Tim Tam Slam

The Cultural Story

The Tim Tam was created by Arnott's Biscuits in 1964, named after the horse that won the Kentucky Derby that year. Today approximately 35 million packets are sold in Australia annually. It is two chocolate-cream biscuits sandwiched together, enrobed in chocolate — designed for eating, not for rituals. The ritual came later, invented in living rooms across the country by teenagers who had too much creativity and too much time. The Tim Tam Slam — also called a Tim Tam Suck or Tim Tam Bomb — requires you to bite off diagonally opposite corners of the biscuit, creating a makeshift straw. You then draw hot liquid through the biscuit until you feel the structural integrity begin to give way. At exactly that moment — and this is the crucial part — you pop the entire biscuit into your mouth before it collapses. The inside has become molten and gooey. The chocolate is melting. The whole thing disappears in one moment of pure, chaotic joy. The biscuit choice matters. Original Tim Tam works. Double Coat Tim Tam buys you a few extra seconds. Dark Chocolate is for purists. White Chocolate Tim Tam Slam is divisive but legally permitted. The drink must be hot enough to melt the internals — a cold coffee will produce only disappointment.