Facebook PixelUniversal Yums "Tawain" Box Review – July 2018 | MSA
My Subscription Addiction
My Subscription Addiction
Our reviewers research, test, and recommend the best subscriptions and products independently; click to learn more about our editorial guidelines. We may receive commissions on purchases made through links on our site.

Universal Yums “The United Kingdom” Review – August 2018

closed  Universal Yums box

Universal Yums
4.3 overall rating
43 Ratings | 33 Reviews

Universal Yums is a snack subscription box that sends out sacks and candies from a different country each month. Choose from the Yum Box for $14 a month, the Yum Yum Box for $25 a month, or the Super Yum Box for $39 a month. This month’s box takes us to Taiwan!

This review is of the Yum Yum box, which is $25 a month.

open Universal Yums box showing an info card of the British Flag

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.)

 Universal Yums August 2018 review

About Universal Yums

The Subscription Box: Universal Yums

The Cost: $25 a month + free US shipping

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

Ships to: U.S., Canada, U.K., and Israel

Universal Yums "The United Kingdom" August 2018 Review

This is my second box from Universal Yums, and I was excited to see what country they were featuring this month. I love men with British accents, and as a (double) corgi mom, I was excited to learn more about the treats from our friends across the pond. When you flip the flag over, there is a fun little grid that features all the products and gives you the ability to gamify your tasting a bit – awarding the snacks in different categories. There’s a social media challenge asking you to upload your ballot on social media tagging @universalyums for a chance to win a box full of goodies!

A great info guide is included in the box – with a write up (including ingredient list!) of each of the items. I thought it was interesting to learn a little about each snack as I enjoyed it, especially the ones that I found a bit unusual – but more on that in a bit!

Now, let’s snack!

Mackie's Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar Chips

Mackie's Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar Chips

Fish and chips! These Scottish chips are made with the same vinegar that is used in traditional fish and chip shops in the UK. I probably am in the minority on this one, but I hate the smell of vinegar chips and it’s virtually the 1 snack I can always pass up. I did sample these for review purposes and I thought that they tasted very much like a think Ruffles salt and vinegar chip. If you like those, you’d love these – but for me, it’s a hard no! I do understand why they included these in the box as a nod to their traditional fish and chips dish.

Dean’s Light & Crumbly Choc Chip Shortbread Mini Bites

Ah, now I can get behind these. I LOVE shortbread! This is a great size box for sharing since it contains 12 mini bites (although not that mini, these cookies are about 1.5" in diameter). They are super crumbly, or "short" which I learned from the pamphlet, which means that there is a ton of fat in this recipe (it ties to its namesake shortening, which is the fat used in baking). I only allowed myself to eat one of these, but I could have easily downed this whole package! Seriously – melt in your mouth goodness.

Walkers Nonsuch Dreamy Creamy English Toffee Bar

Walkers Nonsuch Dreamy Creamy English Toffee Bar

This bar is divided into 6 sections, but I found it pretty hard to break it apart and ended up just biting it to try. It’s a thick, decadent caramel – creamy, buttery, and so yummy. However, it was the type of treat that clung to my teeth which isn’t my favorite thing to munch on at work. You definitely need to brush your teeth after this indulgence!

Jonny's Pickled Onion Rings

Eh, these fall into the same category as salt and vinegar chips in my book – gross. The plus side is I found another snack that I can definitely pass up! These onion rings are similar to Funyuns, but with a very strong pickled or vinegar flavor. If you like salt and vinegar chips, these are for you! They are, however, most certainly not for me.

Mackie's Haggis and Black Pepper Chips

Mackie's Haggis and Black Pepper Chips

True or False: Haggis is a small wild animal with two legs shorter than the others so that it can run around the mountains without falling over.

False! if you fell for that no worries. You’re in line with 1/3 of American tourists who fall for this popular Scottish joke. Haggis is actually a pudding made from a mixture of sheep’s pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), onion, grains, and spices that is then boiled in an animal stomach.

Gross. (No offense to anyone who might dig that – but that is definitely not my bag).

These chips are made with artificial flavors and contain no meat products so I did give it a try. I could really just pick up the black pepper flavor, and out of the 3 bags of chips in this box, these were definitely my favorite. I think they'd be fantastic in a French onion dip.

Wagon Wheels Jammie - Buy a 6-pack for $6.95

I learned that 350K people eat these cookies every day! These popular treats are basically 2 cookies covered in chocolate and filled with marshmallow fluff and raspberry jam. I had never tasted one before, and I found it to be quite delicious.

Bristows of Devon Rhubarb and Custard Bonbons

Bristows of Devon Rhubarb and Custard Bonbons

I’ve really only eaten rhubarb in a strawberry and rhubarb pie, so I was curious what this little snack would taste like. First, this is a pretty large bag – 1 piece was plenty for me and was quite chewy (it took a while to chew and swallow it – similar in texture to a caramel). It tasted kind of like a strawberry lemonade candy to me, but I might be in the minority on that one. I did like this treat though and thought it was pretty unique – not something I’ve ever noticed in an American grocery store.

Mackie’s Mature Cheddar and Onion Chips

Finally a chip I can stand behind! These taste like the popular cheddar and sour cream chips often enjoyed in the US. There is a very strong onion flavor, so if you plan to kiss someone with that aforementioned accent in the near future you might want to avoid these!

Toffypops

Toffypops - Retail Value $1.28 USD (£0.99)

Don’t let the name fool you, these are flaky chocolate covered tea cookies filled with soft butter toffee. In the UK, this is a popular tea time snack. I feel like I’ve tasted similar cookies before, but I can’t think of the name of them right now. I think there was a girl scout cookie years ago that was almost exactly like this treat.

Moving on to the yum bag that’s filled with a few types of individually wrapped candies…

Walker’s Nonsuch Treacle Toffee - Buy a 150g bag for $3.18 USD (£2.45)

For my friends with a sweet tooth, if a caramel itself is not sweet enough for you then this one might tickle your fancy. This caramel is infused with treacle – a sweet golden liquid similar to molasses. I found it chewy, super sweet, and was felt very satisfied after one of these candies. 

Kir Royale Chews

These black current and champagne flavored candies (contains no alcohol) are meant to mime a Kir Royale cocktail. I found it to be soft, chewy, tart, slightly sweet, and delicious.

Stockley’s Chocolate Limes

Hands down, lime is my favorite candy flavor. I was so angry when they switched out the green skittle to be apple. This hard candy has the zingy lime flavor that I love but in an unusual and (in my opinion unnecessary) twist it’s filled with a creamy chocolate center. It was just OK for me, I could have sucked on the lime outside all day and didn’t need the chocolate but it was fun to try something different.

Prosecco Fudge

This was a soft, sweet little bit of fudge. There was no fizziness, and I couldn’t taste much but “sweet” – in fact, I didn’t taste much chocolate. I’m also not sure who manufactured this because there were no markings on the wrapper, but it looks to be a popular item offered by many brands if you Google it.

The Verdict: Universal Yums is an international snack box with a great sense of humor! I loved the varieties of flavors and textures featured, and I thought that it was a great value. For $25 I received a ton of different snacks. I also love the playfulness of the curation but was surprised to see several favors from the same brand offered. It makes me wonder if there is a shortage of snacks in the UK or are these the best ones?

If I were to fill out the scorecard from above I would say that in my opinion:

  • Best Yum: Dean’s Light & Crumbly Choc Chip Shortbread Mini Bites
  • Runner-Up: Mackie’s Mature Cheddar and Onion Chips
  • Worst Yum: Jonny's Pickled Onion Rings
  • Most Unusual: Mr. Mais – Chewy Sweet Corn Candy with Butter Filling

To Wrap Up:

Can I still get this box if I sign up today? No, you will receive the September box, which ships 9/15.

Value Breakdown: This box is $25.00 a month (including shipping). I received 13 varieties of snacks, which averages out to $1.92 per item.

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

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

Which Universal Yums snack would you most like to try? 

Starting at $16.00
Subscribe Now

Universal Yums is a monthly snack subscription box that delivers a variety of international snacks from all around the world. Each delivery brings an unforgettable experience that mixes the fun of food, travel, and learning in one tasty box!

You won’t have to worry about forgetting your p... read more.

Colette Christian
Colette Christian
Colette's subscription addiction started innocently enough with a few beauty boxes in 2013. As her life has evolved, so have her subscriptions - and some of her favorites now include boxes that cater towards lifestyle (Popsugar Must Have), pets (BarkBox), and children (Gap Outfit Box and Mac & Mia).

Join the Conversation

Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.

23 comments

Lisa

Just a friendly suggestion to msa. Lots of typos and cut and paste fails lately. Might be worth it to take a few extra minutes to proof read. The intro to this UK box says it’s a box from Taiwan.

Reply ButtonReply

Chris

Ummm, maybe fix your most unusual as it was definitely NOT in the UK box.

This box was a disappointing journey. The Mackies were all not very good, and they are all the little snack size ones you would get for a child’s lunch. Most items had a rather $1 store or less feel. If there was a melting concern, should have held the UK back for later in the year, so that some Cadbury could have been included. I think their largest box had 7 SEVEN, kinds of chips. I get it that they need to make a profit, but the one prestige item, the Deans Chocolate chip shortbread don’t seem to be wowing anybody, the rest seems a bit like filler.

The worst part? They are doing away with the candies soon, which might have been the best part this month! At least we got a Walkers treacle toffee there, and the rest were all good (even the lime chocolate).

Hope they do better with Thailand, the UK had too much of a ‘that’s it?’ Quality about it.

Reply ButtonReply

Helen

I’m English and this box made me really miss my British goodies. Especially the Wagon Wheel and toffees. There’s nothing like a UK toffee. le sigh.
Oh and I’ll take all those crisps!

Reply ButtonReply

fay

trust me on this, it’s not a good representation of my homeland as most of these would be found on the discount shelf at tescos

Reply ButtonReply

Helen

All my posts show up except the negative one. You do the math.

Reply ButtonReply

LB

To avoid spam and abusive posts they filter on keywords and the post goes through review so it is delayed. I’ve had it happen too but they all end up showing up…as long as it isn’t abusive and follows the site rules.

Reply ButtonReply

Fay

mine got delayed. I was a little annoyed this time because I’m English and this is a poor representation of English food. At least throw in Walkers, Thorntons, Cadburys, Frys, etc. How about Battenburg cake and Walkers Sour Cream and Onion crisps?

I wonder if this is how other cultures feel when their boxes are shown

LB

And now that I’ve scrolled through I believe all of your posts are there….

Ellie F

Well, your three posts that do show up are all negative, in that you’re accusing MSA of censorship. Which, if true, means they are doing a terrible job at it 🙂 Maybe it’s just a technical glitch? I know I’ve read plenty of negative posts here.

Reply ButtonReply

LB

Lol. And she’s complaining about them being buried but she’s the one burying them with all of her other posts complaining…

fay

happens to me too

Reply ButtonReply

Katharine

You can’t taste chocolate in the fudge because UK fudge is more like butterscotch or toffee flavored. Not chocolate flavored.

Reply ButtonReply

Lb

We have had Haggis at our family reunions – with the traditional poem read at the “presenting of the Haggis” 😁

Reply ButtonReply

Helen

My parents got a Haggis as a wedding gift.

Reply ButtonReply

Helen

Don’t say anything negative or you too will be censored. AKA your post won’t post until is so far down on the page it is unlikely anyone will read it.

Reply ButtonReply

Helen

And here we go again with the censorship of missing posts.

Reply ButtonReply

Helen

I normally covet this box but this month is not worthy of my box envy. I eat British candy and snacks almost exclusively and this selection is terrible. There are so many better items they could have chosen for this box. It is sad.

Reply ButtonReply

Chrissa

I have had box-envy of this subscription for a few years now, and finally subscribed this month. I’m SO glad I did! We sat down as a family to read the info booklet, and have tried 2-3 snacks together each day. It has been a great experience to share with the kids, who are often reluctant to try new things, but really embraced sampling a different culture. So far, our favorites have been the Rhubarb Bonbons and black currant candy. We can’t wait for the next box!

Reply ButtonReply

Garfield

I think your most unusual is a holdover from the Philippines

Reply ButtonReply

MrsLittle

I wondered if I’d missed something!

Reply ButtonReply

MrsLittle

And the intro is a holdover from Taiwan. Good review, though!