Boxwalla is a subscription box company dedicated to introducing subscribers to the best in food, books, film, and green beauty. They curate bi-monthly boxes in each of those four categories. Boxwalla's Food Box introduces subscribers to gourmet food products from small-batch producers across the US. The curators at Boxwalla seek out the best American artisanal products to share with their subscribers.
Boxwalla has beautiful packaging. Their boxes are sturdy and beautiful, and they’re crafted from tree-free paper by a small company in Rajasthan, India.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the subscription review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This review is of the Boxwalla Food, $49.95 a month, box.
About Boxwalla Food
The Subscription Box: Boxwalla's Food Box
The Cost: $49.95/mo
The Products: “Ridiculously delicious food products made in small batches in the U.S.A.”
Ships to: U.S. for free, internationally for an additional fee.
Good to know: Based on availability, you can also purchase "one-time" boxes here.
Boxwalla Food December 2017 Review
In addition to their beautiful cloth boxes, Boxwalla always has a really nice info card that gives a short description of each item and their retail value. There is always a theme, and lucky for me December is "All About Chocolate"!
Elements Truffles Turmeric Infused Dark Hot Chocolate, 8 oz. - Retail Value $10.00
The first item is a generous 8 oz bag of turmeric-infused dark hot chocolate from Elements Truffles in New Jersey. The packaging here is well designed and boasts that it is raw, vegan, small batch, all plant-based, and ethically sourced. In addition, 25% of the profits are donated to help the education of underprivileged children. Well, that makes me feel good.
On the back, you'll notice they have a recipe for making this rich hot chocolate. As soon as I saw this item, I was excited because I love turmeric and am a huge fan of hot chocolate in the wintertime. There aren't many other ingredients here besides Himalayan sea salt, coconut palm sugar, and of course the raw cacao powder and paste. The suggested recipe uses water, but you can also use milk or any milk substitute you desire. My roommate had some almond milk on hand, so I decided to go for that. It only calls for 1/4 cup of liquid to be mixed with 4 teaspoons of the cacao mix, which alarmed me. I went ahead and doubled it and it was still a very small cup of hot cocoa. Now I understand why it says "Good things come in small cups" on the package.
I took a sip and the first word that came to mind was "decadent". Holy mackerel, this was rich and creamy. I couldn't actually taste the turmeric at all since the cacao was so prominent. I would personally have called this more of a "drinking chocolate" than a hot chocolate, myself. It was very good though, and I will probably play around with the ratio a bit more to suit my taste.
Zenbunni Chocolate Rainbow Box, 9 x .32 oz bars - Retail Value $25.00
This box is really lovely and you can tell that something special lies inside.
On the flaps, there is a thank you message from Zen & Bunni Wyldeflower who started ZenBunni.
This is where I gasped, as I opened the flaps to reveal 9 mini chocolate bars plus a quartz crystal!
Such a beautiful array of colors coming from these little bars that consist of the flavors: Canyon Classic, Mystic Mocha, Chaga Chai, Lost Salt of Atlantis, Holy Basil Mint (eeek!), Vanilla Reishi, Turmeric Ginger, Shiva Rose, and Strawberry Schizandra. Each mini bar is .32 ounces and is 70% dark (which is the percentage of cacao used in relation to other ingredients like sugar or milk). None of these contain any dairy though and are only made with cane jaggery and other organic ingredients to create the flavors.
Here's a close up of the quartz crystal they include as a token of their appreciation. Love it!
The one I was most excited about was the Holy Basil Mint because I love both basil and mint, especially when infused with something like chocolate. Everything in these bars are also organic.
On the back, you'll find the short list of ingredients used and the fact that the packaging is 100% plant-based as well.
Here is the wee bar with Z❤️B stamped into it. The Holy Basil Mint was on the bitter side because of the 70% cacao content, as assumed, with just the slightest hint of basil and mint flavor. I could have personally used a bit more, but better more subtle than overdone, in my opinion. I also really loved the Turmeric Ginger which was dusted in turmeric and gave a much stronger spicy flavor than this one. YUM!
Choclat Moderne Avant-Garde Bar in Maple Magic, 2.5 oz. - Retail Value $9.00
Wow- another beauty! One thing Boxwalla NEVER disappoints on is curating items with gorgeous presentation. It is clear to me why this is called the "avant-garde bar" because it looks like it belongs in a museum (and is actually inspired by Jackson Pollock paintings!). Nine small squares make up this larger square chocolate bar which has orange and red splotches and splatters across it.
At first, I was hesitant about this flavor because even though I like maple syrup, I wouldn't have normally chosen a maple-flavored chocolate bar. This also has sea salt and caramel involved though, so there are others to mix in a delight me with the Grade A Dark Maple syrup that hails from Black Bear Sugarworks in Vermont. Fancy!
Truth be told, if you had said that this was just a caramel sea salt bar, I would have believed you. I didn't much taste the maple through the others (which is maybe better for me), but it was really sweet and kindly cut some of the bitterness of the dark chocolate. Just lovely! I would enjoy trying other flavors from this brand as well!
Dandelion Chocolate 70% Mantuano, Venzuela Bar, 2 oz. - Retail Value $8.00
Another exquisite example of special packaging for chocolate is this 70% cacao bar from Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco. The beans hail from the women-run Coperativa Flor de Mantuano in Venezuela and give off notes of roasted almonds and espresso.
Each chocolate bar is molded and wrapped by hand, which is probably why it seems so darn special.
Since this is a single origin chocolate, Dandelion has decided to keep it pure, only using the cocoa beans and sugar, without adding vanilla, milk, or any other ingredients. It's hard to compare this bar to the others included this month, but it stands alone as being a wonderful example of chocolate done right. Even though this has a high cacao content, I am in love with the deep flavor represented here in all its simplicity.
Verdict: Boxwalla really wowed me this month with their four decadent and extraordinary chocolate selections. They always deliver an extremely special experience by choosing the best foods in their class, coupled with gorgeous packaging and presentation. I received four items this month from small-batch chocolatiers that had a retail value of $52 in a box that cost $49.95. It may not be the deal of the century but makes for a lovely experience for the foodie in your life.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, but subscribe now to receive the next box, which is February.
Value Breakdown: At $49.95 for this box, here is what you are paying per item:
- Hot Chocolate: $9.61
- Rainbow Box: $24.01
- Maple Magic Bar: $8.65
- 70% Cacao Bar: $7.68
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What did you think of this month’s Boxwalla Food box?
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