Sourced Box Review | January

This month's sourced box has very pretty, appealing packaged products. I was hoping for some sourced box own brand snacks (we had one in December) but alas there isn't one in this month's box. There is a bonus sachet of Aduna Moringa Green Superleaf powder and a Teapigs voucher. Huzzah, some savoury snacks are included too this month...oh and some porridge :S

Apple & Raspberry Fruit Jerky 

~Snact~

Not very much supplied in the pack but a nice little snack. Think thicker, chewier candy belts without the sugar! These are packed full of flavour and would be great for children too with it's chewy texture. Looking at the website there are other flavours too: apple, blueberry and banana and apple and mango. A great on the go sweet snack, I'd buy these again!

Cacao Orange Raw Energy Bites

~Squirrel Sisters~

The Squirrel (or Tyrell) Sister's etho's is that 'in treating yourself you can treat your health'. They have a range of more healthy raw energy bars which sound delish and are stocked in wholefoods, boots and lots of other places (I might know of if I ate better). In the pack are two chunky finger bites of chocolatey orange goodness. The texture is like sticky, thick cake with a bit of crunch and is a substantially satisfying, sweet snack. Not quite the Terry's chocolate orange we all tucked into at xmas but this snack gives you a nice choc orange kick, now we are all clean-eating again (she lies). I like the decorative coco pattern packaging and the little tray the snack comes in- very cute!

Peppermint Tea
~ Teapigs~

Tea Pigs have a vast range of teas: English Breakfast, Green, Chai, Fruit to name a few and even popcorn! This is a gourmet product: the tea comes in silk pyramids and is on a higher price point (a pack of 15 bags will set you back £4) than bog standard PG tips (aah good ol' PG). You can taste a difference between the teapigs high quality tea (or qualiTEA that saves on the vocal chords) and your cheapo supermarket brands. This particular tea has a mild peppermint scent and fresh feeling taste. I'm not a fan of peppermint tea- I find the flavour generally tastes of grass, and unfortunately I have yet to be converted. This tea is palatable but not something I would choose- even if I had bad indigestion I'd opt for green tea or a Rennie antacid tablet! I'll give it a point for the packaging; put anything in a patterned brown paper bag and I'll be excited.

Nim's Beetroot & Parsnip Veg Crisps

I love a veggie crisp and I now realise that I like them for their salt. Nim's crisps unsurprisingly have zilch salt. They are 100% veg: 50% beetroot, 50% Parsnip to be exact. I'd agree with the online description they do taste...'earthy'. Earthy in an edible but not overly exciting way. I'd like to try the other combos in the range: tomato & cucumber and Pepper & Courgette as these could be less predictable in flavour- perhaps beetroot and parsnip are over done on the veg crisp market. Also £1.25 for a bag!? Overall a bit bland and the packagings trying to win over kids- but they won't be fooled!

Moringa Bar with Mango and Cashews

~Aduna~

Eat this with your eyes closed and it's fruity, tropical and satisfying. Eat this with your eyes open and it's less appetising. It's a filling snack packed full of texture. Taste-wise its sweet, tangy (there's a hint of ginger) but has an aftertaste of that 'healthy food/farm shop smell'.  

Quinoa Porridge 

with coconut, cashew & beetroot

~Loula's Superfood~

It's pink!!!! 

I quite liked this, I was expecting the worst: a savoury mushy porridge. But! as porridge goes, it was palatable. I think it was a placebo effect my brain thinking 'mm pink mush' rather than 'eww regurgitated food mush'. This time I used Almond milk instead of semi-skimmed milk which may have given it a sweeter taste. Due to the seeds and superfoods and cashews included in the mix it gave it more a bit of crunch which porridge needs. I'd (tentatively) try this again. 

Cacao, goji berries & pistachios Popcorn 

~Nina's ~

Love Love Love these- as you can tell from the photo there wasn't much left after I'd stuffed them all! I love that theres the berries and nuts mixed in- a great way to fill up without noticing your eating them as you pour a large mouthful in! The cacao gives the yummy chocolaty sweetness and the pistachios give it some savoury crunch too. To top it off the packaging is gorgeous! So pretty. Would love to try these again!

Chilli & Garlic Olives
~Olove~

A portion-controlled snack of pitted black olives in a vinaigrette of Chilli & Garlic. I couldn't taste any chilli or garlic but it was still a delicious snack!


Pure Mylk Artisan Raw Chocolate
~Raw Halo~

This is tasty and a good substitute for chocolate if your going dairy-free. It's rich with a mild bitter taste with finely ground cashews that give it a subtle crunch (I've used crunch too much in this post). It's a little misleading in terms of packaging: purple and the name 'Pure Mylk' is associated with milk chocolate but of course it contains no milk, and in the absence of milk it looses that creamy taste that makes a good chocolate- this product is basically plain chocolate so perhaps should be packaged in this way. I also notice that 35g of (more delicious) Cadbury's chocolate (ie: a freddo) contains less calories and fat than this product. Although I suppose a freddo has alot more sugar and ain't vegan...potato, potato.

Matcha Green Tea Mylk

~Rebel Kitchen~

Still in the fridge, waiting for it's moment!