Just Spices Small Advent Calendar 2023 Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Jenny Bray
Just Spices | Under Construction
This is an advent calendar with 24 days of spices for jazzing up your daily dishes instead of chocolate or any standard advent calendar offering.
The calendar arrived in a specially printed custom sized box, containing the calendar, which had a colourful sleeve round it. The sleeve had an extra leaflet attached with a QR code to scan for recipes to go with the spices if needing inspiration. The sleeve also had 2 perforated Christmas postcards to pop out and send on.
The calendar itself looks appealing in bright red glossy print with ‘Merry Spicemas’ on each side and a different character on each side alongside festive prints. The calendar doors are on both sides, rather than all being on one side, which adds a little time and anticipation to finding the right number.
The spice sachets inside are for a variety of different dishes. There are 23 sachets and one 60g pot. They aren’t designed to make complex dishes, but are designed to be a one sachet, already mixed for you, enhancer for dishes in order to make them more flavoursome. Examples include avocado topping, fish all rounder, Texas BBQ mix and scrambled egg seasoning. These help showcase that they are spice mixes designed to spice up every day cooking rather than being for master chefs.
Obviously, to do this review I had to cheat slightly and open this early. This felt very naughty, yet oddly satisfying! I only opened the first 7 doors so that I can open the rest at the right time on the run up to Christmas and still be surprised by whatever the big spice pot is behind door 24.
The spices I have tried so far have been very tasty and certainly complemented and enhanced my dishes in a good way. I have got a little stuck in a rut with the dishes I produce regularly and these sachets have helped me get out of that rut and look at alternatives and different natural flavours to add to dishes. This is exactly what they set out to do, so well done to them! However, the spices they offer are all quite basic for simple dishes, so although nice for some dishes they won’t be replacing my cupboard of multiple herbs and spices I often use for cooking.
Their website showcases the different spices that they provide. It also shows the journey of the 3 of them having the idea when students in 2012 to the fact that they launched in the UK market in 2022 and now have over 1.5 million customers. Their hope is; ‘we want to make cooking manageable in daily life and inspire as many people as possible to get creative and inspired in the kitchen’. To help live up to this, their website also has a whole section with ideas for using the different spices in their kits.
Their website is easy to navigate and prices start from £9.99 for a discovery taster box of sachets to try. All prices include delivery within the UK. You can also get 15% off your first order if you sign up to their newsletter. I feel this calendar is a little expensive for what it is but is a great opening in to a whole 24 days of different spices for dishes. If comparing it to food providers like Gousto or Hello Fresh, this would provide just the seasoning and food ideas for you to go out and purchase the food you like to go with it and then seems very reasonable, so it’s all relative.
I like that the spice mixes are all natural flavours, with no flavour enhancers, all items are suitable for vegans and that they ship from the UK. They are also a carbon neutral company for packaging and shipping, which shows that they have considered their impact on the environment.
This is a great alternative advent calendar for those who like something a little different and may need a bit of assistance in adding some flavour to their every day foods. This may be students just setting out on their creative cooking adventure or people who may just be a little less adventurous with their cooking skills or ability or just a bit stuck in a rut with meal preparation as I was. Other items on their website also look like great gift ideas and some of the testaments on their website state that they make great gifts. I’d definitely be more impressed with a spice gift from this company than a generic toiletry set and have already thought of a couple of people I know that would also appreciate these.
Rating: 4.5/5
The RRP is £29.99 (which includes postage)
This product can be purchased from Just Spices here.