Being a big coffee lover, I often take a trip to either Starbucks or Costa for a caffeine boost, but the food can be a little pricey.
For example, a toastie from the popular coffee chain can cost over £5, which is pretty expensive for a quick bite to eat, which is why I was really intrigued to see what was on offer in its ‘magic bag’.
Magic bags are all the rage at the moment, managed by app ‘Too Good To Go’ which sees food venues sell their leftovers at the end of the day for a cheaper price. The fun part? The contents of the bag is a total mystery until you collect them.
READ MORE: I tried the Toby Carvery ‘magic bag’ and had enough food to feed four people
Now, this could go either one way or the other, as my recent bag from Toby Carvery was a triumph, I wondered if this would be as successful. I opened the app and had to be really quick to make my order as the bags were selling fast, and luckily, I got one with a few minutes to spare.
The Too Good To Go app basically tells you how many are left and when you’re able to pick the bag up, with some food spots selling out in seconds, like Greggs for example. I made my way to Starbucks and picked up my bag which felt a little light to say the least.
The ‘magic bag’
The excitement of opening the bag is something I could definitely get used to, as you never know what you’re going to end up with. It wasn’t as heavy as the bag I got from Toby Carvery, but understandably, it’s all subject to availability.
The first thing I saw was a small pot of fruit, which didn’t exactly thrill me, but the mango looked appetising and wasn’t something I’d usually pick, so that was a plus. Then, I noticed two colourful cookies with icing, two cookies and cream muffins and a big cheese toastie, hooray.
Considering there were six items in total in the bag and a cheese toastie costs £5 alone, I was fairly impressed with the amount I had, especially the amount of desserts. The cookies were incredibly fresh and the toastie was just as good as I thought it would be and didn’t taste ‘old’ considering it was the end of the day.
My only downside would be that the pot of fruit actually felt quite warm which was a bit off-putting, but I know that sometimes can’t always be helped. Considering this magic bag was one of the more expensive ones at £5, I’d say I was happy with the amount, but not ecstatic.
The verdict
The concept of the Too Good To Go app is amazing and I’ll definitely be using it a lot more in the future. It’s actually quite hard to grab a bag at times through the app, as it’s already proving incredibly popular.
My advice would be to make sure you have your notifications turned on for it, and to keep checking it regularly to see how many bags are left from your favourite foodie spots. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Greggs.
The Starbucks magic bag had a good amount of high quality desserts, which is why I was pleasantly surprised. One thing I will say though, is it would’ve been quite nice to have some more savoury options.
Either way, it’s best not to be too fussy because the aspect of waste saving is a very important one. So I’ll definitely continue to use the app in future, and enjoy lots of treats in the process- it’s a win win.
Download the app on Google Play and Apple.
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