VALUE FOR MONEY AFTER-DINNER MINTS

After Eights

€3.99 for 300g €13.30 per kg

Highs:Winning hands down in the recognition stakes, these are by far the best known brand on the market. While they are very thin, they've somehow managed to fit in plenty of fondant filling. We thought dainty little envelopes were obligatory for after-dinner mints, but it turns out that only the people at After Eights include them and for that they deserve to be commended. The price is not bad either.

Lows:There was a bit too much of the fondant filling and we didn't like this very much, if truth be told. The chocolate plays a bit part in this affair. Eaten in isolation, they taste absolutely fine, but when compared with some of the alternatives on the market they started to lose their appeal.

Verdict:Fine

Star rating:3

Tesco Value After Dinner Mints

€1.49 for 200g €7.45 per kg

Highs:We approached these with a heavy heart, as so many of the Tesco Value products we have reviewed have been a long, long way from nice. So we were surprised when we realised these slabs of mintiness were quite pleasant. True, the chocolate isn't as luscious as some of the competition and they don't have the natty envelopes, but the chocolate does taste fine and the filling is very zingy.

Lows:Without sounding snobby, this might not be the best box to present after a dinner party, so you might want to decant them into the box of a better known brand. If you need one, just let us know! Speaking of the box, what's with the ridiculous serving suggestion? Was scattering some mints on the floor and photographing them the best Tesco could do?

Verdict:Very good value

Star rating:4

Green & Black's

€8.95 for 150g €59.66 per kg

Highs:It probably doesn't make a bit of difference, but these are the prettiest of the mints we ate. Shaped like leaves, they come in a range of dark, milk and white chocolate. The smooth truffle cream centre is lovely and smooth and very, very chocolatey.

Lows:Options are a good thing, but we question the wisdom of making after-dinner mints with white chocolate. Green & Black's seems to have recognised these mints' lack of appeal by only including six of them compared to 12 of the dark and milk chocolate ones. The dark chocolates are lovely and we found ourselves eating far too many of them, something we can only blame the makers for. We're pretty sure we can also blame them for the price which is, frankly, ridiculous.

Verdict:Nice, but way too dear

Star rating:2

Thorntons Mint Batons

€6.25 for 180g €34.72 per kg

Highs:"Oh my God, they're gorgeous" was how one person we asked to taste these responded. And she wasn't far wrong. Shaped like little batons (as you might guess from their name) and drizzled with a squiggle of white chocolate, these have a slight novelty value that the other chocolates lack. However, what makes these stand out is the quality of the chocolate, which really is top notch. They are rich and creamy, with just a hint of crispiness, and the balance between the chocolate and the peppermint flavours is just about perfect.

Lows:They're very good undoubtedly, but tracking them down at short notice might be a problem, and paying for them once you do won't be much fun.

Verdict:The consensus was "gorgeous"

Star rating:4

Beech's Original Mint Creams

€3.95 for 100g €39.50

Highs:We had high hopes for these, as they looked considerably more posh than the competition. The fondant at the centre is pretty nice and they were definitely the mintiest option we came across - after eating some we felt as if we'd brushed our teeth. The box is dinky and might make for a good token present for your hosts at a dinner party.

Lows:If you prefer after-dinner mints to be chocolatey, these won't be for you as there's loads of fondant in each mint - far too much of it in our opinion. This reduced the fairly ordinary tasting chocolate to quite a meaningless bit part. All the zingy peppermint flavours lingered just a little bit long on the palate, which wasn't to our taste, and we had to wonder why there were just 11 chocolates in our box - it seemed like an odd number to us.

Verdict:Very minty

Star rating: 3