Universal Yums is a snack subscription box that sends out snacks and candies from a different country each month. Choose from the Yum Box for $15 a month, the Yum Yum Box for $25 a month, or the Super Yum Box for $39 a month.
This review is of the Yum Yum box, which is $25 a month.
This month’s box takes us EVERYWHERE! Let's dive in and discover this month's Yums!
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.)
About Universal Yums
The Subscription Box: Universal Yums
The cost: $25 a month + free U.S. shipping
The Products: The contents of the boxes change each month as they highlight the best snacks from each featured country. However, you can always expect a mix of flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, fruity, and more. Only authentic snacks from the featured country are included in this box.
Ships to: The U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and Israel
Universal Yums “Everywhere” December 2020 Review
Well, would you look at this cheery red box that I found sitting on my doorstep! Instead of the usual blue and white packaging, this month we received a special box that contains treats from EVERYWHERE! I love the Universal Yums holiday box they send in December because getting treats from everywhere at the end of the year just feels right. This year, we get to visit 11 different countries, and they actually started working on this Holiday box in April! Read below to see what we received.
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Each month we receive a brightly illustrated map that usually shows where our Yum's are coming from. This month, because we are receiving treats from 11 different countries, our map features famous landmarks from some of the countries we will be visiting through snacks. It still included fun facts, and was very festive looking! On the opposite side, we have the "Yum Scoreboard" which includes a list of the box's contents and an area for you to rate each of them. While they usually give us information on snacks that were rejected from the box in a typical month - this month we received the low down on which Yums were rated the best throughout the entire year! They have even turned this into a word jumble that will reveal the first destination of 2021! I'll give you a hint- we've never reviewed a box from there before!!!!
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Here we have the detailed pamphlet that includes tons of information about holiday traditions in the countries that have been featured in this month's box. Per usual, we received a lot of fun trivia, background info about each item, nutritional information, and more! We also were given a little preview of what's for sale in The Yum Shop!
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Roast Turkey & Stuffing Potato Crisps - Buy a pack of 3 for $5.10
We usually have ham or steaks to celebrate Christmas, but over in the U.K., nearly 90% of locals have a roasted turkey as their main course to celebrate the holidays. How did these roast turkey and stuffing potato crisps taste? Delicious! Crispy, crunchy, and packed full of seasoning, these truly taste like turkey and stuffing! A delicious combination that seriously left us wanting more.
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Salted Egg Yolk Popcorn - Buy a pack of 2 for $4.80
When I dream of popcorn, it is hot, fresh, buttery, and salty, with a bit of crunch. Did this Taiwanese version of salted egg yolk popcorn deliver? Interestingly, yes and no. The first piece of the popcorn I bit into was soggy and eggy... not in a good way. The next bite had a bit more crunch, was seemingly caramelized, and quite delicious. It was a little bit back and forth throughout the bag. Hank was a huge fan and would have eaten the entire bag had I not taken it away from him, but I was done after about 4 kernels.
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Mocktail Bonbons - Buy a pack of 3 for $4.20
Coming straight from the UK we received this perfectly pink pouch of Mocktail Bonbons. Featuring cosmopolitan, gin and rhubarb, peach bellini, prosecco, and tequila sunrise flavors, these bonbons don't include alcohol, so they are kid-safe. Chewy and tart, these candies do resemble the flavors they were supposed to! I know these are kid-safe, but they were so tasty that I squirreled these away for myself. The tequila sunrise bonbon was top-notch!
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Sugar & Anise Polvoron - Buy a pack of 6 for $4.20
I've tried a lot of sugar cookies in my day, and I can tell you that this version from Spain definitely has been the most unique. This crumbly cookie was sweet on initial taste, followed by a strong anise flavoring. If you aren't familiar with anise, it is a Mediterranean plant from the parsley family and tastes quite similar to black licorice. I am not particularly a fan of black licorice, so this cookie wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't terrible either. My mom (who lives for Good & Plenty's) would love this Yum, even though my family didn't care for it.
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Kruidnoten Cookies - Buy a pack of 4 for $4.40
Talk about a cookie that tastes like the holidays - these bite-sized spice cookies from the Netherlands are adorable and tasty! Crunchy and packed with flavor, these mini cookies just seem to warm you up inside and are delicious with a cup of coffee. My mother-in-law makes a mean gingersnap, and I think these are a contender. Our entire family thought these were tasty, and I can tell you they didn't last long.
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Alpine Nut Cake - Buy a pack of 6 for $5.40
I typically don't love packaged cakes as they tend to be a bit stale and plain tasting to me, but I was a fan of this Swiss nut cake. While it was a bit on the small side, this perfectly round cake was stuffed with a delicious filling of caramelized walnuts and hazelnuts, which of course we all know I love. This almost reminded me of a pecan pie, but wrapped in a cakey shell instead of pie crust. Yummy!
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Cocoa Dusted Chocolate Truffles
You can just tell by looking at these chocolate truffles that they are going to be rich, and boy are they. Made in France, these silky-smooth chocolate truffles are dusted in cocoa powder for a slightly bitter note followed by a creamy, indulgent ganache. I really did enjoy the chocolate flavor these little morsels packed, but also needed a giant glass of milk to follow. The kids thought they were pretty tasty, but only ate one bite each, as they truly are rich.
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Chocolate Cream Pandoro
I felt so fancy opening up this large, loaf-like bread from Italy. And holy cow - how is it possible to get something so soft and moist to stay that way while being transported so far?! This seriously tastes like it was just baked! When you first open the package, you are enveloped in the sweet smell of bread, and the taste is there too. Sweet and mild with the perfect amount of chocolate to make your taste buds water. I gotta say, this was one of my favorites!
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Apple & Dark Chocolate Dominosteins -Buy a pack of 2 for $7.40
All the way from Germany, these apple and dark chocolate dominosteins feature four layers of inventiveness. The base layer is gingerbread, followed by a layer of tart jelly made from real apples. Layer number three is persipan, made from ground apricot kernels, followed by a dark chocolate coating. While these treats are quite pretty and very unique, our family had mixed feelings about them. Hank thought they were terrible and spit his right into the garbage, while Charlie actually quite enjoyed them. I was on the fence thinking the variety of textures and flavors worked together, but just weren't my favorite. What did you think about this treat?
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Assorted Baklava - Buy a pack of 2 for $6.40
Sticky, sweet, and addicting is how I would describe this baklava from Jordan. The flaky, nutty, and syrupy texture is simply divine, and the inclusion of the birds nest-shaped one takes it over the top. So elegant and delish - I'm thinking about buying a few for stocking stuffers!
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Roasted Garlic Potato Chips
Now, these are some garlicky chips! Packed with a flavorful crunch, these chips are powerful. I happen to adore garlic, but sadly my husband can tell the minute he walks through the door if I have eaten any, thanks to the good old compound allyl methyl sulfide. My kids thought these were pretty good but felt they were too potent to eat more than a few.
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Sea Salt & Caramel Fudge
My grandma always made the best fudge, and this will be the first Christmas without her. I have never had sea salt and caramel flavored fudge, and to me, this tasted more like caramel than actual fudge. It has a slightly crumbly texture and didn't give off a real sea salt vibe, but was still really good. I was happy to have individually wrapped candies to add to my candy bowl!
The Verdict: We love Universal Yums and were extra excited to see what type of variety of treats we would discover this month, and we weren't disappointed! As a family, we all agreed this was a wonderful curation and offered a diverse selection of Yums. Delicious food coupled with trivia and facts about different countries made for an entire experience that helped put some normalcy back into our day! If you haven't unscrambled the hint for where we are traveling next month, I won't give it away- but I can't wait to see what kind of treats will come from there!
Scorecard Picks:
- Best Yum: Chocolate Cream Pandoro and Mocktail Bon-Bons
- Runner-up: Turkey & Stuffing Flavored Potato Crisps
- Worst Yum: Apple & Dark Chocolate Dominosteins
- Most Unusual: Sugar & Anise Polvoron
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. Each month they ship your box no later than the 15th day of the month. The first month you will receive a box varies based on availability and may depend on the size that you order.
Value Breakdown: This box is $25.00 a month (including shipping). I received 12 individually-wrapped snacks which average out to $2.08 per item.
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