Mince Pie Fest 2025: Sainbos in a Tin

I got these as a Chrimble present, so although the main scoring is finished, the reviews continue!

The pastry is a little crispy and the filling is quite dry, but otherwise these are quite tasty. The pastry has a pleasant sweetness to it and the filling is full of mixed flavours; there's a bit of booze, nice fruit, and plenty of festive spices. The tin is quite nice too. 3 out of 5. (Palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Cornish Pasty Shop

"The best mince pies in the world" according to the shop's owner. The owner who also told me that they don't like mince pies.

Quite the paradox.

These are BIG! And unlike Asda's similarly sized efforts, they are packed full of filling. The pastry has a lovely flavour, semi-savoury, semi-sweet, and is firm and thick, with a pleasant crumble. The bountiful filling is chunky and tasty, but lacks anything special; there's no booze and not a lot of spice.

It should probably be noted at this stage that these are £4.50 each, and even if they were indeed the best mince pies in the world, I'm not sure I could recommend them at that price. 3 out of 5. (Palm oil? Unknown!)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: The Bastard Kipling (Sort Of)

Bonus round!

I haven't tried the Bastard Kipling's actual pies yet -- I'm still trying to work up the courage -- but I can never turn down mince pie ice cream.

Well, it doesn't taste much like the Bastard Kipling mince pies -- but they don't taste of much except disappointment anyway, ha ha -- but it does taste quite nice! I'm not sure I'd describe it as "mince pie flavour" to be honest; it's basically rum and raisin, with a slightly cakey backdrop that I imagine is supposed to evoke the pastry. Still, glorified rum and raisin is still rum and raisin, and I like rum and raisin, so 4 out of 5. (No palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Infinity Foods

A Brighton institution! Sorry, you won't be able to get these where you are.

Unless you're near Brighton. Obviously.

Right, so they are £2.50 each, which is absurd, or £6.95 for three, which is 55p less absurd but still in the general vicinity of chuffing bonkers.

Anyway.

The filling is excellent as ever. Rich, spicy, and tangy with a pleasant sourness. The pastry is nice and thick, but is less biscuity and more crispy, and I don't like crispy. Maybe I got a rough batch. Given the slightly dodgy pastry and the very dodgy price I can't in all good conscience give these more than 3 out of 5. I expect to be deported from Brighton upon the morn. (Palm oil? No idea, but given Infinity Foods' ethos, I'd guess not.)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: The Winner!

Okay then, I'm ready to call it. I've tested almost every nationally-available mince pie -- not the Bastard Kipling; I will, but they are never much good -- and so I can say with confidence that the best mince pie is...

Oh crap, it's a three way tie.

Time for a second round!

Iceland's filling is lovely and warming, with a citrusy punch, but both Asda and COOP have more complex and interesting flavours. COOP has stronger flavours, but one of those flavours is cherries, and I've never much liked cherries. Asda, on the other hand, has more spices and a better overall balance.

Asda's pastry is the better of the three. It's perhaps a bit sweeter than I'd normally like, but it works well with the filling, and the crumbly but firm texture is beautiful.

In truth, you can't go far wrong with any of these mince pies, but if I have to pick -- and this whole exercise rather suggests that I do -- I pick Asda as the winner.

(Cheers, applause, etc)

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(If you'd like to support this absurd but apparently popular exercise in increasing the size of my waistline then donations are gratefully accepted at Ko-fi.)

Mince Pie Fest 2025: Waitrose

These look impressively chunky!

Both pastry and filling are quite bland, even tasteless, were it not for a welcome but far too late aftertaste of festive spice. These aren't bad as such, but they have very little going for them. 2 out of 5. (No palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Waitrose No 1 Brown Butter

These are much smaller than they were in previous years. Yet somehow around the same price.

The pastry has a nice texture, almost biscuity, but is alas a bit bland. The filling is very tasty; it's mostly booze with a bit of citrus, and it's maybe a little disappointing that any festive spices get overwhelmed, but it's certainly full of flavour. Like the Asda bakery pies, the amount of filling is a bit miserly, especially for such pricey pies. 2 out of 5, 3 out of 5 if you don't mind taking out a second mortgage. ("Certified sustainable" palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Tesco Finest*

Tee. Ee. Ess. Cee. Oh.

(But fancy!)

The pastry has a nice bite, perhaps a teeny tiny touch too soft, but generally good, and with a nice, not too sweet, taste. The chunky filling has a pleasant mix of fruit and spices and a touch of alcohol, but the overall flavour is a bit meek and tentative; I prefer something a bit bolder, with more punch. 3 out of 5. (No palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Tesco

Tee. Ee. Ess. Cee. Oh.

The pastry has a pleasant firmness and, aside from the sugar on top, is not too sweet. It is a bit dry though, and the filling is bland, with some very hard fruit pieces. Watch your teeth! 2 out of 5. (Palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Greggs

They are not a supermarket, but they are a national chain, and I was in there for a vegan sausage roll anyway.

The pastry has a nice crumbly texture, maaaaaaaaybe a bit on the soft side, but the worst failing is that it's oh so terribly bland. The filling, on the other hand, is lovely, with a rich flavour; alas, as you can probably see, there's barely any of it. 2 out of 5. (Palm oil? Not sure...)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Morrisons the Best

These have a lovely filling, all booze and spices, and the pastry has a pleasant, biscuity, crumbly firmness to it. Alas the pastry is a bit too sweet and overwhelms the flavours in the filling. 3 out of 5. (Palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Morrisons

Well.

These have a lovely firm but crumbly pastry and a filling that tastes of... nothing. Not bad, not good, just literally tasteless. I'd give them one point for the pastry but 1 would imply that they're bad. But they're not bad, they just are. ? out of 5. (Palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Lidl Deluxe

Crikey, it looks like a footballer's coffee table.

These have a nice firm pastry and I'm fairly certain there's a good, flavourful filling in there somewhere, but there is so much sugar piled on these that I can only detect the barest hints of festive spices. 3 out of 5. (No palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Iceland

These have a firm pastry, just on the right side of the dreaded crispy, a bit sweet for me but not unpleasant. The filling is... unusual. It's lacking in the flavours you'd expect from a mince pie -- there's no spice, and no alcohol -- but instead there's a syrupy richness, verging on umami, that reminds me of, more than anything else, cola. It's weird, but I quite like it. 3 out of 5. (No palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Favorina (Lidl)

These have a soft pastry, a bit too soft, and a bit sweeter than I like too. The filling has a good initial hit of spicy flavour, but it's alas overwhelmed by that overly sweet pastry. 2.5 out of 5. (Palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: COOP Irresistible

The winners in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. How do they get on in 2025?

These have a gorgeous texture, with a firm bite and a pleasant chewiness. The filling is a warming blend of fruit, spice, and a hint of alcohol. Lots of lovely flavours.

But alas!

The pastry is far too sweet and the sugar overpowers the filling, making the overall taste a bit cakey. Now of course these are a sweet treat, I am under no delusions there, but one of the things I love about mince pies -- and that apparently 87% of the population hates -- is that the sweetness is balanced by the other, almost savoury, flavours, and here the balance is a bit wonky. 4 out of 5. (Palm oil; COOP claims to only use sustainable palm oil, for what it's worth.)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: Iceland Luxury

These have a strong, buttery scent that I didn't hate. The pastry is firm but not crunchy and is not too sweet, nor has the bitterness you often get with buttery pies. The filling is full of fruity flavours -- including some unexpected yuzu! -- and a touch of warming booze. I would maybe like a bit more spice in there to give the filling some more depth and punch, but otherwise these are pretty good. 4 out of 5. (No palm oil)

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Mince Pie Fest 2025: COOP Merry

These are very sweet! There's a dusting of sugar on the pastry, the (very soft) pastry itself is sweet, and the filling is sweet too. There is a bit of a spicy twist to the filling that I like, but it's not enough to counteract the overpowering sweetness. 2 out of 5, but feel free to add one point if you've got more of a sweet tooth than I do. (Palm oil; COOP claims to only use sustainable palm oil, for what it's worth)

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