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

My parents have friends in Germany who used to send us lebkuchen every Christmas, and the Trader Joe ones are every bit as good as the German ones. Like, I genuinely can't tell the difference.

I will have to look for them

trader joes raisin bran was off the shelves for six months. when it came back the box and contents were different and it is now made in germany. it tastes exactly how you would imagine central european breakfast cereal tastes. i mean i like it. but it's definitely a style.

If so, I may have to brave the store. I love those things.

(the TJs near you is the only supermarket/grocery store I've seen enforcing limited numbers indoors, & with people fairly consistently spacing in the queues outside)

Yes, they're very good about it, and I do feel safer there than at other stores in the area. Most of the things I buy from TJs last a long time, though, so I still don't go that often.

trader joes raisin bran was off the shelves for six months.

I haven't seen it in maybe a year!

It’s back on the west coast but the box is very different.

I missed the peony season in May and early June this year at Trader Joe's because I didn't go shopping at all

the employees are pretty well-informed about what is on the outs and what is going to stop being stocked due to supply chain issues

I was buying some chicken taquitos (rip, lost them in my refrigerator dying) early this year and the checkout cashier told me it was probably my last chance for the near future because their supplier basically stopped all orders

if you want to know, someone in the store might know!

Iowa brewery beer now in California TJ stock

Toppling Goliath and they've the best water

Toppling Goliath also in Cal Total Wine stores. I have had the Pompeii.

Toppling Goliath has been in California for a while, I mean they are even in Tokyo. I had a reasonably fresh Pseudo Sue can last autumn... for ~$10 though.

Love the dark chocolate sunflower seed butter cups. I always buy a bunch and throw em in the freezer.

Aren't they basically just peanut butter cups with a peanut butter substitute?

Did they get rid of the faux-Stoned Wheat Thins? Haven't seen them at my local for months.

NOOOOOOO

Yeah, but sunflower seed butter is tasty. And they're only like 80 cents.

T0ppling Goliath has a few decent beers but they’re overrated, overpriced (although maybe not at TJ’s?) and the people who run it are apparently jerks. Some of the reasons people believe so are less relevant to me as a non-beer nerd, like the fact they’d do special limited releases and gouge on prices, and the local lore is that after they sold one limited edition batch and screwed up the pricing, they called people who had bought the beer to ask if they could please send an additional payment because they were undercharged (!)

I went to a taproom beer tasting thing locally (free beer!) and the presentation was ok but they’ve got this funny chip on their shoulder about a few things. There was also some funny controversy a lot of companies run into when trying to capitalize on demand where they used a contract brewer to make up the slack as they rapidly expanded (defensible, imo) and then when a batch wasn’t as expected they did a lot of waffling about whether they used a contract brewer, for how many batches, and where those batches were sold

lol and the Pseudo Sue thing where they ended up partnering with the Field Museum after the fact when threatened with copyright infringement which was more of a business “whoops” on their part

The Pompeii IPA was $12.99 for 4 pint cans at Total Wine (the more expensive ones came in at $18.99, which I wasn't willing to spring for). I doubt if TJ would be less, though my google search shows $10.99 at Binny's. Is Binny's a big supermarket sized liquor store?

In the Chicago area, yeah

You know what I miss? Trader Joe's used to sell a cinnamon/sugar grinder that my kids and, well, everyone loved. But alas, awol since 2017.

I wish they also sold the pepper in non-grinder jars of the same size, so I wouldn't have to buy a new grinder every time I buy pepper (salt too, I guess). Seems wasteful.

I was picturing a sandwich roll with cinnamon and sugar on top

they had an amazing product called flower pepper that was literally dried edible flowers and peppercorns -- AMAZING
and long gone

Wonder if you could replicate that with flor de jamaica (dried hibiscus flowers used for agua de jamaica tea) and peppercorns in a mill.

Nah hibiscus is way too much imo — this was like marigold petals, maybe dandelion and other more delicate flowers

chile garlic cashews are the bomb

i generally get tired of their flavored nuts pretty fast but those things are always a treat.

also 2.99 kombuchas and aqua kefirs when everyone else is going above $3 = a relief

Have you tried spawning kombuchas from leftover kombuchas? Half my batch came out OK and the other half turned to vinegar.

y'all the cauliflower gnocchi is so. fucking. bad. it was like... gluey????

jfc

Gnocchi is terrible to start with imo, but yes that stuff is possibly the worst thing they sell.

I tried the sweet potato gnocchi and also didn't like it, for a similar reason.

I had that a v long time ago and it was disgustingly sweet, v bad

has anyone bought edamame recently? saw it was recalled due to listeria

Checked it out, since we have some TJ's edmame we are just about to eat tonight. It was the frozen, in-shell, rather than shelled, and lightly salted version. Also, the product was only sold at Trader Joe's stores in Arizona, Southern California, Southern Nevada and in certain parts of Utah.

hot & sweet jalapeños = yes

― forensic plumber (harbl), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 7:53 PM (eleven months ago)

just came here to post this. otm.

oh yes these are good, I keep a backup jar

wait harbl did you just otm yourself

not that there’s anything wrong w that

not that there’s anything wrong w that

yes

harbl is always otm! <3

i'm otm about groceries and food products 99.99% of the time

My wife is reducing her sodium intake so she bought something called 21 Seasoning Salute (that tehresa raved about upthread). I'd never heard of it, it's kind of like a zesty onion powder. Now all of us put in on everything and we need more.

not sure I like the idea of hot and sweet jalapeños

I will try them. I ended up liking their green dragon sauce, sort of, but most of Trader Joe’s salsas and hot sauces are too sweet

Anyone tried the refrigerated pickles they have near the salads and salsas?

― blood, loud screaming and nudity (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Friday, March 8, 2019 6:24 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

These might be the crunchiest supermarket pickles I have ever eaten, A+++

Oh nice