December 2014 Degustabox: Review

I love receiving my Degustabox every month – with no prior information as to what’s going to be in there, I love the element of surprise. Every month for £12.99 (including delivery), Degustabox send their subscribers a big cardboard box jam-packed with a variety of different food and drink products, many of them often brand new to the market. What’s more, the value of the products within the box is always guaranteed to be at least double their retail value.

I’ve been receiving these boxes for a while now and – while the contents are subjective – I’d probably say that the December 2014 box was one of my least favourite to date. I’ve had some amazing products sent through in the past, though, so I’m going to take this one month with a pinch of salt.

On opening December’s box, I was faced with the following lovely goodies – read on to find out all about them in more detail…

The Barbecue Popchips (RRP £1.79) were the first to go. These crisps are created by using a combination of heat and pressure, which ensures that they’re half the fat of fried crisps. We were impressed with the flavour too: not artificial like many barbecue crisp varieties, and very moreish.

The Gloworm drinks (RRP £1.50 each) were next on our list, and we had fun working our way through them over the course of an evening. These are sugar and taurine-free premium mixers, with each flavour designed to complement a different spirit. My favourite was the fruity Raspberry & Orris for vodka, while the Ginger & Lemongrass for bourbon went down well with my other half. I found the Pear, Spice & Lime for rum a little artificial, though – and not being a fan of gin, the Cucumber & Apple variety is still sitting in my cupboard…

Chia is something I’ve heard loads about but never actually tried, so I was intrigued to see a sachet of The Chia Co’s Oats & Chia (RRP £1.70) included in my Degustabox. This mixed berry porridge only requires water to turn it into a super creamy breakfast option without dairy, and it was pretty damn tasty too.

Bahlsen Choco Leibniz (RRP £1.79 per pack) are one of my favourite ever biscuits! You can’t go wrong with buttery biscuits topped with great quality milk chocolate – and not only did we receive a pack of the milk chocolate variety, but also a pack with a layer of caramel nestled beneath the chocolate. Deliciously moreish…

I’m all for DIY meal kits, but many of those currently out there don’t appeal as the recipes are too standard and simple. The Kent’s Kitchen meal kit that came with December’s Degustabox (RRP £2.50) seemed a little on the pricey side, but created a dish that we’d never tried before: Brazilian Moqueca Capixaba. This delicious fish stew was simple to prepare, and the flavour were fantastic.

And now onto the products we’ve not yet had a chance to use. The Pukka Herbs Clean Green tea (RRP £2.39) is sadly not for me, as I gave up caffeine several years ago. If it’s anything like their other teas, though, it’ll be of a very high quality. I’m addicted to their Three Cinnamon variety…

We’ve not had a dry January (as you can tell from the fact that the Gloworm drinks got used…!) but Degustabox took into account the fact that many people do by including a bottle of Eisberg alcohol-free wine (RRP £3.49). It’s not yet been drunk, but with a third of the calories of “normal” wine and beautiful branding, I’m looking forward to trying it soon.

I’m planning on using the Frylight Infuse Chilli (RRP £2.00) to liven up scrambled eggs for breakfast this weekend! This spray oil is infused with chilli extract, with the spray nozzle meaning that it’s easy to control the level of flavour that the oil imparts.

Finally, December’s box also included a jar of Bonne Maman Coarse Orange Marmalade (RRP £2.30) – I’ve tried their jams before and have been impressed with the quality. I don’t tend to eat much toast, so will most likely be using this to make an alternative bread and butter pudding…

So there you have it. Products from nine different brands, with a total RRP of £25.75 – great value for money. If you’re interested in subscribing and receiving your own Degustabox, then use code WOPT7 at check out to receive a £3 discount on your first box…

For more information about Degustabox, visit www.degustabox.com/en.

Please note: this box was received free of charge, but in no way impacted on our opinion. We were not obliged to write a positive review, and the company did not see this review before it was put up on the site.