Daniel B.
Yelp
I'm reviewing Curds & Co's Curdbox cheese boxes for January, February, and March 2022. So, this review is 1-2 months late, but better late than never.
My wife and I are fans of cheese and charcuterie. We order cheese and meat boards regularly when we dine out at restaurants. We also like to buy the cheese and meat trays at our local Wegmans in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Therefore, it was only natural for my sister to gift us a three-month Curdbox subscription.
We received the following Curdbox cheese boxes:
* January 2022 - It's All Greek to Me: https://youtu.be/htHMZpiQ6vI
* February 2022 - Goatapalooza: https://youtu.be/lRHPxxFPSQw
* March 2022 - Leading Ladies: https://youtu.be/69g9uEba2vA
There are YouTube links above because for each month's Curdbox, there's a "Curdcast" podcast video you can watch as you enjoy your box. As a fan of podcasts, I think it's cool. The podcasts are educational and informative. They help you appreciate your Curdbox more by giving you background info, tasting notes and opinions, and more about the items contained in your Curdbox. There's also a Spotify music playlist for each month.
I appreciate the work that founder Jenn Mason and her good friend and cohost Julie Fei-Fan Balzer put into the podcasts and I enjoyed eating along with them. I would actually cast them on the big screen in our living room while we unpackaged and ate the cheeses and other items. I also appreciate the thought that goes into each month's cheeses, pairings, and themes.
Curdbox is a neat concept and is ideal for cheese-lovers. It's a high-quality production; definitely a great gift idea and I recommend it for that.
So why only Yelp three stars ("OK") instead of four ("Good") or five ("Great") from me? Simply put, overall, I just thought the boxes were OK. While I like cheese and charcuterie boards, I definitely do not consider myself a cheese connoisseur. I say that because maybe I didn't appreciate the cheeses as much as a true connoisseur, like Jenn and Julie, would. I'm also not a fan of goat cheese so unfortunately, the February 2022 box was not for me. That said, my wife, who likes goat cheese, didn't really like the cheeses included in the February 2022 box either. For me, they were just too funky.
My favorite cheeses were the Manouri by Byzantino from the January 2022 box and the Sagittarius by Shooting Star Creamery from the March 2022 box. The former was made with whey cheese and cream (yum) and the latter was made with sheep and cow milk. I guess I just prefer milder, creamier cheeses. If Curdbox taught me anything, it might be that.
My favorite cheese pairings were Brewer's Baked Pita Chips (made with up-cycled grains, January 2022); Mrs. Miller's Homemade Guava Jam and the Isadore Nut Co. Lemon Rosemary Cashews, Pecans, Walnuts (February 2022); and the Lark Fine Foods Burnt Sugar Shortbread cookies (March 2022). The pairing foods are from smaller businesses, like products you'd expect to find at a fine food/gourmet retailer like The Fresh Market. It was interesting to learn about and explore some new specialty food brands.
At the time of writing this review, Curdbox costs $49.95 plus shipping per monthly box if renewed on a monthly basis. You can save a few dollars per month if you prepay for three or six months upfront. For example, if you pay for six months at a time ($269.76 plus shipping), it works out to $44.95 plus shipping per monthly box.