Degustabox | November box

If you’ve not heard of Degustabox, then where have you been? It’s a food & drink monthly subscription box – bringing you 9-14 surprise products, many which are new to the market. When you sign up, you get to fill in your very own profile, meaning a couple of the products may differ. It’s actually the highlight of my week when this little beauty arrives on my doorstep – so what was in November’s box?

·         A box of Ryvita Thins (cheddar & black pepper flavour)

·         A box of Ryvita Crackers (green & black olive flavour)

·         Two bottles of Teisseire Gourmet Drops (caramel and vanilla flavours)

·         A box of Belvita Soft Bakes (red berry flavour)

·         A tub of Food Thoughts organic cocoa

·         Two packets of Butterkist popcorn (salted caramel and sweet & salty flavours)

·         A jar of Branston Orchard Fruit chutney

·         A bag of Nim’s fruit crisps (pineapple and mango)

·         Two packets of Hartley’s jelly (strawberry glitter and black cherry)

·         A jar of Bourne & Wallis beetroot

·         A bar of Divine dark chocolate with raspberry

·         A bottle of Rekorderlig dry apple cider

·         A sample of Holy Lama mulled wine spice drops

First up we have the two Ryvita products. The Thins are something I’ve bought before and enjoyed. They can be eaten on their own, with soup, accompanying a salad or with dips. This particular flavour is lovely, especially if you like pepper – it is quite hot, but the cheese comes through nicely. The Crackers I wasn’t a fan of – largely because I don’t really like olives. I often force myself to eat them on holiday, because they are good for you. This variety would be lovely with some feta cheese and sundried tomato for the ultimate Med-inspired snack.

As a huge snacker, the two packets of Butterkist popcorn were a real treat and one I shared, begrudgingly. Sweet & salty is my favourite flavour and I found this variety a lot tastier than the likes of other brands. The share-size bag of salted caramel was also divine; with the sea salt balanced the sweet caramel nicely. I would buy both bags again.

The treats kept on coming with the incredible Divine dark chocolate with raspberry. I loved the freeze-dried raspberry pieces, which weren’t overly sweet; the chocolate wasn’t too bitter either. I could have easily eaten the whole bar in one sitting without feeling bad – but instead treated myself to a couple of squares now and again. I didn’t feel guilty eating the Nim’s fruit crisps either. High in Vitamin C and one of your five a day, I have to admit, I prefer apple/banana crisps and think these fruits would have been better freeze-dried or just not in crisps format.

Jelly over the festive season is a must and I was SO excited to see that there is such thing as glittery strawberry jelly. I haven’t used this yet, but I do have a couple of ideas in mind – even if it’s too pretty to eat! The black cherry flavour was consumed in a beautiful black forest trifle. This was actually the recipe on the back of the contents card, but my mum did her own version so I’ll be blogging that recipe on Friday. It makes a lovely dinner party treat!

Another two Christmas must-haves arrived in the form of jars. Anyone that knows me will know I’m obsessed with pickles so the beetroot was just what I needed! I love it in salads, with cheese or cold meats and it will always end up on my plate if there’s a buffet! The Orchard Fruit Branston chutney was a hit with all the family. Packed with apples, sultanas and spices, it accompanied the cheese board nicely. We also tried with pate and homemade ciabatta – it was perfect!

Belvita is a familiar brand in our household and their biscuits are perfect for eating on the go, or when we haven’t got time to actually sit at the breakfast bar in the mornings #commuterproblems! I find the crunchy biscuits too sweet for me and they end up lining my teeth in that horrible film. The soft bakes are beautiful: fruity, filling and hit the spot nicely.

I think there were enough drinks to last until the end of the year, maybe even the start of this! I actually drank the Rekorderlig dry apple cider that weekend. I’m not usually a fan of apple cider, unless it’s spiced or mulled, but this was lovely – and not too dry. I probably would have been even better heated up! The two flavour enhancers by Teisseire got a thumbs up from everyone. We often use the Monin syrups to flavour coffee or hot chocolate, so these were a good replacement. I preferred the caramel to vanilla, as I found the latter too artificial for my liking. I’m yet to use the cocoa but think it may feature in a brownie recipe. I don’t really drink cocoa but it’s good to see it can be used in baking! And a lovely welcomed touch was the Baileys – Merry Christmas! I like mine on the rocks, how about you?

The mulled wine drops (not pictured) I wasn’t a fan of. I was really looking forward to using them as I love mulled wine. I just found the flavour too overbearing and it spoilt any flavours the wine had. Even when I used the tiniest amount, it tasted like pure orange essence and just wasn’t for me. I much prefer the traditional methods of mulling.

Did you know you could try a box for half price by clicking this link?  

What were your thoughts on the November box? 

Love, Lucy xx