Degustabox

Gifted | Affiliate It's Degustabox time! My June Degustabox arrived a few days back and I was pleasantly surprised once again. F...

Gifted | Affiliate


It's Degustabox time! My June Degustabox arrived a few days back and I was pleasantly surprised once again. For those of you who have not heard of Degustabox, it is a monthly subscription food box. You get around 10-15 products from different brands to sample each month. The products are carefully selected by the Degustabox team so that there is a nice mix of products(cooking ingredients, drinks, sweets, snacks etc.) The price you pay for the box: £12.99 per month (which includes a £3.00 delivery charge) is always less than the total value of the products sent to you. This month my box had 9 products:

- Lambrini Strawberry £3.29
- Be Fast Banana Shakes(x2) £1.00 each
- Estrella Damm £4.00
- Shaken Udder Milkshake £1.89
- Urban Fruit Pineapple £1.09
- Elizabeth Shaw Amaretto Flutes £2.59
- Bear Alphabites £2.69
- Veetee Basmati & Wild Rice £1.49
- Dr Oetker Vanilla Grinder £4.99

If you add up the prices of the products it works out to a little over £24.00 which when compared to the price of the box(£12.99) translates to a very good saving.

Lets move on to the individual products. The first product that I saw on opening the box was the Veetee Basmati & Wild Rice. Rice is one of our staple foods at home - we have it atleast a couple of times every week. I rarely ever purchase ready to eat rice as having tried it once, we were not happy with the way it was cooked. So, when I saw this pack I was not very excited. I wasn't even sure if I would use this up. But as things turned out, I used it the very next day and did I like it? Yes, I did :) I made some Ginger Mushroom Curry to go along with the Basmati & Wild Rice and it turned out to be such a delicious combo. The nuttiness in the rice was well complemented by the rich fiery gravy. I used the Cirio Double Concentrated Tomato Puree from the May Degustabox to make the curry. Veetee is brand I have never used before and having tried the Basmati & Wild Rice and liking it, I now see myself trying out the other variants as well.

Ginger Mushroom Curry

2 tbsps oil

2 onions(chopped and pureed)
2 vine tomatoes(chopped and pureed)
Garlic (optional - as per taste, grind it with the onions)
Fresh Ginger (as per taste - the more the ginger the fiery the curry, you can grind this along with the onions)
Cirio Tomato Puree
A small cup of green peas(fresh or frozen)
400gms Mushrooms
2 tsps Red chilli powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt (to taste)

- Heat oil in a pan.

- Add the onion/ginger paste and sauté until light brown.
- Add the turmeric and coriander powders. Cook for a few minutes.
- Add the fresh tomato puree, red chilli powder and salt. Cook for a few minutes.
- Add chopped mushrooms, green peas, garam masala and the Cirio Tomato Puree. Adjust the consistency of the gravy by adding water or more tomato puree. Cook on medium flame for about 10-15 minutes. And its done! You can garnish with fresh Coriander leaves or add a drizzle of lemon juice. Perfect with Veetee Basmati Rice :)

The second product that I picked up from the box was Lambrini Strawberry! The Degustabox team never fail to surprise. We do get a lot of drink samples in Degustabox, but those are mostly cans and small bottles. I really was not expecting to see this bottle in the box. Happy surprise!! This is the new summer flavour from Lambrini. It has a lovely fruity flavour - perfect for the summers.

My box had an 'extra item' sticker on it and the extra product was a small carton of Shaken Udder Kids Chocolate Milkshake. I have tried these earlier and love them. It went straight into the fridge and I had it an hour later :)

There were 2 high priced products in this months box - Estrella Damm an imported Spanish lager and Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Grinder. Mr.H laid claim to the beer while I was intrigued by the Vanilla Grinder. Degustabox is helping me build up my baking collection and this product from Dr. Oetker went in with my other baking goodies. The Vanilla pods in the little bottle can be ground either fine or coarse and can be used in cake mixes, in hot drinks or like a topping on ice cream.

This months sweet treat was a box of Elizabeth Shaw Amaretto flutes. When I saw the box I thought of boozy chocolates but this one had no alcohol though. These flutes had a nutty and a wee bit bitter almond taste. Last months box had the dark chocolate version which I enjoyed more than these.

The Be Fast Banana Shakes are high in fibre, low in fat and a good source of protein. These went into the fridge as well and I had them the next two mornings. It kept me satiated for a long time but on the taste front it was somewhat lacking. I wish I had received one banana and one chocolate version to sample instead of two bottles of the same flavour.

Urban Fruit - this was a brand that I had not sampled or heard about earlier. We enjoy dried fruits at home and these baked fruits sounded interesting. The texture was a bit different from dried fruits but they tasted good.

Bear Alphabites - Crunchy cereal letters with no refined sugar or salt. Coconut Blossom Nectar is used to naturally sweeten the cereal letters. Kids are sure to love these. We do not have any kids at home but this will be used up quickly because I love cereals :)

Overall I am pleased with this months Degustabox. It is a great way to discover new brands. The subscription is £12.99 per month with no contractual obligations and the readers of DB Reviews can avail a discount of £3.00 off their first box by using the code SG5DS while checking out.

Order your Degustabox here.