Our friends at Virginia Hayward Hampers sent us a sample of one of their new Chilli Cube
Hampers to review. Here is what was in the chilli cube that arrived on our doorstep…
Ok so here’s what you get in the cube:
- 1 Jar of Chilli Jam
- 1 Jar of Chilli Chutney
- 1 bottle of Habanero Sauce
- 1 pack of Chilli Chocolate Orange
- 1 pack of Chilli seeds and growing medium
Chilli Chutney
This is a great chilli chutney. It has plenty of natural ingredients including courgettes, red peppers, onion and sultanas and is suitable for vegans. The focus of this chutney is on healthy ingredients blended in just the right proportions. Too many chilli chutneys leave me wanting for more heat, but this one gets the spice levels and balance of flavours just right.
It is perfect with cheese and biscuits or in a sandwich. The label says it will last 6 weeks in the fridge once opened. I can’t see there being any left in the jar within a week!
Chilli Jam
As is the case with the chilli chutney the chilli jam is also suitable for vegans. Again the heat levels are spot on for my taste and the flavours are nice and clean. If I were to criticise, I did find it was slightly too sweet for my taste. However, I find this the case with most chilli jams, so maybe I’m just being a bit harsh here.
Chilli Orange Chocolate
I’ve tasted some truly awful chilli chocolate over the years. Being both a chilli connoisseur and a lover of chocolate orange I was eager to see how this offering would fare.
The chocolate is dark (made with minimum 60% cocoa) and smooth and has that moorish quality that all good dark chocolates have. I particularly like the homemade look of the chocolate (obviously made in a large slab and cut to weight) – none of this factory style moulds here!
The orange flavour is subtle and builds up slowly before the faintest zing of chilli hits your palette. This is without a doubt the best chilli chocolate I’ve ever tasted.
Habanero Sauce
If you like your sauces hot you’ll love this one. This is everything a habanero sauce should be; simple, clean tasting, not too sweet and of course nice and hot. With only habaneroes, cider vinegar, lemon juice and salt in the bottle the great taste of the habanero chillies is allowed to shine through.
The Pocket Garden Chilli Seeds
Basically this is an all in one chilli growing kit. You get a foil pouch (measuring 12cm high by 10cm wide) filled with peat free compost and most importantly some Numex Twighlight Chilli seeds. Unfortunately it is the wrong time of the year really to be starting off new seeds. So, we’ll wait until after the new year to start off this growing kit.
Despite the poor timing, we think these growing kits are great for beginners or as a way to get kids interested in growing their own. The Numex Twighlights they’ve chosen should be well-suited to growing in a small compact container like these pouches. I’ll let you know next summer how I get on with the kit!
Summary
Usually in a hamper you are pleased with some things, but often get the feeling that some items are there just to fill the box up. With this hamper the emphasis is definitely on quality over quantity with all of the edible contents proving exceptionally tasty.
If you are looking for a gift for a chilli addicted friend then you should look no further than the Chilli Cube Hamper from Virginia Hayward.
