Review by Collette
How many times have we found ourselves searching for the perfect Christmas hamper?
Something that’s a bit of fun for a special occasion, filled with festive treats to indulge in over the holidays. With the huge variety of hampers available to buy in shops and online, its refreshing to come across a small, family-run hamper company like Riviera West Country Hampers. It’s a business who pride themselves on keeping it local and buying products exclusively from Devonshire and Cornish producers. Their selection of foodie hampers contain everything from bottles of homemade ketchup to local gins and teas. They also offer a bespoke ‘build your own service’ if you’re after something a little bit more personal.
We were invited to try one of Riviera West Country Hampers ‘Tiddy’ Hampers for ourselves. Here’s what we thought…
Delivery for our hamper was surprisingly swift. The smart white cotton-lined hamper arrived all wrapped up in star-print cellophane and contained:
- One Cornish Tea Company teapot
- A packet of 40 Cornish Tea Company Smugglers Tea
- One bag of ‘stupidly strong’ Cornish Tea Company filter coffee
- One bottle Of Cornish Orchards Farmhouse Cider
- One bottle of Sharps Brewery Doom Bar Amber Ale
- A packet of Furniss Cheese Biscuits
- One jar of JB Preserves piccalilli
- One Bottle Of Tarquins Gin
- A bar of Kernow orange flavoured dark chocolate
Unwrapping a hamper is always great fun. But let’s be honest, there’s normally one or two items in every hamper that you’d probably end up giving away. However, this time we found that Riviera West Country hampers did a good job of offering something to please everyone. As well as the quality tipples, there were fun snacks and even a cute little teapot. Who doesn’t like a freshly brewed pot of tea or coffee? Personally, I’m looking forward to cracking out the cheese and biscuits at Christmas and getting busy crafting cocktails with our Tarquin’s Gin. Likewise, the lovely basket can be reused anywhere in the home and was a stylish change from the usual picnic basket presentation. The only downside to our hamper was the cellophane wrap being non-recyclable and a large amount of non-recyclable packaging that was needed to ship the hamper itself. However, we’re sure this is an area Riviera West Country Hampers can look into next year.
Overall, for just £74 (Including P&P) I thought that this was a really high-quality hamper that would make a lovely gift for a foodie friend or family member. Not only is it good value for money – but you know you’re supporting West Country brands too!
Find out more: rivierawestcountryhampers.co.uk
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