April Mantry Box

I think it started about a month ago that all the sudden I found this “box subscription” thing.  I started doing research and found a bunch of services that provide a box every month at a “subscription” price.  I found a bunch of websites that had lists and review - especially ones for guys.  After checking out several months of reviews from Mantry on Ramblings of a suburban mom (http://www.ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com) I decided to place an order for the next Mantry box.  After about a half Month I finally got my first box…. here is the unbox and review.  Also the website mentioned above beat me to her monthly post so you can check that out here

**Please note that throughout the review I may refer back to comments or previous reviews on Ramblings of a suburban mom which I will refer to as RSM during my review

APRIL BOX REVIEW

I received the box as expected in a USPS box.  Once open you see that the crate fits exactly inside of the Priority Mail box.  I had to turn the box up-side down to get the crate out.  Although the delivery and packaging was as expected I didn’t realize how HARD it was going to be to open the box.  RSM never mentioned this in any of the posts from what I can remember.  After a period of what seemed like forever I realized a SUPER easy way to open the box.  By placing a screwdriver into the hole on the side and lifting up (like a teeter totter) the staples came up quite easy.

As shown in the picture the product comes in a really cool wooden box with the Mantry logo on the side.  The top is stapled shut

The theme for this month is 6 outstanding products from “5 restaurants in America”

La Quercia Acorn Borsellino Salami $11 - This was the first thing I pulled out of the box.  I was excited to see this - from previous RSM reviews I liked that each box seemed to have a “pre-packaged” snack item like jerky, etc.  This looks really good.  My first thoughts were I’m not sure if I’d pay $11 for this on it’s own though…

Blackberry Farm Buttermilk & Sage Brined Fried Chicken Mix $9.75 - The weird thing is that I’ve been thinking for awhile how I’ve been wanting to have fried chicken.  Although I’ve never attempted to make fried chicken by myself.  I may have to give it a go….

Hastings Creations Pork Rub $12 - This looks really good.  My first thought was I wonder if you can use this for other meat other than Pork (not that I’m anti port or anything) but it just seems like you could also use it for Chicken.  I was excited to see that the Mantry how to site had more ideas (more info below).

Cochon Sweet Potato Habanero Hot Sauce $8.50 - This is interesting.  I’ve really been digging sweet potato fries lately (instead of regular fries).  This should be really good and it seems like the possibilities are endless.

Pok Pok Som Drinking Vinegar $15 - I’m a little speechless on this one.  I’ve never even heard of drinking vinegar.  I’ll definitely give this a try - I was surprised to see that this bottle was $15.  The directions call to cut it with 4 parts soda 1 part som (I think I’d be a little worried if it were the other way around!)

Blackberry Farm Smoked Onion Jam $12.50 - Anything Smoked Onion sounds amazing…. I’m not typically a fan of Jam so it will be interesting to see how this goes.  I really like the suggestions of a fancy grilled cheese or maybe even a deli sandwhich.  

Here it is all back in the box.  For my first box I didn’t get anything that really made me say “WOW”  I was hoping for at least an item or two that would do just that.  (RSM had previous reviews that had Stu’s Bloody Mary mix - and I do love a good Bloody Mary, there was also pictures on Mantry’s website of what appeared to be pickles, etc).  As I’m typing the review I’m thinking more about the things I could use the items for but this month does seem to be more items that you need to use within cooking.  I signed up for Mantry to try new things so I think it’s good that is the case… I’ll have to check back after I’ve had a chance to try everything.

The total list value of all the items in the box is $68.75 (when I was first doing the math in my head as I was pulling items out it wasn’t that high - however the items in the box had a higher list price that some of the items from previous boxes)

PROS 
- Arrived as expected.  On time, with shipment notification. 
- Great packaging and presentation

CONS 
- Challenging to open the box the first time
- Cost … at $75 a month it’s pricey.

Mantry also commented on RSM’s blog about the April box with this link: http://mantry.com/howto/ - this is particularly cool because there are additional ideas for how to use the products they’ve sent.  It’s interesting because I couldn’t find any other place on their website that links there…. have to remember that one.