Value 4 Money

This week Value 4 Money looks at Biscuit boxes

Jacob's Afternoon Tea
€14.74 for 1kg

Highs: For many, these are the definitive festive biscuits and Christmas would be a whole lot less Christmassy if a tin of these didn't make an appearance at some stage over the coming days. All the classics, including the chocolate biscuit with the sugary jelly on top (twice as many as there were in the 1970s!), the chocolate ring and the always-left-to-last custardy cream affair are included. But the absolutely best thing about Afternoon Tea, as always, is the second layer, which facilitates the shrewd thieving of the nicer biscuits from the bottom while the more innocent content themselves with the shortbread and chocolate-free options left on top.

Lows: While it looks like there's loads of biscuits here, quite a bit of space is taken up by the packaging. And as for the amount of sticky tape used to keep the lid in place . . .

Verdict: An old favourite, still going strong.

Star rating: *****

Crawford's Rover Biscuits
€5.99 for 1kg

Highs: With both Tesco and Dunnes selling these at this special price in the run-up to Christmas, they are by far the best value biscuits PriceWatch found. Once divested of its plastic wrapping, a bright red tin with no branding and a bright future as a storage box for cakes or shoe polish paraphernalia is revealed.

Lows: There's not much in the way of nice chocolate biscuits included in this tin. There are three different classes of digestive - two of which are chocolatey - on offer as if they were some class of wonder biscuit. And then there are the custard creams and the bourbons which, while not unpleasant, are unlikely to gladden the hearts. The jammy rings have precious little jam in them and isn't Rover a name more traditionally associated with a dog than a Christmas treat for humans?

Verdict: Keep them for when the relatives call round.

Star rating: **

Marks & Spencer Belgian Biscuit Selection
€14.49 for 700g, €20.70 per kg

Highs: These are the most unusually shaped of the biscuits, which makes them something of a novelty, a factor which increases their Christmassy quotient a little bit.

The very, very long chocolate fingers looked particularly promising.

The tin comes with a moulded ribbon which, while ridiculously over-fancy, could be repurposed by the handy to carry a present at some future point.

Some of the flavours sounded very enticing, with competition for the tiramisu biscuits being particularly intense.

Lows: It was all for nothing, however, as said biscuits tasted nothing like tiramisu (and what's so Belgian about tiramisu anyway?). These are the most expensive option and it's hard to see why. They look good, which makes the sometimes bland taste doubly disappointing.

Verdict: Dear and disappointing.

Star rating: **

Tesco's Finest Belgian Biscuit Selection
€8.99 for 500g, €17.98 per kg

Highs: These are very fancy, grown-up biscuits and should be treated as such. Rich and buttery and exotically shaped they will certainly look, smell and taste the part when presented on a fine white china plate after a big meal.

Lows: At €17.98 they're very pricey and you don't get a whole lot of them, which is why it might be best to serve them after a meal rather than with a few cups of tea. Some of these biscuits don't even amount to a small mouthful, and a couple of moderately hungry people could quite handily demolish an entire box in a single sitting. Also be careful of getting too attached to a particular variety of biscuit on offer, because there are only a couple of biscuits of the classier varieties offered here.

Verdict: Posh and pricey.

Star rating: ***