a.k.a. The incredible Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams Australian adventure!
I had the first trio of Adriano Zumbo’s limited edition Tim Tams when I was in Sydney a couple of months back, and when I heard that he just did *another* collaboration with Arnott’s Tim Tams, I knew I had to get it mailed to me (at considerable expense).
The latest collaboration between pâtissier extraordinare Adriano Zumbo with Arnott’s is Red Velvet and it’s so delicious that words does not do it justice. It’s magnificent!
But first, I also want to tell you the story behind this rather interesting experiment. I have mailed various snacks back when I was studying in Australia and I know it can be done (without a cold bag) but I half expected the new Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams to be fully melted when I got it.
I rallied my old friend Karen who’s living in Melbourne to mail these treasures to me, since I’ve left Australia and could not hand carry them on my return flight. I just had to have the latest Adriano Zumbo Tim Tams – I not only had the first set of three, I bought a whole lot of his Zumbarons back and we used his macaron baking kit too (post about that soon).
Karen is someone I’ve known for practically my entire life – we went to school together and we ever had a class play called Okana featuring her as the lead when we were 14. That was just before I left for New Zealand and we met up again when I was doing my college and uni in Melbourne. I remember celebrating her birthday in Dion (a nice Greek restaurant on Lonsdale St) before going to Moomba in 2003. I spent 5 years there – she never left!
Thus, I knew I could count on her and sent her some simple instructions on how to get the Tim Tams to me:
Okay, maybe not that simple. Here’s her reply:
Haha! In my defence, my better half is a huge fan of Adriano Zumbo too and I wanted it to arrive in mint condition so we can open it together. I was more than pleased – the way Karen packed the Tim Tams made them so structurally sound (due to the inner plastic tray stacking and resisting external pressures) that it not only arrived without breaking, the chocolate did not melt at all.
Thanks to Karen and David who took the trouble to get them and send it over with my simple complicated and excessively verbose instructions. 😀
I knew the Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams weighs 165 grams each from the Coles site. I thought I could get 5 of them (165 g x 5 = 825 g) into a box and still stay below 1 kg but it’s a good thing I didn’t push it and settled for 4 coz the weight came up to 0.912 kg!
There was no huge temperature fluctuations and I kept them in my permanently air-conditioned bedroom for several days before me and my dear opened the box.
It was a very happy unboxing! The fact that I could eat the newest and latest Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams was more than awesome, we had looked forward to this package for a long time. I honestly didn’t expect it to taste great despite all the (good humored) baiting I got on Facebook since I expressed my interest from Cyd (another one of my ex-classmates).
How do the new Adriano Zumbo limited edition Red Velvet Tim Tams taste like?
My verdict on the taste:
I didn’t think the Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams would taste this awesome. It’s honestly the best Tim Tams I have ever had! I’ve only really liked Salted Caramel out of his first collaboration trio and my favorite Tim Tam flavor was Turkish Delight (until now).
My better half says it tastes *exactly* like eating red velvet cake. I thought it was a cross between eating red velvet cake and a Tim Tam. Adriano Zumbo did well in this second collaboration – it surpasses the original triplet of limited edition Tim Tams. It’s rich, decadent and balanced well. The buttery red velvet Tim Tams pairs up with the cream cheese (!!!) center to produce an irresistible biscuit.
The new Red Velvet Tim Tams by Adriano Zumbo comes in the standard 9-biscuit pack, unlike the “Treat Pack only” (5-biscuit) format of his previous collaboration with Tim Tam.
It’s really delicious and well worth the postage to get them here. I spent AUD 32.50 on postage and each pack of Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tam retailed for AUD 3.49. That comes up to AUD 49.49 in total (or about RM 144). Thus, each pack cost me RM 36. That’s RM 4 per Tim Tam biscuit (!) but I’ll happily get a second batch over in a heartbeat. Don’t miss out if you ever see them around, the latest Arnott’s Tim Tams x Adriano Zumbo collaboration will blow you away with the velvety red velvet cake inspired Tim Tam with the buttery cream cheese center!
They sure look good…and I love red velvet! Drool! Drool!
Yeah, they’re my favorite Tim Tams! 🙂
I used to like Salted Caramel from the original trio of Adriano Zumbo collaborations and Turkish Delight was my favorite Tim Tams before this one – the Red Velvet has surpassed those.
I also managed to track down the Arnott’s Dangerous Liasons Tim Tams Chilli Chocolate Fling from a while back:
http://sixthseal.com/2005/12/arnotts-dangerous-liaisons-tim-tams/
It was really good too, but it’s also limited edition, like this one, can’t get it anymore.
wow…. that really looks delicious! Didn’t know tim tam got such flavour.
Yeah, it’s really delicious! 🙂
This one is the second and newest collaboration between Adriano Zumbo and Arnott’s Tim Tams. I have the original trio of flavors too – Salted Caramel, Choc Brownie and Raspberry White Choc:
http://sixthseal.com/2014/09/adriano-zumbo-limited-edition-tim-tams/
We *can’t* get these limited edition flavors here – the only flavors that gets imported in are the standard ones. There’s an agreement of some sort – even the packaging here is different from the Australian ones – the “For Export” ones that we get isn’t as good, IMHO. Thus, you have to get it mailed from Australia if you want to get limited editions like this one.
It cost me RM 36 per pack or RM 4 per Tim Tam for this Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tam – worth it though.
wow, the cost to mail these is scary. You can buy 8 packets of Tim Tam (if they are aud 4 each) :O but i really wanna try though, let’s see if anyone is going to aus recently 😛
Yeah, but worth it coz can’t get the limited editions here! 🙂
You have to mail them over and it’s the postage that’s expensive – AUD 32.50 (about RM 94) for a package between 500 grams – 1 kg. That’s using Pack & Track – it’s better coz there’s a tracking number you can use so you know where it is at all times.
I knew when it cleared customs and it was in customs for only 1 day so that’s good coz I don’t think the Pos Malaysia warehouse near KLIA is air-conditioned (used Australia Post to mail over).
This latest Adriano Zumbo collaboration is good – the new Red Velvet is better than the original trio! It’s limited edition though so have to get it fast!
I have 5 of them if you’d like to get some from me! Just recently came back from Aussie and bought a little bit too much (50 of them, 35 for souvenirs, the rest to be sold….)
Message me if you’re interested. I can send them over from Jakarta, would be a lot cheaper 😉
The TimTams looks so sinfully yummy!! Salted caramel ones is one of my fav flavor. Reading this posts makes me wanna have them T.T
Btw, Indonesia makes TimTams too but strangely priced about a quarter of what Australian made cost. Not as good too. :p
It’s still available! 🙂
It’s limited edition so I don’t know for how much longer though. I know the original trio of Arnott’s Tim Tam x Adriano Zumbo flavors aren’t around anymore. The limited editions seldom last longer than a quarter (3 months or so).
I know what you mean about the dodgy Indonesian Tim Tams!
They’re horrible – the cocoa beans they use is not as high quality and there’s a lot of palm sugar instead of REAL cocoa butter so it tastes like crap. Plus, they use additional stabilizers to make them solid at our temperate climate – nowhere near as good as the real Australian ones. It’s heretic! I found them in 2003:
http://sixthseal.com/2003/10/dodgy-tim-tams/
It’s cheap crap filled with palm oil, HFCS, and dodgy cocoa beans.
I knew some people who didn’t know the difference and thought they tasted the same until I told them otherwise. Good thing they’re now spreading the word too though. Haha. There’s a world of difference – the two don’t even taste similar!
I saw them when I came back from uni in Melbourne and tried them later. Horrible. I won’t ever buy them. BTW, the “For Export” ones that says “Made in Australia” but has a strangely flimsy and overly shiny wrapper with lousy printing isn’t as good too – I think those are bulk imports e.g. the biscuits are imported en masse and then repackaged here so they retain the “Made in Australia” tag but there’s also a “For Export Only” tag.
The best ones are the real imports – meant for sale in Australia but imported in by smaller independent groceries (not Sangla Foods, that is the source of the strange overtly shiny wrappers I mentioned above). You can tell it’s for Australian sale – everything is the same, no other local languages, telephone numbers etc are all indicative of sale to local original Australian markets only.
That’s the ones I get, or for limited editions, I’ll buy it from over there or get them mailed to me.
You’re so lucky that your friend was able to mail it over for you, Huai Bin. =)
Gosh, the red velvet is tempting me to try it when I’m in Adelaide; hopefully, it’ll still be in edition when I’m there. ^^
Thanks Ciana! 🙂
Yup, I do have a lot of friends in Melbourne! I did my college and university there and go back quite often (last time we visited was the beginning of last year, went to Sydney a couple of months ago).
Yeah, these new Red Velvet by Adriano Zumbo are awesome! It’s my favorite Tim Tam flavor now – the red velvet filling and cream cheese center is spot on.
They’re still available as of today, a friend of mine picked up another 4 packs for me at Coles before she’s due to fly back to KL.
Hope you get to try the Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams!
LMAO!!! Wakakakakakaa! I never expected Karen’s reply to be so short and hilarious!
You are really a funny blogger who clowns on every topic frankly! I am sure Ling’s life is always full of laughters with you around.
For a while, I always thought that Arnott’s came from Indonesia as ours were made there. You are sweet toothed like me. So cruel, you made me drool at your photos.
Yeah, I gave her *very precise* instructions to get the Tim Tams to me! 🙂
It’s meant to be funny, I didn’t put the rest of the stuff she said coz I thought that single reply was hilarious. Haha!
I’ve mailed stuff from Australia before, sometimes it gets here okay, sometimes not – one time I mailed a 1 kg Easter Egg over, by the time it got to Sibu, it was already half open and insects had gotten in so for food stuff you have to use a tracking system so you know where it’s at and can speed things up if it’s stuck somewhere.
There are actually Tim Tams from Indonesia! I was surprised to see them when I got back from studying in Melbourne too!
http://sixthseal.com/2003/10/dodgy-tim-tams/
It’s not the same as the Australian ones – the Indonesian Tim Tams doesn’t taste good at all. Too much HFCS to cater to sweeter local tastes, too much palm oil instead of the more expensive cocoa butter and even the cocoa beans that goes into making the chocolate coating is different (the ones from Indonesia are more acidic). I’ll always get the Australian ones myself.
haha, you’re EVIL! now all of us who read this are gonna want to get some of these special tim tams too … if there’s a surge in packages of tim tams being flown in from australia to malaysia, we know who to blame! your description of them sounds great though, and i like the shots of the creamy insides of each tim tam 😀
Haha! It’s really awesome, these Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams! 🙂
We really enjoyed them to no end, I have another 4 packs coming in from an old schoolmate who’s flying back to Sibu (but will be transiting in KL). That was actually my backup plan just in case these mailed Tim Tams were melted and inedible.
I reckon if this batch didn’t make it, the hand-carried one from a flight will, but it turned out that there’s no large temperature fluctuations in the package at all. Nowadays, you can even put in an RFID chip which records temperature for the entire journey until it reaches you.
I think the RFID technology was first used in tuna being shipped to Japan to ensure that it doesn’t rise above a certain temperature so it’s still fresh and sashimi-grade.
Yup, I like how there’s cream cheese with the Red Velvet Tim Tams too! It really makes the entire thing taste like cake!
Seems like really worth the price to get them over here by special mail from Australia. Your friend is so nice to get them for you. I first heard of how nice Tim Tams are when I read about how to do a Tim Tam Slam online.
I guess you are going to keep an eye out for more limited edition of Tim Tam and get your friend to send them over to you every time.
Yeah, I think it’s worth the price, even though it costs more than 3 times as much! 🙂
We can’t get the limited editions here and for special editions like Adriano Zumbo collaborations, I would like to get them mailed in coz I’ll love to taste them.
Oh, the Tim Tam Slam! I used to love doing that, there’s two ways to do it, one is faster than the other – the original way is to take a full short bite from each end straight across and suck up the liquid.
The other way is to only bite off the opposite ends of the TIm Tams e.g. NW, SE or NE,SW and suck up the milk/tea/coffee like that. I prefer it this way coz it lasts as a straw longer!
HAHA Karen’s reply is epic.
After reading this I had cravings for Tim Tam. Lucky for me the nearby supermarket stock the regular ones imported from Australia… which is a surprise because most neighborhood supermarkets in Japan do not stock imported products.
Nice! 🙂
Yeah, I’m surprised that it goes all the way to Japan too, but then Japan imports so much stuff I guess it makes sense. I love the concept of kombini (conveinence stores) in Japan – they sound so magical and just plain *convenient*.
Haha! Yeah I know, she actually wrote more but for comic effect I just put that bit in so it’ll be funnier. Cheers mate!
When I see the word red velvet, I think of red velvet cake already.. I like red velvet too, especially that cream cheese frosting.. To me, it’s just butter cake (but uses butter milk), with some red coloring.. Really, it taste just like “red” butter cake, with cream cheese frosting, but boy, very nice, I like!
Your friend is so nice to get them all the way for you.. Now macam-macam la, even red velvet biscuits and cookies.. Soon, I think I’m gonna invent red velvet shake (vanilla ice cream with some red dye, blended, and topped with cream cheese mousse), haha,,
Yeah, it tastes just like red velvet cake! 🙂
This is Adriano Zumbo’s spin on it – he makes awesome cakes too, have tried his mylo can (which is a Milo inspired cake/dessert that’s made to *look* like a can of Milo). His cakes are beautiful to look at and delicious to eat and I loved his macarons, which is possibly the thing that put him on the map.
I got a bunch of his Zumbarons back but being a lover of Tim Tams since I was a 15 year old stoner doing high school in Christchurch, NZ, I just loved the idea of him doing a collaboration with Arnott’s Tim Tams and got his original trio of Adriano Zumbo Tim Tams. This is his second collaboration.
Dear, if I tell you I used the red velvet tim tam in my overnight oats, please don’t faint.hahah.You know what, it is sinfully delicious like eating cheesecake.
That’s good dear! <3
I'm glad that you used it in your overnight oats. You'll find them more delicious too and I love eating your oats.
Yeah, I think it would go very well with overnight oats!
Hi Guys! Just stumbled upon all your posts and seem like you share the same enthusiasm as me. I’ve got 5 TIM TAMs left if anyone wants them? I live in Melbourne too and just got back home for a holiday here!
Give me a holla if anyone wants any; my sister is also coming back in the next 2 weeks and have asked her to practically fill up her suitcase with Tim Tams Red Velvet and Salted Caramel so i can stock up and give them away for gifts lolz .
If you want you can buy them from me let me know pleasee