Costa - Mince Tart

After sampling Starbucks' offering on the mince pie front I was intrigued to find out just how seriously the other big name coffee shops took their mince pies.

The Facts

Firstly, I was not in my usual setting and so I was not properly prepared for this review. I was with my fiancée in London on a particularly cold day and we needed warming up. Costa was the first place we passed and so we stepped in to order a hot chocolate. While waiting for this to be made, I noticed they had these mince tarts. I wondered if this tart would make it home in once piece where my SLR camera was, however, the greater concern I had was whether this "tart" even qualifies to be part of this blog.

After a one-sided discussion about what constituted a mince pie and some eye-rolling by my fiancée, I bought their mince tart, whipped out my mobile phone and did the best I could with its camera.

As for the usual facts that go here, I could not find anything on the Costa website that told me more about their mince tart and what was in it. Even on the Christmas pages of the website detailing their other "Christmassy" treats, was there no mention of their mince tart - scandalous! I eventually found the nutritional information which said this has 362 calories, 13.3g of fat and 35.4g of sugar.

First Impressions

This does not look like the most appealing mince pie tart that I have seen. It looked rather lonely on the tray in the store. However, this was one of two that were left, so I would assume these are fairly popular

The pastry seemed well cooked and crumbly as I noticed the barrista break the left edge of the pie trying to pick it up. The Christmas tree on the top was nice and could be loosely described as a lid for a mince pie as it is quite large. The dusting of sugar on top was also fairly even and added to the festivity.

This is a large mince tart and I would say if this was shaped as a pie, it would be as deep as the deep filled Starbucks one.

The Bite

I'm glad I included this tart as part of my reviews this year. The deciding factor during my one-sided discussion prior to purchase, was that although this was shaped as a tart, it still had all the same ingredients that would make it a mince pie. It also reminded me a little of Heston's mince pies, and we all know how good they are!

The pastry was nice and crumbly as suspected and packed full of butter. I felt there was a slight lack of pastry, but I guess this is one of the downsides to having a tart instead of a pie. The pastry that was present was buttery, well cooked and not too sweet. The base was even and held the tart together well.

The mince meat was very tasty. Individual vine fruits could be distinguished and tasted. There was a tangy and sweet taste to the filling, which I believe would have been evened out had there been a little more pastry. Generally, the filling was moist and complimented the aridity that came from the pastry.

The pie was given to me warm-ish, but as a cold tart I do not think there would have been much difference.

Overall

Maybe it was the fact that I was so cold that anything warm would have been welcomed with open arms, but I have to say that I am very impressed with this mince tart. It's large enough to satisfy any pie cravings but make sure you buy it to take-away (as its cheaper!). For the first time this year, this is a mince pie/tart with more filling than pastry, so if you are looking for this, then head on over to Costa.

"P.A.S.T.R.Y? Because I gotta!"

3.6 / 5

If you have had any different thoughts, share them in the comments.