So today I’ve got something that’s been awhile in the making. The folks at Cannonball Collective were awesome enough to send me their second box, entitled Wonderland way back in Autumn
Cannonball Collective bills themselves as “an experience in a box” and are a quarterly subscription, priced at $95. Kits center around different themes and each includes a copy of the Cannonball Collective magazine which offers info on the box contents and ideas on how to use them.
The first box had a theme of “Torn & Frayed” and “Revival” and was put together by their “Cannonball Ace” Luke from Darn and Dusted based in East London. This second box had a Wonderland theme and was put together by “Cannonball Ace”, The People’s Pop team from Brooklyn NY. Cannonball Collective offers up this description: “Using frozen ice as a medium, the Wonderland Kit gives you the tools and inspiration you need for a trip down flavor lane to experience some wonder of your own delicious making. Explore and experiment to create your own flavor magic!”
Not sure Wonderland = Experimenting with Ice, but I’m always up for something new.
We open the box to discover the lovely packing and Cannonball Collective’s Issue #2 right on top. It lists a retail value of $12, which seems a bit high to me. It has lovely recipes but doesn’t have a ton of content after you take out the portions that discuss what’s in the kit. I’d value it at more around $3.
What’s In the Kit:
“People’s Pops offer inspiration with their mastery of frozen treats. Royal Rose augments with insane organic syrups. Add the tools you need to experiment for yourself, and we’ve nailed a fun, tasty (and boozy) way to create your own Wonderland!”
Oh I get it now, you’re supposed to use booze. Now I totes get the Wonderland thing.
Ice Pop Molds w/ 24 sticks
(Estimated Retail: $25.00)
Description: “We don’t screw around. This sucker is a Grade A ice pop mold that delivers quality, consistent pops every time. Trust us, we tried them all. Once you’ve jammed your first batch just pop’em out of the mold toss them in a freezer bag (or chomp them down right away) and crank out another ten. Of course we also include enough sticks for 2+ batches and a handy dandy storage bag to get this party started Cool-io!”.
Verdict: Like
I actually already have a set of Popsicle molds but there are quite nice. The retail price doesn’t include the personalized bags and packaging we received. I actually do appreciate Cannonball Collective creating a bag to tuck all the pieces into. It makes it much easier to store.
ScoutBooks Notepad & Pencil
(Estimated Retail: $4.95)
Description: “We chose this Scout Books notepad as the pocket friendly place for you to record all of your amazing flavor inspirations, ingredient lists for the fruit stand, happy doodles, funny thoughts and more. We’ve also included our magical Cannonball Collective formulation stylus to be sure you never miss a chance to capture those flavor ideas. It can even write upside down and includes a handy “delete” feature. Hooray!”
Verdict: Unnecessary
This is just a mini pad and a pencil. The pad is cute and all but I don’t really feel like we need it. Most people have a way to “write down their inspirations” or recipes. I feel like this could have been replaced with something more useful. I estimated the retail based on the other notepads on the ScoutBooks site.
Royal Rose Organic Syrups – Trio
(Estimated Retail: $38)
Description: “OK, so these all natural organic, small batch simple syrups are A-AMAZING! Husband and wife team, Forrest and Emily, craft these fantastic flavors (and more) to supercharge cocktails, frozen treats, desserts…you name it! We’ve included three dee-li-cious flavors for you to wet your whistle – Orange-Vanilla, Lavender-Lemon and Ginger-Lime Soooo tasty!”
Verdict: Love!
I love this inclusion because you can use these simple syrups in a wide variety of ways, plus they are organic and small batch, so not the kind of thing you can just run down to the store to buy. I couldn’t find this exact trio online, but I found another set of three flavors so I’ll estimate that this one is similar in price.
Now, as I mentioned earlier this review was awhile in the making because I try to come up with interesting things to do with my Cannonball boxes. So for New Year’s I decided to try my hand at some champagne popsicles. I decided to take the “experimentation” seriously and ignore the recipes in the book and just try to wing it. (I think you can guess where this will go).
I grabbed by Popsicle set and opted to make two kinds.
The first used Rosé Champagne, A bit of Chambord, simple syrup and sliced strawberries.
The second was an inexpensive Prosecco someone gave me mixed with the orange vanilla simple syrup.
I guessed at quantities, poured into the mold and hoped for the best.
When, removed sadly it was an ice mold disaster. The Rosé pops were half formed at least, whereas the Prosecco ones did not hold up at all.
My boyfriend ended up waiting for them to melt a bit and made gigantic slushie out of it because no booze can go to waste in this household.
Clearly my ratio of non alcoholic mixers to alcohol was way off, but hey I had fun with it and it ended with a giant booze slushie.
OVERALL
Verdict: Like the Concept but a miss the price
I really love the fun spirit of this box and the Hipster/Maker vibe makes me smile. My problem with this box is the value versus the cost you pay. Including the magazine at $12, I only get an estimated retail value of $9.95 (and that’s including the high retail price of the magazines). Even adding a few dollars for the nicer storage bags and packaging just don’t bring up the value enough for my taste. The cost of this is mostly in the curation, but I think the value needs to be a bit higher for the future boxes. I also think this box should have had more edible items. Instead of the notebook, I’d have rather seen something like jarred wild hibiscus flowers or some other bottled mixers that we could use in the popsicles.
Despite my reservations with this box, I’m still excited to see what fun thing they come up with next.
Would you be interested in this type of sub? What experiences would you want to see in it?
THE BACKSTORY
Cannonball Collective sends out quarterly kits centered around particular experiences.
“Each quarter, we serve up a curated collection of goods and inspiration delivered straight to your doorstep. Your ongoing subscription to our Cannonball Kits is a back-stage pass to fresh ideas and remarkable goods!”
Cost: $95 for each quarter (Shipping is free)
Lisa Preziosi 