Universal Yums Subscription Box Review – July 2016

Universal Yums is a snack subscription box that sends out snacks and candies from a different country monthly. This is a review of their Yum Yum Box.

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.)

The Subscription Box: Universal Yums

The Cost: $13.00/month for the Yum Box, $25/month for the Yum Yum Box

The Products: "The contents of the boxes change each month as we try to highlight the best snacks from each featured country. However, you can always expect: A mix of flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, fruity, and more. (and) Only authentic snacks from the featured country."

Ships to: US, Canada, UK, and Israel

Check out all of our Universal Yums reviews and find similar boxes in the Snack Subscription Box Directory!

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This month, the country featured was Taiwan. The glossy paged booklet that they send is always a fun read, and they also include hints for the country they are featuring next month!

Koloko Basil Pea Crackers 

These crackers are made with peas and they taste like basil. I was unsure about these at first, because who really loves peas? Even as a vegetarian, peas aren't my favorite. (If they're cooked right they can be excellent, but there's so many ways to make them wrong!) These chips though were great! They tasted like pea pesto, with the kicky-ness of the basil - I enjoyed these immensely. 

Kuai Kuai Strawberry Milk Snack

These were so odd, because they messed with my head! It was like eating cheese puffs - they're shaped exactly the same, but they taste like strawberry milk! I really enjoyed these!

Lays Stax Seaweed Chips

These look to be the Taiwanese version of Pringles! They are seaweed flavored, and even with my dislike of seaweed, I did enjoy these. The seaweed flavor was pretty mild. They are a bit reminiscent of sour cream and onion chips!

Prince Kimchi Noodles

When I was a kid, I would take dried Ramen noodles and mix them with their spice packet for a crunchy (super easy) treat. These taste exactly the same as that! The noodles are hard and uncooked, but broken down into pieces that are manageable, and then there's a dusting of flavor on top. I wouldn't eat these regularly now, but they were a nice blast from the past!

Green Tea Choco Roll

I really enjoyed this. It was matcha flavored with a a lot of white chocolate to mellow the bite of the matcha. It really was excellent.

Oishi Chocolate Corn Roll

This was interesting and I really enjoyed it. It was crunchy, with a fine dusting of coconut (I'm surmising it was coconut) on the outside. This is made from soybeans, mung beans, buckwheat, peas, red beans, kidney beans, rice, and a tiny bit of chocolate powder. Universal Yums says that the average person in Taiwan eats less than half a pound of chocolate a year...I can see why.

Taro Mochi Cake 

I enjoyed the flavor of these mochi balls. The texture of mochi isn't my favorite by itself - I like it in my frozen yogurt, but on it's own it's a bit much for me. This was a really good mochi though, the flavor was excellent and it wasn't super sweet. 

Moringa Lychee Hi-Chew

I love Hi-Chew - they're so much better than Starburst in my opinion. This flavor was really good, and I could tell the chews were fresh!

Melon Milk Candy 

These were very strongly flavored with cantaloupe, and pretty chewy. I did enjoy these - they were mildly sweet and all around enjoyable. 

I Mei Red Bean Jelly

This is made from red bean paste, sugar, and agar. This was really odd, but I liked the flavor. From what I read online, you're just supposed to slice it thinly to eat - I think it might go well in a stuffed croissant, for some food fusion!

CCC Soft Pudding Candy 

These were in the box to replace the YB Hawthorne Candy that was supposed to be in the box. This is supposed to be flavored like egg puddings - but honestly I didn't taste much at all. These were probably the treat I was most excited to try, but they were definitely a let down. 

YB Brown Sugar Milk Candy 

These were a bit chewy and sweet, a bit reminiscent of a dark caramel candy. I enjoyed these for sure.

CCC Yogurt Candy

These were pretty interesting. They tasted like a tart yogurt, and were a bit sour, but overall I enjoyed them. I'm not sure I would eat them regularly though!

Verdict: I enjoyed this month's shipment from Universal Yums. Most of the items included were delicious, and very different from what I'm used to in the snack arena. As far as the value goes, I think this is definitely on par with the other, similar snack boxes. I received 12 types of snacks, making each snack cost about $2.00 each, which I think is reasonable.  

I'm excited for next month's box, and I think I know what country it is! Do you?