Mantry

Mantry is a monthly food subscription based in the U.S. They specialize in American made artisan gourmet from small startups to award winning chefs. 

Their crates range from $59 to $75 per month depending on the plan.

Ships to the U.S. only.

First Impressions

I applaud Mantry for shipping all of their goods in a wooden crate, when it comes to rustic Americana, that really takes the cake. The whole premise seems to revolve around rustic Midwestern/Southwestern America. 

They say it's a box for men but really whatever gender you are, if you like trying out gourmet snacks don't be thrown off by just the name!

In each box comes a note from the CEO of Mantry along with a monthly pamphlet giving recipe ideas and general information about all the products in the box.

This month's theme is comfort food and homestyle cooking. On the menu today we have the following:

Lark's Fine Foods - Burnt Sugar & Fennel Shortbread Cookies   6.00

Naked Granola - Maine Blueberry Granola   6 for 36.00

The Bacon Jams - Bacon Spread   15.00

Eli Mason - Mint Julep Cocktail Mixer   9.99

Righteous Felon - Notorious B.I.G Jerky   10.00

JJ's Sweets - Espresso Cocomels   4.99

Lark's Fine Foods - Burnt Sugar & Fennel Shortbread Cookies

Putting herbs into cookies is a new concept to me. I love the smell of fennel seeds and I always try incorporating it into a lot of my meals. The cookies themselves have the texture of shortbread cookies, the strong bite of ginger snaps but with the flavor of fennel seeds wafting through. Not too sweet, detailed flavors with a sharp spice makes it a pretty damn fine treat.

Righteous Felon - Notorious B.I.G. Jerky

Let me say that these guys are pretty hilarious. I've already tried out 2 other flavors from Righteous Felon for my upcoming review on SumoJerky and these guys seem pretty dope. Their jerky is dope too. The names these guys come up with are great as well, the "B.I.G" stands for Beer Infused Gastronomy. I don't drink beer so I didn't know what to expect, what I found was that it didn't taste like alcohol, but the beer drew out the flavors giving it a rich beefy flavor. Unlike the other flavors I had from them, this was not spicy at all but focused mainly on drawing out that beefiness with a mild beer undertone.

Naked Granola - Taste of Maine

Granola is a good good good thing to have in any house. I was thrilled when I saw this in the crate because after years of chain smoking and whiskey drinking this stuff always makes me feel better, even if it's all in my head because this at first glance looks healthy as shit! I had a bowl of this for breakfast with my roommate with some almond milk as a cereal and it was fantastic. All of the best stuff you can think of is in it, granola, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pomegranate, blueberry, and honey just to name a few. 

JJ'S Sweets - Espresso Cocomels

Coconut milk. Caramel. Two of my favorite flavors, which I was expecting to taste however as soon as I put it in my mouth I get a hit of espresso, It's not a bad thing either, this might be my favorite thing out of the crate! I love coffee flavors and it's exactly like drinking a sweet milky coffee.

The Bacon Jams - Bacon Spread

Man, bacon never gets old. I was going a little buck wild thinking about all the shit I could spread this baby on. I've never had sweet/savory bacon, just the salty stuff so I was definitely excited to see this. I only tasted a small spoonful and it was great! The savory sweetness, not the jelly kind, but more like the kind you'd get eating a sweet honey baked ham or jelly meatballs with a bacon twist. I imagine I'll be trying this on my next burger or at the next bbq.

Eli Mason - Mint Julep

Lastly the box came with Eli Mason's Mint Julip cocktail syrup. I'm not one to drink much anymore because I overdid it while living in Massachusetts so I'm going to have to save this lil child for someone who drinks or if I ever feel like reliving my glory days. The description says it's best over a glass of whiskey and crushed ice. 

Verdict

If you're looking to try out American gourmet snacks, have some disposable income and can overlook the gender bias towards just masculinity (I believe everyone is a tough cookie and can enjoy spicy ass foods, beer flavored meat and hard liquor at any (legal) age)! If you're into bold and strong flavors then I suggest you give them a try. 

http://mantry.com/