Vegancuts has a mission to celebrate the vegan lifestyle through supporting conscious, kind-hearted brands. Vegancuts has the option for shopping their marketplace or subscribing to a monthly Snack Box, Beauty Box or going above and beyond and joining their corporate program bringing plant-based options to your office. A part of their kind-hearted involves working directly with animal sanctuaries. Every month, a different sanctuary is given a portion of each purchase!
This month’s box supports Verna the goat and her friends at Animal Place in Grass Valley, California.
dat Krunchy Couple posted a video on Instagram showing off the items we received in our Vegan Cuts Snack Box. We used Kristen Leo’s $5 off code to give this box a shot. We heard your feedback, just showing us the products and trying a few is NOT enough. So we decided to dedicate an entire blog post to reviewing the products we received in the box. This month’s box is *Celebrating International Flavors and Fantastic Asian-Owned Brands!*
Bohana Sweet Cinnamon Drizzle
“Popped water lily seeds have been consumed in India for centuries. We’ve reinvented this ancient puffed snack to fuel our unique selves with nothing but protein packed, plant-based love.” – Johanna
Nikky: These are really freaking delicious, and I would eat them all the time. I don’t think I can say that I’ve ever had water lilies prior to these. They are light and airy but still have a bit of a crunch and are full of flavor. These were definitely the easiest to snack on, in my opinion. Their company is pretty cool, they believe in “free spirit snacking” and strive to spread love, positivity and wellness through Ayurvedic principles.
Jason: It is tough to put these down. They have an addicting mouth feel and are light and airy. Usually, I am not fond of air-puffed snacks but there seems to be a solid balance in crunch and air, if you will. The cinnamon flavor is perfect. Cinnamon snacks usually tend to be either an extreme version of dusty cinnamon sugar (i.e. Cinnamon Toast Crunch) or an overpowering, straight cinnamon flavor, and it rarely falls anywhere in between that spectrum. Bohana manages to accomplish this feat.
Pirq Golden Vanilla Plant Protein Superfoods Shake
Pirq founder Minal Bhakta stained everything yellow on her journey to *Jason will think of a witty way to finish this paragraph*
Nikky: This was not a very good beverage. I had pretty high expectations and it really let me down. There’s an incredibly strong vanilla flavor. This definitely has the texture of a protein shake, but is not enjoyable. The postcard boasted this was a “product that would make it easy for people to access the healing powers of Turmeric without sacrificing taste.” I don’t taste any turmeric in this. I am totally let down by this beverage to the point where I don’t even want to finish it.
Jason: Expectations were definitely high for both of us. The aesthetic of the bottle is welcoming. The flavor described on the bottle is inviting, I was anticipating a delicious vanilla milk beverage, reminiscent of Nesquick’s flavored milks, with touch of spice. Did I taste turmeric? Not really, no. Did I taste vanilla? Sure. But you want to know what I could taste once the beverage had finished washing down my throat? Stevia. For those of you that enjoy this plant-based alternative sugar, I am sorry but you’re wrong. Nothing ruins a snack or beverage quite like the aftertaste of artificial sugars. With stevia being derived from a plant, it tends to be accepted as a healthier and safer alternative to your generic artificial sugars. The flavor in this drink is already weak so the stevia slightly dominates the palate. I seem to be particularly sensitive to stevia so I already knew the problem the second I took a sip.
Dang Peanut Butter Bar
Dang was founded by two Thai-American brothers and named in honor of their mother. It’s cool that they have chose to create uniquely Asian-American snacks. Their mission is to share their culture for a healthier and more flavorful world. This peanut butter bar is based on their mom’s original recipe and claims to taste like the inside of a peanut butter cup.
Nikky: I enjoyed the texture of this bar much more than I enjoyed the flavor.
Jason: The flavor is too complex and unbalanced. Unfortunately, there is another element of this snack that is displeasing. I am sure you can guess what that might be. I’ll give you a hint: it rhymes with Stevia.
LivBar Ginger Lemon Turmeric Bar
This bar boasts that it’s a “Superfood Energy Bar that provides balanced, sustainable energy in whole food form. In our video – we mentioned that these bars come in compostable packaging! The creator, Jan, originally created these bars for her husband who has multiple food allergies: “I wanted to make him an on-the-go snack that tasted good and was made with real food.” Another cool tidbit is that the facility these bars are made in is solar powered!
Nikky – It was dry/not very good texture but it had a great flavor. The company has a good mission and intentions, but the product just isn’t what I was hoping for. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t purchase these, but if they were available I’d sample another flavor.
Jason- I appreciate the mission statement and commitment to authentic food. For me, this specific LivBar left something to be desired. If you like turmeric flavor, you probably would enjoy it more than I did. However, I am even more curious to try their other flavors, particularly Coffee Maple Cacao.
Blake’s Seed Based Chocolate Chip Rice Crispy Treat
Blake Sorensen grew up as an athlete with a deadly nut allergy. After being frustrated with the lack of snacks available to him, Blake chose to start making snack bars in his kitchen using SEEDS instead of nuts. They are completely seed based – their company motto is “Seed Your Passion.” These bars are a healthy choice without sacrificing taste for individuals with nut allergies.
Nikky enjoyed this and would love to try the other flavors. It is definitely reminiscent of a Rice Krispies treat!
Jason- I enjoyed this much more than the LivBar or Dang! bar. It’s not nearly as gooey as a traditional Rice Krispie Treat, but just as satisfying. I respect Blake Sorensen’s inspiration to start the company. Nuts are frequently used in vegan substitutes, snacks and milk alternatives, which can be kryptonite for those with an allergy. The rice crispy treat also comes in birthday cake and strawberry. They also have a snack bar option which comes in smores, raspberry and blueberry lemon.
Munch Rights BBQ Baked Puffs
MunchRights boasts they were created with the intention that everyone deserves a snack made with ingredients they can pronounce. The gluten free puffs come in a variety of flavors, but SADLY, only TWO of their flavors are vegan (Apple Cinnamon and BBQ).
Nikky: These had a very strong bbq sweetness flavor to them. They reminded us of Hippeas, as we mentioned in the video, but skinnier and airier in a way. They weren’t bad, but the sweetness hits you right away! I don’t think these are a snack that we’d choose to purchase.
Jason- The BBQ Baked Puffs were probably one of the stronger options in the box. For some reason, the aftertaste reminded me of banana. They lacked a strong BBQ kick but the sweet and tangy you would expect from a BBQ snack was a little too dominant. Despite being a solid snack, they didn’t leave me wanting more. Sure, they’re crunchy and tasty enough to satisfy a snack craving, but not knock your socks off.
RightRice Risotto
RightRice presents itself as a high protein, high fiber and low carb rice-option. The creators wanted a *new grain* so they created RightRice using lentils, chickpeas, peas and rice. All of the RightRice products are vegan.
Nikky – I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Jason prepared it alongside some Gardein sausages and roasted veggies. I am not sure that it’s something that I would choose to grab again, but I’m glad that I got the opportunity to try it. I think we were both shocked at the fact that this wasn’t terrible.
Jason- I wouldn’t recommend this as its own meal, but definitely as a side dish. If you’re someone who’s adventurous, don’t be afraid to spruce it up in anyway you see fit considering the flavor. The bag in DKC’s box was basil flavored, so we added some fresh garlic, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.
LIFEAID IMMUNITYAID GO!
LIFEAID was founded by a sports chiropractor and a certified financial planner who met at Crossfit in 2009. The two were convinced that there were health conscious consumers demanding alternatives who wanted alternatives to the high-sugar, high-caffeine, artificial mass marketed drinks.
Nikky: If you are the kind of person that enjoys putting something in your water, then this might be a good choice, but unfortunately this just tasted like Tang. I will give credit that this is certainly much healthier than most of the products of its kind.
Jason: It starts off tasting orange and then you get that monk fruit/stevia aftertaste that ruins any hope of enjoying the beverage. Not a lot to write home about here. If you’re the sort of person that prefers mixing a powdered additive to their water, then you might enjoy what Life Aid is trying to achieve with this product.
Tea Riot Plant Powered Energy Drink
Tea Riot is the healthy alternative to the typical energy drink. We tried the Berry Riot flavor which contains green tea, apple, blueberry, lemon, elderberry and 200% of your daily value of b12 in every can. Their other flavors include Mango, Cherry Watermelon and Citrus.
Nikky- The founders of RIOT Energy believe they have created the “next generation of energy drinks using positive ingredients you can feel good about drinking,” and I’ll give them that. You can feel like you’re drinking someone that’s good for you versus the chemicals that typical energy drinks are full of.
This was not especially delicious or flavorful, but certainly a much healthier and appropriate alternative to an energy drink.
Jason- For someone who may consume energy drinks more regularly than not, this could be a tougher transition. There is considerably less sugar, not to mention, the only sugar in it comes from fruit juices, as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup or cane sugar. I appreciate trying to make an energy drink, even if it’s slightly, healthier and more appealing to those who may be striving to be health-conscious. Personally, I don’t care for energy drinks and this was not my cup of tea either.
Bakery on Main Organic Sprouted Blueberry Flax Granola
Thankfully, these come in a much bigger bag than the sample size we were given in our VeganCuts box. Bakery on Main was founded in 1992 and started off inside a small natural foods market on Main St in Glastonbury, Connecticut. They soon found their passion for gluten-free/celiac-friendly snack food and breakfast items that could be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of dietary wants and needs. As a company, they do a lot of philanthropy and give back to communities, national food banks, school fundraisers, Gluten-Free kid camps, and other non-profit organizations.
Jason- It is a perfectably acceptable granola. Similar to that of Blake’s Seed Based Snacks, trying to provide an alternative that covers a range of allergens is a worthy cause. Any of your usual granola pairings will work just as well for this particular brand. I am someone who likes to snack on dry granola and it gave me the same satisfaction. Check out their website to find where you can purchase larger sized bags, or order directly from the website.
Nikky: This was fine, I wasn’t blown away by it, but it’s not bad by any means. It’s just not exciting. Maybe it’d be better topped on a smoothie bowl, with oatmeal or even with a splash of plant milk.
Have you tried the VeganCuts box? What were your thoughts on the products? Have you had any of these products otherwise? We have ONE more box from VeganCuts to talk about – we’ll see how it compares to the first one!
Dat Krunchy Couple 