Saturday, December 26, 2015

Cuisine Cube Review, December 2015 + 40% Groupon & 15% Discount Code!

What distinguishes Cuisine Cube from some of the other gourmet food boxes are the full sized products; each cube contains 6 or 7 of them.  Most of the items come from small batch vendors so have an interesting artisanal quality.  You can choose from among three box types: Artisan (no food restrictions), Vegan (dairy and animal free) or Gluten-free (gluten and wheat free). Click here to see sample boxes for each line.

The following pricing plans are available:  (see below for Groupon discount)

Pay by the month - $39.99
Three month prepay - $113.98 ($37.99 per delivery)
Six month prepay - $209.94 ($34.99 per delivery)

Shipping is always free and plans auto renew.

I originally signed up with a three month Groupon deal and the December cube was the third box in that subscription.  I chose the Artisan line and received seven products, one of which was a replacement for a short dated item in the November box.



Instead of an information brochure, Cuisine Cube sends a card that gives a brief description of each item on one side and color photos on the other side.


The first thing I saw when I opened the cube was this disclaimer slip.  Apparently, the Harvest Blondies in the November box were out of date so they included a package of Stroopies as a replacement in this month's box.  In my case, the November box didn't even get opened until after the December box, so I had plenty of notice to toss the Blondies.  


I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to popcorn flavors but bacon?  This BaCorn is flavored with brown sugar, honey, molasses, sea salt, bacon bits and chili spiked peanuts. The bacon flavor is not overpowering but it's definitely there.  Somehow, this flavor combination works and is quite tasty although I wouldn't buy a large quantity of it.


Next is an 8 oz. can of Zesty Chili Lime Peanuts from Lord Nut whose mission is to "fight bland". Mission accomplished.


This little muslin pouch contains Wine Country wine mulling spices.  This blend includes cinnamon sticks, dried orange peel, allspice and cloves.  The idea is to mix this with wine, water and brown sugar, then simmer on the stove.  They've added an ingenious touch, a cork to keep the bag afloat in the pot!


From The Jam Stand, we have "Not Just Peachy Sriracha Jam" that mixes heat with sweet.   I love peach anything but the heat scares me away from this one. Fortunately, I know who will like it!


Here's something right up my alley, an all natural cookie kit from Scratch & Grain Baking Co. This box contains all you need (except butter and egg) to make gluten free Chewy Peanut Butter cookies. This mix is purposely designed to make a small batch (11 to 14 cookies) so you don't over consume and it includes some healthy ingredients like flax seed.


This 12 oz. muslin bag contains a White Bean Chili mix from Mary Ann's Beans.  There is a recipe attached and I saw a vegan version on Cuisine Cube's blog.  Both look great but the Cuisine Cube recipe is probably the one I'll try.  The ingredient list says this bag contains Great Northern, Navy and Yellow Eyed beans, dried onions, garlic and other spices.  Can't wait to try this!


The substitution for the expired item in last month's box is a package containing two Stroopies, which are authentic Dutch Stroopwafels.  For some reason, one of these is half dipped in chocolate and the other isn't.  I've received these in a lot of sub boxes; while they aren't my favorite, the chocolate definitely helps!


I thought this was a pretty good box.  In particular, I will enjoy the popcorn (weird as it is), the cookie kit and the White Bean Chili mix.  The mulling spices smell wonderful; I don't really think wine is even needed.

As of the time of this post, Groupon has an excellent Cuisine Cube deal for one month ($23.99) or a three month subscription ($69.99).  As you can see when compared to the regular prices above, this represents a 40% discount.

If that deal is no longer available when you read this, click here and use coupon code UNBOX15 for a 15% discount on any order.  The code SPECIAL10 may also get $10 off your subscription. 

Thanks for reading,

Cheryl

Disclosure:  Views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own.  Product discussed in this post was purchased by Lone Star Shopper. Post may contain referral or affiliate links.

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