Subscription Boxes – The Review Studio

Maxine Laceby Absolute Collagen

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Fitness, Gifts for Her, health, Subscription Boxes, Summer, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Collagen is an absolute must for our body’s wellbeing and is used in so many ways. Most read about nowadays is how collagen is needed for hair and skin as a building block to repair and maintain.

Maxine Laceby created the Absolute Collagen to make collagen easy to integrate into your everyday life and improve the quality of your skin and hair and has been the number 1 selling collagen supplement since 2017. Absolute Collagen is made from marine collagen (basically fish!) and blended into a supplement which also contains Vitamin C as an antioxidant. The collagen is absorbed into the body and the dermal layers of skin to promote your own cells to create more collagen and enrich hair and nails.

The Absolute Collagen pack we were sent includes 14 sachets of collagen in a lovely presentation box which also has a day record included so that you can check off once you’ve had your sachet for the day! This proves invaluable if you have a busy life and I found it easy to keep it near the kettle and use it as a diary. Each sachet can be torn open and consumed straight away but I found that although the texture is easy (it looks and feels like honey) it’s actually a bit too fish-like to eat straight from the pack. Instead, I read the instructions and realised you can add it to boiling water and create a hot drink from it, which also dilutes the taste. If you are used to hot water and honey, this is no different just a slightly different taste! I used it as a substitute to a cup of tea (or coffee) in the afternoon and obviously it helps with hydration if you have a water-based drink too.

Having never taken a collagen supplement before, it was interesting to see the difference. This was only 14 days’ worth of collagen but on the website it explains that some people see or feel a difference in just a few weeks whilst others see improvement over a longer period. I guess it depends on what your diet and lifestyle is like already. The website also details the changes expected after 12 weeks so 2 weeks isn’t long to test it but here goes…

I can’t say that I noticed anything different in my hair after just 2 weeks but my skin was different. The fine lines around my eyes (you know, only the ones you know about!) were reduced and plumper. It was like taking me back 3-4 years and slowing the aging process that had been catching up with me. I could feel that my skin was more hydrated and softer without too much of an effort on skincare or any change to my routine. I think over time this would be a greater change and perhaps hold back the drying out of my skin once winter arrives and the heating does its thing! I did notice that my nails had changed… I always paint my nails so I couldn’t see the condition underneath but I did realise that my nail varnish stayed on a lot longer than usual and didn’t chip. I’m presuming the nails underneath were in a better condition and more hydrated therefore kept a better hold on the varnish for longer?

Although 2 weeks isn’t long to test a beauty product, the start looks promising and my skin and nails especially are definitely not worse. The challenge will come when the 14^th sachet runs out and I see if my skin goes back to its old ways!

Available from £27.99 at: https://www.absolutecollagen.com/products/marine-liquid-collagen-drink-for-women

Pact Coffee Christmas Selection Box

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, coffee, eco friendly, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

The Pact Coffee Christmas Selection Box opens to reveal the words, “Christmas Just Got Better” and for anyone who loves coffee, that is certainly true! The Pact Christmas Selection Box contains 4 freshly roasted flavours of coffee all for the festive season; Nyangoma, San Carlos, Kiri and Christmas Blend Filter, all of which are roasted in Surrey and delivered to your door within a few days!

Pact Coffee produce specialty grade (the very best) coffee which is delivered to your door as either a gift, or as a subscription. You can look through the online catalogues of coffee to choose which you would like delivered or have a subscription box where different varieties are delivered to your door. You get to choose whether you want beans or ground, regular or decaf and the type of plan which suits you best including how regularly they are delivered.

We were sent a Christmas Selection Box of 4 coffees to try as part of the Christmas product range for 2023. After choosing our ground or whole bean options, it wasn’t long before the coffee aromas were wafting through our door and filling the kitchen! Honestly, opening the box when they arrived, there was a wall of coffee smell that hit me and I realised what was inside. Gorgeous, freshly roasted ground coffee all ready for the cafetiere.

Much like wine is described with fruity undertones and comparisons to oak aging, these Pact Coffees have tasting notes on the front of each pack Kiri boasts, “Turkish delight and blackcurrant’ whist Christmas Blend describes itself as, ‘Hints of Christmas pudding.’ Each of the coffees has their own personality thanks to where and how they’re grown in origins such as Kenya, El Salvador and in the case of the Christmas Blend, how it’s put together by the clever experts at Pact. Pact choose their coffees carefully and make sure they’re of the highest quality as well as having more than 82+ points in coffee scoring. Not only are they great flavoured coffees and the best possible quality, but each one warms you with their differences and yes, remind you of Christmas!

In addition, Pact coffees come in recycled coffee pouches and can be further recycled. Pact are a B Corp Certified Company which means they act in both a sustainable and ethical way with their suppliers in overseas countries. They include brewing tips on each of the pouches too so that you can get the most out of each coffee you try at home. The labels also give you background to where each coffee is grown and the date the coffee is roasted and packed too so you know that your coffee is tip-top fresh!

Take drinking coffee to a new level with the Christmas Selection Pact choice of different blends, origins and tastes which allow you to really savour the Christmas spirit, and take you into the New Year with some new coffee favourites!

Available at Pact from £19.95: https://www.pactcoffee.com/christmas/christmas-filter-selection-box-2023

Hive & Keeper Honey

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, health, Home, Plastic free, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

There are some gifts which are perfect to give to anyone. Hive & Keeper produce the most exquisite gifts suitable for everyone this Christmas and we were sent a special sample of their famous giftbox of honey to try out. You’ll soon see why honey is the perfect gift for anyone, especially anyone who is difficult to buy for!

Hive & Keeper was started by Emily soon after she discovered bee keeping. It wasn’t until Emily owned bees of her own that she found out that the honey we buy in shops does not stand up to any of the honey produced naturally by beekeepers by a long way. In fact, Emily thinks that honey in shops tastes nothing like what she and her colleagues were producing in the natural world. Working with other crafts people with natural, British products (leather, wool, wood, antler and other natural materials) that Emily discovered a whole new world of sustainability and natural beauty in craft.

Hive & Honey’s website sells a range of natural product gifts but the main focus for Emily is the honey. She sources different honey from many suppliers around the country, giving the honey different tastes. Did you know the taste comes from the different flowers and plants bees pollinate? So the heathers on the Scottish borders produce a very different honey than somewhere else in the UK such as farmland in Surrey. Each of the keepers are featured on the Hive & Keeper website so you can see exactly where the honey is from. The jars are each labelled with the name of the keeper and given a reference such as, “good on toast” so that you know best how to enjoy each variety!

Gift wise, Hive & Honey have individual jars, gift boxes and subscriptions where households can order 1 or 2 jars to be delivered every 3, 6 or 12 months. We were sent the Big Breakfast Honey Gift Set which contains 3 different honeys, all suitable for breakfast (toast, porridge and tea). The gift arrives in a lovely cardboard (recyclable!) giftbox with straw as packaging and the three jars nestled inside. There are cards for each of the honeys giving information about the keepers. My jars came from Matthew in Staffordshire, Eduard in Berkshire/Buckinghamshire and Howard in the Forest of Dean.

As for the honeys, they each have a different shade and aren’t clear like supermarket honeys. This is an indication that they aren’t over filtered and contain some of the (harmless) impurities in all natural honeys and haven’t been treated. Don’t be surprised if you open a jar and there’s a swirl of different colours in there, it’s just where the honey has settled. To reap the full benefit of each honey, open the jar and smell the aroma. Mix the honey and then taste a small amount, paying attention to the different notes like you would a wine. If you’re unsure about how you want to use it, and there are thousands of ways, then have a look at the jar and see if it’s good for cereal or porridge, in tea or on toast or even experiment yourself to find out how it goes in baking and as a glaze when cooking.

I am a huge honey lover anyway. Being able to try these British honeys without having to worry about air miles or sustainability is not only a weight off my shoulders but it’s a real treat to try authentic honey, straight from the hive. I think Hive & Keeper honey is a fabulous gift for any food lovers, families or anyone who you can’t buy gifts for easily. The Hive & Keeper honey opens up a whole new culinary world that you never thought was out there. Turns out, the bees are out there in the British countryside and they were making excellent gifts for us all along.

Available online for £28.95 at:https://www.hiveandkeeper.com/collections/gift-boxed-honeys/products/the-big-breakfast-honey-gift-set

Perfect Cellar Wine Tasting Box

alcoholic drinks, Christmas, Drinks and Mixers, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Mother's Day, Subscription Boxes, Valentine's Day Gifts

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

We’re half way through November and I have started to think about all the food and drink required for the Christmas period as well all the Christmas presents I need to buy. With a big family this is quite a task, so I was really pleased to receive a wine tasting kit from Perfect Cellar as this not only offers me the opportunity to try some new wines it will also makes a fantastic gift for all the wine lovers in my family.

Perfect Cellar were founded in 2020 by Moez Seraly and are the UK’s fastest growing, home delivery wine retailer. Working with Master Sommelier Christopher Delalone they aim to introduce their customers to great quality wine in the comfort of their homes, at an affordable price – what’s not to like!!

Whilst I am not a wine expert, I do love a glass of wine and like most people tend to stick to a couple of favourites. The TastingBOX really appeals to me as it offers the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and not only try some new wines but also find out a little more about the flavours, the wine and the food it should be paired with.

Available in two different sizes – three or six servings – each box contains three different Michelin Star level wines from bottles retailing between £20 and £35. You can enjoy each of the three alone or if you want to share, the box of six has two of each wine. To make the boxes letterbox friendly the wine is packaged in strong foil pouches inside small carboard boxes – very much like the packaging of the wine boxes you can buy in a supermarket. There is also a card showing pictures of the bottles of wine along with a little more information about each wine. The card has a QR code linking to detailed tasting notes and background on the wines. There is also an invitation to join Perfect Cellar’s live tasting experiences with a Master Sommelier using an Amazon Alexa, allowing you to learn more about the wine from the comfort of your armchair. The tastings are held in the last week of the each month and if you are not able to attend you will be able to access a recording. There is an email invitation each month so you won’t forget to join!

Of course if you do enjoy the wines you can of course purchase them directly from the Perfect Cellar website.

With a 1 month, 3 month or 6 month option this is a gift that keeps giving and will be enjoyed long after the Christmas decorations have been put back in the attic.

RRP from £26 (3 servings) & £42 (6 servings) available here

ToucanBox Halloween Crafts

Autumn, Birthday Gifts, Children, Gifts for children, Halloween, Learning, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts an opinions are our own

October half term can be quite cold and wet so it’s good to have a few rainy-day activities up your sleeve to keep the children occupied. With Halloween at the end of the month these Halloween craft packs from ToucanBox are a great idea to keep the children entertained and away from the electronic devices!

If you haven’t heard of ToucanBox before they are a flexible art and craft subscription box aimed at children aged 3-8 years old. The boxes are inspired by the school curriculum to develop cognitive, social and motor skills and each box contains all the materials and inspiration you need for 2 different craft projects, as well as instructions, stickers and a great magazine that has even more puzzles and activities to enjoy. The step by step illustrated instructions are very easy for younger children to follow and depending on the age of your child, require minimal assistance.

WACKY SCIENTIST’S GHASTLY LAB

This pack contains everything you need to construct a wacky scientist’s lab which can be decorated with ghastly specimen stickers.

FACE FLIPPIN PHANTOM GLOWING GHOST LANTERN

This pack contains everything you need to make a ghostly lantern which makes a great Halloween decoration.

Both packs contain the Halloween magazine and the activities inside cover STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths). Children will enjoy creating a bubbling cauldron and making paper mâché pumpkins as well as baking some Scrummy Mummies biscuits along with other Halloween themed activities.

I was really impressed by the contents of the packs and the fact that they contain everything you need for the craft – a real winner for busy parents! Take a look at their website for more Halloween crafts ideas to keep the little monsters occupied over half term!

RRP £12.95 with 20% off if you buy 2 Halloween packs

GRIND Coffee and Henry Holland

Birthday Gifts, coffee, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Home & Garden, Plastic free, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Coffee lovers everywhere are aware of GRIND, the Shoreditch based independent coffee company who have gone astronomical in the last few years. If you’re not aware of them, then where have you been?

GRIND pride themselves on being, “The planet’s favourite coffee” after opening a Shoreditch coffee shop, then having fresh roasted coffee delivered to your door. No doubt the pandemic helped with the popularity of home delivered coffee but since then, GRIND have launched a Nespresso compatible pod which biodegrade in a matter of weeks, launched a charity (The Better Coffee Foundation) and now have a collaboration with artists, including Henry Holland.

We were sent a lovely sample of their House Blend straight from their Shoreditch office, and along with it, one of the Henry Holland special edition coffee tin. There are other homeware items available too, and there will be more in the future which compliment your coffee tastes and kitchen together.

The Home Roast flavour of coffee is what Cheddar is to cheese – if you’re a lover of the stuff, you’ll go for the best available out there and ignore the cheap imitations whilst at the same time you can’t not like it. The Home Roast is a rich flavour without any of the bells and whistles often added (or claimed to have) from other roaster. It’s just good, honest coffee anyone can enjoy with the versatility to be used in any type of latte, cappuccino or anything else you want to try. Actually, this would be a good coffee for an awesome tiramisu wouldn’t it?

The Henry Holland Coffee tin is not only handy but beautiful. Before today, in our house we only kept the opened coffee in their resealable packets, leaving them open to the moisture in the air. Now, we have the perfect sealed tin to keep coffee fresh and it’s got all the feels of a trendy kitchen too! Able to store the GRIND bag of coffee (225 grams worth) it fits nicely in the mug cupboard or behind the kettle for daily use.

Henry Holland also produces a limited edition coffee mug, which is currently out of stock. I’m sure there will be more products and more collaborations in the future though!

GRIND Coffee and Henry Holland Tin (you can choose your coffee) available for £14.00 at: https://grind.co.uk/products/henry-holland-whole-bean-and-ground

Father’s Day Letter Box Hamper

Family Life, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Him, Home, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Father’s Day is Sunday 18 June, and everyone, without fail, struggles to find something that’s perfect for Dad! Every year he says there’s nothing he wants, knowing that he’ll get another supply of socks or beer like every year, but secretly, I’m sure all Dads would like something that’s more of a thoughtful treat for them.

The Letter Box Hamper company cater for all sorts of hamper treats throughout the year, and this year have sent us a lovely Father’s Day hamper. Keen followers will see that we also have one of these Father’s Day hampers as a competition prize too, so I’ll do my best to give you the low down!

At £32.95 this is a great price for a gift on Father’s Day. It’s not too expensive, but it shows that some thought has gone into this present and isn’t just picked off the shelves. In fact, you can only buy it online on the www.letterboxhamper.com website and have it delivered, so not everyone is going to have one. If you don’t fancy the Father’s Day Hamper then there are loads of other lovely ones for other occasions on their website too.

As the name suggests, the letter box hamper fits through the door. You don’t need to be home to be able to receive it and there’s nothing breakable inside to worry about as it hurtles through the air and onto your doormat. The box itself is lovely and resembles a hamper/suitcase of old and when you open it, there’s a personalised message in there for Dad too so he knows who it’s from! When the hamper arrives through the post, it is parcelled up with lovely wrapping paper and string and looks so special, so there’s no way Dad can miss it.

As for the box, it has loads in it;

5 Classic tea bags from Tregothnan (the tea grown in England)
A pack of 2 Scottish shortbread fingers from Shortbread House of Edinburgh
3 chocolate truffles from Charbonel et Walker
A traditional oat flapjack from Lottie Shaw’s
A bar of 61% dark chocolate from Coco
A bar of hazelnut and raisin dark chocolate from Willie’s Cacao

If you do the simple maths, there’s five tea bags and 5 snacks in total so that’s tea and a snack for every day of the work week!

Starting with the tea if you’ve never had English grown tea before (thanks to global warming there are plants all over the UK now) then this medium/strong tea is a great delicacy and probably something you wouldn’t expect as a gift given how local it is. The chunky oat flapjack from Lottie Shaw’s is Yorkshire baked and delicious, particularly good for when you need a heart pick-me-up in the afternoon or if Dad has been working in the garden. I’m a big fan of shortbread anyway so the House of Edinburgh shortbread fingers are particularly nice and not too grainy!

The other snacks are all chocolates. If you’re familiar with ‘posh’ chocolates then you’ll recognise Charbonnel et Walker as being one of the premium brands sold in their custom shops and when you eat their truffles, you’ll understand why. Made with the finest chocolates and ingredients, they are to die for! Willie’s Cacao also feature with their Peruvian dark chocolate flavoured with hazelnut and raisin. The taste is so subtle and actually very grown up so I wouldn’t imagine children would enjoy this, leaving it for Dad. The final chocolate bar is the Coco Colombian dark 61% chocolate. Again, this is great for adults as it has the distinct dark chocolate taste that goes so well with strong tea or coffee.

The Letter Box hampers all have a variety of items in them so you feel like there’s more there than just a quick bite to eat or a cheap snack, and plenty of choice if there’s something in them that you don’t happen to like. This Father’s Day hamper is a hit with the whole house too with a lovely selection of different snacks and the personalised note makes it a special holiday treat.

Excuse me whilst I make another brew and tuck into some more chocolate… or another shortbread finger…

Mother’s Day Tea Hamper from Sponge.co.uk

Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for teachers, Mother's Day, Subscription Boxes, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Buying gifts for Mum is always difficult, so Sponge.co.uk have created the Mother’s Day Hamper based on their iconic sponge cakes… and a bit more!

The hamper contains four mini sponges in different flavours (the different boxes have a mixture of flavours but mine contained lemon drizzle, Victoria sponge, chocolate and coffee) as well as some gorgeous pamper items. There was a candle, face mask, a bag of 6 heart chocolates and 50g of loose English Breakfast tea. Don’t worry if you don’t have a tea pot or strainer to brew the loose tea, because the kit also contained a one-cup loose tea diffuser!

Mum and I started on the sponge cakes with the tea together. Each of the cakes is so light, and well made with the filling being very generous and the texture is very fluffy. There’s a lot of flavour in them which makes them a perfect treat, or even a dessert. The tea is an excellent blend of English Breakfast because it’s so universal but also allows you to brew it for as long as you like using the diffuser, and of course, is an excellent accompaniment to cake!

The hamper also includes some great additional items for Mum, including a tea light candle and indulgent Dead Sea Mud face mask for deep pore cleansing. Finally, there are 6 chocolate hearts to eat, and if you’re feeling like pampering Mum to the max, a bath with the face mask, candle, chocolates and a cup of tea with sponge cake would probably be her idea of a perfect Mother’s Day!

Oriental Club at Home Premium Meal Delivery

Birthday Gifts, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Since we all seem to work at home now, meal delivery services have become a staple part of our lives, but have you thought about gifting one for Mother’s Day? The Oriental Club have launched a premium meal delivery service for a range of different meals including Eastern and Western dishes and even desserts!

We were sent an Eastern Menu for Two (including vegan Chicken Chettinad and Palak Matar Paneer and basmati rice), a selection of Indian Street food Starter for Two (2 x Lamb Samosa, 2 x Vegetable Samosa, 2 x Onion Bhaji) and 2x Chocolate and Salted Caramel pots.

The meal components arrived in a recyclable box with each item contained in plastic wrapping, within a paper bag and then cooled. It was sent by courier overnight so it was still partly frozen when it arrived. Each of the items was stamped with the date it was packaged and the use by date. That’s important because it shows that the meals were prepared the day before and were so fresh they won’t last long!

The cooking instructions are printed on the label of the bags. Surprisingly, the whole meal took less than 20 minutes to cook, with most of it being less than 8 minutes. The instructions are either for the microwave or in the oven, which is my preferred way of cooking. In first was the street food, on a tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes. All of the other packets (apart from the naan breads) were only 8 minutes in a pan of boiling water, or a bit longer if you want it piping hot. It was a bit strange putting the plastic in water, which isn’t how we’re used to heating food nowadays! I left the pouches in the water a bit longer, knowing they couldn’t burn then took them out to plate up and added the street food and naan breads.

The photos don’t show all the food – there was an awful lot there for just two people! I think just the Eastern Menu for Two would have been enough but for a treat, the street food was a lovely added bonus.

The Chicken Chettinad was lovely, although quite spicy. It was offset with the basmati rice, which was ample amount for the meal. The Palak Matar added a great texture to the meal as well. I particularly liked the street food – the samosas and onion bhajis were not only homemade but huge and the mango pickle that came with it was also a nice added touch. The chocolate pots were to die for! The pots were mostly smooth chocolate with a layer of salted caramel at the bottom, and were accompanied by hazelnut amaretti biscuits, which you could of course save for when you have coffee after the meal.

I really enjoyed the Oriental Club meal delivery, which was surprisingly quick to cook, and had ample for just two people, so much so that I was able to save some for the next day. The whole box cost over £67 with delivery though, so it is definitely something of a treat, and maybe if you’re having a house full of people it would be much easier to cook this rather than labour over the ingredients yourself, especially given how quick it was to cook. If you’re looking for a Mother’s Day treat, it would work perfectly, especially as there are plenty of other meals available online, including desserts and chocolate bars. They even have whole box sets ready for a party which includes alcohol.

The Oriental Club also sell gift vouchers for the delivered meals and you can buy small gifts online too such as socks, picnic blankets, candles and even a jigsaw puzzle!

The Oriental Club Meal Delivery is available online at: https://www.orientalclubdineathome.com/collections/all-menus and gift cards start at £37.50.

Spice Kitchen Subscription Box

Birthday Gifts, Family Life, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Subscription Boxes, Vegetarian

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and opinions are our own

My New Year’s Resolution is to cook more from scratch, rather than relying on ready made sauces. I love curries but have never really tried making my own, so I was really pleased to be able to try a subscription box from Spice Kitchen Each box contains a selection of spices along with a handy recipe guide with plenty of tasty recipes to get you started. Using the spices with the suggested ingredients means you know exactly what is going into your dish and that all the ingredients are healthy and suitable for the whole family.

The subscription boxes are available as a 3 month or 6 month subscription which are posted monthly or quarterly – you choose the timings. The spices are different in each box

3 month subscription – India, Around the World, Middle Eastern & African Spice Collecion

6 month subscription – The same as the 3 month followed by Chilli, Moroccan and Flavoured Sea Salts

The spices are packaged in resealable plastic bags which are clearly labelled so that you know which spice is which. Each box contains enough spices to make over 100 meals so you can try plenty of different recipes with each box. Once you have tried the ones in the recipe guide have a look at the Spice Kitchen website where you will find plenty more.

I flicked through the recipe book and was spoilt for choice, all the dishes sounded lovely however after a lot of deliberation we settled on Chicken Biryani, one of our favourite takeaway meals. We had all the ingredients so were able to try it out straight away. The instructions are really simple and easy to follow and I was really impressed just how easy it was to create a delicious curry.

We served the Chicken Biryani with Naan bread and rice and the whole family loved it, it was flavoursome and had just the right kick to it.

Next we tried the Punjabi Chickpeas, again we had all the ingredients in and my son made this for us. He said it was really easy to make and there were 4 clean plates at the end of the meal, so this speaks for itself!

Now I know how easy it is to make curries from scratch I know this is one New Year’s Resolution that I won’t be breaking! The subscription boxes are a way to bring authentic Indian cooking into the home and would make a great gift for any keen cook or foodie this year.

Beans Coffee Club Subscription

Birthday Gifts, Family Life, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

New Year and new habits form – coffee lovers everywhere will appreciate the UK’s biggest coffee subscription service from Beans Coffee Club.

Since lockdown, subscription services have been their most popular, especially subscriptions for coffee. Why not have a luxury coffee bean sent to your home to brew whilst you work? After all, you’re probably saving a fortune on all the coffees you’ve been buying at the high-end coffee shops where your office used to be! Even if you are still working in the office a few days a week, lots of people have opted to take their love of coffee to work with them, brewing up in a cafetiere to take to meetings.

The Beans Coffee Club lead the way with the UK’s largest selection of coffees, including some which are exclusive. Their subscriptions can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly and shipped straight from the roaster. Coffee lovers are well catered for with a special selection survey which matches you to the perfect blend. It takes just 30 seconds, but gets you thinking about what you’re looking for in a coffee, and probably matches you to something you’d never thought of before!

I took the survey myself, which was indeed thought provoking (do I prefer chocolate & caramel, or citrus & floral?) and was able to stipulate whether I wanted whole beans or ground beans sent to me, caffeinated or decaffeinated.

What arrived in the post is this handsome Wogan coffee (I’m presuming it’s nothing to do with the late BBC presenter!) and originates from Bristol. Back in 1970 there weren’t any local roasters in the South West, which brought coffee lover Brian Wogan to the conclusion that would open Wogan Coffee. More than 50 years later and Brian’s son Adrian, his wife and their children now run the ethically-sourced single origin coffees.

I was sent the Wogan Brazilian Mio, Lot 1930 to try. I don’t have a bean grinder so I selected to have the beans sent to me pre-ground. I have both a cafetiere and a filter, which means I can brew the ground coffee both ways. Through the filter, I only needed one heaped teaspoon of coffee to make one mug’s worth. The Wogan’s coffee is nicely smooth with a rich nutty taste to it. It’s a typical coffee lover’s dream, not like a weak instant coffee. It works well with a splash of milk to offset the bitterness but you can drink it black if you prefer.

Once you’ve enjoyed any of your Beans Coffee Club coffees, you can use the QR code on the back of the packaging to find out more about the roaster who roasted the beans, or visit your Coffee Journal online to rate your coffee to try similar ones in the future! If only everything was solved with a cup of coffee…

The Beans Coffee Subscription ranges from £11.99 for one gift, up to £139.99 for 12 coffees.

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Find My Past Subscription

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this subscription free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

For the past 20 years, I have been researching my family history. On both sides, my family originate in London and weirdly, both sides are from Clerkenwell in London too, going back as far as 4 generations in some cases. This makes it even more fascinating as all my living relatives already knew the streets and buildings where my ancestors came from, and in most cases, those buildings are still there today.

I always like to check out the census each time they are published. Find My Past has historical records including not just the census, but military records, Births, Deaths and Marriages and even some educational records.

Although I have researched my family history for a long time, I haven’t ever used Find My Past, and I am aware that new records are uploaded to family history sites all the time, and people from around the world start or work on their online family trees as a result. So, I started to look for my grandmother. Sure enough, her birth was registered at the property I expected. How about looking for a more unusual name though?

My mother’s family have a very unusual last name, but it is unfortunately frequently mis-spelled. Looking up any references to her father John, I am presented with lots of records, some of which I can’t work out if they are related to my search or not. The ‘Include name variants’ box on the search bar brings up far more entries than I was expecting, with some records going back as far as the 1700s and lots of references in London newspapers. One newspaper article is for a woman who died in a fish & chip shop fire aged 19 when her apron caught fire. She died several days later. When I read this to my mother, it brought back a memory of her father telling her this story when she was young, and it was a memory that was all but forgotten until this article prompted her.

Building up a catalogue of articles and reference finds, users can create their own family tree online. Each member of the family, when added, has their references attached to them so that you can add to the tree over time, or anyone can go back and read the documents. So, if Aunty Jean in Australia doesn’t know anything about Grandma Mabel, with a quick link to the tree, you can see the family history on one page, including spouses, children and far-flung relatives. Their entry also has whatever documents have been linked to them. You can also search for family trees which are created by someone else, thereby allowing you to find living relatives you didn’t know existed!

If you get stuck, there are hints which are peppered throughout the findings, but there is also a handy Help chat on each page, or the Help menu which gives help on your account too. The website, like any good research site, leads you down all sorts of paths to explore with the possibilities being endless and hours and hours of investigating ahead of you. Once you look up one name, such as your grandparents, you can find their parents’ names and places of birth, view their actual documents online and download then, then use the information to look further back, or sideways. The additional information in the form of passenger lists, newspaper articles etc fill out the story of your family effortlessly and often give a background into what your ancestor’s life was like. In some cases, it might even answer some questions.

I particularly liked using FindMyPast.com because of how quickly and easily the relevant records are found. With a quick search of very little information you can find clear information, and then go in deeper to find the actual record, so you don’t have to try and decipher the handwriting either! If you’re not into family history or don’t have a history in this country, then you can always do an address search to see who lived in your house in the past. Now that’s also very interesting! My house, built in 1925 is featured in the 1939 Electoral Register and shows Mr & Mrs Read living at the property. Not only were their professions now defunct (telephone operator and photographic enlarger) but looking at the surrounding households, many of the professions would not be working in this area any longer as industry has changed.

FindMyPast.com is a fascinating website for family historians or social historians looking for background and fleshing out domestic life for the past few centuries. With its ease of searching, you can find out so much more about your family, all on one website.

Subscriptions are available on their website and there is currently a discount until 23 December: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/gift-subscriptions?promocode=gift

ffs Just Getting Started Gift Set

Birthday Gifts, cruelty-free, Gifts for Her, health, Plastic free, Stocking Fillers, Subscription Boxes, Summer, Vegan, Women

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all words and opinions are our own.

Being dark haired I spend a small fortune on razors, so I was very interested when I heard about ffs, a razor subscription service which offers customers the opportunity to change the way they shop for razors. They deliver their products straight to your door and unlike some subscription boxes you have full control over the contents and how often you receive them

So who are ffs? Well ffs stands for fuss-free shaving and the company are dedicated to making the shaving process not only effortless but eco-friendly as possible. Not only do they look at ways of reducing plastic packaging – their sets are all packaged in cardboard, they offer a blade recycling service too. As well as the subscription boxes they have a selection of Christmas gift sets and they recently sent me the ‘Just Getting Started’ set to try. This set contains everything you need for a perfect shave and contains the following shaving essentials.

Rose gold weighted metal handle

4 blades with a vitamin E lubrication strip

100ml tube of shaving cream

A shower holder

A clamshell protector

Travel pouch.

The set is nicely packaged in a cardboard box and inside the lid of the box are details of how to care for your razor along with how you can recycle the blades by sending them back to ffs – a fantastic idea and another tick on my sustainable journey.

When I took the handle out I was quite surprised at the weight, it’s much heavier than the razors I am used to and with the rose gold finish it does feel quite luxurious.

I am always a little cautious when using a new razor as small nicks and cuts are all too easy to acquire but I am pleased to say that the ffs razor gave a smooth, close shave without a single nick. The handle sits nicely in your hand and the flexible head is easy to manoeuvre, even on knees and underarms, making shaving quick and effective. Even with wet hands the handle was easy to hold and didn’t feel slippery when I was using it in the shower.

The shaving cream not only smells lovely but helps to achieve a really close shave. My legs and underarms feel soft and smooth afterwards and my skin doesn’t feel dry.

The wall mount is quite small and easy to fix to the wall of the shower. I wasn’t sure at first whether it would hold the weight of the razor, but it has been in the shower for the last couple of weeks and hasn’t fallen down, so despite being small it does work!

This is a far more superior razor than my normal one and there is no chance of me using a disposable razor system ever again!

With free engraving of up to 12 characters you can personalise the razor too making this a lovely Christmas gift.

RRP £35 but there is currently 25% off on their website making it even better value!

Rise Coffee Subscription Boxes

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, eco friendly, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Plastic free, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Great gifts are hard to find, so when you get an idea, you’ll want to make sure it’s a good one!

Rise Coffee Subscriptions are for coffee lovers who like to broaden their horizon beyond what you can find in the supermarkets but don’t want to be tied down to a particular brand of coffee machine and whatever their coffee brand is.

The subscription arrives at your address (which could also be a work place!) containing 3 different products. In the box which was sent to us, there were two different coffee roasts (Perky Blenders and Garage Coffee Roasters) and a coffee bag by Heaped. Boxes could also include coffee-themed items such as iced coffee or coffee flavoured chocolate.

Each of the bags are over 200g of roasted coffee, so enough to last one person a few weeks, and the bag coffee only lasts one brewing. Each box that is delivered has a different mixture of products, so you get to experience lots of different flavours, and maybe go on to buy that brand another time too. You can choose between whole beans or ground coffee too, Rise cater for both.

The coffees themselves taste wonderful – nothing like what you get in the supermarket but more like what you get in an independent coffee house where you can choose your type of blend. The Perky Blenders Acacia Blend is a sweeter flavoured coffee and the Garage Agata Brazil has a darker, more nutty taste but both are delicious. I’d never tried a coffee bag before but as it’s as easy as making a cup of tea with a tea bag, it makes a change to be able to brew up quickly, and it’s great tasting coffee too!

The boxes can be sent as great Christmas gifts or as a birthday gift the rest of the year, but most people like to have a box sent to their house themselves, as a monthly treat and for working from home. Perhaps now that the nights are drawing it, it will keep all of the working from home people from missing their favourite work coffee shops.

Rise Coffee also send out trials for £22 or boxes as gifts for 3,6 or 12 month subscriptions at varying prices: https://www.risecoffeebox.co.uk/giftsandkits

200 Degrees Coffee

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Drinks and Mixers, eco friendly, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Plastic free, Subscription Boxes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – This item was sent to us for the purpose of this review. All words and opinions are our own.

Some time, several years ago, two bar owners wanted to serve the best possible cup of coffee to their customers. Thus began a search, that started a journey, which became an obsession, and lead to three men being alone in the corner of a garage (with a coffee roaster) until finally, in 2012, they created 200 Degrees Coffee and decided to show it to the world, starting with Nottingham.

That was the beginning and there are now fifteen 200 Degrees coffee shops and six barista schools in the UK as well as hundreds of happy wholesale and business customers enjoying 200 Degrees ‘beans and machines’.

So why did they call themselves 200 DEGREES? It’s because they roast their coffee a slightly lower temperature than normal of 200 degrees centigrade that yields it’s smoother, deeper taste. They then serve their coffee at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit, so it made sense to them.

I am a massive coffee fan and discovering brands I’ve not tried is a real pleasure of mine and that is how I stumbled across 200 Degrees!

I was sent a 250g bag of their Brazilian Love Affair blend (available in ground or beans) to sample and it has been a really enjoyable review!

The Brazilian Love Affair is a fruity Brazilian blend with Colombian Arabica and Vietnamese Robusta which is a slow roasted medium blend that gives the drinker decent full bodied coffee with a bite. It is utterly delicious!

I have used the Brazilian Love Affair blend in a number of ways this week, piping hot with cream and sugar, iced with crushed ice, syrup and milk and I even used it to make a scrumptious coffee and walnut cake.

200 Degrees have certainly won me over with their delicious coffee and recyclable packaging.

Brazilian Love Affair is available to buy from https://200degs.com/

RRP From £8.95

200 Degrees coffee is available to buy in single bags or as a subscription (this would make a wonderful gift for the caffeine addict in your life).

Dog and Hat Coffee Subscription

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home & Garden, Plastic free, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

For coffee lovers everywhere, Christmas is sorted with this coffee subscription service from Dog and Hat bringing coffee to your door every month!

Operated as more of a Coffee Club where members can logon, buy extra coffee and switch subscription types, Dog and Hat have operated since 2017 and have grown since then, not least because the pandemic had more people brewing at home throughout the day.

What do you get in the subscription though? Well, there are levels of subscription, all of which are delivered to your door in recycled packaging. 2 bags costs £19, 3 bags costs £26, 4 bags costs £33 and there’s also a trial box of 2 coffees for £14.99. The bags which are delivered are all different and change each month too. They’re labelled up with where the beans are from, where they’re grown and what variety of coffee bean they are. There are over 140 roasters currently onboard and that list is expanding.

We were sent a box with three different blends; Missing Bean, Radical Roasters (Rugali) and Kiss The Hippo (Myanmar). We were asked what type of beans we used before the box was sent as there’s a different to how they are packaged. I chose for a filter or cafetiere but you can also choose just beans or for machines too. Each pack is 250g which is more than enough for a month for me! There’s also a Specialty Brew Guide that comes with the delivery and a booklet giving more details about the blends, where they’re from etc.

Each coffee is in it’s own recyclable packaging. Starting with the Missing Bean blend, I followed the instructions of how long to let it rest in the cafetiere before pouring (it’s longer than you think!) and then enjoyed. The other two coffees I put through a filter but it’s roughly the same amount of coffee to use each method.

Each coffee was, as you would expect, better than the commercial coffees we buy in the supermarkets. Much smoother, with longer lasting taste and I found them all to have less ‘bitterness’ than what I’m used to. The Missing Bean blend was less abrasive and the aroma lasted longer. Radical Roasters coffee was lighter and slightly sweet compared to other coffees and the Kiss The Hippo blend also had a lighter tone and a fruitness to it.

For coffee lovers, this makes a great Christmas gift, either every month for a year or as a one off, or even as a trial box you can’t go wrong! If you’re not really into coffee before trying these blends then be warned, you may end up a caffeine addict!

Available from the Dog and Hat website: https://dogandhat.co.uk

Little Monster’s Halloween Bumper Box by toucanBox

Children, Family Life, Games, Learning, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Halloween is just over a month away and your little ghouls and goblins are in for a real trick (or treat) with the spooktacular Little Monster’s Halloween Bumper Box from toucanBox!

Packed full of ghoulishy great activities that’s will keep your little monsters entertained for hours!

Toucanbox is a flexible subscription encouraging crafting, creativity and learning in children aged 3-8 which promotes fun away from screens!

This Limited Edition Bumper Box contains

:🎃 3 limited edition Halloween crafts.

🎃 Spooktacular Scenes magnetic viewing box for seeking out hidden mysteries in a Halloween scene!

🎃 Super Spooky Luminous Lantern for lighting up fright night.

🎃 Spindly Spider for making a scuttle-tastic Halloween display.

🎃 Monster Cupcake baking kit sold only with the Bumper Box!

🎃 toucanBoxes best selling bedtime storybook, The Oopsie Daisy Spell.

🎃 Plus Halloween magazine, stickers, bubbling cauldron experiment card and much, much more!

RRP £24.95

Available to purchase from https://shop.toucanbox.com/products/little-monsters-halloween-bumper-box

Treat Trunk Healthy Snack Boxes

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Lunchbox Fillers, Subscription Boxes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

As Summer comes to an end and Autumn creeps in, it is so easy to lose focus and reach for unhealthy snacks to give comfort as the dark nights and boredom slowly creep in.

Thankfully, Treat Trunk is on hand to keep you from reaching into the biscuit tin with their amazing healthy snack boxes!

Treat Trunk love healthy snacks and treats and believe treating yourself doesn’t have to be harmful.

They taste test hundreds of products to find the tastiest, most treatiest healthy snacks and curate a diverse selection each month.

Treat Trunk founder Sally says ‘We are a much happier and healthier family because of healthy snacking and we want to support people all around the UK to feel the same.’

I was sent an adult mini treat trunk which comes with 10-15 different treats, some sweet, some savoury and some that I had never thought to try before.

Available in Adults and Kids sizes, these amazingly delicious treat trunks are a great way to introduce healthier snacks into yours and your families’ lives.

I was blown away by the variety of treats my treat trunk offered and it has really helped open my eyes and taste buds to a whole new world of healthy treats!

Now, healthy needn’t mean boring and tasteless and Treat Trunk knows this, the array of treats they offer is mind-blowing and there really is something for everyone!

From brownies to pitta chips to Keto friendly snacks, there is a treat waiting for you!

Prices differ depending on products but for a single full size box it’s £39.99, a Mini £24.99, Letterbox £12.99 and New Mum £29.99.

Treat Trunk also do gift subscriptions for both box sizes for either 3,6 and 12 month periods at multiples of their subscription price – £35.99 and £19.99.

Available to buy from https://treattrunk.co.uk/