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Shaker & Spoon Subscription Box Review + Coupon – Feb 2016

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseFeb 7, 2016 | 7 comments

Shaker-January-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-January-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 also 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.

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

This box was absolutely full of ingredients! Here’s a pic from the Shaker & Spoon site showing all of the different goodies:

Shaker-January-2016-Inside

The Subscription Box: Shaker & Spoon

The Cost: $40 per month or $110 for 3 months

COUPON: Save 10% off your first box with coupon code MSA10

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

Ships to: US

Check out all our Shaker & Spoon reviews and the Drink Subscription Box Directory!

Shaker-January-2016-Flyer

Each Shaker & Spoon box is created to showcase a different type of liquor. This is the “Gin Lovers Box.”

Shaker-January-2016-Produce

Because the boxes contain perishable produce, Shaker & Spoon sends their boxes via USPS 2-day priority. Unfortunately, my box was held up for a full week due to the blizzard that hit the east coast a couple of weeks ago. When it finally arrived, the produce had not fared well. I reached out to Shaker & Spoon to let them know, and they sent replacement produce right away (and assured me that they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for their regular subscribers).

Cocktail #1- Gin Flower

Shaker-January-2016-Flower

Ingredients: gin, flower syrup, Angostura bitters, grapefruit bitters, flower petal

Shaker-January-2016-FlowerMade

Shaker & Spoon kicks off this box with a take on the first cocktail ever recored- the Old Fashioned! Historically, the Old Fashioned is “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.” Their take on this classic concoction includes a homemade flower syrup (made with rose, chamomile, and hibiscus), Angostura and grapefruit bitters, and a rose petal garnish.

I love floral flavors, so this cocktail is right up my alley! It’s definitely one for sipping, though. (It’s potent!) The flower petal is a lovely garnish, and I think this would be a perfect Valentine’s Day cocktail!

Cocktail #2- Juliet & Romeo

Shaker-January-2016-Juliet

Ingredients: cucumber slices, simple syrup, coarse salt, gin, lime juice, rose water, spearmint extract

Shaker-January-2016-JulietMade

Out of the three cocktails featured in this month’s box, my husband and I agree that this is our favorite. The combination of cucumber, mint, rosewater, and salt is refreshing, complex, and so delicious. Shaker & Spoon describes it as “at once completely modern and a total throwback.” I love (and agree with) that description!

Cocktail #3- Goji Southside

Shaker-January-2016-Goji

Ingredients: goji-ginger syrup, lemon, gin, spearmint extract, sparkling lemon water, goji berries

Shaker-January-2016-GojiMade

The Southside is a classic cocktail made with muddled mint, lemon juice, and sparkling water. Shaker & Spoon updates it with the addition of ginger and goji berry, and I really love the flavors together! As per their recommendation, I added sparkling water to the drink bit-by-bit until it was just to my taste.

Like last month, I really enjoyed the instructional videos Shaker & Spoon posts on their website to assist subscribers with the mixing of their cocktails. I think this is such a helpful idea, 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: I really enjoy trying new experimental cocktails and mixing up drinks at home, so I always have a lot of fun with Shaker & Spoon. Gin is one of my favorite spirits, so this box was a major win for me. All three of this month’s cocktails were fantastic, and I especially loved the Juliet & Romeo.This is my third box from Shaker & Spoon, and I’m having a lot of fun with the subscription so far. I love that their boxes are always packed with great original recipes and truly unique ingredients. Value-wise, I think it’s important to point out that this box is all about curation. The actual cost of the ingredients is likely less than the cost of the box, but the creative recipes and inventive syrup flavors help turn this box into something really special.

What do you think of Shaker & Spoon? Are you a fan of experimental 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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7 comments

asagaobalcony

If they offered a 2nd-tier box with slower shipping and without the produce for $30 a month, I’d probably bite. For some reason $30 a month is my mental threshold on a subscription box. If I can buy limes for 5/$1 locally, I wouldn’t want to pay to have them shipped to me.

As Lia also asked, I’m wondering where you’d find goji-ginger syrup if you can’t buy it from them. Instructions in the box on how to create the ingredients for future batches would be nice, too. I’d stick vodka and sugar and goji berries and an inch of ginger into a mason jar in my pantry and shake it every day for 6 weeks if that’s how you do it. I’ve made cordials that way before. I’d just need the recipe.

I really appreciate any box that has a skip option. That indicates to me that it’s a company that is stable. Even more enticing knowing that they’ll be around for a while.

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Janet

I would love that as well! The idea of this box is great and I’d enjoy making the cocktails but it’s just a little too expensive.

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Shaker & Spoon

Thank you both for your comments! We are actually working on developing a product just like that. We envisioned that it would be for international customers (we can’t ship perishables all around the world, of course), but it’s good to know that there is local interest, as well!

Regarding our syrups, we don’t currently have them for sale individually, but that’s also in the works! In the future, you will have the option to purchase bottles of our house-made syrups to make additional cocktails.

Come on over to any of our pages to be the first to know about new product launches! We’re on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram /shakerandspoon.

Lia

I really like the idea of this box both for myself and as a gift. The only thing I wondered about is what happens if you fall in love with a drink that uses one of their super unique syrups or something? I browsed their site and couldn’t find sources. Is that info in the box or do you just have to try to hunt down similar things on your own?

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Andrea

I was thinking the same thing! I really like how unique these drinks are–they’re not something you would find on just any bar menu. However, they’re hard to source ingredients for. There have to be some boutique bar ingredient websites out there.

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Shaker & Spoon

It’s definitely a good question, Lia, Chelsea, and Andrea! As you may be aware, we just launched our subscription service recently and have lots of ideas for other products we’d like to roll out for you guys! Individual bottles of our syrups for purchase are at the top of that list. We don’t have them for sale yet, but in the future, you will have the option to re-order to make additional cocktails.

Come on over to any of our pages to be the first to know about new product launches! We’re on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram /shakerandspoon.

Chelsea

Good question. I was thinking the same thing about re-orders on syrups and bitters. I am hoping they’ll add a section so we can render repeat products. In the meantime, I am near a middle eastern market –that has many of the syrups and waters– that’s what I plan on using if I can’t reorder through S&S. I hope that helps you.

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