If you don’t follow me on Instagram (ya should) but you are missing out on my Universal Yums reviews. Check them out on my Instagram highlights of my profile! (They are categorized by box) I have been gifted this awesome foodie experience. Every month I receive a box of snacks and treat from a country or region. It’s been such a fun and interesting taste bud roller coaster! Let’s highlight the first 6 months in case you have missed it!
Box #1 was from Scandinavia, including treats from countries like Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. The gummy skulls were unique; very sour but almost bubble gum like. The brown butter truffles were probably my favorite sweet treat. they were chocolatey, yet buttery and I don’t think they were too sweet either! The dill potato chips were my favorite savory snack. They were very dill forward but the ripple chip was perfectly crispy. The chocolate dipped oat cookies were the perfect coffee pairing. Thought not an oatmeal cookie it was crunchy, hearty and a bit sweet!
Box #2 was the holiday box. It wasn’t a specific country or region. But were all holiday treats from around the world! My favorite yum of the box was the truffle potato chips from Spain. They were very crunchy and the truffle flavor was perfect! They were addicting and I wish I had a larger bag of them lol. An interesting savory yum was the salt egg yoke flavored popcorn. It smelled like a mixture of sweet kettle corn and butter corn. And that is how the tasted a combination of sweet and savory popcorn all in one bite. However the after taste was not good and I was not a fan once they ended lol. The interesting sweet yum was the milk chocolate candy that was filled with strawberry hard popping candies. It was such an interesting candy. It was like eating chocolate covered pop rocks! What was not good was the Turkish gelatin candies. They were powdered covered but not sweet and they had no fruit flavor. They were pretty bland and I would not recommend. But my favorite sweet yum was the churro sticks from Korea. They were perfectly crunchy with a balance of cinnamon and sugar. They were addicting and another yum that I wish I had a bigger bag because they didn’t last very long!
Box #3 was from Poland. My favorite savory yum was the butter potato chips. They were described as a buttered roll and they did honestly taste like that. It was thin yet crispy chip with a super butter flavor! I would say that the paprika coated peanuts were the interesting savory yum. They were very crunchy and I think they would make the perfect bar crunchy. They were a great balance of peanut and spice. Of the sweet yums, the chocolate covered jellies were the most interesting. It was a thin layer of cream chocolate that balanced perfectly with the citrus jellies. They were a light but sweet treat! I think the gingerbread sticks were the best sweet yum. The spice of the sticks was another great balance with the sweetness of the chocolate. They were fun to eat as well!
Box #4 was France. It had lots of great yums both sweet and savory. We saw some familiar brands from the holiday box with some chocolate truffles. Great rich, yet not too sweet of bites of chocolate. They had a crunchy component, both cookie pieces and popcorn. Both were pretty good and I think they made the bite more fun to eat. Also gave a bit of a sweet and salty bite! The butter cookies were pretty good too. Good as a coffee dunker as they were harder cookie; similar to shortbread cookies. I was not a fan of the sour cherry hard candies. The sour was perfect – maybe too strong. But the cherry was a HARD pas for me lol. I loved the goat cheese and chili potato chips. The ruffle chips were so crispy and very flavorful. A great savory bite with just a hint of heat! The garlic aioli chips were just as good! They were very garlicky but just the way I like it! But you had to keep eating them to get all the garlic flavor to pile up together LOL. I will say that the French have nailed the potato chip game!
Box #5 was from Ukraine. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started off with a mini black currant pie. Which was delicious, but I wish that there was more of it and more filling. The crust overpowered the filling. There was a lot of candy yums in this box plus gummies! The fruit gummies were one of the best. They were sugary yet fruity! The flavors were powerful and the gummy was very juicy. I like all the flavors. The chocolate filled with lemon was an interesting sweet yum. I did like the lemon and chocolate combination more than I thought I would. But I still preferred the gummies lol. The most savory yum interesting was the wasabi crisp. First I think more of Japan or Asian when I think of wasabi. But they were such a delicious and very crispy bite. The hint of wasabi was a perfect balance and dipping them in soy sauce really completed the snack! I think my favorite savory yum were the rye chips. They were so crunchy and the season blend was very unique. You know their good when they didn’t last long and the bag was poof gone!
Box #6 was from the Baltics including treats from Latvia and Lithuania. Baltics was the wild card box. I didn’t know what kind of yums we were in store for. However, opening the box and seeing a mushroom flavored chip, I didn’t think I could be disappointed! They were long, thin and crispy. Similar shape to the wasabi chips from Ukraine. The mushroom flavor was delicious. I love mushrooms so I didn’t find it overpowering at all! They were addicting and another yum that didn’t make it very far. I also enjoyed the lentil snacks. They were flavored a maple bacon another beautiful sweet and savory combination. They were very light but still had a crips. I like that they were shaped a like crinkle fry as well! The sweet yums were interesting, however. I enjoyed the melon blackcurrant gummie! The cola flavored hard candy did not do anything for me and most of the chocolate was not that good. The last one – dark chocolate filled with mango was my favorite. It was creamy and fruity. Sweet, but most mangos are and it didn’t bother me at all!
The first half of the year has been so fun. It has been great to taste a variety of snacks worldwide! I am excited for what the second half of the year brings. It has been so fun, that I may need to renew it for more fun treats! We shall see! Don’t forget to follow my Instagram for the play-by-play updates of each box!
Live to Eat,
Tiv
Living Tivalicious 