DegustaBox - March 2020

I always look forward to receiving my DegustaBox every month and especially so for the month of March with all of the current madness in the supermarkets across the UK! The boxes are always filled with a few essential products that can be used as cooking ingredients as well as various drinks and lots of delicious snacks, the latter is is something we all need right now. Last months box contains so many heavenly vegan friendly snacks but the March box also contains lots of useful cupboard items too. The March box is currently sold out but you can sign up to receive the April box which will be dispatched from the 8th April.

*DegustaBox - March 2020

The theme for the box is 'hello spring' and it contains a variety of alcohol free drinks, sharing snacks and cooking ingredients from a range of brands including: Homepride, Knorr, Cadbury and more. As a DegustaBox ambassador, I am lucky enough to receive not only a few of the flavours for each item but I also receive the alcoholic/non-alcoholic items too; however, that is changing from the March box onwards as now there will only be one box rather than an alcohol vs non-alcoholic box. Everyone will receive the same items and the alcoholic products will only be included occasionally in the boxes.

*Galaxy Oat Drink (£1.50)

Let's start with the drinks as there were so many within the March box! First up a vegan Galaxy chocolate drink which doesn't contain added sugar and it is registered with the vegan society. I never loved eating chocolate before switching to a vegan diet last year but when I did crave chocolate, I always wanted Galaxy as it was the smoothest and the creamiest so I was very excited to try this drink! Sadly, it was quite artificial tasting but I think others will enjoy it more than me, especially if you like milkshakes.

*Jubel Elderflower Beer (£2.39)

Another vegan drink is a beer from Jubel which is a world beer awards winner! The beer is gluten free and vegan friendly. This brand was included in a previous box and I liked it then so I think I'm going to love this one too as elderflower is one of my favourite flavours. It is going to be the perfect floral beer for the gorgeous spring weather we are having now!

*Seedlip Garden 108 (£3 for 6cl)

Next up, the first of the two non-alcoholic drinks within the box. The Seedlip Garden 108 is the world first distilled non-alcoholic spirit. It 'captures the essence of the English countryside with notes of peans, hay, spearmint, rosemary and thyme'. It sounds like such an interesting and delicious drink that would be great paired with the tonic water from the box.

*Cadbury 30% Less Sugar Hot Chocolate (£2.49)

Hot chocolate is such a nostalgic and comforting drink that so many people love but I personally always find them too sweet and sugary or it has too much sugar in it, in terms of calories. Thankfully Cadburys have created a 30% less sugar version which still has the same creamy flavour. My mum loves hot chocolate and she adored this new version!

*Merchant's Heart Tonic Water (£1.30)

The final couple of drinks include a aromatic tonic water that would be perfect for the spring months and also to combine with the Seedlip Garden 108 drink for a refreshing and herbal drink for hot spring days in the garden. You could have received either the pink peppercorn or the floral aromatics tonic water and I'm glad I received the latter.

*Highball Alcohol Free Pink G&T (£1.99)

Last but not least is an item my mum was very excited about - the alcohol free pink ginned tonic from Highball. There are six flavours including G&T, pink G&G, cosmopolitan, mojito, Italian spritz and ginger dram. They are all made with natural ingredients and contain half the calories of a standard cocktail. I've never had a gin and tonic before and I found it too bitter but my mum liked it and I think many others will too.

*Naked Noodle Singapore Curry (£1.20)

Moving onto some of the snacks, the first is a noodle pot from Naked Noodle. Before switching to a vegan diet I used to love noodles pots like this for a quick and very easy lunch - I hope they bring out a few vegan options!

*Wotsits Flamin' Hot (£1 each)

Potentially my favourite snack, although not my favourite item overall, from the box had to be the flamin' hot flavour of Wotsits. In the 90's I used to eat so many crisps as they were in everyones primary school lunch box and Wotsits were definitely up there with my favourite crisps but I haven't had any in about ten years. The flamin' hot version is vegan and delicious so I will be buying more if I can find them.

*Smarties Buttons (£1.59)

One of the things I love about the DegustaBox selections is the variety and the snacks as there's something for everyone, including snacks that can be shared. The Smarties Buttons are a new product that combine smooth chocolate buttons with crunchy mini smarties. They'd make a great picnic (a self isolation picnic) or movie snack to share!

*Nudie Snacks Broad Beans (£1.59)

As well as the Wotsits crisps, another favourite snack has to be the soup cream and chive flavoured broad beans. I didn't think they would be vegan based on the flavour but they are (yay). Sour cream and chive is my favourite crisp or snack flavouring and these didn't disappoint. I will definitely be looking out for these in the future.

*Marmite Crunchy Peanut Butter (£2.50)

Speaking of favourites, we've reached my favourite product from the box and if I'm honest, the past couple of boxes. I adore peanut butter but until I received this box I'd never tried marmite and I didn't want to but I'm so glad this jar of deliciousness was in the box as I love it! I'm haven't tried Marmite individually but within peanut butter it makes for an even more salty and savoury version of peanut butter that I can't get enough of! I need another jar ASAP!

*Knorr Stock Pots (95p each)

The penultimate item are a couple of flavoured stock pots from Knorr. There were two in the March box - kaffir lime and ginger as well as paprika and sundried tomato. Thankfully they are both vegan and gluten free. I haven'r tried them yet but I can't wait to try the kaffir lime and ginger stock pot in a curry very soon.

*Homepride Superior Sponge Flour (£2)

Last but not least is an item that hasn't been included in a previous DegustaBox - flour. The Homepride 'superior sponge' flour is a premium milled flour that is made from 100% British wheat. It is ideal for creating light and fluffy sponges for a classic Victoria sponge cake, for example. I've used it for cooking recently but I need to bake with it very soon.

Don't forget to use the code: DTPL4 to get £5 off your first box!

Have you tried any of these products? Will you be signing up to receive the April box?

*gifted