The best vegan advent calendar brands on the UK High Street: Holland and Barrett, Montezuma and more
Christmas 2019 is officially in full swing, and it's now (sort of) socially acceptable to put up your Christmas tree and cover your house in thousands of sparkly baubles.
November is now drawing to a close, which means we have only one thing on our minds - advent calendars.
Gone are the days when advent calendars consist of disappointing milk chocolate Christmas trees - you can now splash out on everything from jewellery to Harry Potter to Disney calendars.
Read more: You can now buy glow-in-the-dark Christmas bedding - and it's absolutely magical
And anyone who follows a vegan diet no longer needs to miss out - because the vegan chocolate advent calendar market is booming, and there are more and more on offer every year.
To find out more, the entire Heart office tried out six offerings from the UK high street this year. We rated them out of five under the categories of 'taste' and 'texture' (5 being very tasty and 1 being not at all), and worked out the mean results.
Here's what we found:
1st place: Montezuma ‘Like no udder’ - £8.99
Total score: 3.7/5
Taste: 3.7
Texture: 3.7
This was the clear winner, and comments included 'surprisingly good' and another 'really nice'. Another said: "Wouldn't know this was vegan. Great flavour, would recommend this!"
Read more: Argos is selling half Christmas trees, perfect for parents of mischievous pets and children
Unlike many vegan calendars on the market, Like No Udder is milk, rather than dark, chocolate. It isn't made of dairy, of course, but uses rice syrup and vanilla flavouring to replicate the taste.
2nd place: Hotel Chocolat 'The Advent Calendar' - £12.50
Total score: 3.55/5
Taste: 3.5
Texture 3.6
Coming in close second is this offering from Hotel Chocolat, which one of our testers described as 'softer than the rest'. This one is dark chocolate, so worth nothing that it won't be for everyone, but if you are a fan of a less sweet variety this will be ideal for you.
Third place: Montezuma ‘Organic dark chocolate’
Total score: 3.1
Taste: 2.9
Texture: 3.3
This calendar wasn't to everyone's taste, as many found it slightly too dark. However, some people praised the chocolates, with one describing it as having a 'nice aftertaste'.
Fourth place: Divine: Deliciously Rich Dark Chocolate
Total score: 3.05
Taste: 3
Texture: 3.1
Another dark offering that one person described as 'nice dark chocolate' and another as 'lovely'. It's made from fairtrade chocolate, and also includes no artificial flavours.
Fifth place: So Free milk chocolate alternative
Total score: 3
Taste: 2.9
Texture: 3.1
Another milk chocolate replica that one tester described as 'very similar' to the real thing but with a 'slight dark chocolate aftertaste'.
Sixth place: So free white chocolate alternative
Total score: 2.35
Taste: 2
Texture:2.7
This one didn't score quite so highly, largely, though, because testers weren't keen on white chocolate. It's rare that vegan chocolate can replicate the white version well, and one person did note that it was the best attempt they've tried on the market.
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