You may have noticed that I didn’t write about Taste Trunk last month. Due to a billing mishap on their end I was deprived of one of my favorite boxes, so I was really looking forward to the February box to make up for the mess. I feel it’s important to note that Taste Trunk was not going to let me know that they had a billing issue and instead just canceled my subscription (don’t get me started), so if you’re subscribing to this box please take note that you should stay on top of it if you ever have an issue. I almost didn’t notice that I didn’t receive the box because I receive so many, so for me it was a good thing I love this box so much or I may have gone several months before realizing there was a problem. Ok, moving on.
If you’re not familiar with Taste Trunk, it’s a monthly box for people who like awesome food. You get to choose between the Gourmet Trunk, the BBQ Trunk, and the Sweet Trunk – each are $35/month. The first few months I subscribed to Taste Trunk I got the Gourmet Trunk, then switched to the Sweet Trunk a couple months back. Whichever box you choose, it’ll be packed with high-end tasty treats.
I appreciate Taste Trunk’s aversion to sending themed boxes. They just send good stuff instead of trying to find a common thread between all the items included. There are a lot of boxes that try to force a theme on everyone when it’s really not necessary. #PersonalProblem
After a sad month hiatus, I received my Sweet Trunk at last. The day it arrived was a day that a big snowstorm hit Baltimore and it took us 3 hours to drive the less than 4 miles between our store and home. After dozens of near-accidents, it was an awesome surprise to see it on my doorstep when we finally arrived home.
Sweet Sam’s Pound Cake ($1.99) & Whoopie Cookie (~$1.99? Couldn’t find a price, but I’ll assume it’s similar to the pound cake) – Taste Trunk has a total thing for Sweet Sam’s. They sent a Sweet Sam’s pound cake as well as a Sweet Sam’s whoopie cookie. Both were good, but for some reason I had it in my mind that these were gluten-free. When we were eating them, we definitely said “this is pretty good for being gluten-free,” but upon writing this and looking at the pictures I realized that they weren’t gluten-free after all. So I have no idea if they were legitimately good or if they were mediocre but good if they were gluten-free. Either way they paired well with all the wine I was drinking. The pound cake was a mix of chocolate and vanilla (my personal favorite because I can never decide between the two), and the whoopie pie was red velvet with cream cheese filling.
Dancing Deer Maple Oatmeal Cookies ($11.99) – I cannot tell you how excited Brian and I were to see an ENTIRE PACK OF COOKIES from Dancing Deer in this box. My dog probably knew due to the high pitched frequencies we were emitting. We once received some savory shortbread cookies from Dancing Deer in a Love With Food box once and we were so hooked that we ordered boxes of them. So suffice to say, we were stoked to try these maple oatmeal cookies. I’m not even sure it needs to be stated how great they were considering they were cookies and all cookies are generally great regardless of what kind they are, but Brian vocalized his mild irritation that they contained unadvertised raisins. He of course helped himself to another one immediately after, so it wasn’t enough of a turnoff to actually deter him from consuming them.
Daelmans Jumbo Caramel Wafers ($0.89) – Another pleasant surprise in this box was the pack of Daelmans “Jumbo Caramel Wafers.” Recently I was telling Brian about how great the Dutch treat stroopwafel is and how he has to try it. It’s like Taste Trunk read my mind because “jumbo caramel wafers” is literally stroopwafel. If you’ve never had it, it’s thin wafers that are drenched in a syrup of some kind, usually something caramel-like. They’re gooey and sugary and decadent and there is really no other treat like them. I became obsessed with stroopwafel after a few adventures in Amsterdam. It should say something if after going to Amsterdam multiple times the thing most likely to cause my pupils to dilate is stroopwafel.
Seattle Chocolates Cappuccino Crunch ($3.50) & Ranier Cherry ($3.50) Truffle Bars – They sent us two full sized high-quality chocolate bars. Two of them. This is why I love Taste Trunk so much. They sent legitimately good stuff that is full sized, and they don’t skimp on the quality. I hadn’t tried Seattle Chocolates brand chocolate before but they were super delicious. We tore into the cappuccino crunch flavor almost immediately and enjoyed it like crazy. There were sizable chunks of toffee and almonds that really added something delicious to it. We loved the cappuccino one so much that we kind of put off eating the rainier cherry one for a couple of weeks thinking that there was no way it was going to be as good as the first one. How wrong we were. The bar was stuffed with praline pecans and cherries and totally enjoyable. These were definitely not the best chocolate I’ve ever had, but they were still really solid bars.
Seattle Chocolates, assorted (~$1.99) – The box also contained a handful of chocolates that I didn’t pay much attention to until I actually bit into one. Each wrapper detailed a different drink, and the candy inside was meant to mimic – and mimic they did. I can’t say I was a fan of them, but they sure were interesting. The flavors included cosmo, mimosa, lemon drop, champagne, and margarita. Some were super fruity chocolate, which is weird to me but still kind of interesting. Others, like the mimosa and champagne, had pop rocks in them to mimic the carbonation in those drinks. I thought that was pretty cool, even if the flavor was weird. I really like chocolate, probably to an obsessive degree, so when people start messing with my cocoa flavor I start to get a little fussy. Again, personal problem.
Final Grade: B-
Overall this was an ok box, and I’m rating it a B-. I was pretty annoyed by the fact that I had to miss the January box for some stupid reason and they weren’t going to let me know that they canceled my subscription (I mean, come on), and while the contents of this box were good, they didn’t really make up for the annoyance. For $35 I’d expect to receive a higher value of items – the Sweet Sam’s items were good when I was in the gluten-free mindset, but I’m not sure they were good enough to justify spending that kind of loot on this box. The chocolate and cookies were great, but together they weren’t expensive. The total price of items received was $25.85 and I paid $35 for the box. That is waaaaaaaay lower in value than any other box I receive, and it does beg the question of whether it’s worth paying 30% more than the actual value to be exposed to new products or am I just wasting my money? Time will tell, I suppose. For now I will look forward to receiving the Gourmet Trunk next month, I have found that the products total a bit more than the Sweet Trunk boxes.
If you’re interested in checking out Taste Trunk, please use my referral link by clicking here! It helps me afford all these boxes that I love to review for you!
That’s all for now!
Jill