In this month’s Degusta Box, I received the following:

Indie Bay Snacks Spelt Pretzel Bites Rock Salt

I have already tried the Quinoa Pretzel Bites with Black Pepper when I received them in my goody bag from last year’s #BlogConLDN, so I was quite content to find two packets of the spelt and rock salt version in my Degusta Box. I slightly preferred these to the quinoa and black pepper ones and they even had a delicious well baked taste hence their dark colour. The box even came with a recipe for rockie (sic) road that uses the pretzel bites.

Free From Fellows Midget Gems

These reminded me of a cross between ordinary midget gems and raspberry and blackberry gummy sweets. Unlike ordinary gummy sweets, these are free from gelatine, sugar, gluten, dairy, soya, eggs, nuts and palm oil. They contain no artificial colours or flavours and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. The red ones are pomegranate and raspberry flavoured while the black ones are blackcurrant flavoured. The fruit flavours are strong and realistic, but the sweets had the tendency to stick to my teeth.

Hellmann’s Vegan Mayo

I usually go for the Hellmann’s Light or Lighter than Light mayonnaise depending on their availability in shops whether they are offline or online, so I was intrigued to receive the vegan version in the box. Once I have used up the mayonnaise I currently have, I will try this vegan version to see how it compares to my usual kinds.

Koko Dairy Free Super

Coconut milk is my ideal alternative to ordinary dairy milk. This version by Koko has, “specially boosted nutrition,” that is, “enriched with 9 vitamins & minerals.” I liked the coconut taste of this milk as well as its slightly thick texture. I mostly had this milk with cereal, but I also blended some with strawberries and a banana to make a smoothie. The box came with a coupon to get 50p off this milk.

Real Good Ketchup Smokey BBQ

While I liked the concept of this ketchup, its barbecue smell was stronger than its taste. I first tried this to accompany a barbecue bacon burger with sweet potato fries  and vegetable crudités. Another time I tried this was with the Schwartz BBQ Pulled Chicken seasoning mix (which I first received in my June 2017 Degusta Box, but I have purchased it from Ocado) and this is the best way I have used this ketchup. Like the Free From Fellows Midget Gems, this ketchup is sugar free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans. The box came with a recipe for sweet potato hash that uses the ketchup and I would like to try one day.

Shore Sea Salt & Balsamic Seaweed Puffs

After having already disliked the Clearspring Organic Seaveg Crispies Turmeric from the February 2019 Degusta Box, I was sceptical to receive these seaweed puffs. I decided to give myself benefit of the doubt when I tried these. Unfortunately I didn’t like them after trying just one piece because the fishy seaweed flavour overpowered that of the sea salt and balsamic vinegar. I ended up throwing the rest of them away, which was a shame, and I even wished I’d donated them to my local food bank.

Oteas The Noir a L’abricot (black tea with apricot)

This was a very intriguing tea to receive. It comes in biodegradable pyramid-shaped teabags. The tea had an acquired taste because the black tea element was bitter, but the apricot flavour was lovely if subtle.

Fruity Beauties Bar

Like nakd bars and the Pacha Mama bar I received in the April 2019 Degusta Box, this had a slightly chewy texture. I also preferred the fruity taste of this bar than that of the Pacha Mama bar, especially the apple notes.

Milkybar mixUps

I saw a clue to these in the caption of a post on the Degusta Box UK Instagram page that made a reference to a “childhood favourite chocolate with a twist.” My initial guess was Cadbury Darkmilk or Galaxy Darker Collection, but Milkybar mixUps was the correct answer. Prior to acquiring this month’s Degusta Box, I have already tried Milkybar mixUps in bigger bags. I received two smaller bags in the box. The concept of these chocolates reminds me of that of Vice Versas (milk chocolates with a crispy white shell and white chocolates with a crispy brown shell) since the white chocolate mixUps have a milk chocolate filling while the milk chocolate ones have a creamy filling. Out of the two different kinds of Milkybar mixUps, I prefer the white ones with the milk chocolate filling. The milk chocolate ones with the creamy filling are okay, but I would have preferred the filling to actually taste like white chocolate.

Splenda Sucralose 100 Sweet Minis

Splenda is a brand of artificial sweetener I’m already familiar with. I received a little dispenser that contains the sweetener in the form of micro-sized tablets also known as sweet minis. Although I haven’t tried these yet, I would like to use them to sweeten tea and coffee.

Firefly Drinks Lemon, Lime & Ginger

Firefly Drinks is a completely new brand of drinks to me. They offer botanical still drinks that are made from fruits, herbs and spices. While I have tried the combination of lemon and ginger before such as in Twining’s Tea for example, I thought the addition of lime, nettle, dandelion and rosemary took the combination to a whole new level. Upon drinking this, I could taste the citrus notes followed by the herbal notes, especially the rosemary, and a gentle burn of ginger. This drink complemented my dish of lemon chicken perfectly and I am happy to see that there are other flavours in the range. I would particularly like to try the Pomegranate & Elderflower and the Bramley Apple varieties because they’re the ones that appeal to me the most.

Daelmans Stroopwafels

Before receiving the May 2019 Degusta Box, I heard of Stroopwafels from a previous episode of The Great British Bake Off where the chefs were required to make their own. Barry Lewis has also made a video of himself making his own on YouTube. Stroopwafels are Dutch sweet waffles made up of two thin layers of waffle with a chewy caramel centre. I found a handy pack of two Stroopwafels in my box and although I liked the chewy texture of the caramel, I felt that the cinnamon flavour of the waffles was stronger than the taste of the caramel. Despite this, I bought a pack of 10 from my local convenience store when I spotted them in there and I tried warming one on top of a cup of coffee. The first attempt of doing this was unsuccessful because the Stroopwafel fell into the cup and became soggy. Hopefully when I buy a waffle warmer from the Daelmans online shop, it should prevent any future Stroopwafels from falling into the cup. The second attempt was okay because the Stroopwafel was lukewarm, but the steam from the coffee made it softer. The Stroopwafels I received in my box came with a flyer where I could scratch a panel and see what I win and be in a chance of winning a gift package and a pair of clogs (traditional wooden Dutch shoes). I won a discount code to use on the Daelmans online shop, so I could use it to get money off other products in the range that I would like to try.

This month’s Degusta Box came with a competition flyer that promoted a competition based on the theme of brunch and afternoon tea. The competition ran on Instagram and people could comment on the post by saying what their favourite brunch or afternoon tea items were as well as tag someone they enjoyed these items with. The winner could win free Degusta Boxes for themselves and the person they tagged.

In conclusion, I was pretty satisfied with the May 2019 Degusta Box on the whole. My favourite items were the Indie Bay Snacks Spelt Pretzel Bites Rock Salt, the Free From Fellows Midget Gems, the Koko Dairy Free Super coconut milk, the Fruity Beauties bar, the Milkybar mixUps, the Firefly Drinks Lemon & Ginger and the Daelmans Stroopwafels. My least favourite item was the packet of Shore Seaweed Puffs.

Degusta Box U.K. website: https://www.degustabox.com/en/

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored blog post. All opinions expressed are my own.