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Shaker & Spoon Subscription Box Review + Coupon – May 2016

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseMay 14, 2016 | 8 comments

Shaker-May-2016-Box

Shaker & Spoon
4 overall rating
3 Ratings | 1 Reviews

Shaker & Spoon is a monthly subscription box that sends you everything you need (except the alcohol) to create bar-worthy cocktails at home.

Each box focuses on a particular spirit and includes step-by-step original recipes and specialty ingredients.

Shaker-May-2016-Contents

You can skip boxes at any time, so there’s no need to worry if you don’t like a particular spirit. If you don’t like gin, for example, you can skip boxes that feature it.

Shaker & Spoon strives to make all of their boxes naturally vegan. If a box is not vegan, it is their policy to explicitly mention it when the box is announced.

Because the boxes contain perishable produce, Shaker & Spoon sends their boxes via USPS 2-day priority.

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

Shaker-May-2016-Inside

The Subscription Box: Shaker & Spoon

The Cost: $50 per month + $5 shipping (Discounts are available with longer subscription commitments.)

COUPON: Save 15% off your first box with coupon code MSA15 (1 & 3-month subscriptions)

The Products: All of the ingredients (except the alcohol) to make 12 cocktails from 3 different recipes.

Ships to: US

Check out all of our Shaker & Spoon Reviews! Find more cocktail boxes in the Drink Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

Shaker-May-2016-Davis

Back in April, Shaker & Spoon announced that they would be teaming up with Bar Rescue’s Russell Davis. From now on, Davis will be overseeing the curation of each Shaker & Spoon box, and each box will feature recipes from talented bartenders around the world. They sent an email to subscribers outlining these changes, and also announced a price increase. Shaker & Spoon now costs $50 per month + $5 shipping, with discounts available for longer subscription commitments; however, current subscribers will be allowed to keep the original, lower rate for the next 6 months.

Shaker-May-2016-FeaturedBartenders

This month’s drinks were created by Kate Gerwin, Danny Ronen, and Russel Davis himself. Interestingly, one of the reasons for the price increase is that Shaker & Spoon is balking industry standards and providing compensation for the bartenders who contribute their recipes. I think it’s nice to know that they’re being compensated for their creations.

Shaker-May-2016-Flyer

Each Shaker & Spoon box is created to showcase a different type of liquor. This is the “Vodka, Adventures, and Spring, Oh My!” box, and it features cocktails made with vodka.

Cocktail #1- Ralston’s Black Peppered Old Fashioned

Shaker-May-2016-Pepper

Ingredients: vodka, black pepper-honey syrup, Angostura bitters, and lemon zest

Shaker-May-2016-PepperMade

This drink was really interesting! The black pepper-honey syrup was both sweet and piquant, and provided the drink with a really interesting complexity.

Cocktail #2- Under Sage Drinking

Shaker-May-2016-Sage

Ingredients: vodka, cherry preserves, elderflower syrup, Meyer lemon juice, and sage leaves

Shaker-May-2016-SageMade

I love cocktails with strong herbal notes, so I was really excited to try this. Of the three cocktail recipes provided this month, Under Sage Drinking was by far the sweetest. I usually prefer drier and more aromatic cocktails, but there’s no denying this is a yummy drink. For me, this cocktail would be perfect for brunch.

Cocktail #3- Shrub A-Dub-Dub

Shaker-May-2016-Shrub

Ingredients: vodka, strawberry-rhubarb shrub, basil syrup, sparkling water, and a strawberry slice

Shaker-May-2016-ShrubMade

Shrubs are vinegar-based syrups that were extremely popular in seventeenth and eighteenth century England. I’m a big fan of shrubs- I love their tangy, sweet flavor! This drink was the definite winner for me this month. It was refreshing and delicious!

Every month, Shaker & Spoon posts instructional videos on their website to assist subscribers with the mixing of their cocktails. I think this is a great supplemental tool, and it really does help to de-mystify some of the techniques they use. If you’d like to check out the videos, they’re all available here.

Verdict: While it’s never welcome news to hear that a subscription is raising its prices, I’m pleased to see that Shaker & Spoon’s price increase is accompanying a bump in their curation game. I think it’s great that they’ve teamed up with Russell Davis, and I love that boxes will now feature recipes from world renowned mixologists. I think this month’s recipes are the best I’ve ever received from Shaker & Spoon, so I’m thrilled with the changes so far. I’m a little disappointed to see that the printed materials are still the same, though. Since recipes are now provided by prominent bartenders, I would love to see a “bartender bio” featured on each recipe card. I was able to find out information about this month’s bartenders by visiting the Shaker & Spoon blog, but I think it would be great to include that information in the actual box. In regard to value, when I break it down by drink this box now costs $4.58 per cocktail (plus the cost of alcohol, of course). For me, that’s reasonable, especially considering the handcrafted ingredients and creativity that goes into the curation. I really enjoy trying new experimental cocktails and mixing up drinks at home, so I always have a lot of fun with Shaker & Spoon. This month’s drinks were all excellent, and I LOVED the Shrub A-Dub-Dub. I look forward to seeing what’s in store for next month!

What do you think of Shaker & Spoon? Do you love trying new cocktails?

Starting at $59.00
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Every month you'll get a box with 3 unique, original recipes by top bartenders for 12 drinks (4 from each recipe) and everything you need to make them—syrups, bitters, garnishes, aromatics, and more—besides the alcohol. You'll be exposed to new flavors and combinations, inspiring you to see your ... read more.

Lindsey Morse
Lindsey Morse

Lindsey is a professional baker, cold brew coffee addict, and rosé aficionado who loves writing about food and wine. When she’s not sharing her love of subscription boxes with the world, you’ll find her in the podcasting studio, perfecting her cake decorating techniques, or cursing her way through the New York Times daily crossword puzzle. 


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8 comments

Julie Donaruma

I’ve been a subscriber for a few months now but I’ll be cancelling once they raise my price (I’m grandfathered for a few months). Reason- you can’t buy the special syrups anywhere!!!! Some of these drinks are fabulous and I’d love to re-create them once the ingredients sent to me have been used up. I have a bunch of glass bottles that I’d love to refill with the syrups if I could even find the recipe anywhere….. I can buy lemons, sage leaves, sugar syrups, bitters, etc but elderflower syrup? Honey-peppered syrup? I can’t justify a $55 price point for something I’ll be able to use 2 or 3 times.

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Shaker & Spoon

Hi there! We just wanted to let you know that while you can’t find our secret recipes anywhere to recreate on your own, we are planning to start selling our syrups individually soon—hopefully fall 2016. We are working to make them available as soon as possible—we would love for our customers to recreate their favorite cocktails once box ingredients run out! The elderflower syrup from Vodka, Adventures, and Spring, Oh My! is not a custom recipe—it’s Monin syrup. Hope that helps!

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D

If it helps at all, I’ve seen elderflower syrup at World Market and it’s also available on Amazon.

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Julie

Yes, thank you!!

Cam

As somebody who is a big fan of craft cocktails, I can see the value in this box. Some of those syrups or ingredients are not readily available or ones can be easily replicated at home, the curation is thoughtful, and I’m supporting the creators of these drinks. When I think about it in those terms, it makes sense to me. I’m paying for somebody’s idea, supplies, and easy access to items.

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Cindy

Maybe I am not into alcoholic beverages to sufficiently appreciate this box, but this definitely does not look like $55 worth of goods to me.

Is it me?

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Callie

I think it really comes down to how much you value your time and this is going to vary for people. It’s the same with meal prep boxes. If you can stay an extra hour at work or spend an extra hour with your kids or work on a project around the house in the hour you’d ordinarily spend at a grocery store AND get the recipes and the ingredients you need to host a cocktail party or share a drink with your spouse, it might be more than worth it. Also to go out for this type of drink will set you back about $10-12 where I live, plus tip. So even if you factor in another $2 for alcohol you’re still saving money.

If you don’t have a disposable income, or like coming up with new recipes to try or enjoy grocery shopping and have the time, the value is much less.

I can’t see getting this every month, but maybe for a month where there are holidays or parties or you’re off work for vacation, it’d be fun.

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Geordana R

No I was sincerely thinking the same thing. I feel like you can get comparable ingredients for a fraction of the cost. I was sincerely looking for the value breakdown. I respect the reviewer and her saying that it breaks down to $4.58 per cocktail, not counting the alcohol… is that per glass? Because if so, that is a very costly at home cocktail and if you average in the alcohol, you might as well just go for a drink. I would have liked to see a price break down of the items like the preserves and syrups.

TBH, I would like to see just a subscription of recipes… like in card form that explained how to source the ingredients, etc… versus throwing relatively inexpensive ingredients and charging so much.

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