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.
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.)
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
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
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!
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
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
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 - 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.
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.
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!
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Which Universal Yums snack would you most like to try?
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