Graze - June 2015

I have been enjoying the first of two monthly snack boxes delivered from Graze.  I subscribe to the 8-snack variety box with delivery every two weeks. Here are the snacks I got to try in my first June box:

Nutrition & Ingredient Information Card

Pecan Power

 Garden of England

 Tropical Daiquiri

 Pro Bean

 Caramel Apple

 Iced Cinnamon Bun

 Fruit & Seed Flapjack

 Chili & Honey Almonds

Cost of Box:  $11.99 (free shipping)

Impressions:  Out of this box, the Chili and honey almonds was my favorite. It seemed an odd combination but I was surprised by how much I liked it.  I hope to get these again in the future!  Overall, this was a great box for me.  I really enjoyed all of the snacks except for maybe the fruit and seed flapjack and caramel apple snacks.  The flapjacks tasted okay but they seemed really dry compared to some of the other flapjacks I've tried.  I liked the dried apples but this snack was hardly enough to even be considered a snack.  I would have liked getting more apples and done without the sweet caramel sauce.  I ate all the snacks in the box pretty quickly so I'm really looking forward to getting my next box.

Graze - May 2015

Over the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying the second of two Graze snack boxes I scheduled for delivery in May.  I subscribed to the 8-snack variety box with delivery every two weeks. Here are the snacks I got to try in this box:

Nutrition & Ingredient Information Card

Cinnamon Pretzel

Oven Roasted Salt & Vinegar Nut Selection

Beach Bum

Pro Power

Super Forest Fruits 

Chocolate Pecan Pie 

Chocolate Pretzel 

Strawberries & Cream Granola Topper

Cost of Box:  $11.99 (free shipping)

Impressions:  

• Cinnamon Pretzel:  Nothing special about the poppyseed pretzels; in fact I would have preferred regular salted pretzels.  I did like the cinnamon honey almonds.  I wish the whole snack was just the almonds!
• Oven Roasted Salt & Vinegar Nut Selection:  I really like salt and vinegar chips but it tastes a bit weird on nuts.  It wasn't necessary bad, just different.  It may be an acquired taste.
• Beach Bum: The banana chips were a bit chewy but I liked this snack, mostly because of the dried pineapple.  The coconut chips were not toasted but they were sweetened so they didn't seem bland like some coconut chips I've tasted in some of their other snacks.
  
• Pro Power:  I don't eat a lot of meat so I like finding snacks that have high protein and are tasty.  I wish there was a little less black pepper on the cashews but otherwise, I really liked this snack.
• Super Forest Fruits:  Great snack.  I liked the mix of slightly sweet and tart fruits and berries.
  
• Chocolate Pecan Pie: I'm a southern girl and this snack includes pecans with chocolate fudge!  I even liked the dates mixed it.
• Chocolate Pretzel:  Again, nothing special about the poppyseed pretzels.  I like Nutella so I liked the chocolate hazelnut dip.
• Strawberries & Cream Granola Topper:  I liked this snack in yogurt but not sure I would eat it on it's own

Out of this box, I would say the Chocolate Pecan Pie and Pro Power snacks were my favorites.  My account online and the information card indicates that I was suppose to receive Wholegrain Banana Caramel Dippers but I received the Cinnamon Pretzel snack instead.  This box wasn't an equal balance of savory versus sweet snacks like the last box.  Six out of the eight snacks in this box were sweet.  I am not sure if there is any particular rhyme or reason to how Graze selects savory and sweet snacks for a variety box but it appears that the ratio is random and varies with each box.  I'm not really bothered by the variation but I did like having a savory and sweet snack to eat together for quick lunches in my last box. 

Graze - May 2015

Over the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying the first of two Graze snack boxes I scheduled for delivery in the month of May.  I subscribed to the 8-snack variety box with delivery every two weeks. Here are the snacks I got to try in this box:

Nutrition & Ingredient Information Card

 Zesty Chili Lime Cashews

 Original Three-Seed Protein Flapjack

 Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie

 Herby Bread Basket

 Chai Latte

 Barbecue Sub with BBQ Relish

 Cinnamon Fig Roll

 Apple Cosmo

Cost of Box:  $11.99 (free shipping)
Impressions:  I really liked the variety of flavors and snacks that they included in this box.  Here is a quick run down on what I thought of the snacks:

• Zesty Chili Lime Cashews: I liked the chili seasoning but I would like this snack even better without the lime flavoring.
• Original Three-Seed Protein Flapjack:  I liked this a lot more than I thought I would.  It similar in consistency to a chewy granola bar and is slightly sweet.  I have been trying to include flax seed in my diet so I like that these include flax seed.
• Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie:   I really like salted fudge and peanut butter cookies.  I think this would have been a great snack if the redskin peanuts had been toasted.  The raw peanut taste just masked and ruined the taste of everything else. 
• Herby Bread Basket: I thought this snack was pretty good except for the oregano rice cakes.  They seemed to have a slight sweet aftertaste that didn't quite mesh well with the savory herbs.
• Chai Latte:  I love drinking Chai lattes so I was excited to try this snack.  It does have a lot of the chai latte flavors but I think I would have liked this snack a lot more if the seeds and coconut chips were toasted for a richer flavor.
• Barbecue Sub with BBQ Relish:  Essentially pretzels with barbecue sauce as dip; not what I would call a great snack idea.
• Cinnamon Fig Roll:  I like fig newtons and this snack does taste like a fig newton but with root beer.  The little cookies are crisp, not soft.
• Apple Cosmo:  It was ok, but not great.  I like dried apples and cranberries but not so much the lime raisins.  They definitely tasted like they had been soaked in lemon-lime soda.

Out of this box, I would say the three-seed protein flapjacks were my favorite.  A couple of the other snacks were OK but would have been great if the nuts were roasted/toasted or if there was no lime flavoring.  I did contact customer service to ask why many of their snacks with nuts didn't have roasted nuts or toasted coconut and they stated that they simply didn't have suppliers to do it yet.  I hope they find suppliers soon; I think many of their snacks would be great if the nuts were roasted/toasted to enhance the flavor!  Although I didn't like all of the snack flavor combinations, I did enjoy trying them.  It was also nice having these individually packaged, pre-portioned packs to throw in my purse for snacks at work.

One thing that I did not mention in the review of my free trial box is that the "use by date" for each snack is listed on the information card.  This is handy because not all the snacks have the same shelf life.  However, I do think it would be better if the date was listed on the snack package to prevent confusion if snacks from different boxes get mixed up or if you accidentally throw away the info card.  These snacks do not last for months like some store-bought snacks and I presume it is because there are little to no preservatives in them.  The snacks in this box were listed to expire anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks after I received them but they didn't last that long!  I'm looking forward to what snacks I'll get to try in my second May box.

Graze - Free Trial Box

I recently took advantage of a free trial box of snacks from Graze, a mail order subscription snack service.  The free trial comes with 4 snacks but you can choose between 4 snack ($6.99) or 8 snack ($11.99) boxes when you subscribe.  You also have to option to schedule how often you want to receive a box.  I signed up for the 8 snack box subscription to start after my free trial because I snack a lot and it is a better deal.  When you try the snacks, you can go online to note if you liked them or not, or note if you really want to try something or exclude certain snacks from being shipped to you.  My box shipped via USPS and was small enough to fit in a standard mailbox.  Here are the snacks from my free trial box:

Welcome letter explaining how Graze works:

Nutrition and ingredient information for each snack included:

 

The Cheese Board

Lemon Almond Cookie Dippers with Oat & Spelt and Wild Blueberry Compote

Southern BBQ Pistachios

Deconstructed Carrot Cake

Cost of Box:  Free Trial
Impressions:  I like that the snacks come individually wrapped in portion controlled, individually wrapped snacks.  If you are mindless snacker like me, individually portioned snacks are really helpful!  But when you first see the size of the snack containers, you will probably be disappointed because it doesn't look like much.  They average around 1 oz each.  I also like that the snacks are healthier options than reaching for potato chips and candy bars.  I subscribed to the variety snack box so I will get a mix of sweet and savory snacks but there is a box option to only get sweets.  I liked everything in my trial box except the lemon almond cookie dippers.  I love almonds and blueberries but both the cookies and the blueberry compote were terrible in my opinion.  The BBQ Pistachios were my favorite out of this box.  I would not say that the volume of snacks justifies the $7 cost of the the 4 snack box ($1.75 per snack).  The cost per snack for the 8 snack box is $1.50 each.  So these boxes are not the greatest value from a cost per volume perspective.  With Graze, you are paying for the interesting flavored snacks that you may not be able to find at your local market, as well as portion controlled, healthier snack options.  I would not make this my sole source of snacks because the value per volume is not there for me.  I signed up to receive an 8-snack box every 2 weeks just as a treat to something different than what I may usually snack on.  I am looking forward to trying what comes in my next box!