I recently stumbled upon a 50% off coupon code to try OrangeGlad (it’s expired now). I’ve had a dessert-shaped hole in my life since I cancelled Taste Trunk (RIP), so with the desperation of someone with nothing else to lose, I gave it a shot. There are very few things I wouldn’t do for a chocolate chip cookie.
Orange Glad is $19/month ($15 for the box, $4 for shipping), which is on the steeper end of food box pricing. The photos on the website made the box appear to be pretty packed with delicious looking dessert items, and the review I read had a lot of my favorite type of desserts (cookies, duh), so I was willing to risk it. Is it worth the price tag? Inconclusive.
Raspberry White Chocolate Cookie by Selma’s Cookies – $2.90: I had such high hopes for this cookie. I wanted to love it, despite it having white chocolate. It’s loaded with regular chocolate as well, and I love a good raspberry/chocolate combo. Unfortunately it just tastes…. off. Fake. That artificial fruit flavor that is so cloying you can’t possibly confuse it with real fruit, not unlike FlavorIce. I was shocked that even I couldn’t finish this cookie, and I have an extremely high tolerance for bad cookies. Edit: Oh my god, I just read the description in the booklet they included in the box and it literally says “….while tart raspberry preserves tickle your tongue!” I can’t even.
Original Toffee Cookie Snack Pack by Hard Crack – $1.50: I kid you not, I’m really confused right now. These taste EXACTLY (texture, flavor, and appearance) like my beloved Hannah Max Cookie Chips, to the point where I am wondering if they are the same product. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. These are evidently small-batch cookies made with toffee, but I’m giving the side-eye and wondering if they’re just repackaging some cookie chips. I’m watching you, guys. All this is to say that I really liked them.
Craft Beer & Pretzel Caramels by Shotwell Candy – approx $2.50: This is another one that I had high expectations for (I mean, come on – beer AND pretzel caramels?? YESSSS!!), but were a total let down. I might be spoiled because my store literally shares a wall with one of the best caramel shops you’ll ever come by (Mouth Party Caramel). But whatever, these tasted like I made them myself. Since I have no idea how to make caramels, that’s not a good thing. The texture was grainy and mediocre in every way. Let’s just say this: there were three caramels in the package, and 2 of them remain there to this day.
Citrus Mix Fruit Rock Candy by Raley’s Confectionary – $5.00: I have a hard time believing this tiny pack was 3oz (which is the smallest pack I can find pricing for), but I couldn’t find pricing for a smaller pack and there’s no indication of a weight on the packaging, so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming it was their “small bag”. As far as hard candy goes, this was pretty good. That said, I’m just not a fan of hard candy. Brian has enjoyed eating them though.
Georgia Peach Cookies by Byrd’s Famous Cookies – approx $1.50: These were probably my favorite item in the box. The cookies are small, covered in a nice tart powder, and have a great texture. I wish the pack was bigger, but that’s a personal problem. If the whole box was crammed with these I’d be a happy girl. Alas, I may actually buy a big box of these at some point.
Before I finish, I want to point out something hilarious. They included a booklet with the box describing each item, as many boxes do. About 1/3 of each page is devoted to ingredients and the best by date for each product – except they don’t. Each item just tells you to refer back to the packaging of the product, which is really unhelpful when you’re blogging about it and you’ve already consumed/disposed of the item. DAMMIT, ORANGEGLAD.
Final Rating: C
I had no idea that I would ever find it within myself to set a cookie down and walk away. Willingly. But it happened, and it’s not something I can easily forgive OrangeGlad for. Additionally, the retail value of this box is a slight $13.40 (even after giving the hard candy a pass), which is not great when the box itself costs $19. I’ve forgiven a low value before, but the contents have to really crush it and unfortunately that was not the case here. Maybe I got an off month, maybe other months are better, maybe they’ll do better in the future, but I can’t say I’ll be subscribing to this one again. Also, it just drives the point home for me that they couldn’t be bothered to type out the ingredients despite designing a book around them.
Am I being too harsh? Possibly, but in a world with so many different subscription box options, there isn’t much room for mealy caramels and a handful of hard candy.
Cheers,
Jill
Purchased; all opinions are my own