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

god i would get so tired of having to say "omg those are SO DELICIOUS" about one thing for every customer and generally stay sociable and positive in a sea of entitled white people

i am genuinely in awe of and mystified by the fact that they seem to have solved the paradox of capitalism alienating people from their best selves

there is some legit great stuff for less at tj's but i have gotten tired of a lot of their snack-y stuff tbh

their nuts are cheap but not very good quality ime

flowers are cheap, my favorite thing about TJs really, but I am feeling bad about supporting cut flower industry so charm has worn off

i hesitate to post this but https://thenewinquiry.com/joe-cool/

i feel like tj's employees are superhuman there is no way i could do that shit for even an hour

I had a moment at TJs yesterday of pure total sadness - I’m one of those people who enjoys chatting and I missed talking w the ppl at TJs so deeply :( I missed the olde tymes but did not lose my shit so that’s good.

Xps I’ve considered my job options if my current workplace goes under, and I’d take a job at TJs over retail or hospo work for sure (I’ve worked all 3 types of job for multiple years in the past).

The chocolate chip almond cookies are ridiculously addictive btw.

I've got to say, I don't know if it is company policy or just our local store or some combination of the two, but without question Trader Joe's has its shit together better than any other store I've been to in the past few months. Not only are the employees across the board friendly, helpful and cheerful, but today they were wearing black in solidarity with the protests *and* (between cleaning the carts and regulating the in/out of customers) were handing out bottles of water to anyone waiting outside in the sun that needed it. It's almost last on the list that they also have just about everything I need; today they even had several varieties of hand sanitizer.

They're discontinuing the soy milk! :(

oh that sucks. They couldn't keep a decent soy yogurt supplier though so maybe it's the same + people wanting more almond or oat milk?

Maple butter is back!!!!! I’m going to buy a bunch because 1) it’s delicious and seasonal 2) my mom loooooooves maple and will lose her mind when I mail her some.

We just struck out on like 4 products we had to return, which is a record for us, even if we knew better. Watermelon Jerky (which ... I know), Apple Cider Foaming Handsoap, Pumpkin Spice Rooibus and ... Cinnamon Bun Spread? Anyway, all duds, all disgusting. But it's cinnamon broom season, which makes me happy.

I really wish TJ's would come out with a nice, cheap, 'natural' mouthwash. It pains me to spend $5 or $6 on a bottle of blue colored alcohol, especially if I'm not supposed to drink it.

Bought a "spicy miso ramen" instant/cup noodle thinking how bad could it be? It was terrible.

i am using their furikake. it's pretty basic but fine.

My son likes the watermelon jerky but he’s not yet 3 years old so there you go.

New product I like: jalapeño sauce. Most of the heat of a real hot sauce but you use it in mustard/ketchup like quantities. Works very well with the new Mexican quiche thing they have.

The Brazilian dough balls are not as good as the real thing but they’re pretty good. Freezer section.

Oh and everything but the elote corn seasoning is great!

my wife swears by the chili onion crunch condiment.

Fuck!! Tha soymilk has been a staple for me for like 15 years. I don't see any others in stores that are unsweetened, and with only 2 ingredients. I'm mushed. almond milk is watery to me. Dammit

I'm pretty sure that the Trader Joe's Special Reserve Irish Whiskey is just Jameson... it even hints so on the label. At $15.99 it's a steal.

There is a cottage industry of people trying to suss out the spirits sourcing. I bought a bottle of "platinum reserve" wine the other day, and the sales person coyly told me that the $14 bottle was actually a $35 bottle under a different name/brand.

Their private label bourbon (90 proof, $15 for a 5th) is made by Buffalo Trace/Sazerac. But don't assume this is the same as their top or even mid-shelf bourbon, it just comes from the same facilities.

my local store unfortunately does not carry spirits, only beer and wine

I have to settle for Costco house brand liquors. That TJ’s bourbon intrigues me!

fwiw Benchmark bourbon comes from those distilleries but is only 80 proof. Could be a slightly-better one-off for TJ’s

Tha soymilk has been a staple for me for like 15 years. I don't see any others in stores that are unsweetened, and with only 2 ingredients. I'm mushed. almond milk is watery to me.

The one glimmer of hope is that there is one kind of soy milk that they didn't discontinue, but I didn't quite catch which one it is and I think they said that they don't currently have a source for it.

The Islay single malt whisky (Finlaggan $18.99) is a real deal... There are only 4 distilleries on that island, so it has to be one of them... possibly Lagavulin aged in Caol Ila barrels or something like that.

My understanding is the TJ scotch is high quality, but I can attest the bourbon is nothing special. Haven't tried Costco bourbon yet, but at least it has an age statement. 7 years, the sweet spot.

recommend:

chile and corn quiche with taco shell crust (freezer)
+
their jalapeno sauce (fridge)

The chocolate chip almond cookies are ridiculously addictive btw.

OMG this.

I gotta say... my favorite beef jerkey is Trader Joe’s brand

anyone tried the instant iced coffee? it's weird! i think it's good but it might be bad.

Can’t believe I missed the window to stock up on maple butter. I swear it was only available for like 3 weeks???

I've always liked the canned dolmas at Trader Joe's. They have recently stocked quinoa-stuffed dolmas in the same section, I think they are even better

xp haven't heard of maple butter, but it sounds good.

Some things are seasonal. I bought Autumn cheese there last year at this time, liked it but went back to find it gone. I found it again this year though.

My favorite ever purchases from Trader Joe's have been the peonies, which are only available in May

the most recent new thing there that I found there was "heirloom chicken", a ridiculous name but it is a whole chicken that is small, and it makes the best roast chicken

Sounds like a heritage or game hen.

it's good for the Zuni roast chicken recipe

most of the chickens raised for the mass market are just too large for roasting or selling rotisserie chickens!

that’s part of why costco was having trouble sourcing enough for their cooked rotisserie chickens and ended up buying their own chicken farm

I miss the gluten-free bread & bagels & chocolate cupcakes A LOT lot. It's not that they're super great compared to actual bread, it's that they're adequate and nothing else out there is (that doesn't also contain stabilizers and soy additives that I don't eat).

their gluten-free cupcakes were really good -- and I can eat gluten, so the GF cupcakes were actually better than some of the "regular" cupcakes I have had.

The green dragon hot sauce is the shit. I put it on everything.

green dragon is amazing, mix it with some mayo and it makes a killer flavored mayo/dipping sauce

I was disappointed with green dragon sauce at first because it seemed a little too sweet, but decided I like it

their new fromage pavé is really good

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

Wish they'd bring back the lemur tea.

Yup, the faux-Stoned Wheat crackers have disappeared here, too. That's a death knell at least 80% of the time.

there are many Trader Joe's products that are suddenly discontinued, but there are equally as many new products there that I discover there when I go back

Are the lebkuchen back this season? If so, I may have to brave the store. I love those things.

sounds interesting. haven’t focused on their sweets but in the recent past I have discovered dolmas stuffed with quinoa, beef pho, different canned and jarred olives, artichoke hearts, plu gras butter, eggplant hummus, double cream gouda, fromage pavé, soup DUMPLINGS!, flour and corn tortillas, and heirloom chicken

not sure how DUMPLINGS! came out capitalized there tbh, I certainly didn't do it