Universal Yums Subscription Box Review – October 2016

Universal Yums is a snack subscription box that sends out snacks and candies from a different country monthly. 

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.)

This review is of the Yum Yum, $25 a month, box. 

The Subscription Box: Universal Yums

The Cost: $13.00/month for the Yum Box, $25/month for the Yum Yum Box

The Products: "The contents of the boxes change each month as we try to highlight the best snacks from each featured country. However, you can always expect a mix of flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, fruity, and more. (and) Only authentic snacks from the featured country."

Ships to: US, Canada, UK, and Israel

Check out all of our Universal Yums reviews and find similar boxes in the Snack Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

This month, the country featured was Russia. The glossy paged booklet that they send is always a fun read, and they also include hints for the country they are featuring next month! I also appreciate that they list out each item that they've sent along with a brief description of the product. 

3 Korochki Holodets & Horseradish

These are crispy breadstick type snacks and they are flavored to taste like Holodets (more on this in a second) and horseradish. I took one bite of these and was disgusted. They taste like meat even though there isn't any in the snack itself. Holodets are a cold meat jelly - no thanks for me...but I hope you like them!

Ruzik Vanilla Corn Puffs

I first took a bite of these expecting them to be savory - I tried these without reading the pamphlet first - and they were quite sweet. They taste like vanilla and once I got past my initial shock, I really enjoyed them.

3 Korochki Salmon and Cheese

These are also crispy breadsticks. They are pretty good - I don't taste the salmon at all!

Blackcurrant Candies 

These chewy, blackcurrant candies were pretty good! Universal Yums mentioned that blackcurrant farming is illegal in some states - I had no idea! I really enjoyed these.

Mikaello Chocolate Covered Apricot with Walnut

These chocolates are filled with an apricot and walnut center. The chocolate on the outside is on the dark side and the fruit and the nut are whole inside the chocolate. Even though I'm not a huge fan of apricot or walnuts, I did enjoy these!

Russkoe Chocolate with Sunflower Seeds and Cranberry

This is such an odd combination for a sweet! Universal Yums gave a little explanation on how Peter the Great brought sunflowers into Russia, which was really interesting! Despite the odd flavor profile here, I did enjoy these. 

Orange Fruit Jelly 

This was hands down, my favorite item in the box. You can see a picture of it at the end of the review, with the rest of the aftermath of the tasting session, but I loved these. It tasted a lot like the Sunkist Fruit Jellies that I love!

Rot Front Chocolate Vanilla Candy 

What a name for these little candies - Rot Front? I guess this came from a greeting that was used by German workers who fought for worker's rights. During the USSR control, these candies were made popular because they were always available, even when food wasn't readily available. As far as taste goes, I probably wouldn't seek these out, but they were OK!

Tula Gingerbread with Lakomka

Gingerbread in Europe is very different than gingerbread here in the States. I found this out when we went to Germany last year. I really enjoyed this gingerbread, but it is a different taste than we are used to! This is the most popular gingerbread in Russia, according to Universal Yums.

Alyonka Chocolate Bar with Ice Cream Filling

This was outstanding. The chocolate was great and the inside was creamy and sweet!

Red October Toffee Krepysh 

This candy bar is made from caramel and peanuts. I did enjoy it, even though the texture was more like nougat than caramel!

Korokova Baked Milk Wafers with Chocolate Glaze

According to Universal Yums, baked milk came into popularity in ancient Russia in order to preserve milk without a refrigerator. This creamy, caramelized milk is still popular in Russia, and that is what is used in these wafers. I'm a believer - these were delicious!

Skazochniy Strawberry Mini Sponge Cake

Have you ever had a Little Debbie Strawberry Shortcake roll? This smelled exactly the same and was pretty similar in taste. I enjoyed it!

Here's a closer look at some of the snacks, including the Orange Fruit Jelly.

Verdict: I really enjoyed this shipment from Universal Yums! All of the items were good (with the exception of the meat jelly breadsticks...) and there was a decent mix of savory and sweet. I would have appreciated a few more savory snacks but who can turn down sweets? 

I find that the value of this box is usually right on par with the cost of the box - this month it worked out to about $1.31 per item, which I am happy with!

Have you tried Universal Yums yet?