After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, often referred to as simply After Eights, are a confectionery product that are intended to be used as after-dinner mints. They were created by Graham Edwards Rowntree and Company Limited in the UK in 1962 and have been manufactured by Nestlé since its acquisition of Rowntree in 1988.
The mints were originally manufactured at Rowntree's York factory, before production transferred to Castleford, West Yorkshire in 1970. They are now manufactured in Halifax, following Nestlé's closure of the Castleford factory in 2012. After Eights are sold across Europe and North America, and one billion After Eights are made annually.
After Eights were originally made from dairy-free dark chocolate. However, in 2007, Nestlé started adding butterfat to After Eights, making them a dairy product. Nestlé has also made special editions of After Eights, including orange After Eights and milk chocolate After Eights.
The fondant in the centre of After Eights is made from a stiff paste of saccharose, water, and a small amount of the enzyme invertase. This fondant can readily be coated with dark chocolate. After manufacture, the enzyme gradually splits the saccharose into the much more soluble glucose and fructose, resulting in a more liquid consistency. Maturing of the mint is said to take over three days.
The After Eight family of products includes: