Spiced Cider

Price: $2.99

Rating: 9/10

This is one of those drinks that I look forward to every year! If you like apples and cinnamon, I’m not sure how you wouldn’t love this drink. It was a smooth and sweet apple-y flavor, with a nice amount of cinnamon and other spices mixed in to give it a warm fall and winter flavor. I usually drink it cold out of the bottle (since you have to refrigerate it after opening) because I’m not patient enough to heat it up, but this is also really great as a warm drink. I’ve also added a bit of caramel to it a few times when drinking it warm to get a caramel apple flavor. I don’t know what else can really be said about this. It’s cider. It’s delicious. Buy 5 of them just for good measure.

Chocolate Peppermint Almond Beverage

Price: $1.79

Rating: 9/10

This is another new item at TJ’s that had a pumpkin predecessor that I found highly disappointing, but which really delivered when it came to the chocolate mint version. If you’ve ever had chocolate almond milk, this is basically the same thing, but with mint added. The consistency is good, not too thick or thin, with a super yummy mint flavor that could classify this as a dessert drink. The only downside is that I’m not sure there’s anything that this would really pair with outside of dessert. Unlike regular chocolate milk, I feel like this might be a little odd with cereal or anything else. Despite it’s lack of versatility though, it’s pretty great!

Mini Dark Chocolate Mint Stars

Price: $2.99

Rating: 9/10

I was a little skeptical when I saw these, since they looked similar to the Petite Pumpkin Spice cookies, but I figured chocolate mint was a harder flavor combo to screw up, so I picked up a box. 

My hunch that these would be better was right, because these are amazing!! They’ve got a great dark chocolate flavor, and a strong mint presence all the way through. The small size let's the chocolate mint shine and the cookie has a nice texture. They’re similar to an Andes Bar cookie or a Girl Scout Thin Mint. I’m currently on my third box!

Petite Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Price: $2.99

Rating: 5/10

As a lover of all things pumpkin, I was excited when I saw these cookies, but ended up being pretty disappointed by them. There are two kinds of cookies in this package, with slightly different flavors: white cookies, and orange ones. I found the white ones to be lacking in flavor, but they did have a hint of spice in them. They were boring overall though. The orange ones seemed to have a stronger flavor, but they still weren’t that impressive. If you’re looking for a cookie with the slightest hint of pumpkin, you might like these, but I wasn’t impressed.

Brownie Crisp

Price: $2.99

Rating: 7/10

I’ve seen these brownie crisps all over the place for the past few years, and I kept wanting to try them, so I finally picked up a bag when I saw these at TJ’s. I’ve been known to bake a pan of brownies and then eat them all within 48 hours or less, and I’ve done the same with pans of cookies, so these brownie/cookie hybrid seemed like it would be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, I didn’t like them as much as I thought I would. The flavor was good, but they seemed to be lacking the chocolate chips that I thought would be more plentiful throughout. True to their name, they were indeed crisp. But I think part of what I love about brownies is their gooeyness and softness, and these kind of tasted like you baked brownies way too long. Still, I finished the whole bag in two evenings, so I wouldn’t say they were bad by any means. I would say that I would much prefer regular brownies over these though. The only way I could see myself getting these again over brownies would be if I’m looking for a low calorie snack (the whole bag is only 500 calories–if you’re wondering who would eat a whole bag at once, that person would be me). 

Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage

Price: $1.79

Rating: 2/10

After being impressed with TJ’s Pumpkin Spice tea, I tried making a latte out of it by adding almond milk, only to be disappointed with the results. So when I saw this Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage, I was excited. So excited in fact that I bought 2 containers of it. Which was a mistake. I noticed when I first poured it into my glass that it seemed extremely thick, and when I started drinking, the thickness of the drink was confirmed. It was a lot like drinking a melted milkshake, but not as cold (even though it had spend a few hours in the fridge). In addition to being so thick that I felt the need to chew it before swallowing, it also had a chalky consistency to it. I’m assuming they tried using real pumpkin to flavor this, which would explain the thickness and chalkiness. I didn’t really notice much of the almond flavor, which was fine, but the pumpkin flavor actually wasn’t great either.

I drank the most of the first container trying to wrap my head around this bizarre thing I was drinking/chewing, and then decided that maybe I’d just gotten a bad container. So I threw it out and tried the other one, which was...lumpy? It was ever so slightly lumpy. It didn’t smell bad, so I don’t think it was rotten. I think it was just so thick that it lost its smoothness and became clumpy. Whatever the reason, it was truly repulsive and I poured the entire thing down the drain after a single sip (which I also spit out into the sink).

Autumn Apple Rooibos Tea

Price: $1.99 for 20 tea bags

Rating: 2/10

I've never been a huge fan of tea in general, but I've started getting into it over the past year or so. Since then I've tried several Trader Joe's teas, and the results have been hit or miss. Some of them I loved, but just as many I hated. This one goes in the hate category. I was really expecting to love this, given that I generally like anything that's apple flavored, but it was awful (at least in my opinion). I made this using the same triple brew method that I've used before so it's ultra-concentrated to get more flavor, but it still just tasted like nothing. Unfortunately I only discovered my intense hatred for this tea after brewing about 2 liters of it, so I tried my best to salvage it. I usually add a little bit of sugar to tea, but this actually made it even worse. One time I tried adding apple juice, which made it slightly better, but still not great. What did make it taste pretty good though, was adding some Unfiltered Trader Joe's Honey Crisp Apple Cider to it. That being said, I'd rather just drink the cider by itself. But I guess if you're wanting to cut back on the amount of sugar and calories in cider, but still get some good apple-y flavor, then doing the Apple Tea and Apple Cider combo might be a good fit for you. It's not a great fit for me, though, and the remaining 12 or so tea bags will be going in the trash. Why bother wasting my time with this when I could be drinking Pumpkin Spice tea instead?

Pumpkin Pie Mochi

Price: $3.49 for 6 pieces

Rating: 7/10

Pumpkin season at TJ’s is always one of my favorite times of the year. I usually make at least 3 trips to pick up roughly one of everything pumpkin related during the fall, and I made sure to grab a box of these when I saw them in the freezer section. I’ve had Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Ice Cream before, so I figured these had to be fairly similar. I didn’t try them side-by-side, so I can’t say for sure, but I’m pretty sure the ice cream in these is the same as the regular TJ’s pumpkin ice cream. Unlike some of the other recent mochi ice creams they’ve had (Mango Mango Mochi and Coffee Mochi), these weren’t dairy free, and also didn’t have a special center. However, they were still great! Not quite as good as the Mango Mango Mochi from the summer, but still pretty good. The ice cream was super pumpkin-y with some hints of cinnamon and nutmeg thrown in. There were also some small chunks of graham cracker in it for the crust part of the “pie” flavor, but I thought these were a little strange just because of the texture. I’d have been just as happy without them. Still, they were pretty great for a frozen fall/winter flavor (I usually like warmer desserts over ice cream when it’s cold out). I’m not sure I’ll buy them again though, just because there are so many other yummy holiday desserts to eat over the season. Maybe next year, though.

Reed's Ginger Beer Extra Ginger Brew

Price: $4.29 for 4

Rating: 10/10

After mentioning Reed's Ginger Beer in my previous review for Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Brew, I figured I should probably going ahead and make a review for it. As a big fan of ginger beers, this is probably one of the best you can find at an affordable price. It has a super strong ginger flavor that can be a little overwhelming at first if you're not a big fan of strong flavors. You can actually see the ginger floating in the bottom of the bottle! If you're looking for a ginger beer or ginger ale for mixed drinks, this would be a good option that will provide some extra ginger flavor. I usually drink it straight, but if it's too strong, you could always mix it with club soda or seltzer. It's also a great option for non-alcohol drinkers at parties who want something more than water or boring soda. I buy this pretty frequently, and every time I do it's gone in about 4–5 days maximum.

Coffee Mochi with a Saucy Mocha Center

Price: $3.49 for 6 pieces

Rating: 5/10

After eating several boxes of Mango Mango Mochi over the summer, I was super psyched with I saw these Coffee Mochi in the Frequent Flyer. I went to the store about three times before I finally found them in stock. 

After waiting patiently for them to thaw a bit so the mochi wasn’t too hard I bit into one of these things with excitement, only to be super let down. I’d been expected a coffee ice cream type flavor, with a mix of coffee, milk, and sugar. Instead, it’s mostly just a strong coffee flavor. This might be great if you’re the type who likes your coffee pretty plain, but if you’re like me and you like your coffee loaded up with milk and sugar (like I do), you’ll probably find these to be very bitter. I also didn’t really like the mocha center that much. For me, it just added to the bitterness of it. Out of all the mochis I’ve tried at TJ’s I’d say this was the least impressive by a lot.

Mango Mango Mochi

Price: $3.49 for 6 pieces

Rating: 8/10

I remembered trying mochi a few years ago and being unimpressed by the chewy texture of it. It wasn’t mochi ice cream, just plain mochi, but I assumed if I didn’t like regular mochi I probably wouldn’t like mochi ice cream either. However, my on a shopping trip to Trader Joe’s over the summer, my boyfriend saw the mochi ice cream in the frozen section and picked some up. He convinced me to try it, so I figured I’d give it another shot, and I’m so glad I did! I’m now a mochi ice cream convert!

I’m actually lactose intolerant, so I usually have to eat lactaid pills with dairy, but these particular mochis are dairy free, which works great for me! Not only that, but they taste awesome. They’re packed with mango-y flavor, and I think there might actually be a few tiny pieces of mango I found in there. The extra mango center in these also adds to the flavor. There’s actually another mango mochi that Trader Joe’s sells, but I think these are better personally. TIP: I usually let them sit on the counter for 5 or so minutes to let the mochi wrapping soften a little bit.

Kentucky Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Price: $2.99

Rating: 8.5/10

Being from Missouri, I've always been a huge fan of BBQ. The only problem is that I've never been able to find a store-bought barbecue sauce that actually tasted good, so for several years, I'd make my own sauce from scratch. Unfortunately, making your sauce from scratch is not only time consuming, but it also doesn't last very long. Luckily for me, I decided to try out TJ's barbecue sauces a few years ago and was excited to discover... that they're pretty great! So anytime I see a new barbecue sauce at TJ's, I try to pick it up. Most of them have been pretty great, although there were a few I wasn't impressed by (I'm looking at you, Carolina Gold).

When it comes to barbecue sauces, I usually prefer a blend of spicy and sweet, or sweet and tangy, but this Kentucky Bourbon sauce has more of a spicy and smoky flavor to it. If you'd have described it this way to me, I probably wouldn't have been too interested in trying it, but I actually really loved this sauce. It wasn't overly spicy, but had a nice heat to it, and it left out the sweetness that a lot of barbecue sauces seem to have. So far, I've only tried it on TJ's Party Size Mini Meatballs, but I think this could go well on almost any meat. I'll definitely be buying another bottle in the near-future.

Triple Ginger Brew

Price: $2.99

Rating: 6/10

After declaring that I hated Ginger Ale as a kid, I've finally discovered a deep love for both ginger ale and ginger beer as an adult. There's a bar near our apartment that serves an extra strong ginger beer (non-alcoholic) that's used mostly in mixed drinks so that the strong ginger flavor doesn't get lost when it's mixed. But since I've become a big fan of super strong ginger flavors, I usually drink it straight out of the bottle, which makes most people cough when they try (according to both my boyfriend who frequently starts choking when takes to big a sip, and then bartenders who have all watched other people have the same reaction). So when I saw this Triple Ginger Brew, I had to try it. I'd wanted to try some last year, but it was pulled off the shelves due to bottles exploding before I had a chance. After a year of waiting for it to come back, I was pretty psyched to finally try the ginger ale that has so much ginger flavor it's literally exploding with it, and when I did I was....a little disappointed to be honest. It's definitely got a strong ginger flavor, more so that most other ginger ales, but it didn't pack the intensity that I was expected. I was expecting something closer to Reed's Extra Ginger Brew Ginger Beer (which you can also get at Trader Joe's) that's so strong it'll tickle your nose when you drink it, and this just wasn't at that level. However, I'm also probably one of the only people who's insane enough to want a flavor that strong. If you're a normal ginger ale soda drinker who's looking for an extra ginger kick, then you'll probably love this stuff. If you're a snobby ginger-beer-with-so-much-ginger-kick-it'll-make-your-eyes-water kind of person like me though, it's probably best just to pick up some Reed's instead.

Cioppino Seafood Stew

Price $5.99 (only enough for 1 full meal for 1 person)

Rating: 9/10

I’d been eyeing this seafood stew for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to trying it due to the $5.99 price tag. The bag says this should be good for 2 servings, but given that it’s only 170 calories in each serving, that would be an incredibly small meal if you were eating it by itself. Unfortunately those 170 calories contain 80% of your daily sodium intake, but I didn’t realize this until AFTER eating the whole bag at once. But onto how this tastes.

This stew is a mix of mussels, cod, shrimp, and scallops in a tangy tomato sauce with a good dose of garlic. I was actually shocked at how good it was. I’d expected I’d probably like it, but nowhere near as much as I actually did. The only thing missing was a piece of garlic bread to go with it. Even though I hate winter, this stew was so good I’m actually looking forward to coming home on a cold winter day and heating up a bowl of this for dinner. The bag of seafood is all raw, so you have to cook it up when you’re making it, but it’s pretty easy. I’d recommend adding the larger pieces of fish first though, and then adding everything else two or three minutes later so your shrimp and scallops don’t come out rubbery.

Seville Orange Marmalade

Price: $?

Rating: 2/10

I'd never really had orange marmalade until a few years ago when I was in Morocco on vacation, where they seemed to serve it with every breakfast. So when I saw this, I was excited to try it out. Unfortunately, I hated just about everything about this. 



The consistency is very jelly-like and not easily spreadable, and there's pieces of orange peel in it which I found very strange. I could have gotten past this, but it was so overly bitter that it was basically inedible. I did try mixing this with some goat cheese at one point and putting it on french toast with a little bit of syrup, but it still wasn't great. Maybe if you mix it with mascarpone to offset the bitterness it might work, but honestly it's probably a better idea to just not buy it.

Shrimp Soft Tacos with Tomatillo Sauce and Cotija Cheese

Price: $3.69 for 3 tacos (which is enough for one serving)

Rating: 1/10

As you can probably tell from my rating, this is one of the worst Trader Joe's purchases I've ever made. The only real way to make these frozen tacos is to microwave them, which should have been my first indication that these wouldn't be great (microwaving shrimp? yuck!). But I'm a huge fan of tacos, as well as a huge fan of shrimp, so I figured I'd give them a shot. I heated them up in the microwaved and was met with a truly unpleasant smell as they were cooking. I wouldn't really describe it as a fishy-smell or anything, but just a general bad food smell. It was actually noticeable enough that even my boyfriend pointed it out. At this point I should have abandoned these tacos to the trashcan, but I decided to soldier on. The texture of the shrimp was kind of rubbery, and there was barely any "salsa" or cheese that I could identify. It didn't taste awful, but it wasn't good. I thought maybe I could dress it up with some salsa, but after trying Green Dragon salsa, some tomatillo salsa from the fridge, Tabasco sauce, Valentina Hot Sauce, and Hatch Chile Salsa, I finally gave up on the idea that these were somehow salvageable and threw the last taco away. There are some times where I think that maybe something would be great for someone else and that they just weren't great for me, but I honestly don't think anyone–other than maybe someone who is actually starving–could possibly eat these and think that they were anything less than terrible. Just don't do it. If you want shrimp tacos, pick up a bag of fully-cooked shrimp, some soft tortillas, and a jar of salsa and make these yourself.

Salted Caramel Coconut Cookies

Price: $3.49

Rating: 3/10

I saw these on the shelf in August and thought to myself that these were definitely going to be a winner. We're all wrong sometimes. I expected these cookies to be packed with tasty coconut and caramel, but was incredible disappointed. There was definitely a coconut flavor, but you could barely taste any caramel or saltiness. It basically just tasted like an boring coconut cookie without much else. I tried to get into these several times after eating that first cookie, but I finally gave up after about 1/3 of the box and just returned them.

Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits

Price: $2.49

Rating: 4/10

I’ve never been a huge fan of things like these biscuits, but I was pretty excited when I saw these after having some similar looking blueberry biscuits on a flight and being thoroughly impressed by them. Unfortunately, while the biscuits on my flight were packed with blueberry flavor and had a soft, almost cookie-like texture, these weren’t at all the same. Instead, these had only the tiniest hint of blueberry, and had a more mealy texture. They kind of tasted like the health food version of the yummy ones I’d had on my flight. I think it took me about 3 months to finish the box of these after buying them because I was so unimpressed.

Honey Crisp Apple Cider

Price: $2.99

Rating: 9/10

I've always been a big fan of juice, but I've tried to cut back over the past few years just due to the amount of sugar. When I saw this unfiltered cider though, I had to get some. The first year I lived in NYC, in 2009, I was sick all winter and one of my favorite things to drink while I felt like crap was unfiltered apple juice. For some reason, a lot of people I've mentioned this to turn up their noses at the "unfiltered" bit, but I would actually argue that unfiltered juice (or in this case, cider) is way better than filtered. Why? Because I've found that with apple juice, there's a tendency to have juice that's a bit on the syrup-y side. You might not notice this if you've never had unfiltered juice before, but I definitely noticed after I started drinking unfiltered. The unfiltered juice, by comparison, has a much smoother, almost silky kind of texture. I've also read that unfiltered can be healthier, as the extra filtering for regular juice removes some of the nutrients. But this isn't a health blog, so I'm more concerned with taste here, and unfiltered just has a better taste and texture.

As for the taste of this particular Apple Cider, I thought it was pretty great, as you might be able to tell from my 9/10 rating. It had a good, smooth flavor that wasn't too sweet, and actually tasted like real apples. My only complaint about this is that I generally prefer my cider to have some spices added for flavor, and there wasn't much in here. If you're looking for a warm tasting cider, this probably isn't it, but it's pretty good when you don't go into expecting a spiced cider kind of flavor. I'll definitely pick some up again!

Pumpkin Tortilla Chips

Price: $1.99

Rating: 6.5/10

I'm not a huge tortilla chip eater, so when I buy tortilla chips I usually just get the standard salted variety, but I saw these at the same time that I was picking up some Fall Harvest Salsa, so I decided to give them a try. The flavor has a pumpkin-y savory and salty taste, but with the added hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. I find this a little strange, but it actually goes pretty well with the Fall Harvest Salsa. The problem is after you run out of Fall Harvest Salsa, when the number of things these go well with becomes limited. The description from TJ's says that you could use these with any kind of salsa, but unless it's a heavily fruit-based salsa, I'm not sure the cinnamon and nutmeg would really work with it. I'm actually skeptical of how well a regular fruit-based salsa would work with these anyway. Based just on their flavor and how well they go with the Fall Harvest Salsa, I'd give them a 7, but based on how un-versatile they are, I'd have to give them a 6, so I averaged the score out to a 6.5 out of 10.

Fall Harvest Salsa

Price: $2.99

Rating: 7/10

I'm a pretty big fan of salsas, and this is one of my favorites at TJ's. It's a little more towards the sweet side than the spicy side. It's still definitely a salsa though, and there is some kick to it from the jalapenos and other standard salsa ingredients. But it also has a nice warm fall flavor to it thanks to the pumpkin, squash, and apples in it. This is a great fall salsa with a warm-and-spicy flavor as opposed to a more acidic-spicy flavor that you usually get with tomato-based salsas. This is definitely one of my fall favorites, and I thought about picking it up again after finishing my first jar, but there have been quite a few new salsa's from TJ's in the past few months that I'm looking forward to trying out as well, so I'm thinking of checking out those instead.

Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce

Price: $3.49

Rating: 5/10

I tried this pasta sauce last year and couldn't really decide if I liked it or not, so I decided to give it another go this year. Unfortunately, I still can't decide how I feel about this. On one hand, it has a great creamy texture, and autumn flavors. But on the other hand, it's a little bland and doesn't really have an identifiable flavor profile. It's definitely not spicy, bitter, sour, or salty, but it's also not sweet. I'm not sure if that means that it's umami? The only real way that I can think to describe its taste is that it's creamy. Which isn't a flavor. It’s a texture. This year I tried it both with regular pasta (which was pretty decent(, as well as zucchini noodles (which I wasn't a fan of). I guess if you're a big fan of pumpkin and squash, then you might be into this, but I thought it was a little dull.

Mini Ginger Pumpkin Ice Cream Mouthfuls

Price: $3.99 for 12

Rating: 9/10

I'm a huge fan of the spicy and sweet flavor combo, and these mini ice cream sandwiches do it well! The soft ginger cookies provide a strong spicy ginger flavor, and the pumpkin ice cream sandwiched between has a nice creamy sweetness to balance it out. I especially like that you're eating something cold that's got a hot flavor at the same time. I actually like these so much I have to stop myself from buying multiple boxes, because every time I buy a box it's gone in less than 24 hours. That's not so much because of their size (there's about 3 bites per sandwich), but more just because they're so good I can't stop eating them once I've started. Mine look a little sloppy here after they melted on a long subway ride, but usually they look much more like the nice photo.

Pumpkin Spice Rooibos Herbal Blend Tea

Price: $3.99
Rating: 10/10

In the past year or so I've finally gotten over my lifelong aversion to tea. In general, I've never been a big fan (and am still a skeptical convert) of tea drinking. To me, it just tastes like water boiled with faintest hint of flavor. It always seems to smell great but then tastes like nothing. When I saw this Pumpkin Spice tea, however, I had to get some. While I'm not a big fan of tea, I am a very big fan of Pumpkin Spice anything. 

One of my problems with tea has always been that it tastes so weak. I usually liked it a lot more of I used several tea bags so it can out ultra-concentrated, but it can get expensive if you're always using 3 tea bags for a single cup of tea. However, I discovered earlier this year after buying some expensive Chai tea from Teavana that you can actually reuse your tea (bagged or loose-leaf) up to three times before it runs out of flavor. So since I usually drink tea cold anyway, I've taken to making a big batch, using 3 tea bags for 1 cup of water, and then using each tea bag 3 times, so that you get a highly concentrated brew without going through an insane number of tea bags. (Note: If you're thinking that it would be even easier to just steep the tea for 3 times as long rather than reusing the tea bags 3 times-don't! Steeping the tea for longer than intended can burn it. It's better to steep the tea for the recommended time, then remove the tea bag and put it in the fridge to cool before using again.) Even using this method, I still sometimes run into the problem of tea that's on the flavorless side (for me, at least), but it's better than using 1 tea bag for every cup of water. 

But back to how Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Tea rates. After brewing up about 2 liters of this stuff, I finally poured myself a glass to try, and oh my god was it good! It has a great pumpkin-y flavor, and you can really taste the "spice" part of it too. Even cold, it has a nice warmth to it thanks to the cinnamon and nutmeg. This is easily my new favorite drink of the fall. In fact, since buying my first canister of this about 6 weeks ago, I've already bought two more, and I'm strongly considering stocking up on a few more to get me through until next Pumpkin Season at TJ's.

Apple Pie Cheddar Cheese

Price: $9.99/pound
Rating: 6.5/10

I've never understood the concept of eating apple pie with cheddar cheese, but since they're both things that I love, I knew I had to get this Apple Pie Cheddar Cheese when I saw it. Unfortunately, the apple pie flavor is basically non-existent. You can see swirls of cinnamon and tiny pieces of apples in the cheese, but they don't actually provide much apple pie flavor. The flavor of the cheese itself is good though, and there's a very slight cinnamon taste to it, but that's about it. As a cheese, it's good, but don't buy it expecting something special from the apple pie part of it. It's mostly just regular cheese. If you really want to get some apple pie flavor with your cheese, you'll have to buy some pie filling to go with this.