Love Free From, September
Cost: £25.99 (£23 & £2.99 Delivery)
Options: Gluten Free | Gluten Free & Dairy Free | Gluten & Oat Free | Gluten, Dairy & Oat Free | and more…
Delivered on: Friday the 11th
Contents and Box Cost vs Individual Cost…
Bio & Me - Fibre + Protein Blueberry Bar (£1.50 // £26.99 Box of 18)
Bounce - Maple, Pecan, Cashew Protein Ball (£1.59 // £18.99 Box of 12)
Buttermilk - Double Choc Crisp Snack Bar (£0.92 // £11.00 Box of 12)
Booja-Booja - Deeply Chocolate Truffles (£1.69)
Proper - Crispy Chilli Oil Crunch Corn (£2.25)
Curators - Thai Sweet Chilli Protein Chips (£1.20 // £23.99 Box of 20)
Eat Real - Veggie Straws with Tomato, Kale & Spinach (£1.15)
Miss Kim - Kickass Korean Lotus Root Bugak (£4.10)
Bioglan - Superberries Powder Blend (£10.00)
Virtue Electrolytes - Mango & Passionfruit (£1.25 // £19.90 Box of 16)
Karma - Cherry Lee (£1.13 // £26.99 Box of 24)
Schar - Focaccia Con Rosmarino (£3.30)
Nutri Brex (£4.35)
September Recipe Ideas (Italian Focaccia, Simple & Comforting Chicken Nurungji Soup, Berry Powder Overnight Oat Bars, Booja-Booja Chocolate Brownie Bites & Freee Chocolate Muesli Crunch Cups)
Total: £34.43
A huge selection of things to eat and drink that I’ve not tried before which is always the point of these boxes; to try new things. I’ve had Schar products in the past and found them to be a hit or miss so I’m curious to try the focaccia and am rather curious about the Nutri Brex. I’m a fan of the fizz from Karma drinks but haven’t tried Cherry Lee yet so I look forward to that.
I really like the inclusion of a recipe book in this box, I don’t think I’ll be trying any of them though as I do prefer to try the product as core as possible to actually get a feel for the product, but I’ll keep the recipe book for the future.
The contents of this box seem to be very high in value in comparison to how much was paid for the box - a difference of £11.43 when discounting the delivery fee of the box - a big factor in this is the £10 Superberries Powder which I’m very interested in giving a go with that price tag.
Individual Reviews…
(Disclaimer: This is based on my taste palet and my opinions / I’ve added Amazon links if cheaper than the official store.)
Bio & Me - Fibre + Protein Blueberry Bar
This was a rather nice bar with a mixture of chewiness and crunch to it with the mixture of seeds and flavours offering a complex mouthfeel. Unfortunately the blueberry flavour to it was very subtle to the point of not being present at all, however the additional ingredients made it a rather enjoyable bar to eat.
At £1.50 a bar I unfortunately feel it’s very overpriced so don’t think this will be finding a place in my drawers.
Bounce - Maple, Pecan, Cashew Protein Ball
This was quite a pleasant experience with a lot of chewiness going on and the added crunch here and there giving a very nice feel in the mouth.
There was a very distinct nutty flavour to these which was nice however I would have preferred more of the maple flavour than the cashew, and I didn’t pick up any of the pecan in it.
£1.59 per ball is extremely steep though and I won’t be going near these in the future.
Buttermilk - Double Choc Crisp Snack Bar
This was such a fantastic experience that reminded me a lot of eating a Tunnocks caramel which was something I loved in the past. It had this chewiness between layers that gave such a great mouth feel. The flavour was chocolate and not much else which is to be expected from a chocolate bar.
I feel the price of these are justified at £0.92 a bar and I will be looking into getting some more of these in the future as a little treat.
Booja-Booja - Deeply Chocolate Truffles
I’ve tried the Chocolate Salted Caramel ones of these in the past and had a bit of a reaction, so I was a bit concerned about eating these however I was fine with them.
They are a real luxury like any of the Booja-Booja truffles, they literally melt in your mouth leaving you with this creamy chocolate flavour which is really lovely.
However ‘luxury’ is the key word with these as they are a staggering £1.69 for two which I feel is absolutely insane.
Proper - Crispy Chilli Oil Crunch Corn
Proper have a good standing in the gluten free world offering a huge array of products and these follow in the Proper footsteps offering some decent quality snacks.
As expected from some corn they are extremely crunchy which is great if you need a bit of a crunch. As for the flavour it works and is very subtle — to begin with! The more you eat the hotter it gets and I foolishly ended up eating the entire pack which left me with a fiery mouth!
Lovely corn though and I really enjoyed eating these — however I feel at £2.25 they are rather overpriced, I’d be willing to pay around the £1.50 mark as there isn’t a huge amount to a pack.
Curators - Thai Sweet Chilli Protein Chips
I wasn’t sure what to make of these when I first read the pack and opened them but they were a surprising delight!
Very light and crunchy with a slight fluffiness to them they made my mouth feel very nice and they were a very different sensation to eating a regular crisp or tortilla based crisp. The flavour of sweet chilli was so subtle but present, offering a crisp that could be eaten without the chilli creeping up on you.
At £1.20 a pack these are very affordable and worth the price in my opinion. I’d not heard of Curators before but I will be looking into more of their products after this.
Eat Real - Veggie Straws with Tomato, Kale & Spinach
These were interesting and not what I expected as each stick was an individual flavour allowing you to try each one individually or mix.
Individually each one was obvious in the flavour and the flavours were great, however taking one of each flavour and eating them together gave such an enhanced and complex flavour, it was really lovely.
Each stick felt solid in your mouth giving you that wonderful crunch with each bite and somehow they felt quite heavy in the hand.
At £1.15 they are a very affordable pack of crispy sticky which are suitable for more than one sitting. I’m very happy to have been introduced to Eat Real in particular to their veggie straws, I’ll be looking into more of their products.
Miss Kim - Kickass Korean Lotus Root Bugak
These were very interesting with a sort of stale crunch to them, but not stale bad, just different. The flavour was quite sweet and mildly salty.
I’m unsure as to where I stand with these, I was expecting something very different with them being made of lotus root, something I’ve not tried before, but there was no flavour to them beyond the sugar and salt they were coated in. I probably wouldn’t buy these again especially at £4.10 a pack.
Bioglan - Superberries Powder Blend
I’ll start by saying this is weird.
I mixed 5g of powder with 200ml of water as suggested and for the most part it tasted just like water with the odd hint of wheaty powder.
I went into this drink expecting some sort of berry flavour, but there was nothing. Now it may offer some benefits to your immune system but at £10 a bag I was expecting a hell of a lot more!
Virtue Electrolytes - Mango & Passionfruit
This powder turns your water into more of a thick syrup and without any flavour other than perhaps salt. I’m going to be bluntly honest about this, it reminded me a lot of drinking dioralyte when I was young and had a bad tummy.
At £1.25 a sachet they are extremely expensive and so foul! I tipped mine down the sink after tolerating a few mouthfuls.
If you’re interested in a hydration drink that tastes great and is substantially cheaper I recommend Holy instead.
Karma - Cherry Lee
I really enjoy Karma drinks; I’ve done my rum tastings in the past using Karma’s cola and ginger beer if you’ve followed those. However I’ve never tried the Cherry Lee.
Initially the smell from this drink is intoxicating giving strong morella cherry vibes which invites you in and greets you each time you take a sip which is delicious. The flavour doesn’t disappoint either with very light cherry notes to it which isn’t overwhelmed by fizz. One of the things I do like about the Karma drinks is that they are lightly fizzy, more like a still with slight bubbles, which made it a really great drink.
I do feel Karma drinks are a little expensive for the amount you get, however I am a fan of them and willing to spend that little extra per can for something I know is going to taste good and not leave me full of bubbles. I should really try all of the flavours someday.
Schar - Focaccia Con Rosmarino
Okay so to start with - oh my god!
This focaccia is amazing! There’s so much flavour in this bread and it is a huge delight in the mouth!
I tried it as a ham and tomato sandwich which was amazing. I also tried it toasted and dipped into runny eggs which was fantastic. The last one I turned into a ham toasty which was hot, but full of flavour!
I’ve found Scharr products to be a bit hit and miss, but this is a huge hit and something I will be getting more of in the future. They are a tad expensive working out at £1.10 per roll but… Sometimes it’s worth spending that little extra, although too expensive to make it a daily sandwich.
Nutri Brex
I used to really enjoy wheatabix but it’s full of wheat and thus a no-go. These Nutri-bix tick that box of old, however are possibly an improvement as their structure remained consistently crunchy even with almond milk on them.
I’m kind of excited by these as it opens up the world of additions to my breakfast; do I want a yoghurt with them? Do I want some fruit? A bit of sugar? I’m looking forward to experimenting more with these and at about 18p (12p currently on Sainsbury’s Nectar) a bix they are very affordable!
Final Opinions…
So my top three from this box is the focaccia, the Buttermilk chocolate bar, and probably the Nutri Brex.
My least favourite was the Virtue drink, with the Superberries powder as my biggest dissapointment from the box.
I enjoyed the box and got a lot out of this month, I do think it was good value for money although perhaps slightly inflated by expensive products that weren’t that great - I feel it’s shown that high priced products do not make a great product, and that when you’re looking at gluten and dairy free products the price is inflated.
I’m very curious to try some more Buttermilk and Curators products in the future.
Additionally, I do find that the inclusion of drinks is a bit of a cop out with this box, it was nice to try the Karma drink but I do feel a bit robbed by the three drink products.
