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« Getting around Oz
Darrell Lea sugar-free chocolate »

Tim Tam Slam!

30 April 2007 by admin

I have heard of a technique called “shotgunning a TimTam” could you explain how this is done? — Di, UK

Ah, Tim Tams – quite definitely the food of the gods, and probably the favourite chocolate biscuit of Australians.

Now, as for shotgunning a Tim Tam… some might not have heard the term before (it’s also known as the Tim Tam Slam), but I know precisely what you’re talking about, as I suspect do most Australians with Tim Tam experience.

I wasn’t quite sure if this Tim Tam secret could be revealed to people who aren’t Australian citizens, but I checked with the various interested government departments, and with Arnotts, and I have got the all clear to reveal all, provided you all find a packet and try it.

The original version of this article merely listed the steps, but a better way to demonstrate is using video:

The steps in detail:

1. Prepare a drink. It can be hot or cold, whatever your preference. Milk is my favourite, but coffee is good for those who like the stuff.
2. Take Tim Tam from the packet, and try to resist the temptation to just scarf it all down.
3. Take a small bite out of one corner. Let your tastebuds wallow in it for a moment, then take a small bite out of the opposite corner. Ditto.
4. Dip one end into your drink
5. Suck. Go on, SUCK!
6. Your drink will come slowly up into your mouth, along with little bits of Tim Tam. Mmmmm….
7. Keep going until the Tim Tam hull integrity is breached. You’ll know this is happening when the whole thing starts to collapse in your hand. Gobble it up pronto, and allow your tastebuds to enjoy what is best described as a tastebud orgasm.
8. Find the packet and return to step 2.

Links:

  • Arnotts, makers of Tim Tams
  • Wikipedia: Tim Tams
  • Wikipedia: Tim Tam Slam
  • More Tim Tam Slam videos

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

24 Responses to “Tim Tam Slam!”

  1. Carolyn Says:
    May 1st, 2007 at 4:52 pm

    This looks yummy, but just wondering — why is the person doing the Tim Tam Slam (who looks like Daniel himself) wearing a Diamondbacks (US baseball team) t-shirt?

  2. danielbowen Says:
    May 1st, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    It looks like me ‘cos it was me! I was given a Diamondbacks t-shirt a few years ago.

  3. Bridget B Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

    WHOAAAA
    I’ve been doing this my whole lifee…
    Since when did it have a name.. and even better. a half- rhyming name ???!?!?!!?!?!?! *in awe at rhymingness

    The ul-tomato is having a hot chocolate with a scoop of ice cream and then using the tim tam straw.
    The chocolate cream in the tim tam melts and it goes cold again.. then hot.. then cold.. then… …
    *drooooools

  4. Scotty Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 8:09 pm

    Now try the TIM TAM SLAM with Ice Cold Bailiey’s Irish Whiskey.
    Now THAT is the way to do it.

    (PS Having the drink really cold makes the biccie last longer and if you get a few sucks through it the alcohol stays in the chocolate………….. lovely stuff!

  5. Ferret Says:
    August 7th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

    Another option (for the pissheads out there) is to do this with port. Suprisingly, the chocolate and the port go rather well together. Especially after the third one.

  6. Sons Says:
    August 8th, 2007 at 4:17 pm

    I’ve always just done the dunk and eat method with a cappucino, but i reckon now i will try sucking with port. Yuuuummmmmmmmmmmm

  7. ITIMSI Says:
    August 9th, 2007 at 1:49 am

    This tech with sucking the drink up thru the Tim Tam gose back 15 years when myself and my friends used to go to the servo late at night, bord and nothing else to do, bought hot coffee’s and Tim Tams and bit off both ends of the Tim Tams and suck the coffee up thru the Tim Tams till it almost milted the Tim Tams away then ate the Tim Tams befoe it fell apart, it was quite fun. One of my friends started the craze down in Queanbeyan a town next to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory(ACT). Its not a shock thats it has become so popular.

  8. liver Says:
    September 1st, 2007 at 8:00 am

    lol @ ITIMSI …. sure you guys started the craze. Been happening longer than 15 years.

    Sorry if I’ve spoiled some trendsetting illusion you may have had.

  9. chocolate-orgasm Says:
    October 6th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

    my dad is 49 and he used to do it when he was a kid.
    liver, you’re right.. it’s been round longer than 15 years.. must be an aussie genetic thing!

  10. HRH Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 11:47 am

    We introduced this delight to some Yanks a few years ago and in the process coined our own phrase: TimTam-a-lingus……somehow rather appropriate wouldn’t you say??

  11. Beth Says:
    November 6th, 2007 at 12:42 pm

    Here’s a Yank who learned how to slam this weekend by a Canadian. He introduced slamming with The Tim Tam Gospel:

    1. Once known, one must spread the Tim Tam Gospel
    2. If one does not like the slam, it is not the fault of the product, because the product is, in essence, perfect. It is your own fault.
    3. Never slam alone. Slamming alone can lead to:a) addiction; b) dissention when it is discovered all the Tim Tams are gone.

    The best slams are done with hot beverages and require no chewing.
    One can also do a no hand slam.

    Happy Slamming!

  12. Debbi from VA,USA Says:
    December 24th, 2007 at 7:21 am

    We were introduced to the Tim Tam and the correct way to eat one (your slam style) a few years ago while visiting sister in AUS. LOVED THEM. Now, every few months we get our “supply from down under” and continue to Tim Tam Slam here in Virgina. Looking forward to another supply to try with some of the other beverages listed above.

    Happy Holidays!

  13. Mina Says:
    February 3rd, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    I haven’t done a Tim Tam Slam in years. Are you shocked?

    Sadly, my parents were not qualified to teach me, as my family comes from the Netherlands and even now, after 18 years of living in Australia, they probably do not know of its existence. I realise now that this must be changed!

    I learnt the wonder of sucking hot chocolate through a Tim Tam in my early teens, when my brother and I were visiting some friends. It was so delicious and so much fun we went on doing it for months with every Tim Tam we get our hands on. Then, sadly, we forgot the secret of the Tim Tam Slam.

    But this marvellous page has reinspired me to enjoy my chocolate in the best fashion known to the universe!

    (This sounds like it happened an age ago to me. I’d just like to clarify that I’m not 120, but 21.)

  14. Trish Says:
    February 20th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    TimTams would have to be the most over-rated biscuit, why people go on and on about missing them and why doesn’t Sainsbury’s stock them alongside Vegemite is beyond me. The only thing that they are good for is sucking gin through.

  15. steph and carrie Says:
    February 29th, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    WE DO IT TOO !

  16. Becka Says:
    May 13th, 2008 at 12:25 am

    I personally prefer to call this the “Nibblesuckandmeltinyourmouthkindamoment”..don’t steal it 😛

  17. Ari Says:
    June 12th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    OMG!! I’m an Aussie born and bred and I’m ashamed to say that before this afternoon, I had never tried a Tim Tam Slam. I’ve been meaning to get around to trying it but I keep forgetting . . . and then I stumbled upon this little gem . . . It. Is. So. Fricken. DELICIOUS!! I’m never gonna eat a Tim Tam any other way again! Oh, and I have heard that if you shove the Tim Tams in the freezer before hand they stay together longer. But the Tim Tam soaked with milk is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted!! SO addicted now!

  18. Ymerej Says:
    June 24th, 2008 at 11:54 pm

    AHHH the TTSLAM. As with any great thing us Americans have yet another perfect thing to over do. I was introduced by way of the Gospel. Praise God this stuff is simply divine!! My last double slam was with peppermint hot chocolate.

    Rodeo Slam…one hand on the business end and one hand in the air trying to grab angels.

  19. CoffeeinChina Says:
    July 2nd, 2008 at 1:00 am

    Hi there

    We are a couple of Aussies living in China at present.
    And we just read your food page – and nearly wet ourselves laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!
    love that REAL humour!!!
    And yes – we do get our Vegemite delivered here from other Aussies coming over, or ones nice enough to mail it to us – along with redskins, TimTams, Violet Crumble (that daughter wouldn’t share) and Minties and……. but definitely Vegemite!

    Would have emailed you but the address didn’t work…
    Cheers!!

    Oh and the SLAM is AWESOME!!!!! a definite aussie tradition!!!

  20. Hobo Nobility Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    Yep, slamming a Tim Tam. Quite correct.

    But “shotgun”? Wouldn’t that be blowing the liquidised guts of the Tim Tam back into someone else’s mouth?

  21. Aussie Says:
    November 18th, 2008 at 10:42 am

    http://www.AussieFoodShop.com have them

    The slam gets slight;y more with the chewy caramels…for me at least!!

  22. Jac Says:
    March 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm

    when I was little, I was taught to do this with chocolate covered teddy bears with a glass of port.

  23. Tony Says:
    May 21st, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    This should come with a warning… I just wiped 2/3 of a packet with my coffee using this technique!!

  24. Bob Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 am

    Do I love Tim Tams. I have successfully tried the Tim Tam Slam, which made me love them even more. Luckily there’s a British grocer down the street (odd, as I’m in USA) that carries them. As Rachael Ray says, “Yum-O!”
    Now if we could just get some XXXX Bitter.