Last year, Flavrbox put a call out on Twitter asking for food bloggers who’d like to try one of their boxes for review. I loved the idea - a box of assorted surprise food goodies delivered to your house once a month. I’m generally a fan of these subscription-type services, mostly because it’s always so much fun getting the box and finding out what’s inside!
I replied saying I’d very much like to do a review. Unfortunately they were a little over-stretched (I think far too many people wanted to do reviews!), and for a couple of months I waited to get a box and it never came. In the end, I ended up speaking to the owner Seb on the phone. It was a great conversation where he explained that they were new, and they had learned a lot over the first few months. He apologised for my wait, and the conversation assured me that they are really genuine, and that they are very passionate about good food indeed.
In the end I got the January Flavrbox, and here is my review of all the goodies inside:
On arrival, I was really excited to open up the box and check out everything I got inside. They make the experience really nice. The neat little box opens up to a ‘hello’ message and a leaflet to ‘Meet the Makers’ of the products inside.
In the box there was a great selection of bits and pieces -
- Karyatis green olives with chilli
- Sharpham Park oatcakes
- Pink’s empire chutney
- Drink Me Chai green tea chai latte
- Tan Rosie ginger fudge
- Eat17 bacon jam
I was excited to try the fudge, as ginger is one of my favourite flavours. Flavour-wise I wasn’t disappointed, as it combined sweet fudge with big lumps of spicy ginger. I do tend to be a bit fussy with my fudge though, and the texture here was too crumbly for my liking (I prefer my fudge very soft and squishy). If you’re a fan of more crumbly fudge this would be great for you though.
I had the olives as a snack at work. Despite finding the first one had the stone still in it even though they were called pitted on the bag, they were actually very nice olives. They had a firm texture and a lovely, sharp and rich olive flavour, which paired really well with the just-hot-enough chilli marinade.
Out of the box, the product I was by far the most excited about was the bacon jam. I’ve been wanting to try this for quite a while so I was very happy when it turned up in my box. It’s actually an onion jam with bacon pieces in that give it a really thick, chunky texture, and make it taste deliciously meaty and smokey. I think it would be great added to other dishes (I’m thinking bolognese sauce) to add a lovely depth of flavour, but for now I’ve just eaten it more or less by itself as it’s so very good!
I first tried it on the oatcakes that also came in the box. I wouldn’t usually choose oatcakes as a cracker as I find they tend to be a bit dry, but these were quite a nice version. They contained spelt, so they had quite a nice nutty flavour, even if I did find the texture was still a little too dry for my taste.
The opposite of the bacon jam, i.e. the product I was the least excited about trying, was the chai latte. I don’t drink milk in tea, ever. Actually, it makes me feel quite sick even thinking about the idea. I don’t understand why anyone would do it. Tea + milk is just very very wrong. Very. The idea of green tea with milk seems even worse than regular tea to me. However, I am a sport, and I decided I at least needed to try it once, especially as I do like things with spices and milk (like pumpkin spice lattes). I must confess I could only manage two sips and then I had to pour the rest of my mug away. I hated it. In fairness to them, I’m sure if you’re someone who likes milky tea, and especially if you like chai lattes, then this would be very nice. I wasn’t the best choice of person to give an unbiased opinion on this particular product!
I haven’t got around to trying the empire chutney yet, so I can’t give my review of that, but it’s a tomato chutney with coriander and star anise, which sounds rather nice indeed. I think I’ll try it in a sandwich with some grilled chicken and mozzarella…
Anyway, overall I really enjoyed the Flavrbox experience. Whilst I didn’t love every product, there were several that I did, and it was fun to try everything. If you’re looking to try a few new foods each month in a convenient and luxurious way, this would be a great choice. It would also make a really nice gift for someone, especially if they live away and you’re looking to send them a nice treat.
