September The Jungle Stand

Every month, the Jungle Stand sends you a "tasting bar" for $9.92.  It's designed to be a themed, blind taste testing experience. 

 I was a bit worried about the blind aspect since I'm vegetarian, but I was happy to find that they include color-coded nutrition facts.

This bar had flavors from Jamaica, the Philippines, and India.

Once you've sampled the items in your box, you match the colors up to this info card to learn more about what you just ate.  (Alternatively, you can be a chicken and match them before tasting them.)

Jamaican Jerk Spice Nuts:  J and I both knew instantly what these were.  It wound up being J's favorite - the spice was noticeable, but it wasn't overbearing.  (The saltines are included to be a palate cleanser between tastings.)

Sweet Jamaican Jerk Pops:  J's not a fan of popcorn in general so he was kind of "meh" on this one.  This was my absolute favorite, though.  It was sweet and clove-y, but had a spicy burn at the same time.  I would totally eat this again.

Fish Crackers from the Philippines:  J tried these and actually guessed that they were pork rinds.  He also didn't believe me when I told him they weren't.

Vegetarian Salt and Vinegar Chicharon from the Philippines:  I bit into one of these and immediately double checked that I hadn't overlooked a meat ingredient on it.  It was light and airy and had a salty, savory taste.  Not bad, but not my favorite.  J didn't care for it much at all.  

Khatta Meetha from India: This was a kind of bland snack mix.  J and I both agreed that while it wasn't bad, it just didn't really taste like much at all.

Cornflakes Mixture from India:  We ate this right after the previous one and honestly couldn't tell that much of a difference.  There were different items in the mix, but overall the flavors were extremely similar.

Even though J didn't fall in love with any of the flavors, he still said the experience was worth well over what I paid for the box.  (He guessed that it was $13 a month.)  Even if we had wound up hating everything, I think that the Jungle Stand still makes for a fun activity on a lazy night in.