Universal Yums Subscription Box Review – September 2015

This month’s Universal Yums took us to Colombia!  Universal Yums is a monthly international snack subscription box. Every month you’ll take a trip to a new country and munch on brand new snacks. Yum Yum! There are two sizes of box, the Yum ($13) and the Yum Yum ($25). This is the Yum Yum box, and this subscription is a really solid subscription that shines each and every month. It’s definitely a whole-family favorite.

For September, we were off to Colombia, where we discovered there was a lot more to be enjoyed than just coffee.  I love the tissue paper set up to look like the country of the month’s flag.  It’s a simple touch that makes the box even more fun to dig in to.

The intro card shares some trivia about the host country, plus a few cultural insights so you snack like a local!

The information card has descriptions of all the snacks. A couple months back, they switched to a fold-out card and have provided the ingredients right on the card, instead of on the site.  The card is not as visually bold (and is harder to photograph), but it is nice to have the ingredient/potential allergen breakdown right at hand.

One of the great things about Universal Yums, particularly the Yum Yum box, is the experience of uncovering layer after layer of goodies.

Under the flag were three big bags of crunchy snacks…..and even more below.  Multiple layers with lots to unpack.

All the Yums in the August Yum Yum box.  The box is bountiful, so you can share your box without fear of missing out on a one-off item.  This box is great for two people to split, but you could make it work for four our more, too.  This month gave us 15 different types of treats (not counting the lollipops and hard candy that had more than one flavor).

La Nina Tocineta: Bacon and lime flavored crispy corn wafers.  The texture of a pork rind, with the humorous look of bacon.

La Nina Maduritos:  These are sweet and crunchy, with the texture of a kettle chip.  They are closer to a banana chip in taste than they are to the savory-style plantain chips.

Seba Seba Yellow Marbles:  The packaging claims that they are healthy and delicious.  They are light and puffy, with a light cheddar flavor.  Interesting, but not highly cravable.

La Nina Papitas Fritas:  Roast chicken flavored potato chips, need I say more?  A little intense — the chicken flavor is a little weird in a chip (although it is readily identifiable as roast chicken), and these probably do not qualify as a health food.

Colombina Snacky:  Caramel flavored sweet puffs with a sugary coating.  Tasted very much like the American “breakfast” cereal Sugar Smacks.

Colombina Piazza:  Light, crisp tubes like the Pepperidge Farm fancy twirl rods, but the filling is a fun and powerful strawberry that tastes just like Strawberry Quik.

Colombina Maxcoco:  A unique take on the wafer sandwich.  Multiple layers of sweet coconut cream filling make this the only coconut baked good I can recall that doesn’t rely on the texture of shredded coconut and just uses the flavor.  Tasty and crisp — don’t let it get stale, though; you need to eat it all at once!

Compania Nacional de Chocolates Jet Wafer:  a deep chocolate coating (possibly spiked with coffee, judging from taste only) covering a vanilla-flavored wafer.  The wafer is very light in both texture and flavor, so you get a sort of dead space between the melty chocolate coating.

Compania Nacional de Chocolates Jumbo Flow Bar:  This is awesome!  Peanuts, caramel, and nougat are encased in white chocolate.  It makes for a sweet and gooey treat — I love white chocolate, but not many candy bars use it or think to pair it with peanuts or caramel.  The combo is fantastic.

Castipan Bocadilla de Guayaba:  the classic South American treat, Guava paste, in a dual-toned bar.  As far as I can tell, the flavor and texture is the same throughout.  It is very sweet, sticky, and slightly granular, with lots of guava flavor.

Nutresa Nucita Paleta:  The glow-in-the-dark dino stick has a neopolitan lollipop atop it, sporting a Colombian take on chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.

Colombina Nutty:  Chocolate and hazelnut spread, in a handy travel pack.

Supercoco:  This chewy little bar is nothing but deeply caramelized coconut.  It has no burnt flavor at all, just a very rich and toasty coconut flavor with lots of chew and a good deal of sweet.  Interesting and very good.

Bon Bon Bum Lollipops:  Cool lollipops in watermelon and passionfruit flavors.  The “seeds” were visible in the pops, so they looked neat.

Colombia Coffee Delight:  Nice and chewy, these classic coffee drops are like very dense caramels, but with a toned done sweetness and great coffee flavor.  We received several coffee drops and a lone arequipe (dulce de leche) flavored drop.

I think Colombia was a great success — where could we be off to next month !?!

Could it be Holland?  I can’t wait to see what they have cooked up — looks like a Halloween theme may show up as well.

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