Drift away to toffee heaven (Nestle Drifter)

Member Name: Chelle1969

Product:	Nestle Drifter
Date:	01/07/09 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scrummy chewy chocolately lovelyness

Disadvantages: No weight indication on packaging

Drifter chocolate bars, made by Nestle, used to be one of my favourites when I was growing up (along with Banjo's which have, sadly, long since disappeared) and until recently they've been quite hard to find. The other day I spotted a pack in Tesco of Drifter single finger bars so naturally I had to investigate and see if they've changed over time.

Packaging
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There are 8 individually wrapped single finger bars in an outer plastic pack, which is blue with the graffiti style Drifter font in red and yellow. There's a photo of the chocolate bar, nutritional information, ingredient list and a bubble stating 'now with more caramel' - always a good sign. Also a bubble telling you that they are 99 calories and the little vegetarian tick. I seem to remember a while back a vegetarian friend telling me that Nestle chocolate was not vegetarian friendly, so I guess the change is a good thing now.
Two things to note on the packaging, firstly they describe the product as the chewy caramel 'biscuit' - note 'biscuit' not chocolate bar as I always assume it to be. Secondly, nowhere on the packaging does it state the weight, neither on the outer bag or inner wraps, which I found strange. (My rough calculations comparing the 100g nutritional values with the per bar values makes them approximately 20g each)

What's In Them?
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Each biscuit contains:

99 calories (GDA 5%)
4.1g sugars (GDA 5%)
4.8g fat (GDA 7%)
1.7g saturates (GDA 9%)
0.1g salt (GDA 1%)

Ingredients:

Milk Chocolate (25%) (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, vegetable fat, whey powder, emulsifier (soya lecithin), flavouring), Glucose Syrup, Vegetable Oil, wheat flower, maltodextrin, sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, whey powder, skimmed milk powder, stabiliser (glycerol), lactose, milk proteins, salt, minerals from milk, emulsifier (soya lecithin), raising agents, milk fat, flavourings

Allergy Info: May contain traces of peanuts and nuts

Suitable for vegetarians and no artificial colours or preservatives

Look and Taste
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In case you've never experienced a Drifter before, they are a stick of wafer completely dipped in caramel (44% apparently) and then covered in chocolate. They are usually sold as a bar with two fingers in, a bit like a Twix. These individual fingers are about the same size as one of the fingers from the two finger packs, approximately 9cm long.
On opening you can instantly smell the chocolate and a hint of the caramel as well. When you take a bite you get a weird sensation of chewy and crispy at the same time and of course the lovely chocolate taste. Nestle chocolate is not as good as, say Cadburys, I would say it's a little sweeter, but still very nice.
The wafer is crisp but doesn't really taste of anything in particular as the caramel taste takes over. The caramel is lovely, really chewy (especially if you keep them in the fridge) probably because there is so much of it, all the way around the wafer not just on top. The nearest product I could liken a Drifter to would be a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer, but with more caramel. Overall taste is quite sweet, like a slightly crispy chocolate toffee.

Verdict
******
I have to say, I'm a sucker for anything caramel or toffee-ish, and I really loved the single finger Drifters, they're very scrumptious and very very more-ish. They are just the right size for a little snack without making you feel like you've consumed a whole chocolate bar, and if you do want to eat a whole chocolate bar then just have two. At just 99 calories each they're not too naughty either if you're watching your weight, unless of course you do eat more than one! They did bring back memories for me as I took the first bite, so I guess they haven't changed much since I last had one (many years ago). At just £1.29 in Tesco for the pack of 8 (about 16p each) they're pretty good value too, so I'll definitely be buying them again.
Now, if they'd just bring back Banjo's as well...

Summary: Try one today you might be surprised.