Müller Dairy

Update Review, 2022

After several pandemic induced years of not traveling to Europe, I finally returned in May 2022 to Munich.  While I was there, in between eating all the Kaiserschmarrn I could, I also took the opportunity to try some more of the products from Müller, conveniently stocked in the microkitchens in my office.

Reis (Rice)

"Müller Rice gives you the power to get the most out of your day. Delicious creamy rice paired with delicious real fruit or indulgent, confectionary flavours such as Salted Caramel and Chocolate Hazelnut make for a delicious Rice pudding dessert. A delicious and low fat way to bridge your hunger gap, anytime, anywhere. Muller Rice Pudding can be eaten cold or heated up in the pot!"

Ok, I'll admit that I forgot that I had tried several of the Müller rice puddings when I was in London before, and found them kinda lackluster then.  So when I saw them in the microkitchens in my Munich office, I just got excited, as, well, I love pudding, and rice pudding in general.

In addition to plain, the rice pudding is available in several fruity flavors (apple, strawberry), plus cinnamon or chocolate varieties.  I didn't try a fruity one, but did opt for the others.

Schoko.

The first flavor I tried was the "Schoko", or, chocolate.  I had it cold.

I was quite surprised when I opened it up to see a pale white/yellow base.  For some reason, perhaps the chocolate forward label, I was expecting it to be chocolate pudding (rice pudding obviously), not plain.  Not that I have ever had actual chocolate pudding as a base of rice pudding, but that is what my brain was expecting for some reason.  The chocolate was there, just, as swirls.

Schoko: Top View.

The base pudding had a rather ... plastic and fake taste to it.  What you'd expect from a generic packaged product.  The rice was al dente, but not in a good way.  The chocolate swirl was at least decent?

This was certainly a letdown, but, perhaps expected for a generic packaged product?  I think with enough jazzing up - fresh fruit added, or perhaps cinnamon and chocolate chips, or perhaps heating it up it might be ok, but it certainly wasn't good as served.

*+.

Plain.

After the letdown of the chocolate, I'm not sure why I tried the plain version, given that the failure of the chocolate really was the base rice pudding.

The plain version was actually considerably better, although still not great.  The rice in this one was a bit softer, not mushy, but not oddly al dente like the previous.  The base flavor was still pretty fake and plastic like, and it was very plain, just, sweet.  Still, for some reason, without the chocolate (that wasn't bad on its own), the base bothered me less.

Overall, definitely not something I'd get again, but, I added fresh fruit and cocoa nibs and enjoyed it enough, unlike the chocolate, which I actually ditched.

**+.

Cinnamon.

Wow.  I seemed to have saved the best for last.  And, kudos to me for not giving up and trying more flavors.

The cinnamon flavor was everything the chocolate version wasn't.  While the base was still plain, and the cinnamon came in swirls like the chocolate, this one was loaded with swirl.  Soooo much cinnamon.  The cinnamon masked the slightly plastic flavor that was dominant in the others, yet wasn't overpowering cinnamon.  

The rice was well cooked (not too soggy, not too crunchy), it was creamy, it was sweet, it was just, well, tasty.  Topped with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream it made a wonderful treat.

***.

Update: I had another, and this time, I heated it up (in the toaster oven, because my oven was already hot and I had a ramekin handy).  It was even better!  The flavors balanced out, and it got a film on top that I really liked.  Soooo good warmed up.  I'd gladly have another that way. ***+.

Yogurt

Müller makes several yogurt lines, I only trie done.

Froop

"Perfect variety for sweet fruits: Müller Froop is now available in many new varieties and with a refined recipe. On your spoons, get set, go!"

The Froop line is available in 12 flavors, many of which sound great.  All are fruity of course.  All have a plain base, with fruit layer on top (rather than fruit on the bottom as we see in the US).  They also make a "botanicals" line, with fruit + botanicals, like orange ginger or apple elderflower. 

I wish I'd been able to find more of these, as I really enjoyed the one I had.

Mango.

"Don't be stingy with the charms: Müller Froop Mango doesn't care much about restraint, but seduces with a full fruity taste. It's nice that you can then sink into the fresh yoghurt."

What is it about yogurt in other countries that makes it just so much better?  Or at least, I enjoy it so much more.  The base yogurt to this was smooth and creamy, not thick Greek yogurt, but not runny, a nice texture, clearly full fat, luxurious.  While it was sweet, it was also plain, and the flavor wasn't artificial tasting, like many in the US.

And then the fruit layer, which I honestly thought would be kinda gross, sorta an odd mango gel, but even that turned out delightful, vibrantly mango flavored, and again, not fake tasting.

I added chopped kiwi and fresh mango to this and enjoyed it as much as a pudding based dessert, but, for a mid-morning snack, and it didn't feel like I was going something rebellious.  I'd love to try more flavors.

****.

Original Review, 2019 Tastings

Last week I reviewed a few items from Emmi, a Swiss dairy producer that sells all over Europe.  This week brings another brand brand, Müller, the largest dairy producer in the UK.  Anyway, yadda yadda, Müller started in Germany, expanded rapidly, super successful, yadda yadda.  In addition to supplying 30% of the UKs milk, they also produce cream, yogurts, puddings and other dairy based desserts, and the like, along with butter.

When I was in London my office had some of their items stocked in the microkitchens, and I was pretty thrilled to have easy access to pudding at all times.  Really, why does my office have only yogurt here in the US?

Müller Corner

Müller Corner is a line of yogurt products, each with a separate side corner to mix-in (hence, the produce name).  The "Corner" range breaks down further into Fruit Corners (with the side corner filled with fruity compotes), Crunch Corner (with crunchy toppings like chocolate flakes, biscuit bits, and the like), Corner Creations (with not one, not two, but 3 different toppings to mix-in), and finally, Corner Skyr (made with Icelandic Skyr yogurt and granola mix-ins).

"Mmmh… Crunch Corner, that creamy yogurt you love, with a crunch on the side! Will you go for Vanilla Chocolate Balls? Or maybe Strawberry Shortcake? Actually, Banana Chocolate Flakes is yum too… Is it OK to try them all?!"

I only was able to try one Crunch Corner, but I love the concept, and would gladly try more. 

Corner: Dessert Inspired Banoffee Pie.

Banoffee!!!  I love banoffee, and definitely rarely get to enjoy it as its pretty rare in the US.  Even though I knew this product was yogurt, and not a real dessert, it was "dessert inspired" and had a mix-in corner filled with crunchy white chocolate balls, so, um, healthy yogurt this was not.

The yogurt itself was ... well, yogurt.  Runny style, very sweet, with a caramel banana flavor.  Not something I'd really want on its own.  The crunchy white chocolate balls however were awesome, much like crispearls if you've ever had those.  They added a creamy-sweet-crunchy element to it.

Was it banoffee?  Absolutely not.  What it lacked most of all was a whipped cream topping, as the banana and caramel were captured well with the yogurt flavor, and the crispy pearls did a decent job of mimicking the crumble biscuit base.  It was still clearly yogurt, not pudding or custard.  But for a yogurt?  It really was quite enjoyable, and what's to stop me from putting whipped cream on top of yogurt after all?

***+ for uniqueness and crispy things.

Müller Rice

Stepping away from dessert-pretending-to-be-yogurt, and closer to real dessert, is the rice pudding line, Müller Rice.  Müller also makes a protein enriched version.

"STOP grab your spoon and listen, when hunger is grabbing your attention choose Müller Rice it's nice and creamy, with fruit that’s light and dreamy. #RiceRiceBaby"

The rice comes in several fruity flavors (strawberry, apple, raspberry), plus chocolate or custard, in addition to a classic original.  I tried several.  All have instructions for serving chilled or warmed.

Creamy Dairy Rice with Vanilla Custard.

"This ones for all the custard lovers out there… .  Delicious creamy rice with an underlayer of bangin' Vanilla custard flavour sauce. Certified by Tasty B. It's the ultimate hunger-beating comfort food. "

The first one I grabbed was the vanilla custard version.  I was pretty excited for this, as I love a good rice pudding.

The rice pudding layer was good - really creamy, nice vanilla flavor.  The custard however was not very good, really quite runny.  Luckily it was all at the bottom of the pot, so I was able to avoid it for the most part.

So, great creamy vanilla rice pudding, but the part I was eager for, the custard, was a letdown.  I only tried it chilled, but I'd love to try it warmed up as well.

*** overall.

Strawberry Rice Pudding.

"Tasty B's number 1 hit is Strawberry Müller Rice. Delicious creamy rice with an underlayer of bangin' Strawberry sauce. Certified by Tasty B. It's the ultimate hunger-beating comfort food."

Next I tried the strawberry one.  Somehow, the rice pudding layer was totally different.  It was runny and didn't have a very good flavor.  The vanilla one from the custard version was considerably better.

But just like the custard one, the weaker element lay beneath the rice pudding, in the strawberry sauce layer.  The strawberry sauce was just crazy sweet goo.  I hated the strawberry sauce.  Think of all the bad American yogurts you have had that have sauces you mix in, and, well, that is exactly what this was.

I tried to work around the strawberry sauce and just get some rice pudding, but even that was not very good.  Do not recommend!

**.