Reviewed by
Sophie
I love making cocktails, so when I found out about TASTE Cocktails I was super excited to try it out.
Each box contains premium ingredients and recipes to make up to 6 cocktails (with a little extra to taste), and information about the source and history of your drinks.
They cost £24 a month, which is okay when you think it’s a box full of mini alcohol bottles. If you’d like the equipment to go with the cocktail making, you can buy the equipment box as a one-off purchase with the ingredients box for £46 (saving you £5 as the equipment box on its own is £27). The subscription will return to £24 a month from then on.
The box was packaged well as it came in a box, inside another box, which had ‘fragile’ all over it. As you can see, the TASTE cocktails box is pretty snazzy on its own. I loved that the inside was like a little nest with small bottles for delicious dark chocolate cocktails.
Contents:
- Mozart – Dark Chocolate Liqueur
- Moskovskaya Osobaya – Russian Vodka
- Campari – Bitters
- Martini Rosso
- Mozart Chocolate Bitters
There were 3 recipes to choose from in the booklet I received, so I chose to make the ‘Bitter Chocolate Orange’ cocktail. This was mainly because the only extra thing I had to add was orange juice, chocolate powder and ice which I already had in the house.
I followed the recipe exactly, it does say it makes 2 cocktails, but I poured them into champagne glasses (I couldn’t find my cocktail ones) and it only made 1 per recipe. (edit: The ‘2x’ next to the cocktail glass means you can make the recipe twice with the ingredients you have, which is a little confusing as ‘2x’ usually means the recipe will make 2). For the cocktail I used the dark chocolate liqueur, campari, vodka, orange juice and chocolate powder to garnish.
It was surprisingly good! It tasted just like Terry’s chocolate orange with a bitter twist. My mum who tried it with me wasn’t so keen as she hates campari, but it was great for a homemade cocktail. You could taste every flavour without it being overpowering or with a sharp alcoholic taste. The only thing I didn’t like was that the bitterness was similar to that of a grapefruit and after a few sips it wasn’t as enjoyable. So if I made it again, I’d rather have it without the campari, (but I do have a sweet tooth).
Overall, the cocktail was pretty impressive for one I made at home. The only downside I will say about this box is that most of the recipes require extra ingredients, such as the Tabula Rasa that needs sweet red vermouth (edit: The Martini Rosso is the sweet red vermouth. I don’t understand why the recipe states sweet red vermouth when the bottle says Martini Rosso, hence the confusion, especially for a novice). If you subscribed and received the boxes frequently, you’d be able to build up a collection and could mix the collection to make different cocktails, but as a first box I was disappointed that I could only make 1 without heading to the shops.
So this is a bit of a neutral review as the ingredients were fantastic, the presentation was amazing, but I would’ve liked to have had a few more ingredients to make the extra cocktails.
Premium ingredients, recipes, and tips from the UK’s best mixologists, delivered to your door.
A monthly cocktail subscription, or boxes when you want them.
TASTE is for the cocktail lover, or the wannabe mixologist. Each box contains premium ingredients, recipes and information about the source and history of your drinks. All ingredients and recipes are selected in consultation with the UK’s best and most experienced bartenders and spirits experts.
Monthly plan: £24 per month, including postage
You are also able to buy gift subscriptions and mixologist kits which will give you everything you need for your cocktail making adventures.
By Evelyn 
