As the days get colder and Christmas is getting closer, it might be time to look at what will be the top chocolate advent calendars this year, before you miss out. Many shops are already filling the shelves with festive gifts, decorations and foods in preparation for Christmas, but the most popular item of all? Chocolate advent calendars. Although, traditionally reserved for children, advent calendars over the last few years have gained momentum and have also become a popular treat in the days leading up to Christmas with adults too. From beauty to alcohol, from cheese to biscuits, it seems that all retailers are getting involved in the action. Express.co.uk rounds up some of the best chocolate advent calendars available for you to buy this year.
Topping the list is Thornton’s Continental Advent Calendar, £11.
One for the adults! A crisp white design stunningly adorned with golden Christmas trees and snowflakes the advent calendar contains an assortment of milk, dark and white chocolates enclosed in the festively decorated box, and an individual Viennese bar for Christmas Eve, counting down to Christmas Day is extra luxurious with the new Continental Advent Calendar.
Currently, the Advent Calendar is available for purchase directly from Thornton’s website and Tesco. The luxury chocolate advent calendar is only £11, and is well worth the buy.
Uber luxury Lilly O’Brien’s advent calendar, £25.
Make it a Christmas to remember this year with luxury Irish chocolatiers Lily O’Brien’s. Returning this year with another exquisite range of chocolates to treat loved ones, why not try the Lilly O’Brian’s advent calendar which comes in the shape of a house. It makes for the perfect gift this Christmas and ensures a magical and festive countdown to the 25th.
Each house contains 28 chocolates in total, including flavours like Sticky Toffee, Honeycomb Crunch, Milk Chocolate Truffle and a Zesty Chocolate Orange.
The advent calendar retails for £25 and is available to purchase from www.lillyobriens.co.uk
Hotel Chocolate – The Grand Advent Calendar, £68
Count down to Christmas with the ultimate large advent calendar, enjoy daily luxuries: chocolate, crackers award-winning alcohol’s … It isn’t the season to do things by half.
This epic two-sided advent calendar is so full of gifts it’s a Christmas present all by itself.
Daily surprises include – spoiler alert- salted caramel vodka liquor (with the World’s Best Vodka at the World Liqueur Awards 2019), crackers filled with pecan praline, a melting smooth hazelnut buche and a great tasting award-winning cocoa gin. Make their (or your) every day merry and brighter.
The After Eight Big Ben Advent Calendar, £10
If you’ve got a big fan of After Eight mints in your life, treat them this Christmas to this magical advent calendar stuffed full of assorted dark and white chocolates with mint flavouring.
A luxurious 3D advent calendar featuring 24 individually wrapped dark and white mint chocolate available in seven different varieties.
The gorgeous calendar is designed in the shape of Big Ben and ad a gold sleight embossed at the front.
This advent calendar is exclusively available at Tesco for £10
The 3D Lindt Teddy Advent Calendar, £15
Countdown to Christmas with this magical and expertly crafted by the Lindt Master Chocolatiers Lindt Advent Calendar.
A show-stopping advent calendar, the Lindt Teddy 3D Advent Calendar is an absolute must-have for any Lindt chocolate lovers out there.
Containing Lindor milk chocolate truffles, creamy snowdrops and a delightful mix of chocolate hollow figures, including a larger-sized 40g Teddy and Santa. This product is currently exclusively available in Lindt Retail Stores, Debenhams, and Selfridges.
The Royal Mint Christmas Advent Calendar, £28
Treat a special numismatic this Christmas with this luxury and beautifully crafted advent calendar by The Royal Mint.
Being each door is an indulgent and delicious chocolate coin, which included a beautifully crafted 2019 Christmas medal behind the final window as a gift that can be treasured for many years to come. What’s more, is that five lucky people will also find a bullion 2019 Half Sovereign coin behind door 24 – how exciting!
Add some festive cheer to the excitement of the countdown to Christmas with The Royal Mint’s advent calendar, currently available to purchase online for £28.
Some vegan options this Christmas:
Being vegan doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all the chocolatey fun this Christmas with a selection of the top tasting vegan advent calendars bellow.
The Montzuma’s Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar, £9.99
Ethically sourced and produced, the Montzuma dark chocolate advent calendar is a delicious vegan treat this Christmas.
Squeezed into 24 windows are an organic house blend chocolate that gives a perfect countdown to the big day.
This calendar houses a whopping 240g of pure organic 73 percent cocoa dark chocolate and is perfect for dark chocolate fans and those on a dairy-free diet!
Currently, this advent calendar can be purchased online through Montzuma’s official website for £9.99.
Divine Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar, £5
The only Fairtrade company owned by cocoa farmers have launched a seriously good and delicious vegan-friendly advent calendar.
Made of dark and rich 70 percent cocoa, the irresistibly taste chocolate is palm oil-free, totally natural and of course – Fairtrade!
Beautifully designed with a delicious taste, the advent calendar will have both adults and children eager to count down the days until Christmas Day.
By choosing Divine chocolate this Christmas, you aren’t just choosing mouth-watering chocolate but also to make a difference in the world. Almost half of the profit made by the company goes to the farmers who own the company and two percent of its turnover is invested in farmer projects that empower women, improve farming techniques, and help protect the rainforest.
Choose to make a small difference this year by purchasing the Divine chocolate advent calendars, currently stocked at Ocado, Waitrose, Amazon, and Divine online for £9.99.
Prestat The Fairy Tale Calendar, £19.50
Prestat, chocolatier to Her Majesty The Queen, has created a new vegan-friendly advent calendar called The Fairy Tale Calendar, rolling all the excitement of the countdown to Christmas into the finest chocolate that money can buy.
The chocolate bites in the advent calendar are made with a bespoke Domori range of single-origin Côte d’Ivoire couvertures, using a manufacturing process that roasts and mills cacao beans at low temperatures to preserve their aromatics.
The calendar contains 24 bites of vegan-friendly dark chocolate. Flavours include dark chocolate with raspberry, dark chocolate with roasted almond & cocoa nibs, the dark and stormy chocolate – named as a tribute to Storm Athill, who designed the new advent calendar’s packaging and dark chocolate with pink Himalayan salt, based on an award-winning recipe.
The “Dark and Stormy” chocolate is a revelation – representing the purity of the ultimate single-origin vegan chocolate and will be enjoyed by anyone – whether they are vegan or not. The other chocolate bites each play on the subtleties of its flavour, adding their own distinctive twist.
The advent calendar is currently available online from £19.99.