Taste Trunk is the bomb.com, y’all. This is the second box I’ve received from them, and it is my favorite box so far for November. You probably have figured this out already, but I get a lot of boxes. Most of them are just for me, because as great as my fiance is, he just doesn’t get as excited about nail polish and hair products the way that I do. I don’t understand why.
Taste Trunk is different. It is the bridge between our differing interests, the band we can both finally agree to listen to during road trips. Taste Trunk is the Switzerland of subscription boxes. We both get really excited to open it, and he happily decides which box we’ll order that month. You get to choose between the Gourmet Box, the BBQ Box, and the Sweet Box. So far we have both been super happy with the Gourmet Box, but maybe next month we’ll live dangerously and get the BBQ Box. We’ll see. Whichever box you choose, it’ll be packed with high-end, fun foodie-approved goodies. For $35/month, you could do a lot worse.
Now, as I was saying, the November Taste Trunk box is so far the best box I’ve received all month. Everything in it is awesome, and will be consumed probably faster than it should. Alright, let’s get to it already.
Each month the goodies come tucked inside an adorable box that is meant to look like a trunk. I wish I got a photo of it before I ripped into it, but I my impatience got the best of me. Trust me, it looks good. They also tie a pretty ribbon around everything which really makes it feel like you’ve just received a box full of presents each month – which, after all, is why we get subscription boxes, right? Here’s a better look at all the goods:
Lilly’s Q Carolina BBQ Sauce – $8.00 – We almost went with the BBQ box this month, but decided to keep things Gourmet. This box kind of became the best of both worlds though, because the first item I pulled out was a jar of BBQ sauce. I’ve probably mentioned this, but we smoke a lot of meat. We are big fans of our Big Green Egg and during the summer we smoke anything we can get our paws on. A friend of ours introduced us to the magic that is Carolina BBQ sauce (I was convinced sweet was best until she showed me otherwise), so this jar will probably disappear the next time we smoke a pork shoulder.
Apparently Lillie’s Q is a BBQ restaurant in Chicago, and they have their own line of all-natural sauces and products. The ingredients in this sauce are awesome, no corn syrup or artificial flavors/colors to be found. Just actual food (yay). Plus this is a good sized jar – 16oz. Most boxes send samples or smaller sizes, maybe to save on shipping. Taste Trunk always sends full sized products, which is awesome and appreciated.
Shemp’s Whiskey Pepper Steak Sauce – $5.99 – As if I needed another reason to eat steak. This sauce, like the BBQ sauce, is full of ingredients I can pronounce and visualize. That may not be a huge deal to most people, but I like to know what exactly I’m eating. I also like steak sauce on other things, like eggs and potatoes, but I never use that much of it so I never buy it for myself. I’m glad this was included in the box, I look forward to trying it.
Terrapin Ridge Farms Mango Habanero Gourmet Jam – $8.00 – This sounds SO tasty. I love spicy things, and I doubly love sweet and spicy things. Mango and habanero go so well together, and they go especially well with something creamy. With Thanksgiving coming up, I’m trying to think of things to keep the masses happy (because I of course volunteered to host both my and Brian’s families for the second year in a row). When I saw this, I immediately thought how great it would be with baked brie. Like the above items, this jam has no crap in it – just stuff you’d find in your pantry (because everyone has habaneros hanging around in their kitchen, obviously).
Purely American French Market 18 Bean Soup – $6.50 – A long time ago, Lauren and I were discussing how much I love soup, and decided that I should open a soup shop named Süp. It would be run by hipsters who would answer the phone, “Süp. Sup.” We find ourselves hilarious, even if we are alone in that consideration, so we still laugh about it. The point of this story is that I f*cking love soup. Especially 18 bean soup from New Orleans. Well done, Taste Trunk.
Gourmet Du Village Provence Seasoned Sea Salt – $5.99 – I like seasoned salts. I’m starting to get more into a variety of salts when I cook, because the flavors can vary quite a bit. Herbes de Provence is so delicious, I can only imagine that the combination of that with sea salt would be pretty tasty. This will probably also be used for something that I cook for Thanksgiving. It seems Thanksgivingy.
Taste Trunk also includes little cards for each of the items they send along with recipe ideas for several of them. It’s a cool touch, especially if you aren’t super comfortable winging it in the kitchen.
Overall I am giving this box a solid A+. The total retail value of the items this month is $34.48, which is just about what I paid for it ($35). Usually I look for better value in my sub boxes, but this one is great because 1) I love food, 2) it has introduced me to a bunch of new products I have never heard of or tried before, and 3) I love every single one of the items they included. Definitely worth it for me this month. With the holidays coming up, this type of box is great because if there is something I’m not super excited for, I can wrap it up and stick it in someone’s stocking for Christmas.
Adios!
Jill