I wasn’t expecting a Degustabox last month so I was super excited when one turned up (it’s the little things in life!). For July things were done a little bit differently, with two boxes going out; one containing alcohol and the other without alcohol. For the purpose of review I was sent a box containing the combined contents of the two boxes. I think it’s a really good idea to have two different options as not every one is a drinker although at present this isn’t something that is going to be on offer every month so there are no guarantees of an alcohol free box.

As ever the box contained a fabulous array of goodies far exceeding the £12.99 cost of the box (inc. delivery). New customers can get even more of a bargain by claiming £3.00 discount when registering using the code HCQRG

The first product I pulled out of the box was three bags of popcorn by Portlebay. I’m a HUGE popcorn fan and have seen these popping up in my local Tesco (rrp 79p per bag). The flavours are a little bit odd, but in spirit of adveture I got stuck in and really enjoyed the crispy bacon and maple syrup one…I’m going to pass on the chilli and lime though, it’s just not my thing.

Next out of the box was some more snack fuel in the form of chocolate! I’m not usually a lover of lemon flavoured things but Green & Black’s lemon bar is a winner (rrp £2.99) and the contrast between the dark chocolate and zingy citrus was divine. In the non-alcoholic box there was also a blueberry snack bar from Frank (rrp 85p). I’ve heard of these but never actually managed to track them down to try, blueberry isn’t my favourite flavour, I would have preferred something like orange but it was still a tasty snack and as an added bonus contained no gluten, nuts (yay!), dairy or refined sugar. The bars are also vegan friendly.

My baking cupboard is stuffed with Dr. Oetker goodies at the moment, although there are no complaints here as I really do need to get back in to baking. Watch this space for what I create with the Violet Crystals (£1.29) and Eton Mess (£1.99).

On to the drinks- I’ll preface by saying I haven’t tried most of these, I’m not a drinks kind of girl, preferring diet coke or tea/coffee over anything else so I’ve put them in the fridge for other people to enjoy. I do appreciate the look and flavours of the drinks though and think all of them are brilliant, just not something I personally would enjoy- you can’t please every one though! The Zeo drinks (£1.29 each or £4.29 for a four pack) look so sophisticated in their tall, narrow bottles. The flavours are perfect for Summer- peach and grapefruit BURST, citrus CRUSH and lime ZEST…I think Mum has her eye on these! Dad on the other hand has his eye on the Hornsby’s blueberry cider which came in the alcoholic box (£1.25 each). A sin for a west-country girl but I don’t actually like cider so he’s free to enjoy it- I have too many memories of downing pints of home brewed scrumpy in my youth! For the no alcohol box the drink addition was something I loved- tea from The Berry Company (£1.49). I had a somewhat battered carton of black tea with elder flower and it was just gorgeous, something I’ll be seeking out when I am next at Waitrose or Holland and Barrett.

Last but by no means least was six sachets from Maggi with a value of between £5.44 and £5.54 depending on which selection you got. I love sachets like this as it makes home cooking a breeze- I don’t have the time of patience for creating complicated and fancy dishes when I still struggle with my relationship with food at times. These are just great for creating something quick and easy that doesn’t come straight from the freeze r and actually tastes good! The Oriental Soy & Garlic chicken pack is going straight on my cupboard staples list.

Any one else have as much love for Degustabox as I do? I’m addicted to the surprise contents and chance to try new things. To find out a bit more you can follow them on twitter or find them on facebook. Leave your thoughts below…