The Trader Joe's Product Discussion Thread (S/D)

In the salad section there's a curried cauliflower and potato salad which is basically just cold aloo gobi with chickpeas; I forgot about mine until a couple of days after it's sell-by date so I cooked it with some butter and threw it on some rice, it basically tastes like Indian restaurant leftovers. Which I mean as a high compliment.

the herbal flavored water is practically identical to other similarly flavored waters that cost at least twice as much

honey butter chips are weird and not good and taste like sweet sour cream & onion chips

Is it just my local TJ or has corporate pulled back on the overfriendliness mandate? It's been so much less oppressive a shopping experience in recent months.

Now that you mention it, I have noticed less "SO ANY PLANS FOR TONIGHT?!?!" interactions there.

I finally tried the frozen beef tamales and they are really tasty - I had previously just tried the sweet corn/chili/cheese one and found it was a bit bland, the beef one has nice flavorful red sauce. The refrigerated ones are good too but I think these are a better deal.

Is it just my local TJ or has corporate pulled back on the overfriendliness mandate? It's been so much less oppressive a shopping experience in recent months.

― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Friday, July 28, 2017 4:06 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Now that you mention it, I have noticed less "SO ANY PLANS FOR TONIGHT?!?!" interactions there.

― The Man Who Saw The Midwife (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, July 29, 2017 12:56 AM (eighteen hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it has been awhile since i've heard "ohh someone's having a party!" because I bought a bottle of wine and some cheese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsNq3nQ612c

the cucumber watermelon cooler is an amazing drink and even amazinger mixer

Costco had a cucumber mint lemonade that was great. The TJs jalapeno lemonade was screaming for tequila.

i've been buying their coffee concentrate and using that instead of buying iced coffee from pret or wherever, it ends up costing about $1 per large glass of iced coffee which is obviously much cheaper. they also have a new french roast coffee concentrate but i haven't tried it yet, and coconut coffee concentrate which i will not be trying.

i tried the french roast conc. it was a bit more intense than the regular cold brew. nothing to write home abt, but solid. i like the vegetarian chilli but not as much as the kind they carried a couple years ago. gonna make veggie chilli cheese dogs tonight w/ their veg. dogs which can be kinda plastic-y, but split and cast-ironed they're actually much much better

I now smell of the tea tree tingle bath soap. I've smelled worse.

There are new sparkling water flavors - grapefruit, pineapple, "Island Colada," and (iirc) cranberry clementine.

Also I am fairly obsessed with their gluten free cranberry maple granola, which is pretty much a $2 cheaper copy of the kind made by Bakery on Main.

Oh and I bought a little succulent in a magnetized vase for my fridge yesterday.

I go to Trader Joe's once a week, usually, if not more. It's right by my therapist's office and it's my favorite place to decompress.

that sounds beautiful

the only TJ's here for the time being is in the strip mall-heavy suburban retail development area, so the traffic is obnoxious and I almost sprint through there

does TJ's not have some kind of Gatorade knockoff?

Traderade?

I don't remember seeing anything like that, just fruit juice and coconut water.

ok full disclosure I usually buy fussy coffee (locally roasted single origin stuff) but I bought some cheap TJ's coffee for cold brew and made hot coffee with it and it is TERRIBLE

It's the Select Harvest Curated Coffee which is such a dumb name but it's a 50/50 blend of a light Colombian and medium Ethiopian and tbh I would rather drink Folgers or work keurig coffee than this, it is so bitter.

Seriously, does TJ's make ANY decent coffee? I have had so much over the years and it's all super dark, even the medium-light roasts.

I just finished a can of that and I thought it was OK for TJ's. I only rarely buy the higher-end coffees, though.

god if that's OK for TJ's...

it's my favorite place to decompress

me too, I get a tiny coffee and a sample and just roam around. I used to go more often than I needed to just bc I enjoyed my time there, unfortunately my new neighborhood isn't rich and white enough for tj's but i'm hoping they'll come around.

so TJ's has these $1.99 pints of organic ice cream now from Humboldt Creamery. chocolate, vanilla, mint chip, and coffee. are those available outside of California?

not here
i have been enjoying their newish cheap line of beers (they're $4.99/6) -- simple times is ok in a pinch ($3.99/6 for pilsner or lager) but the other ones are definitely ok. good enough to buy when i would rather spend $5 than $10 on a 6-pack. i think they are boatswain brand? no idea tbh. i don't like the chocolate stout but the rest of them are good enough. there's an IPA and another one i can't remember the name of. it's more malty? whatever. they are satisfactory.

i buy their joe's choice medium roast coffee and it is good enough for me. i'm sure there is better coffee in the world but i am not willing to pay for it.

Boatswain Heavy Lift Vehicle is fine, I wouldn't bother with their IPAs again.

A drinkable American Pale Ale at $5/6 would be great.

Their Jumping Cow and Fat Weasel ales decent for the price.

Bought this "granola" today that looks like flakes with round nuts inside but tastes like granola.

Sorcery

it's their version of bakery on main's granola. i am enamored with it

buy their joe's choice medium roast coffee and it is good enough for me. i'm sure there is better coffee in the world but i am not willing to pay for it.

Tried this for the first time a couple months ago. Found it totally adequate and a dang nice price. Think it's a blend using part Vietnamese beans which I previously didn't even know existed

Thanks Maura
But wtf is bakery on main

https://bakeryonmain.com/

are we sure they aren’t actually selling bakery on main stuff? I mean, it’s TJ’s

oh yeah by "version of" i mean "rebranding of"

the everything bagel chips were discontinued :(

I can still gag on demand by recalling the time I tried TJ sushi

how is it that their universally-despised sushi has outlived so many wonderful delicious discontinued products, what a world

i like the tofu spring rolls but yeah, would never do their sushi

Anyone had the mango sticky rice rolls?

Their organic peanut butter is not very good.

xp

I have,thought they were fairly good, but be careful, the mango takes on a napalm-like quality when it heats up.

Their sushi truly tastes like food poisoning

i'd imagine the sushi is popular among those who would also buy it at a deli

Do all the TJ's locations have sushi? I haven't looked, but that seems like a weird item for their distribution chain

I'm really skeptical of the grocery store sushi but the couple stores I've seen people buying it at actually have a guy who comes in for a few hours each day to prepare it, presumably traveling between stores throughout the day

I like whole foods sushi, but it costs as much as restaurant sushi. you can pick up other stuff while there, though. so it is good last resort sushi imo.

also they sell (albeit overpriced) sake

at WF, that is. can't remember if TJ's has sake