grocery store chain.
You know, I went through the same experience when I was in Australia. The Tim Tam ads were the best. “Valdivostok was /fine/, thanks for asking!” and “Since when do Tim Tams come in /fingers/?!”
that is why i live in Australia!!! tim tams are the best and i dont know how you can survive without them…