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.

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).

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.

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.

Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn

Price: $2.99
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

I'm generally not a huge fan of bagged popcorn, or popcorn in general for that matter, but I'll make an exception for caramel corn. I'd tried the Mango Coconut Caramel Corn TJ's had over the summer and was wildly unimpressed, but I decided to give it another shot when I saw this Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn on the shelf. As soon as I started eating it, I was glad I did! While I don't think I've ever had bad caramel corn (aside from the Mango Coconut abomination from Mango Madness over the summer), this definitely stands out as some of the best. Pumpkin in general pairs pretty fantastically with caramel, so these are really just two flavors that were meant to be united in the form of popcorn. The caramel is definitely the dominant flavor here, but the pumpkin definitely adds to it, while the addition of roasted pumpkin seeds and walnuts gives the popcorn a nice crunchiness. My only caveat about this product is that it's a little pricey at $2.99 for a fairly small bag. Still, it's definitely worth it, and I'm planning to buy another bag when I go back to TJ's this weekend!

Pumpkin Chai Spice Loaf

Price: $4.99
Rating: 8.5

I saw this Pumpkin Chai Spice Loaf listed in the latest Frequent Flyer, and as a lover of all things Pumpkin and also all things Chai, I had to find it. I searched three different NYC stores before finally locating it at the new location that just opened a month or so ago on 3rd Ave & 32nd St. I got there just in time, too, because it was the very last one on the shelf! I opened it up as soon as I got home, while I was heating up lunch leftovers for dinner.

I'm a big fan of sweets in general, so a cake with two of my favorite flavors was going to be hard to screw up for me, and TJ's did a great job on this one. The cake itself is soft and moist, with a light pumpkin flavor that actually isn't all that sweet. The frosting is where the chai flavor comes in. It's got a nice warm flavor that also adds some sweetness to the cake. I generally like my sweets on the very-sweet side, but I really liked the subtle sweetness to this. I think pumpkin is one flavor where too much sweetness drowns out the pumpkin flavor, so this is a great balance. I'll definitely be picking up another one of these (if I can ever find them again).