First Impressions: Salt & Straw’s Pints Club Review + Coupon

First Impressions is a series that introduces and reviews new brands to My Subscription Addiction, drawing from readers’ requests for an insider’s first look. Interested in seeing more reviews from this brand, or have another box in mind that you’d like to see reviewed? Let us know in the comments.

Although I tend to prefer savory foods, I’m definitely a sucker for ice cream. But plain vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry options just don’t do it for me. When I eat ice cream, I want it to have interesting flavor combinations and plenty of “chunks”, like brownie or cookie pieces, for a textural contrast.

One of the first restaurants I enjoyed after moving from the Midwest to Los Angeles was Salt & Straw, an ice cream shop chain originating in Portland, Oregon. I was so impressed with the wide variety of flavors and flavor combinations. I’m fortunate to live near a storefront, but I was also excited to find out that Salt & Straw has a Pints Club subscription box to have seasonal flavors delivered to my door.

Active Deal: Save 20% on your first order use coupon code PINTSCLUB20

My Subscription Addiction received this box at no cost in exchange for an honest review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes).

Salt & Straw Overview

Salt & Straw is an ice cream company started by two cousins in Portland. The company is dedicated to partnering with fellow food artisans in their community to make innovative ice cream options that are always changing. The company has “Scoop Shops” around Oregon, the Seattle and Bay Areas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Disneyland, and Disney World, but if you don’t live near by, they also sell their ice cream online. Even better, you can sign up for Salt & Straw’s Pints Club, a subscription that sends you five new, seasonal ice creams per month so your tastebuds will never be bored (and your freezer will never be lacking in ice cream!).

What to Expect in a Salt & Straw Delivery

Salt & Straw has two Pints Club options to choose from: seasonal or vegan. You can also purchase three-, six-, or twelve-month subscriptions in advance for a discount.

• Price: Both seasonal and vegan Pints Club subscriptions are billed at $79 per month, and shipping is free.
• Packaging: The ice cream is packaged in a cardboard box that is then placed inside compostable insulation alongside a bag of dry ice. All of the insulation is inside a larger cardboard box.
• What’s Inside: Each delivery includes five pints of ice cream in seasonal flavors.

Packaging

You might be thinking that having ice cream delivered is a messy, bad idea. I was honestly a little nervous about it myself. But Salt & Straw doesn’t mess around with the packaging. Case in point: my order was delivered at 5:39 p.m. on a Wednesday, but the delivery driver didn’t knock and I thought the order was coming on Thursday. So I checked Thursday, around 9:45 a.m., and found my box. I panicked, expecting to open the box to a soupy mess. Nope! The ice cream was secure and still completely frozen.

Flavors

Sure, you can find some interesting ice cream flavor options at the grocery store these days, and plenty of store-bought pints don’t skimp on the “chunks” that I love. But Salt & Straw offers a lot more experimental products that you won’t find anywhere else and still packs in plenty of those tasty bits of pieces of fruit, pastry, and other sweets. One of my all-time favorites from my local Scoop Shop is the Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper, and the pints in my subscription box for May were just as unique.

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First Impressions

I received a Salt & Straw Pints Club box in May 2022 from the company for review for MSA, but this review is not sponsored and all opinions are my own. I received the following five flavors: deviled egg custard with smoked black tea, cinnamon honey fried chicken, baked brie and fig cheesecake, chocolate nocino cherry pie, and pink rosé and watermelon sorbet.

• Deviled Egg Custard With Smoked Black Tea: This ice cream had me a little worried, but it wasn’t too bad. It tasted like really tangy black tea. Although it didn’t taste like mayo or mustard, it did have the tanginess of both. It also, thankfully, didn’t taste like deviled eggs. It was very rich and creamy.

• Cinnamon and Honey Fried Chicken: I enlisted my partner to taste this one, since it does include chicken fat as an ingredient and I don’t eat meat or meat products. He unfortunately wasn’t a big fan, noting that he tasted the sweet elements strongly first, then had an aftertaste of the savory chicken. He wished the flavors intermingled on the tongue at the same time.

• Baked Brie and Fig Cheesecake: So I’m a little weird about figs (I suggest you don’t look up how they are pollinated!), but I was intrigued by this ice cream and had to try it. It was SO good. It had a strong cheesecake flavor that worked well with the sweet fig jam. I couldn’t really taste the funk of the brie that I was hoping for, but it was still delicious.

• Chocolate Nocino Cherry Pie: Despite my fully stocked apartment bar, I hadn’t heard of nocino, a walnut liqueur, before. One bite into the ice cream, though, and I thought, “Wow, that has to be a liqueur because this tastes boozy!” Fortunately, I like a boozy dessert. This reminded me of a chocolate-covered cherry with a nice splash of alcohol poured right in. I particularly liked the bites of chewy cherry and puff pastry.

• Pink Rosé and Watermelon Sorbet (vegan): I usually prefer more indulgent ice creams (like chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, etc.), but this fruit-forward sorbet was my favorite in the subscription. It was super light, tasting like a sweet rosé with a strong watermelon flavor. While refreshing and tasty on its own, this sorbet would also be good in a boozy punch for summer sipping!

What I Loved

It’s a box full of ice cream — what’s not to love?! In all seriousness, I was fully impressed with my Salt & Straw Pints Club Delivery. I opted for the seasonal flavors. Although I am a vegetarian and received one ice cream with meat product as an ingredient, I do still consume dairy occasionally and wanted to be able to share the pints with my partner, who often can’t have vegan products because of a nut allergy.

What Could Be Better

There’s really only one thing that might give some people pause before ordering this subscription: the price tag. Five pints of ice cream for $79, or $15.80 each, is not for everyone. I understand working with local farmers and artisans means the products will be more expensive, but this higher price point won’t fit into many budgets.

I’m fortunate to live near a Scoop Shop, where I can get pints for $12.50 each, although I did not see the pints in the subscription box available at my local shop. If you really love ice cream or you want to spoil someone you love, though, I think this is worth the splurge.

Is Salt & Straw Pints Club Worth It?

I really enjoyed my Pints Club delivery. Even though I wasn’t obsessed with all five flavors, I had a fun afternoon sampling them with my partner and finding some new, unique flavors that I love. I think as a gift or treat for yourself, this is worth the subscription! I don’t see myself subscribing every single month, as it’s a little steep for the budget I allot for subscriptions, but I do think it’s worth the occasional treat (and if you have a bigger subscription budget, I say go for it!).

Interested in tasting for yourself? You can try the Salt & Straw Pints Club for 20% off your first box with code PINTSCLUB20.

Other Things You Should Know

Can I still get this box if I sign up today? Every month, Salt & Straw unveils new monthly flavors. Check the Salt & Straw website to see what's on deck for June!

What did you think of the Salt & Straw Pints Club? 

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