Tim Tams -- Dark Chocolate

"TAKE A DEEP BREATH--inhale--smell that? It's Australia! IT'S LIKE WE'RE THERE!"

Work Wife just may have been more excited than I was at the sight of the freshly opened parcel. We stood over the package, gawking at it's contents.

"Australia smells like cardboard." I reached in the box, sifting through the items and reading each of their labels aloud. There were so many things to choose from and I had a very difficult time deciding what I would sample first.

After weighing my options and determining my craving for chocolate needed to be satisfied, I finally settled on one of three varieties of Tim Tams--dark chocolate. The Tim Tams were a much anticipated item and I was very, very excited to sink my teeth into one, popping my proverbial Tim Tam cherry.

I grabbed one side of the package and carefully peeled open the plastic. To my surprise, I was almost instantly hit with chocolatey aromas. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

When faced with a new experience, your brain will automatically try to relate it to something you have experienced. Such was the function of my brain as it quickly sifted through memories attempting to identify the scent. The best matches I could come up with were "Ovaltine" and "Co-Co Puffs". I extended my hand of Tim Tams out to Work Wife who quickly accepted my offer to not only to give them a sniff, but sample one as well. But I was first.

I extracted a biscuit from it's plastic bed and was very surprised. I had expected a sort of soft, cake-like treat and instead felt taken aback as I lifted the stiff rectangular morsel to my nose. Again, I breathed deep to take in the smell, then took a bite of the corner.

My expression then could only be described as confusion. Through the delectable chocolate coating and sandwiched between the crunchy, chocolate cookie wafers was a layer of chocolate cream that one could describe as irresistible.

(For those of you who have never consumed a Tim Tam, I give you the anatomy of a Tim Tam:)

But still, I wasn't sure how to feel about the Tim Tam. Sure, it was tasty, but it didn't knock my socks off. More than that, I couldn't shut my brain off as it continued to try and figure out what this thing tasted like. Work Wife's analogy of the biscuit sums up everything about it: "There's something strangely familiar yet vague and weird about them."

I think this is my problem. My brain simply cannot accept that this is a new treat with its own unique flavor and leave me be to bask in the Tim Tam's glory. Instead I am left making comparison after comparison and coming to no concrete conclusions. What does this taste like? I know I've had something like it before...

Amazingly, I am left not discouraged but with even greater desire to try the other two Tim Tam flavors, Original and Caramel. More amazing still is what I will be trying after sampling each of the three flavors--the "Tim Tam Slam". Instructions for this science experiment gone awry (sent along with the box) seem to involve a chocolate drink and using a Tim Tam like a straw. Yes, I am a little scared, too.