Austin Bat Box Subscription Box Review & Coupon – September 2015

The Austin Bat Box is a monthly indie and artisan subscription box from Austin TX! I honestly thought the name stemmed from the keep Austin weird campaign, but it turns out that it’s named after their local bat colony! Every month you’ll receive 4-5 items that coordinate with that month’s theme. Items range from food and beverages, handmade artisan items,  art, music, fashion items, decor, jewelry, games, beauty products, and a whole bunch of weird stuff – because let’s face it, it’s Austin!

The September theme was Bat to School, which was hilarious. I laughed!

All the information is on the card – and most importantly the makers’ websites!

Everything in the September 2015 Austin Bat Box!

This is the monthly “swag bag”! It features swag and goodies from a variety of businesses (some from the box, some not) and you can show your Austin pride and support local Austin businesses! The Texas Longhorns calendar in the bottom middle is a nice high quality magnet and if you live in a college town you KNOW how useful this is – because you’re always looking up the game schedule! This is worth at least $5! (And so many hours saved in traffic).

Oh and the inside of the box lid reminds you that everything is made in the US. To be precise: Austin!

High Brew Cold-Brew Coffee ($3) This local coffeemaker takes cold brew coffee concentrate and cans it in a variety of artisan flavors. For a moment I forgot I don’t drink coffee and was thinking that salted caramel sounds great. My husband will LOVE this!  This particular version is Black & Bold!

The essence of cold-brewed coffee, perfectly contained in a palm sized can. Dairy-free and a taste so bold, you’ll forget you didn’t brew it yourself. Guaranteed to keep you sailing thru your day.

High Brew Coffee Lip Balm – Mexican Vanilla ($2) For some reason this is 60 calories (I guess if you eat the whole stick?) as opposed to the 20 calories in the coffee. You can put it on before you drink a plain flavor to get a hint of vanilla?

Julian Acosta High 5 EP USB/ Bottle Opener ($8.99) This is a great swag idea. It’s a bottle opener, a USB stick, and has some tunes from Julian Acosta. It has sort of a bizarre and amusing product description – I’ll quote part of it below – visit to read the whole thing!

Here’s a story of a group of friends that came together:
Tom buys the usb and enough beer to make his friends James & Sue more happy. Now, as three amigos, they have the opportunity to listen to the music on any listening device, so naturally they choose an iphone 5s plugged into a mint condition bluetooth speaker. Tom and James being the gentlemen they are, open a cold beverage with the bottle opener for Sue first. They all three cheers and high 5 because let’s face it, they are having the most chillest time of their life.

Bombshell Kitty Boutique Bat to School Clips ($15) These are a Bat Box exclusive!  They’re super fun and can dress up anything, but they’re specifically designed to clip together the top of a cardigan sweater. These are great and I’ll be wearing them all October!

Tyler’s Austin, Texas Koozie ($4.99) Gotta keep the brews cold down in Texas. This looks like a pretty high end fitness apparel chain. They offer superior athletic, lifestyle and collegiate apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth, and have a store right across from the main UT campus – fits very nicely with the back to school theme!

Most importantly it has a jackelope on the bottom.

University Co-Op Striped Tote ($1.67) This is a nice reusable shopper tote even if you aren’t a Longhorn fan! I wish I could buy items like this from my college bookstore! And they also have Dooney & Burke purses. Mine does not. I think we should start a petition for the dorkiest handbags in the world.

This box is perfect for anyone who wants to support local Austin businesses, whether you’re a local, a transplant, or just a SXSW alum! There was a nice mix of weird Austin and classic Austin, and everything fit the theme nicely in a really clever way. I thought the variety was nice, and I would expect that most of the items in this box will either be branded items from local companies, or a few goodies from local businesses and artisans. I don’t expect that this box ever has a ridiculous value far over the price of the box, so for the best deal I’d get a long-term subscription.

Visit The Austin Bat Box to subscribe or find out more! Save 15% on your first purchase – even discounted prepaid subscriptions! Use coupon code HELLO15.