A short while ago a company called Jungle Culture got in contact with me and they’ve sent me some of their products to review. I received bamboo cutlery, some coconut bowls with wooden spoons and some bamboo straws.
Disclaimer: I received these items for free, but my review will be honest. If you click on one of the links below and purchase something I might earn a small amount of commission, at no extra cost to you, which helps to pay towards the running costs of the website.
The first thing I do with any company is check out the website to see how transparent they are. I like to know how sustainable they are and what their ethical values are. I also like to know the back story of the company and the people who run it.
About Jungle Culture
A pretty new company, Jungle Culture began as Jungle Straws back in August 2018. Their mission being to reduce the 500 million plastic straws that are discarded each year; they currently have the number 1 selling bamboo straw on Amazon! Not long afterwards they expanded their product line to include coconut bowls, bamboo cutlery and bamboo safety razors. All the products are sourced from Vietnam which they regularly visit “to guarantee fair treatment of workers, high-quality production standards and 100% organic manufacturing.”
Jungle Culture are also part of 1% for the planet which means that 1% of their revenue is donated to charities that help save the Earth.
Disappointingly I didn’t learn anything about the founders of the company, which I always find interesting. Saying that, all the communication I’ve had with them has been very positive and they seem like lovely people.
Packaging
An easy way to put me off a company for life is the packaging the items arrive in. I’ve made the mistake of ordering stainless steel water bottles through Ebay and they arrived in so much plastic packaging that I completely regretted ever ordering them. Thankfully the packaging I received my items from Jungle Culture in is all completely recyclable and plastic free. They even used paper tape rather than sellotape. So a big tick from me with regard to packaging.
Jungle Culture Products
I was lucky enough to receive their double bowl set and a set of bamboo cutlery. Both included one of their jungle straws, so I’ll review those first.
Jungle Straws
Description
The straws come with a coconut fibre cleaning brush. The one that came with the coconut bowl set came with its own natural jute sleeve (pictured below).
First Impression
The Jungle Straw is incredibly smooth and feels nice in your hand and your mouth. The ends are both really smooth as well. It’s worth noting that the straw that came in the cutlery set is actually narrower and lighter in colour. The cleaning brushes are also slightly different with differently coloured coconut fibres. I imagine all the straws and brushes are slightly different and that’s down to them being made from natural materials.
Practical Test
With the straw being light coloured I wanted to see if it became stained after using it to drink a summer fruits smoothie; raspberries, blackberries, red currants and blackcurrants. Can we take a moment to appreciate the stunning colour of my smoothie?
I thought the straw might feel quite large in my mouth as it was bigger than a bog standard drinking straw, however it didn’t feel strange or wrong in the slightest.
At first it looked as though the end of the straw might have been stained slightly purple after drinking the smoothie, but the outside of the straw didn’t stain in the slightest. To clean it I just poured water through the straw and then used the coconut fibre cleaning brush to clean the inside. I think rinsing the straw straight after use, especially after drinking a smoothie, will make it much easier to clean. If you leave it I imagine bits of fruit could get hard and be difficult to remove. Personally I wouldn’t want to soak the straw in water, however you can clean them in a dishwasher if you have one.
Conclusion
I’ll be honest I’m not really a straw user. The last time I remember using a straw was in Thailand back in 2003 when I went to a full moon party. The amount of rubbish on the beach the next day, mainly straws but a few flip flops as well, was really disgusting. Anyway… plastic straws and the devastating effect they have on marine life was probably a big turning point for me, and I think many other people, so by default I’m a fan of any straw that’s reusable rather than single use. Normally though I wouldn’t have bought one for my own personal use. Having said that, I actually liked drinking my smoothie through this bamboo straw and it certainly prevented me from getting a purple moustache. I might have been converted to using straws.
Pros
- Made from a very sustainable material
- Reusable
- Smooth
- Easy to clean and the cleaning brush works well and stores inside the straw
- All the straws they sell come in a natural jute bag
Cons
- Remembering to take it with you if you often use straws with drinks
- Could be tricky to clean if you don’t rinse it straight after a smoothie
- Do you really need a straw?
Coconut Bowls – Double Bowl Set
Description
This set includes 2 Coconut Bowls, 2 Wooden Spoons, 1 Jungle Straw.
First Impression
The first thing to say about the coconut bowls is how lovely they look. So lovely in fact that you could use them purely as decorative pieces. However I like anything I buy these days to be useful as well as look nice.
The inside and rim of the bowl are smooth and the outside has been carved to include detail that’s not needed but is certainly appreciated. One concern is how difficult the outside might be to clean if you spill food and it gets into the carved detail. Another concern is how much space they’ll take up in your cupboard as they can’t be stacked inside each other; a small negative and one that could be avoided if you actually display them when not in use.
The wooden spoons, made from reclaimed wood, are incredibly smooth as well, no rough bits on them at all, which is something I worry about with wooden cutlery, no-one wants a splinter in their lip.
Practical Test
To properly test it I decided to have a hot meal in the bowl, even though I would probably normally use it for snacks, like crisps or peanuts. (It would be a lot of peanuts!). I actually thought eating with a wooden spoon would be very weird and something I’d have to get used to, but the spoon was fine and because it was smooth I didn’t really take any notice that it’s made of wood.
The bottom of the bowl did get hot, but a normal dinner plate gets hot so that’s not an issue. As with the straw I decided to rinse out the bowl straight after eating so that the food didn’t stick to it. I think with items like this you do have to take a little extra care of them to make sure they last.
Both bowl and spoon were easy to clean with a bit of warm soapy water, but as expected the carved detail of the bowl was more difficult to clean, probably because I use cotton dish cloths so the fibres get caught. I think rinsing them quickly is essential, especially as they can’t be used in a dishwasher and I wouldn’t leave them in the sink to soak because it feels like soaking would weaken the bowl. (I’m probably just making that up, I was never that good at science at school).
Conclusion
Both the bowl and the spoon look good and work as they should. They’re easy enough to clean, I just wouldn’t leave them until the next day before washing up.
Pros
- Really beautiful bowls to own
- Using something that would otherwise be burnt or discarded – coconut shells are normally a waste product
- Spoons are made from reclaimed wood
Cons
- Take up space as the bowls can’t be stacked
- Bowls are more difficult to clean than regular bowls
- Can’t be used in microwaves or dishwashers
Bamboo Cutlery
Description
This set includes a fork, knife and spoon made of bamboo as well as a bamboo straw with cleaning brush. It comes in a natural jute bag.
First impression
This bamboo cutlery set looks really nice and the jute case they come in is lovely and clearly well made, but this is not cutlery you would use for every meal. They seem perfect for picnics or to take on camping trips however. As with everything else I received the wood was smooth and there appeared to be no issues with splintering.
Practical Test
Bamboo wood is very light in colour and therefore it could potentially get stained. I decided to eat a lasagne, my version being very tomato based, to see if there was any staining. Will the knife easily get through the lasagne sheet? (Which is never that soft when I cook a lasagne!)
I had no issues cutting through the lasagne with the knife, however it was a little difficult to eat with the fork. I think the issue is that I’m used to forks being slightly curved and the bamboo fork is pretty much flat. It was just more difficult to scoop up food and the serrated edge on the knife occasionally got caught on the fork.
After washing them they were ever so slightly darker at the ends, but so little that it didn’t even show up in a photo.
Conclusion
As I suspected I probably wouldn’t use these on a daily basis, but they are more than adequate for a camping trip or picnic (or if I haven’t got round to doing the washing up!)
Pros
- Bamboo is a very sustainable material
- Very lightweight, so perfect for picnics, camping and hiking trips
- Look lovely and the jute case is really well made
Cons
- Not practical for every day use
- May stain over time
Overall I have to say that it felt like Christmas when I opened up the parcel from Jungle Culture. Everything inside was so beautiful and I was instantly impressed with the quality. Would these items be something that I would have bought for myself? Probably not as they do seem more decorative than for daily use. However, I have no complaints at all and I feel like I’ll be using the bowls often. I’m also looking for somewhere to display the coconut bowls when I’m not using them because they really do look beautiful!
I’d be more than happy to buy any of these items as gifts for people, not least because they’re really good value for money. They cost far less than I would have guessed. I know that anyone in my family would love to receive the coconut bowls set, especially knowing how eco-friendly they are.
I also own a bamboo safety razor from Jungle Culture, which I can also highly recommend. It was much easier to use than I thought it would be.
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