Fly By Jing’s Spicy Advent Calendar: What’s Inside and Whether It’s Worth the Cost

October is a big month for plenty of products: candy corn, fun-size chocolate bars, apple butter, and more. But, according to my inbox, it’s also a big month for advent calendars. Yep, a full two months before Christmas! I’ve been offered at least half a dozen already, with more coming in by the week. So, in a first for Sporked, I’ll be covering a couple of the most interesting advent calendars in detail—all so you know what’s worth your hard-earned coin.

Today, I’ve got a unique offering: a 12-day advent calendar from the most prolific chili crisp manufacturer in the game. Fly By Jing was nice enough to send over an early calendar so I can give you spoiler-free and spoiler-ful opinions on the contents!

Fly By Jing Advent Cal!

Fly By Jing Twelve Days of Flavors

Fly By Jing

Pros: Every spice fiend I’ve talked to about this product has been so interested, and for good reason. Fly By Jing has a reputation for high quality products that bring flavor and spice in equal parts. The mix of products in this advent calendar would be a fantastic gift for yourself or the spice enjoyer in your life.

Cons: I can’t go into too much detail here without spoilers, but there’s a trio of products in here that are merely whelming. While the other nine days offer multi-use items, there are three one-time-use items that you can already find on shelves. Unlike the heat in these ingredients, that is not blowing my mind. Still, nine out of 12 ain’t bad.

Credit: Liv Averett / Fly By Jing

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Is the Fly by Jing advent calendar worth the money?

This calendar retails at $98 with free shipping. Looking at Fly By Jing’s online store, all of the products here could very roughly retail for $68, total. That said, four of the products included in the calendar aren’t for sale anywhere else and you get 12 days of fun in a super cute display. If you’re a big Fly By Jing fan, this is absolutely worth your money.

Give us the spoilers!

Fly By Jing’s Twelve Days of Flavor includes a mix of condiments, dry ingredients, and ramen. (Besides the ramen, all products are in 2oz sample-size jars.) Of course, you get their classic Sichuan Chili Crisp and the Xtra Spicy variant, plus jars of their rarer Sweet & Spicy Zhong, Chengdu Crunch, Erjingtiao Chilis, Sichuan Peppercorns, and even the discontinued Mala Spice Mix. You also get one packet each of Fly By Jing’s somewhat-new ramen noodle packs: Chili Crisp, Sweet & Spicy, and Classic Soy.

The real sauce here (metaphorically speaking) is in the two exclusive jars currently only available inside this advent calendar: Sweet Shallot Sauce and BBQ Spice Rub. Fly By Jing has kept their lips sealed on whether these will be joining their retail lineup in the future; if either of these spark your interest, grab this advent calendar ASAP.