A Breath of Fresh...

For all my life, I have been a loyal customer of one brand of toothpaste, which shall remain nameless.

But I was never a great fan of the extremes of flavor.

It seems to me that the great solution to the toothpaste flavor, by most companies is simply to give the customer more. More mint. More cinnamon. More.

But that isn't what I want. I want clean, but not a burning sensation in my mouth.

And then I was introduced to vanilla mint. Now for those of you who have never tried it, you might be thinking, that this sounds gross. but what it gave me was a mild mint flavor for which I was looking. And then they discontinued the flavor.

Now I understand companies are sometimes forced by the bottom line to make changes in their product line. But when I wrote to the company and told them of my disappointment and asked for product recommendations, I was simply told that they didn't "have a recommendation" for me at the time and that I "may want to check [their] brand websites for information about [their] current products." That was it. That was all.

So I decided to try and find a replacement, but for the first time in my life, I decided to go beyond my lifelong toothpaste brand.

Let me just say, finding a replacement toothpaste is not an easy task.

After a year or so, I finally found what I was looking for in a toothpaste.

Macleans was founded by New Zealand born Alex C. Maclean in 1919, manufacturing "own-name" products for pharmacists.

In 1927 he created Macleans Peroxide Toothpaste, the very first whitening toothpaste.

The company was purchased by Beecham in 1938, eventually becoming a part of GlaxoSmithKline today.

The height of the brand's popularity may well have been the 1950s, when it was sold against a backdrop of Hollywood glamor. But it still remains in the market with a very dedicated and high profile following.

GlaxoSmithKline was not very helpful or responsive in my requests for information about Macleans. As a matter of fact, they never responded to the two attempts I made to contact them, which I have found to be very typical of mega companies with small brands still within their portfolios.

If my decision to use Macleans was based on the customer service of GlaxoSmithKline, I would not be using it and would have continued my search for another toothpaste.

But I found in Macleans I found the toothpaste with the texture and flavor I was seeking.

Specifically I chose Macleans Whitening Toothpaste. It offered my a very natural peppermint flavor, while at the same time being specifically formulated to whiten teeth and prevent discoloration after brushing. 

On a whim, I also decided to try Macleans Freshmint Mouthwash. This is anything but mild, and contains a noticeable alcohol flavor behind the mint. I have no doubt that this is quite the effective antibacterial plaque fighter.

I also gave the mouthwash the extreme test. After smoking a cigar, I used the mouthwash to see how it fared at eliminating "cigar mouth," and it passed the test with flying colors. Even the morning after, no sign of the cigar after taste remained, which I cannot say of every mouthwash.

Now I only hope that my "new" found toothpaste continues to stand the test of time for the next 85 years...

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The Timeless Elegance of Refined, Distinguished Freshness...

When I was at University, I made some efforts to find myself, as I think many of us do try at that point in our lives.

It was was there that I discovered a fragrance which has remained a favorite ever since.

Eau Sauvage was created in 1966 by Edmond Roudnitska for Christian Dior. It was designed as a tailor made fragrance for the active young generation.

The bottle, designed by Pierre Camin in 1966, has not changed since its creation, something quite rare in the perfume industry. The bottle shape is inspired by a flask with glass curves to reminiscent of the lines of draped fabric and the stopper was was influences by Dior's thimble.

A classic since its creation, this was Dior's first men's fragrance and was revolutionary for its simple audacity. It offers a perfect blend of crisp citrus notes with distinctive masculine woody undertones.

The top note, the first and most intense olfactory impression comes from Calabrian Bergamot, grown in southern Italy, brings a distinctive, sweet freshness and adds a special radiance to its citrus notes.

The heart note, its core, which lasts for several hours comes from Hedione and Lavender of Vaulcluse. Hedione's light, airy notes derive from research on jasmine absolute and its floral, jasmine scented and lemony accents combine with the floral and coumarin notes and woody tone of the Lavender.

The base note lasts the longest and can even be perceived on clothing for several months. This comes from Chypre Accord, combining Bergamot, floral notes, Oak Moss and Patchouli, creating a classically elegant and sophisticated fragrance.

It is the perfect balance of these fragrances within Eau Sauvage which have made it the classic men's fragrance from its beginnings. And a favorite with some women who prefer a more masculine scent as well.

Like all fragrances, your own body chemistry will play a large part in how it smells on yourself.

But for me, this is another perfect match and one which has and will remain on my shelf for a very long time.

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Quietly Satisfying Taste Buds for Over 100 Years...

Just the name Custard Cream made my mouth water when I first saw these biscuits. I'm not sure just what it was, but I was instantly captivated by the name and what I imagined could be nothing less than delicious. I was not wrong! 

Crawford's are one of those companies which has a very loyal following, but for which there is very little information available. If you go to the website for United Biscuits, the company which bought William Crawford & Sons in 1960, there is no information whatsoever about Crawford's biscuits. When I wrote to United Biscuits asking for information regarding this biscuit, I was told simply that they were in production at the time United Biscuits acquired Crawfords and is a small brand which is manufactured and sold in the United Kingdom only.

What we do know is that William Crawford & Sons was founded in 1813 at Leith. 

According to a 2007 BBC News article, "Nine out of 10 people [in the UK] named the custard cream as their favorite biscuit, in a poll of 7,000 people. The result even prompted surprise from Trufree, which hosted the survey, and said despite there being "so much to choose from on the market, it seems people still plump for a no-nonsense nibble." 

Self-appointed biscuit expert Stuart Payne believes that the Custard Cream dates back to the Victorian era. In the same news article he goes on to say, "The little baroque swirls on the top, that's all Victorian because in the Victorian age there were a lot of ferns so the custard cream has ferns designed on it."

So what is a Custard Cream? Well, it's delicious! Oh, yes, I said that before, didn't I? A Custard Cream is quite simple and elegant. It is vanilla icing sandwiched between two vanilla biscuits. It is neither overly sweet nor is it too fancy. It's yummy enough to feel like you are treating yourself, but not so fancy that you feel bad for having two or three at a sitting.

And they were improved in the past 10 years by removing partially hydrogenated vegetable oil  which they replaced with palm oil. These biscuits also contain no artificial colors or flavorings.

Now earlier I said that United Biscuits informed me that Crawfords Custard Creams were only sold in the United Kingdom. While that might be the official story, if you spend a short bit of time on the internet, you will find quite a variety of sources to help you to enjoy this classic treat at home outside the UK.

Now to go raid the cupboard and find what remains of my Custard Creams...

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With a Glass and a Half of Milk...

While I've always had a sweet tooth for chocolate, I've never been much of a fan of milk chocolate.

I have to admit now, that I have been missing out, well at least on one milk chocolate product, Cadbury Dairy Milk.

Cadbury was founded in 1824 by John Cadbury in Bull Street, Birmingham, England. By 1842, they were offering 11 types of cocoa and 16 distinct types of drinking chocolate.

In June 1904, Cadbury created a chocolate containing a "far higher milk content than previously known" as a challenge to the Swiss domination of the chocolate market. It  was launched as Cadbury Dairy milk in 1905 and was an instant success. By the mid 1920s, Cadbury Dairy Milk was the best selling chocolate brand in the United Kingdom and it remains so even today.

 1920 Cadbury Dairy Milk advertisement from Cadbury Archives

Cadbury introduced the advertising slogan "Glass and a half of full cream milk in every half pound," in 1928. Fifty years later, the "glass and a half" design was added to the packaging, where it still appears.

In March 2009, Cadbury announced that it would use 100% Fairtrade cocoa in Cadbury Dairy Milk, re-energizing the cocoa farms in Ghana that supply Cadbury with cocoa beans.

Cadbury is also made in the United States, under agreement with Hershey.

Do the British and the American Dairy Milk bars taste the same? Do they use the same ingredients? Which one is better?

The only way I felt fair to do this was to contact Hershey's, which makes Dairy Milk in the US for Cadbury. Unfortunately they never did respond to my e-mail. So, instead I went to Hershey and bought a bar of the Hershey made Dairy milk at Chocolate World to use in a completely unscientific blind taste test at home. The British Dairy Milk was purchased online thought a British Food company.

My wife, who studied for a year at St. Andrew's and had some previous experience with British Cadbury, agreed to be the blind panel.

She immediately identified the Hershey's made Dairy Milk from the British made version. What she found, was the American version had a very distinctive Hershey taste. While not unpleasant, it was not the same as the British made version, but far superior to Hershey Milk Chocolate. If you have never had British Dairy Milk, it is a very good milk chocolate, with a creaminess most American chocolates lack.

The British Dairy Milk was much more along the lines of the Swiss chocolate against which it was originally designed to compete. And it lacked a distinctive sour finish which we both find in all Hershey Milk Chocolate. It is truly milk chocolate heaven. And that is no small praise coming from someone who really has never enjoyed milk chocolate.

So why the difference in the American made and the UK made Cadbury chocolate? Well, I got a nice reply from Cadbury and what they had to say made complete sense. “While the recipe is a closely guarded secret, one of the main reasons for the different taste, not just between US and UK, but with Cadbury Dairy Milk across the globe (Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand), is they are all made with local milk. So each country has its very unique taste. There are also other factors that can affect the taste of the chocolate, even with the recipe being the same, for example if we used the same way of producing Cadbury Dairy Milk in the UK, but in a hot Australian summer the chocolate would melt before it reached the stores shelf. So in Australia and other warmer climate areas, we produce the chocolate to be able to hold its shape at those temperatures, so that it only melts once it’s in your mouth.”

So if you have a Cadbury Dairy Milk from the UK and one from Hershey, you now know that the difference is not in your head or some bias you might have for or against one country of origin, but a real difference in the ingredients.

So when it comes to milk chocolate, I'm going to look far and wide to find the British version of Cadbury Dairy Milk when I have the urge for some extraordinary milk chocolate. Thankfully, I still have some more of the British Dairy Milk remaining from my taste challenge to enjoy now that I've done sharing my results with you...

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Chocolate and Ginger Perfection...

Like their Bitterorange and Bitterginger, Bendicks has decided to discontinue their Chocolate Gingers as well, to focus on their mint chocolates.

I don't think I ever thought much about ginger until recently. And once I'd discovered it as small bits in a ginger cookie, or other sweet treat, it is hard to imagine what life was like before I discovered the joy of real ginger.

Bendicks managed to create an amazing confection which the most discerning ginger lover would find amazing.

Bendicks was founded in 1930 by Mr Oscar Benson and Colonel "Bertie" Dickson as a small confectionery in the Kensington neighborhood of London.

While primarily known for their range of premium dark chocolate mints, which I have recently written about, Bendicks as also explored other flavor combinations, most notably ginger and dark chocolate.

One of these was Chocolate Gingers. Bendicks took the finest Austrian Buderim stem ginger and lightly covered it in chocolate before enrobing in rich dark chocolate containing 50% cocoa solids.

The result in each case was nothing slight of a heavenly experience of flavor.

There is no doubt in my mind that they will be missed by others, just as they will be missed by me. Until then, I will seek out what remains from those stockists which have carried these two exceptional products and enjoy them to the last, after which time I will continue to enjoy the exceptional chocolate mints which Bendicks continues to produce.

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Decadence in a Bottle...

Over the years, like so many others, I have worn a variety of fragrances. I'm sure we all have memories of our years at University and the associated memories of our ourselves, our friends and those special in our lives and their successful and failed experiments with new fragrances.

Sometimes we are lucky and we find, through experiment or the recommendation of a friend. Other times it is the good sense of a loved one that points us to the fragrance which suits us better than any other.

For me, it was the good sense of my wife, who helped me find my perfect fragrance for these cooler months.

Penhaligon's opened in 1870 as a barber shop in Jermyn Street, London and they have been creating fragrances for men, and later women, ever since. 

Hammam Bouquet was inspired by the scent of the Turkish Baths on Jermyn Street, by William Penhaligon in 1872. Animalistic and golden, it's a warm and mature,

Animalic and golden, it is warm and mature, reminiscent of old books, powdered resins and ancient rooms. At its heart is dusky Turkish rose, with jasmine, woods, musk and powdery orris. Heady and glamorous, Hammam Bouquet is evocative of the Edwardian era of decadence and excess.

Most importantly, it is not what everyone else is wearing. In this day and age of mass marketing and worldwide distribution, it's nice to stand out in the crowd as an individual. And even as old as this fragrance is, it is still very unique today.

I'm very lucky to have found it, and even happier to wear it.

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When a Simple Mint Crisp Reaches Perfection...

So by now, it should be quite obvious, that I greatly enjoy fine chocolates. In most cases, I prefer the pure form, with no other flavors added, and I also prefer dark chocolate to other styles.

Every now and then, a chocolatier comes along who creates a flavor combination which I find irresistible.

And Bendicks does that again and again.

Bendicks was founded in 1930 by Mr Oscar Benson and Colonel "Bertie" Dickson as a small confectionery in the Kensington neighborhood of London.

While they have produced some other flavor combinations to great success, they are primarily known for their range of premium dark chocolate mints.

They treat fine ingredients not as an indulgence, but as a necessity. They use a minimum of 50% cocoa solids in their mint crisps creating a rich and complex chocolate. Crisp handmade honeycomb pieces are then enrobed in this chocolate and infused with natural peppermint oil.

It is nothing less than the perfect mint crisp, artfully balancing chocolate, mint and crisp.

Before I found these, I would never have thought of keeping a chocolate mint on hand, but now that I have tried these, it almost seems unthinkable not to have some around the house all the time.

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