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'I tried the £22 Moonpig Valentine’s hamper and it's a lifesaver for everyone's who forgot it was Valentine's Day soon' - MyLondon

The alcohol-free box was packed with unusual but tasty treats - and there was plenty to share

Sweets for my sweet is one of those Valentine’s cliches that gets bounced around a lot at this time of year. Daiso Gift Box

It feels like heart-shaped boxes of generic chocolates and ostentatious bouquets of red roses - twice as expensive as usual throughout February for the occasion, obviously - do still remain a bit of a romantic go-to.

But what if champagne and roses aren’t your cup of tea? Help is at hand, with internet retailer and home of last-minute panic buyers, Moonpig offering more options for people to spoil their favourite person than ever before.

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Well-known for its personalised cards, Moonpig has in recent years branched out its offering into lots of different gifts, hampers, flowers and balloons.

This Valentine’s Day they are selling hundreds of different types of gifts ranging from the affordable (£6 for these luxe-looking Charbonnel and Walker truffles ) through to the surprisingly spenny £250 (spoiler: chocolates, roses and champagne are all included - although admittedly it does look very nice if that’s your sort of thing).

Despite being a bit of a grinch when it comes to the more traditional tropes of Valentine’s I was intrigued to see what Moonpig was offering, so was happy when I got sent their Valentine’s Day Made With Love Hamper to review.

When it arrived the hefty pink gift box, which is currently available for £22 in the run up to February 14, was a treasure trove of treats I'd not tried before - and the only heart shaped chocolate involved was actually a giant hand-crafted white chocolate one studded with delicious pieces of dried raspberry.

I could definitely get behind that as a concept.

Also tucked within the box - in several layers, so there was some pleasing rummaging that needed to be done to unearth all the sweets - were:

A box of Elizabeth Shaw Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Crisps

Joe and Seph's Strawberry Cheesecake popcorn

A Mallow and Marsh dark chocolate

A box of English Tea Shop Super Berries Tea

A 90g bar of Montezuma's Hot Pickle Chilli & Lime Milk Chocolate

A bag of Radfords Strawberry and Cream sweets

A large Mallow & Marsh Raspberry Marshmallow Bar

As someone whose main complaint with Valentine’s Day is that it can be a bit predictable what I loved about the box of delights was that everything was new to me.

While I was familiar with all of the brands bar Radfords, the flavour combinations were all unusual or limited edition.

Frankly some were so unusual I probably wouldn’t have chosen them off my own bat - and I’ve have thoroughly missed out.

The Hot Pickle Chilli chocolate was absolutely a revelation on that score. When you open the bar you instantly get the zingy smell of lime and your first taste is that when you take a bite.

But a split second later there’s a lovely warm kick that was so surprising it made me smile and then - just at the point when your nose is tickling with the chilli heat - the mellow milk chocolate taste pulls it back.

It was surprising, fun and is basically my new chocolate obsession. Incredibly special and the highlight of the entire hamper for me.

That said, everything in the box was delicious.

The Elizabeth Shaw thins felt like posh grown-up rice crispy cakes in the loveliest way, perfectly for pairing with the Super Berries tea which was packed a really fruity punch a world away from those fruit teas that basically taste like funny smelling water.

The only thing that I wouldn’t happily have again was the popcorn. I have tried Joe and Seph popcorn flavours before and liked them but it turns out, for me, strawberry cheesecake is a step too far.

Overall though, the entire hamper was a revelation and felt like a real treat for the price.

While I order most of the family birthday cards from Moonpig - I take lots of photos so personalised photo cards marking highlights of the year always feel like a lovely thing to tuck in with a present - I’d never actually gone as far as ordering a gift directly from the site to go with it.

Having been so impressed by the hamper I got to try though I’ll definitely consider it next time I order, particularly for friends and family who I live too far to see in person to mark the occasion.

Why shop for and buy a present and then queue in the post office to pay to send it, when I can order something thoughtful and well-wrapped (frankly much more nicely than I could ever manage) and get it sent directly?

What’s more, while browsing the site to see exactly how wide their range of gifts were (and it really was, surprisingly so) I saw Moonpig offering various other freebies and deals - from free cards with every gift, free shipping on selected products and even a free bottle of prosecco with their stunning 50 tulip bouquet.

Bearing in mind the bouquet is £38 but you can get 25% off with your first flower order using the code 25NCFLOW taking it down to £28.50 including free fizz I’m tempted to order one for my mum for Mother’s Day now.

Next day delivery is available on orders made my 9pm.

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