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The Spinoff
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
The new Whittaker's Banana Caramel block, reviewed
After another 'discovered before announcement' launch, Whittaker's new Banana Caramel block is now on sale. A bunch of people deliver their verdicts. When combined, 'gooey' and 'banana' are two words that should logically equal 'yuck', and yet… the filling in this new choc offering is pretty yum. Whittaker's knows how to do milk chocolate and it knows how to do caramel, so chucking a bit of banana flavour in there is not going to derail the experience. Do I prefer this to Whittaker's creamy caramel? No. Would I give it a place in Mad's top 10? Nah. Would I eat several more rows of it if I had the chance? Most likely. Also, the packaging is charming. / Alice Neville When I first saw this flavour, I thought it would be Whittaker's take on banoffee pie, so I was excited to try. I didn't love the first bite, the banana flavouring tasted fine and wasn't super artificial (thankfully), but overall I thought it was too sweet. The aftertaste wasn't too bad because at this point, the richness of creamy milk balanced it all out. Would I pick this block up again? Probably not. / Jin Fellet I really like caramel chocolate. Whitaker's Creamy Caramel is, I think, my favourite of their standard offerings, followed by Dark Salted Caramel. This bar was yum, it tasted like a banana milkshake with syrup and no actual bananas. Like my colleagues who have recently returned from holiday, the packaging has a tropical glow. I was glad to break off a piece, gaze out at the Auckland rain, and imagine the sand between my toes. / Ben Fagan Is it just me, or does this flavour have a scarcity buzz that recent Whittaker's flavours have lacked? Do I just like it better than the mango and hot cross bun flavours? Am I just nostalgic for the peak era of fruit cream chocolate before a lot of chocolate became a bit shit? I bought the last block of this new flavour at my local New World and felt like Charlie Bucket. I briefly flashing back to the simpler times of 2014 when we all went bananas for some chocolate milk, and wondered if our collective mojo might be rising. A few hours later, and I think that's a long bow to draw, but it's the best new flavour from Whittaker's in a while. It's not too sweet, the filling is smooth, and it reminded me of a cross between a Perky Nana and the old Cadbury Snack block. These are flavours that naturally belong together, which is a welcome departure from spinning up freaky 'fun' flavours just to sell more units. The packaging is gorgeous – part Palm Beach, part White Lotus opening credits. Would eat again. / Anna Rawhiti-Connell Even if this tasted horrible I'd probably still like it because the wrapper looks so nice. That's marketing baby! The good news is it's not horrible but it also doesn't unseat many of the classic Whittaker's flavours on my personal choc ranking, so maybe I won't be making a funky feature wall out of Banana Caramel wrappers after all. If they make a wrapper like this for the Coconut Block however I am in biiiig trouble. / Calum Henderson My sister was right, this slaps. Fake banana flavours for me are OK, I am partial to a banana milkshake so this kind of felt really right, slightly nostalgic even. Also the wrapper, full Curious George vibes, loved it. Also off topic from bananas the new peanut caramel brittle flavour is by far the most superior flavour of all Whittakers chocolate. / Bec Murphy This flavour is the beautiful offspring of two niche Cadbury novelty bars – a Perky Nana and a Pinky. First of all, it tastes like banana. I love banoffee pie so am predisposed to enjoy this flavour and I did. It's certainly not a 'settle in for a long snack session' kind of flavour but I would be happy to see it brought out at someone's house. Whittacker's has been avoiding straying from their classic gold packaging the last few years which makes me think this one really won't stick around but I'll be enjoying it while it's here. Thought experiment from someone who prefers a 'bits' flavour over a 'liquid flavour': imagine a banana flavoured milk chocolate with biscuit and crunchy caramel bits throughout. Whittaker's' next flavour prediction: sweet and salty popcorn. / Mad Chapman
RNZ News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
How common is swearing in Parliament?
language politics 36 minutes ago The C-Word has taken up a lot of attention in the last 24 hours after the workplace relations minister Brooke van Velden enunciated in Parliaments debating chamber. But it's certainlty not the first time a swear has been uttered in the house. The Spinoff deputy editor Alice Neville spoke to Charlotte Cook.
