RawSpiceBar Subscription Box Review

- Written by Crystal Schlegelmilch on November 21st 2016

I'm a big fan of subscription boxes. I am 100% sure I enjoy the items in the box more than if I had bought the exact same items myself. It's partially the surprise factor, and partially the fact that these boxes usually contain products I wouldn't have ever thought to buy myself. I've tried meal kits (so overrated), doggie boxes (so cute), and now, a spice subscription box.

RawSpiceBar kindly sent me their Oktoberfest flavor kit, and I'm just now getting around to writing about it due to a very persistent cold that left me out of the beer and pretzel festivities this year. The concept is simple - subscribe to receive 3 different spice mixes every month for 6 or 12 months. You won't find spices like these in your average supermarket; they are high quality, organic, free of additives, and freshly ground. Each packet is enough to season a dish for 3-4 people, so you don't have any spices left over to get stale on your shelves.

The Oktoberfest flavor kit included caraway, fennel, & anise bread, horseradish & mustard seeds, and schnitzel spices (juniper berries, cayenne peppers, bay leaves, black peppercorns, spices).

They came with three German-inspired recipes incorporating the spices as well.

I opted against the caraway cheese soft pretzels. They sound delicious, but also like more work than I was in the mood for. I wasn't sure what to do with that spice mix instead, but I read that fennel is common in Italian sausage so I decided to use that mix to season some pork sausage. That pork sausage made an excellent topping on my favorite homemade pizza crust, so things were definitely off to a good start.

Then I decided it was time to stick to the suggested recipes and make a hearty German meal, schnitzel with cabbage and fries. I have to admit I used pork instead of chicken to make my schnitzel (so much for sticking to the recipes) and they turned out quite well. The schnitzel seasoning was rather spicy due to the cayenne pepper, but it wasn't too intense spread across all the schnitzel and the breading certainly had a richer flavor than usual.

I admittedly had a bit of trouble with the cabbage recipe, perhaps because my pan got too hot over high heat or wasn't hot enough when I added the mustard seeds. Whatever the reason, leaving the mustard seeds in the pan for a minute as the recipe said was a bit too long in my case. The cabbage didn't have any bitter or burnt taste to it, but I can't really comment on the flavor of the spice mix in this case (sorry guys).

That is a lot of brown food. Combined with the lack of natural sunlight, this isn't the prettiest photo. I assure you I sometimes eat green things.

All in all I was very pleased with this spice subscription box. I love that you might receive spices you wouldn't normally work with and new recipe inspiration to encourage experimentation in the kitchen. Plus, everything is beautifully presented and a subscription would make a wonderful gift. The prices are very reasonable too, $6/kit with a 12 month subscription, $7/kit with a 6 month subscription, and $8/kit if you want to try it out and just order one flavor kit.

RawSpiceBar's high quality product and thoughtful presentation really turns seasoning into an experience. Share it with others!