Universal Yums is a snack subscription box that sends out snacks and candies from a different country each month. Choose from the Yum Box for $15 a month, the Yum Yum Box for $25 a month, or the Super Yum Box for $39 a month.
This review is of the Yum Yum box, which is $25 a month.
This month’s box takes us to Thailand! Let's dive in and discover this month's Yums!
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 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: The U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and Israel
Universal Yums “Thailand” July 2020 Review
Universal Yums is always a box we look forward to, and we couldn't wait to see what was coming from Thailand! As our summer has been turned upside down due to everything happening in the world, we have been spending a lot of time at home looking for new ways to stay entertained. While we always get excited to see this box, receiving mail is our main source of excitement these days, and anytime it contains a snack, we are thrilled! How did the Thailand snacks fare? Keep reading on to see!
Each month we receive a brightly animated map detailing the country our Yums are coming from. This month our map features a beautiful tiger lurking in the bushes. On the opposing side, we have the "Yum Scoreboard" which includes a list of all of the boxes contents and an area for you to rate them. Not only is this a scorecard, but it also lists snacks that were rejected from the box, along with the chance to vote on an upcoming box. I am totally voting for Croatia!
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Here we have the detailed pamphlet that includes tons of information about Thailand itself and the treats they sent this month. I love reading the history info and doing the trivia with my boys! I really enjoy the summaries they write for each individual snack, the history, and the fun facts! It makes this into an entire experience! The back includes items they sell in the Yum Shop, but again, no spoilers. You have to follow them on Instagram or Facebook for a clue...
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Z Roll Farm Friend Shrimp & Salad Cream - Buy a 4-pack for $4.80
To start our adventure through Thailand, our first snack was this seaweed-wrapped potato stick with fried shrimp and mayo flavoring. I have to say, I have never eaten any type of sushi or seaweed, and I am just not a fan of any type of fish/seafood, BUT as much as I didn't want to, I did give this snack a try. The crunchy seaweed encased the large potato stick and the mouthful had a very fishy flavor. I couldn't detect any type of mayo cream flavoring, but I could definitely taste the shrimp! While I felt this snack tasted more like how my betta fish's food flakes smell and was not a fan, my 5-year-old thought this was delicious.
Hartbeat Pineapple - Buy a 3-pack for $4.80
Back in October of last year, we received these heart-shaped hard candies in the Halloween Box and I can say I was happy to receive a few more! In Thailand when you buy fruit from a local vendor, they will give you a complimentary packet of salt and spices to be sprinkled on top for an extra-mouthwatering flavor explosion. These pineapple candies are filled with salt and are the perfect mix of sweet and salty. While I haven't tried it yet, I think this would be a delicious candy to eat after a shot of one's favorite tequila!
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Hartbeat Lime Gummies
Speaking of tequila, these salty lime gummies remind me of a refreshing lime margarita without the alcohol! These cream-colored gummy strips are perfectly limey and sweet, with a rush of salt! I love the description from the pamphlet: "With these salty lime gummies, prepare for your taste buds to be transported to the summery beaches of Thailand. (Though adults may be transported to a tequila-tinged night of the past.)" These definitely brought back some memories of my 30th birthday!! Yikes.
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Sticky Rice with Coconut Cream & Mango - Buy a 3-pack for $5.40
Check out this interesting snack...because my dad is a pretty picky guy, our dinner rotation was filled with a lot of meat and potatoes growing up. We did have white rice with pork chops on occasion, but I can say I have never had sticky rice before. As a lover of dessert, I didn't realize that mango sticky rice is Thailand's most beloved dessert! This piqued my interest and while I was a little scared of the appearance I just had to give it a whirl. We tried this sticky rice both room temperature and microwaved, and I can say that it did taste better microwaved. The rice truly is sticky and it stayed in the shape of a bar for its entirety. I found the rice to be chewy and a bit flavorless until the chunks of mango came through. It slightly reminded me of mango coconut oatmeal, and while it wasn't terrible, I just wasn't a fan.
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Suthera Banana Coconut Roll - Buy a 4-pack for $4.80
How pretty are these little banana coconut rolls? Included in this package were 6 little rolls that were perfectly crispy and lightly browned. Upon initial taste, I found these were very similar to the Norwegian Krumkake that my grandma used to make. It tastes slightly like a waffle ice cream cone, but this version has a pretty potent banana and coconut flavor which I really enjoyed. These would definitely be a great addition broken up on the top of some French vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel, because you know, why not!
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Tasto Sweet & Spicy Crisps - Buy a 10-pack for $6.00
I love sweet and spicy snacks, especially if the sweet is more powerful than the spice. These sweet garlic wheat crisps came in a small baggie pumped with tons of air, so they were well protected, but only contained a very small amount of crisps. I found the hexagon shapes very cute and the baked-on glaze was exactly what I was hoping for. These crisps were very sweet with only a little bit of spice and were so good. The garlic was a great addition, and this tiny bag lasted me and my boys only mere seconds before disappearing!!
Orchard Banana Chews
When I read that these chews were made of steamed bananas I was a bit confused as this to me looked like a chocolate treat. To get this rich brown color, perfectly ripe bananas are stirred in a high-heat steamer, mixed with sugar, and packaged in a thick, freshness-preserving wrapping to create this specific treat. I can attest that these extremely gooey and chewy morsels do not taste like a fake banana, they are the real deal tasting rich and pretty dang good. The kids weren't the biggest fans, but I didn't have a problem gobbling them up.
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Tasto Salt & Sour Potato Chips - Buy a 6-pack for $4.20
Here we have another small bag pumped full of air for protection! These salty lemon potato chips are just that, lemony and salty for a peculiar taste that I just can't decide if I love or hate. While they are crunchy like a regular potato chip, and almost have a salt and vinegar note, the lemon really shines through for an interesting flavor. Like I said above, I just don't know how I feel about them, but I also can't stop eating them, so maybe I need another bag to decide!
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Tasto Devil Potato Chips - Buy a 2-pack for $4.60
Holy moly rocky, they weren't joking when they listed these as some seriously spicy chips. These Thai chili pepper potato chips are described as "searing" and are flavored with real Thai chili peppers, which are 15 times hotter than jalapeños. Not only do these chips have some serious spice in the chip itself, but they also contain dried bits of them throughout the bag! I like a conservative amount of spice, but wanted to give these a shot and took a small chip. I found them to be very spicy and was glad to have a glass of milk on standby! My 5-year-old and 7-year-old both wanted to give them a go as well and went for the big chips...they too drank about 2 glasses of milk each to cool down their tongues but were telling their dad all about how delicious they were so he would try them. While he wasn't a fan, he works with a guy that is obsessed with spice and shared them with him. His reaction was that the flavor was awesome, but the dried bits kind of had a weird texture. I'll stick to the sweet and spicy wheat crisps!
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Glendee Coconut Chips Sea Salt & Caramel - Buy a 3-pack for $5.40
As a lover of Almond Joys, my interest was piqued when I saw this large-sized bag of salted caramel coconut chips in this box. I am happy to report these were top notch!! The crunch of the dried coconut paired with the creaminess of the caramel and sea salt was the perfect combination that left me wanting more. As I write this, I totally think these chips crushed up into smaller pieces and added to some coconut cookies would be fantastic. I may have to order more just to give it a try!
Calipzo Corn Flavoured Candy
Did you know creamy corn chews are one of Thailand's most popular candies? These sweet corn chews are just that, extremely chewy and sweet with a real corn flavoring that leaves my taste buds saying "why?!" I LOVE sweet corn. Give me a knife full of butter and a salt shaker with a saucepan full of fresh sweet corn and I am happy as a clam, but this candy was just not one that I found worth the calories. It really does taste like sweet corn, so I will give them an A for effort, but they just didn't do it for me.
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Chocky Wafer Shibuya Honey Toasted Flavour Cream - Buy a 2-pack for $4.00
The description of this tasty treat says it's based on Japanese honey toast, which is a dessert made by brushing a whole loaf of soft bread with butter and honey, caramelizing it in the oven, and topping it with a huge, melty scoop of vanilla ice cream. If that description doesn't make your mouth water, I don't know what will!! These cute square wafers surprisingly do taste quite like that description. I definitely get a butter and honey flavor with the crunchiness of the wafer, finished with a soft hint of vanilla to really encompass the honey toast! I was happy to see this bag was a bit on the larger size as our family thoroughly enjoyed these!
The Verdict: We love Universal Yums and couldn't wait to see what we would receive this month! Because I can't resist a spoiler, I was checking all their social media pages daily to see where this box would be coming from. I was excited to see that this month's treats would be coming from Thailand as I haven't experienced a lot of Thai food. That being said, I found this box to be one of my least favorites. While I realize everyone has different tastes, this box had more misses than hits for me and my family, which is out of the norm. I was happy with our experience as this box also gives us a geography lesson and is just plain fun, but I sure hope next month's box really blows us away. Where do you think the next box will be coming from??
Scorecard Picks:
- Best Yum: Chocky Wafer Shibuya Honey Toasted Flavour Cream
- Runner-up: Glendee Coconut Chips Sea Salt & Caramel
- Worst Yum: Z Roll Farm Fried Shrimp & Salad Cream
- Most Unusual: Calipzo Corn Flavoured Candy
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. Each month they ship your box no later than the 15th day of the month. The first month you will receive a box varies based on availability and may depend on the size that you order.
Value Breakdown: This box is $25.00 a month (including shipping). I received 21 individually wrapped snacks which average out to $1.19 per item.
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