Revels are one of those chocolates that people have strong opinions about before they have even opened the bag. Everyone has a favourite. Everyone has one they are quietly hoping not to get. That is the whole point of them: a bag of mixed chocolate centres where you genuinely do not know what you are picking up until it is already in your mouth.
Browse all Revel sweetsMade by Mars since 1967, Revels chocolate has been a fixture of British sweet shops and cinema concession stands for nearly sixty years. Here is everything worth knowing about them, including the full flavour lineup, the ones that got cut, and the best way to buy in bulk.
What Are Revels?
The Basic Format
Revels are small, round chocolates with a milk chocolate coating and different centres in each bag. The key selling point has always been the variety. Every piece looks identical from the outside. You reach in, pick one, and find out what you have got when you bite through. That element of surprise is what separates Revels from every other chocolate in the Mars range and what has kept them popular through decades of competition.
The bag contains six different types of chocolate piece. Each has a distinct centre, and the proportions in any given bag vary slightly, which means two people eating from the same bag will rarely have the same experience. Some flavours are more popular than others, and the less popular ones have a habit of outnumbering the ones you actually wanted.
Who Makes Revels?
Revels are made by Mars, Inc., the American company behind Maltesers, Galaxy, M&Ms, Snickers and Twix. Mars introduced Revels to the UK in 1967 and the product has been in continuous production since. They have never had a major reformulation or been discontinued, which puts them in a fairly small club of British chocolates that have stayed essentially the same for over fifty years.
Every Revels Flavour Explained
Orange
The orange piece has a soft orange creme centre inside the milk chocolate shell. It is one of the original Revels flavours and consistently ranks as the most popular in informal polls. The combination of chocolate and orange is a classic pairing, and the creme centre gives it a lighter texture than some of the other pieces. If you are the sort of person who eats through a bag specifically hunting for orange ones, you are in good company.
Coffee
The coffee piece is the most controversial thing in the bag. A coffee creme centre in a milk chocolate shell, it divides opinion more than any other Revels flavour and has done since it replaced the original coconut centre in the 1980s. In 2008, Mars ran a public vote asking consumers to nominate a flavour for eviction from the bag. Coffee received nearly half of all votes cast. It survived anyway, which suggests Mars knew exactly what they were doing by keeping it in. A bag of Revels without the threat of coffee would be considerably less interesting.
Toffee
The toffee piece has a chewy toffee centre that requires a bit more work than the others. It is one of the denser pieces in the bag and the most texturally distinct from the rest of the lineup. The toffee sits at the popular end of the range and tends to be one people are pleased to find rather than disappointed by.
Raisin
A whole raisin inside a milk chocolate shell. Simple and relatively straightforward compared to some of the other pieces. The raisin replaced the original peanut centre at some point in the product’s history. Opinion on it tends to split along the same lines as the wider chocolate-and-dried-fruit debate: some people think it is a perfectly good combination, others consider it a waste of a chocolate pick.
Malteser-Style
This piece has a light, honeycomb-style centre similar to a Malteser. It is one of the more popular ones in the bag and tends to go quickly. The honeycomb centre gives it a crunchier texture than the creme pieces, which makes it immediately identifiable once you bite through. Read more about Maltesers in our separate guide.
Plain Chocolate
A straightforward chocolate piece with no flavoured centre. It is the least exciting thing in the bag on paper, but it serves a purpose: it resets the palate between the stronger flavours and gives the bag a bit of ballast. People rarely complain about getting one, even if they would not specifically choose it.
The Flavours That Did Not Make It
Coconut
The original Revels bag included a coconut creme centre. It was replaced by coffee at some point in the 1980s. The coconut piece has a dedicated group of people who still bring it up decades later as evidence that the original lineup was better. Whether that is nostalgia or genuine preference is hard to say, but it comes up reliably whenever Revels are discussed online.
Peanut
Peanut was also in the original mix before being replaced by raisin. Like the coconut, it left behind a group of people who thought the swap was a mistake. The peanut piece would have given the bag a savoury-leaning option that the current lineup lacks.
The 2008 Eviction Vote
In 2008 Mars ran a campaign modelled on reality TV eviction shows, inviting consumers to vote on which flavour should be replaced. The website revelseviction.com collected nominations. Coffee came first by a significant margin, picking up nearly half the total votes. Raisin came second with around 25%. Mars kept both, replacing neither, which was either a cynical move to generate publicity or a genuine belief that the controversial flavours were essential to the product’s appeal. Probably both. The campaign generated substantial press coverage and reminded a generation of people that Revels existed.
Are Revels Suitable for Dietary Requirements?
Vegetarian and Vegan
Revels are not vegan. They contain milk chocolate and several of the centres include dairy ingredients. They are suitable for vegetarians. If you are buying chocolates for a mixed group that includes vegans, the vegan sweets range has a number of chocolate-style options worth looking at.
Gluten
Revels contain wheat flour in some of the centres, which means they are not gluten free. The ingredients list includes wheat gluten and barley malt extract. They are not suitable for anyone with coeliac disease or a serious wheat intolerance. Browse our gluten free sweets range for suitable alternatives.
Allergens
The full Revels ingredients list includes milk, soya, wheat, barley and celery. The celery is listed as a flavouring ingredient in one of the centres. Worth checking the product page for the full current allergen information before buying for anyone with specific requirements.
Browse all Revel sweetsBuying Revels in Bulk
Box of 20 Bags
One Pound Sweets stocks Revels in a box of 20 treat bags, each 71g. At £1 per bag, a full box works out at a straightforwardly better price than buying individually from a supermarket. It suits anyone who goes through them regularly, wants to keep a supply for an office or shared space, or needs a quantity for an event.
When to Buy in Bulk
Revels are a practical choice for cinema nights, office sweet tins and party bags precisely because they are self-contained individual bags rather than a single large product to share around. Each bag is its own thing, which avoids the awkwardness of passing round a box and waiting for everyone to take their share. A box of 20 covers most small events without needing to think about it. Orders over £20 qualify for free UK delivery. The chocolate bars range has more options if you want variety alongside Revels.
Revels have stayed in production for nearly sixty years because the format works. The mystery of what you are about to eat is a genuinely good idea, and the coffee piece being divisive is a feature, not a bug. A bag where everyone agrees on every choice is just a bag of identical chocolates. The tension is the point.
Buy Revels Chocolate in Bulk at One Pound Sweets
Get a full box of 20 Revels bags with free UK delivery on orders over £20.
Shop Revels at One Pound Sweets