December 2017 Degustabox review

The final Degustabox of the year has arrived and it contains lots of things that are perfect for New Year's Eve nibbles and healthy foodie options for the semi-obligatory January diet !

As usual, it's a lovely mix of unknown products from well-known brands and total wild cards - brands that we'd never heard of and would never have bought but that we frequently end up buying again.

Without further ado, here's the contents of this month's box :

Everybody knows the Robinsons brand but I wasn't aware of the Robinsons Fruit Creations drinks (RRP £1.99), which contain twice the fruit for juicier and fruitier creations. We got peach & raspberry which is a refreshing, pleasant-tasting drink with distant echoes of the summer months. This was a big hit with the kids and I'm sure we'll be buying it again.

San Miguel 0.0% (RRP £3) is an alcohol-free version of the well-known beer, perfect for designated drivers on New Year's Eve or those who just don't want the hangover. Malty notes of barley offer a subtle roasted flavour and balanced bitterness to deliver a refreshing drink with all the taste but none of the alcohol.

Coldpress Valencian Orange Juice (RRP £1.50) is a delicious fresh-tasting juice made using only coldpressure HPP (High Pressure Processing) to keep the vitamins and nutrients in. It's pricey but it's a lovely, high quality juice.

Sleep Well (RRP £1.75) is a totally unique product - a vanilla drink that combines Jersey milk, honey and valerian, a herb that's been helping people relax and sleep for 2000 years. It can be drunk hot or cold thirty minutes before you want to sleep.

On to the snack options, the fabulously named Taking The Pea (RRP £1.50) is the UK's first Great Taste Award winning grab and go range of savoury pea snacks. They contain more protein than crisps and less fat than nuts, making them a healthy snack option. We got the smoked ham flavour which are very tasty.

Popchips Galactic Puffs (RRP £1.99) are the perfect snack for Star Wars fans of all ages, with air-popped (not baked or fried), light and airy snacks in fun shapes, including (if you're lucky) a special secret shape. We got barbeque flavour which were a big hit with all the family.

We discovered some Planters snacks in the last Degustabox and they're back in this month's, with Planters Nut-rition (2 x £1.29), in both a Protein Mix and an Energy Mix. Lovely fresh tasting nuts and dried fruit, perfect for snacking at home or popping in lunch boxes.

Another healthy snack option, Ryvita Lightly Salted Rye Cakes (RRP £1.39) can be topped with a variety of sweet or savoury toppings or just eaten straight from the pack. They are naturally high in fibre and low in fat. I'm not a huge fan but Sophie likes them, topped with cream cheese.

Lift Matcha Instant Green Tea (RRP £4.99) contains 15 stick-sachets that offer a simple way of creating a nutrient rich drink just by adding hot or cold water. It's made with  a blend of South Indian Instant Green Tea and Japanese Matcha. When you drink Lift’s Instant Matcha Green tea, you digest the whole green tea leaf, unlike you would with traditionally brewed leaf tea. Being a powder, in convenient single serve sachets, you can easily add to a shake, to baking recipes, or simply just make an uplifting cup of tea. I have a recipe for Matcha & White Chocolate Muffins that you might like to try.

Mary Berry isn't just the Queen of Baking, she also has a range of foods available, including this Mary Berry's Lemon & Mustard Seed Vinaigrette (RRP £2.99). Its zesty flavour is very versatile and works with everything from green salad leaves to salmon or poultry (leftover turkey anyone ?!)

This month's Product of the Month is Willies Cacao Black Pearls (RRP £6.59), pearls of single estate chocolate containing cascades of molten caramel. We got Sea Salt Caramel in fruity 70 Chulucanas chocolate, but there is also luscious Passion Fruit Caramel in Rio Caribe 44 Milk Chocolate. Very tasty, very indulgent and we loved the old-fashioned looking maps explaining the heritage of the chocolate that came with it.

Finally, Candy Kittens Sour Watermelon Gourmet Sweets (£3) are a product that we discovered and totally loved in a previous Degustabox. Deliciously fruity, tangy and chewy, they're quite pricey but they are gourmet sweets that use the best quality ingredients, as well as being gluten-free.

We used them to decorate some funky green Pandan cupcakes last time (there's a theme of green cupcakes going on in this blogpost !) but this time, they just got scoffed ... very quickly !

A subscription to Degustabox costs £12.99 per month including delivery, with each box having a value of much more than that, but the great news is, I have a discount coupon code for you which gives you a whopping £7 off the price of your first box, so you'll get it for just £5.99 - just enter code 0BS6T at the checkout.

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Disclosure : We received the box in order to write an honest review. As a Degustabox blogger, I receive all of the products that go into the monthly boxes, but subscribers may not get exactly the same selection.