We’ve all seen them, those adverts on Facebook promising something wonderful through your letter box in a simple cardboard box.
Gin, socks, snacks, beer – whatever you want, someone online will be selling it.
One doing the rounds right now is the offer of a DIY cheese toastie kit.
But what do you get, what does it taste like and importantly is it worth the more than £5 they’re asking?
ORDERING
A quick click on the Facebook advert takes you through to the Cheeseposties.com.
Hitting the red sign up button takes you through a quick questionnaire to find out what if you would like a sweet or savoury toastie, whether you’re a vegetarian or not and how often you would like them delivered.
Following the standard set by the Graze boxes you can have your toastie delivered once a week, fortnightly or monthly.
However, it’s a little bit useless for those wanting to cure a craving for something melty and gooey. It took more than eight days for our first toastie to drop through my letterbox.
PRESENTATION
My DIY toastie arrived in a thin brown box, the perfect size to fit through most letterboxes.
Inside is three plastic tubs, tomato sauce, pesto and a portion of mozzarella. There’s also two portions of butter and of course two slices of white bread.
First impressions weren’t great if i’m honest. I expected maybe some sort of chilled block inside to keep my butter and cheese cool, but the box was well constructed, the plastic tubs solid with none of the liquid leaking out.
My kit also came with a special toaster toastie bag. A little pouch to put the completed sandwich inside and then cook in your toaster – you get one with your first kit and then a new one with every third order.
The included Top Trump’s style card, telling you the basics of the toastie you’re just about to build and a QR code to give you all the nutritional info.
CREATING AND COOKING
The first thought through my head (other than why I am making a mail order cheese toastie) was the amount of packaging involved in the product.
I know it’s important to keep the contents fresh, but it would be good if something could be done to reduce the amount of plastic.
On to the food itself.
The individual fillings taste good, the tomato sauce was rich with a hint of sweetness and the pesto packed a massive punch of fragrant basil.
Even the cheese, which admittedly I was a bit dubious about, tasted good – the real test for that though, will be in its meltability.
The included Top Trump’s style card, telling you the basics of the toastie you’re just about to build and a QR code to give you all the nutritional info.
CREATING AND COOKING
The first thought through my head (other than why I am making a mail order cheese toastie) was the amount of packaging involved in the product.
I know it’s important to keep the contents fresh, but it would be good if something could be done to reduce the amount of plastic.
On to the food itself.
The individual fillings taste good, the tomato sauce was rich with a hint of sweetness and the pesto packed a massive punch of fragrant basil.
Even the cheese, which admittedly I was a bit dubious about, tasted good – the real test for that though, will be in its meltability.
Each filling was perfectly portioned to cover a slice of bread, tomato sauce spread evenly across one slice, pesto over the other and the good sized portion grated cheese spread evenly before the two slices were sandwiched together.
A quick spread of butter on each side completed the toastie.
The free toaster bag was a tight fit for the sandwich, but after a bit of effort I managed to get it in and dropped into the office toaster.
THE TASTE
The included trump card assured me that it would taste like winning the lottery. Considering the most I’ve won is £10, it’s hard to judge.
My mozzarella was oozy, gooey and stretchy, exactly as you’d expect. The combination of tomato, pesto and cheese was always going to be a winner too.
It was a good toastie, on a par with the kind you would get at any good cafe or garden centre – nowhere near as good as the likes of Melt, however.
IS IT WORTH IT?
Frankly no.
There’s no escaping the cost of the Cheese Postie or perhaps its most annoying feature – the fact it took more than a week to get here.
I could nip next door to Lidl right now and, for the same price, pick up a jar of pesto, some Italian-style tomato sauce, cheese and a loaf of bread and make a toastie for most of my office.
Taking more than a week from order to delivery meant that any craving I had for a toastie was long gone. Cravings for cheese toasties creep up on you. I don’t want to schedule one into my diary a week in advance.
The concept of monthly subscription services works for some industries and some items … but cheese? Really?
The cheese postie is a noble idea, but one I think will struggle to catch on.