Trader Joe’s Salted Caramel Mochi – Ice Cream wrapped in a layer of sweet chewy mochi (sticky rice)
Here’s what they say about it: “Each bite starts with the sweet, tooth-sinking sensations of the outer Mochi layer, which quickly gives way to the rich, full-flavored, and buttery-sweet Salted Caramel ice cream within.”
I basically love most anything made with Mochi (sticky rice). I’ve really liked many of the Trader Joe’s mochi ice cream combos they have come out with. One in particular I think is a knockout flavor: the BLACK SESAME MOCHI ICE CREAM. I found that one to just be unusual and terrific. The Green Tea mochi ice cream is also good as well as the Strawberry flavor and the Mango…. I think with this Salted Caramel one, they have or had five or six flavor combos of mochi ice cream treats.
This new new Salted Caramel flavor got some buzz on the internet about how great it was. So I wanted to try it and see how it stacks up against all the other ones. Here’s my honest review.
I have to measure it against the other ones. Its OK – but I wasn’t terribly impressed with the flavor, salted caramel, which lets face it hard to compare to the real one, unlike say a fruit flavor. You know instantly if the mango mochi really tastes like mango. I think its harder for salted caramel – which is the natural flavor combo of caramalized (almost burnt) sugar and butter with a bit of salt).
I wanted a second opinion, so I asked my wife to taste it too. She basically had the same reaction and said it was “just OK”. So we both found it just ok. We didn’t think the salted caramel mochi was as good as some of the other flavors, especially say compared to the (great) black sesame mochi, which we both loved as well as many of the fruit ones, like mango.
The outside wrapper is brown and pretty sticky. Usually the wrappers made from white sticky rice look white. So I assume there must be caramel in that as well as the ice cream as per the ingredients on the label. the combo of the white salted caramel ice cream inside and the brown mochi wrapper are a bit Meh and Underwhelming where as I really like many of the fruit ones (mango) and the standout (black sesame) And by the way, I do not see “butter” in the ingredient list. But I do see “miso” listed (??) which I imagine is part of the “salted” flavor?
So I didn’t hate this but I didn’t love it either. Again its OK but I would not buy this again. I would way prefer to buy my favorite, Black Sesame version, which if you havent tried it, I would recommend. Or Mango. Maybe Green Tea.
Of course this is IMHO. Some on Instagram do give this new flavor, high praise reviews of its a “must try”, “addictive” “gotta have it” – so your call.
As per TJ’s let all mochi ice cream treats defrost a bit before eating them to get the full flavor and texture profiles.
“Our supplier gives the beans a light roast, highlighting the inherent notes of molasses, dark chocolate, sweet plum, and apple. You get a crisp, clean cup with dense, satisfying flavors.”
I am pretty sure this is the first coffee from Peru I may have tasted.
I found this latest Organic Small Lot coffee from Peru at Trader Joe’s to be pretty interesting, if not astunning remarkable find a few of the Small Lot coffees they’ve had in the past that were amazing (For that read my post on the UGANDA RWENZORI coffee). This is in the middle. Brewed up this was pretty good, a bit fruity with notes of “chocolate, molasses and apple or plum”. I get a bit of a wine-y after taste note that I usually associate with some African coffees.
Try this is you like to try every Small Lot they come out with, as I do, hoping for the best. This is not that but good. Overall though as my standard every day drink these days I prefer the Bolivian coffee they have.
“It’s made with a base of rich and fluffy Whipped Cream Cheese that’s been mixed with a tangy sun-dried tomato spread, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and a series of savory seasonings, all of which work together to evoke the taste of cheese Pizza on the palate.”
So here is another one of those Trader Joe’s products that came out and seemed to blow up all over social media.
Sometimes I find the things that go viral worthy of the hype, however sometimes they leave me with the opposite impression, with an “I don’t get it” feeling.
So how does this product strike me? Somewhere in the middle I think.
Everything But The Pizza Whipped Cream Cheese Spread has sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, Parmesan cheese and spices. Kind of imagine taking some whipped cream cheese, and mixing in marinara sauce. Tasted right out of the tub on a spoon, I would say you might find it tastes kind of “strong”. This definitely needs to go on something or with something.
I tried it on a toasted bagel which one of the things everyone says is Da Bomb. For one thing, if you do that at least toast the bagel so you get some of that crusty chewy effect you want. I thought that combo tasted pretty good. Just not earth shattering as claimed that on a bagel it “tastes like a pizza”. If I was going in that direction, I would prefer the classic muffin pizza. English muffin toasted up with a little tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. I grant you there is slightly more work involved.
I thought the best thing to do with this is to add it to some pasta. Thin it out with some pasta water, milk or cream or even mix in some marinara sauce. You can end up with a nice creamy pink pasta sauce. It did kind of work for me with pasta. What I ended up liking it on, believe it or not, was actually putting it on some pizza!
I had a thought when I was making some pizza from scratch of adding some to my pizza. When it was all toppped, I put a few dollops of this all over with all the other things using two teaspoons. After baking, it came out of the oven with those creamy bits now caramalized a bit. Some creamy bites with lots of flavor. Pretty good!!
I think with pasta, or on a pizza, this stuff is worth trying out. This is one of those you have to try it for yourself and see what you think items. Invent some uses that you like.
All in all I was just a little bit under impressed with this in comparison to all the hype and viral plaudits I saw online about it, however your mileage may vary. Let us know what you think via the Comments
This TikTok’er “hated on it” but discovered she likes it using it to make an open egg sandwich, using toasted sourdough bread:
Another TikTok’er suggest eating it on raw bell peppers, as kind of a crudité dip. So try it with other things like carrot sticks, celery sticks and the like….
“Dubai-style chocolate is all the rage across social media these days, and for good reason—it’s delicious. Really, what’s not to love about a chocolate bar filled with sweet pistachio cream and crunchy kataifi?” – Trader Joe
“Dubai Chocolate” has certainly been all the rage on social media. I have seen Dubai Chocolate that can cost close to $20, or even more. So I never got the change to taste any. That is until recently when I tasted a more affordable version sold by Trader Joe’s made by “Patislove”. This 100 gram bar is only about $4. So you know a Trader Joe’s economical version at least you can afford and get perhaps some idea of what the crazy hype is about.
We got it just to try out. Actually my wife gave this to me as a Xmas gift. We tasted it the next day I think. I thought it was OK, pretty tasty yes, however quite sweet for one thing. This version in any case didn’t make me go nuts over it, given how much hype Dubai Chocolate has gotten, where you would expect this would be the best thing you ever tasted in your life. Sure I would have to taste test this against some of that actual expensive, real McCoy Dubai chocolate to have something to compare this version to. To be honest I am not even close to being one of those who would spend that much just to taste some viral chocolate. The whole Dubai chocolate thing has just seemed to me to be yet another one of those Social Media hypes gone wild and overblown.
The Trader Joe’s version says LIMITED and might have been for just Xmas season, so it might be gone now but thought I would still put this out there, as it may be back next year. Worth trying only if you are curious, otherwise I would spend that same money on known great chocolate at Trader Joe’s like the huge pound bars from Belgium.
I tried out this Trader Joe’s “Goat’s Milk Creamy Cheese”, which I think cost’s nearly $5.
This is a soft spreadable goat cheese, which is not at all goaty. So if that’s what you are looking for you might like this extremely mild “goat cheese”. Me, I love goat cheese and don’t mind at all if it’s a little goaty. Isn’t that the point? OK very very goaty can be off-putting at times but I found this soft cheese just way, way too mild. I found this barely tasting like a “goat cheese”. Perhaps this is the mildest goat cheese I’ve may have ever tasted. I was not impressed. It ain’t cheap so what’s the point? To me this tastes like cream cheese with a smidge of goat cheese mixed in. Something you or I could make easily, for way less too.
Anyway this might have been a good idea on paper but I found this to be a failure for my tastes as it’s way too mild. Very lacking in goat cheese flavor, and most importantly expensive as this is a tiny package (4.5 oz) for which they charge almost 5 bucks. The do sell a few excellent kinds of goat cheese (chevre).
We could make a soft spreadable goat cheese akin to this… Just mix a package of cream cheese ($2) and Trader Joe’s excellent Goat Cheese log ($3). Let both sit out for a few hours until they are soft, and combine them. If you want a little less goat taste, just mix in half the goat log. Me, I would mix the whole thing. It would cost less per ounce than this.
I think the result will give something like what I was expecting this to be – a soft, easily spreadable goat cheese that would work on toast, crackers, a bagel or what have you. Great for a cheese board or guests.
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY GOAT CHEESE for $5 bucks – Get a blue “Chevre” log and a package of cream Cheese. Wait an hour or two till they are soft. Mix cream cheese with whole (or half) the log of Trader Joe’s GOAT CHEESE (optionally you could add flavors, perhaps fresh herbs or black pepper. A few drops of lemon juice. You will get about 12 oz for a tiny bit more than this package (4.5 oz) costs, so cheaper in the long run too.
This cheese here (blue log of chevre) is a terrific goat cheese at a decent price. It’s TJ’s Number Two best selling cheese two years in a row and sells for three bucks! So if you want a soft not too sassy spreadable goat cheese I say buy that and make your own creamy goat with your preferred ratio of goat to cream cheese (1/2 of this for a milder cheese or the whole thing if you like a bit more tangy and goaty.
I love PETIT BILLY (that’s the exact taste and texture for a very French soft goat cheese: https://tasteoffrancemag.com/trending/cheese-wire-petit-billy/) Last time I went to France I smuggled one back. That cheese is wonderful, it’s one of my favorite French cheeses (but costly in the U.S.)
As far as this tub under review, “Goats Milk Creamy cheese” I would not buy it again.
Trader Joe’s has come out with a ton of HUMMUS varieties as you probably know from checking the shelves….
“(we’ve come out with versions like) …. Roasted Red Pepper, Olive Tapenade, and Crunchy Chili Onion. But even aside from adding flavors, just adjusting the proportions of one of the existing base ingredients yields remarkable results. Take Trader Joe’s Dreamy Creamy Hummus, for instance. Here, our supplier doubles the amount of tahini of a standard hummus recipe to create a texture so thick, rich, and exquisitely Creamy that it’s simply Dreamy.”
Ingredients as you know must be listed in order of quantity. When I looked at the label closely, I was a little surprised to see the first ingredient listed here is actually water, not chickpeas, which are listed second.
This is the reverse of (for example) the Organic Hummus which I liked (label below). As you can see in that version, chickpeas are the first ingredient. I mean, of course, right? Pretty sure any recipe witll list chickpeas as the main ingredients. The Organic Hummus list first “Fresh steamed chickpeas” with water, which is needed to smooth out the chickpeas, as the second ingredient.
Knowing that the “creamy dreamy” has more water than chickpeas in it is kind of a turn off to me. So I kind of think I would not buy this “dreamy” one again.
Creamy Dreamy Hummus $2.49
2 TBLS, about 50 cal
WATER
CHICKPEAS
TAHINI (PUREED SESAME SEEDS)
SEA SALT
DEHYDRATED GARLIC
CITRIC ACID (ACIDIFIER)
GUAR GUM
The hummus at Trader Joe’s I usually get are the Mediterranean, Roasted Garlic and Organic hummus. I’ve found all of those pretty solid choices. I will pass on this one.
I would label this latest Small Lot coffee offering at Trader Joe’s in my “good but not great” category.
I liked it but it didn’t knock me out as some of their other small lot coffee finds have at times in the past. These are totally hit or miss. Sometimes you get one which is fantastic. Outstanding. Sometimes you get one which is pretty good, which for me, is this Costa Rican coffee. I thought it was pretty good. I only say this as some of the Trader Joe’s coffees which were terrific raise the bar when compared to some of the best Small Lot coffee finds in the past over the years that TJ’s has had. The Uganda Mountains of The Moon small lot coffee from a while back was off the hook, stunning. Epic! So again, there is a high bar.
This coffee is from a mountainous region in Costa Rica, from an area officially designated as “Chirripo National Park”. The beans are roasted in an (actual) medium roast and the beans look very good as you can see. This coffee’s taste is as they describe on the bag. “Nutty and toasty, with notes of citrus”. If you are one of those people who just likes to check out and explore EVERY Small Lot coffee that Trader Joe’s comes out with just to check it out, its worth getting. Otherwise, I would say spend your ten bucks coffee money on some known entity which you love. For me for the past year or so since they started carrying it, that coffee has been the Fair Trade Organic BOLIVIAN BLEND. Another Medium Roast. I really love that one, which is not a Small Lot, so easy to find too year round.
This Costa Rican Chirripo coffee while OK, its not as good as that for me so I would not buy it again. Once again, Small Lots are Limited so if you want to try this, grab while you can. I rate this maybe 6/10
“Trader Joe’s Cheesy Bagels are hearth-baked Bagels with a plain bagel base, delightfully doughy on the inside. On the outside, they boast a cheesy, chewy crust that comes from shredded Asiago cheese that’s been pre-melted on top.” — Trader Joe’s
When I saw these in the NEW ITEMS section a few weeks ago I was intrigued and thought this sounded like something worth trying. Just picking up the bag and smelling them, well it has a wonderfully appealing smell, from baked Asiago cheese! Since they smelled so good, I thought I would check them out. When I told my neighbor (another big Trader Joe’s fan) she said she wanted to try them too, and as she got back to Trader Joe’s before I did, she bought them for us both to try.
Well, guess what. We were both dissapointed in these, and not half as as good as we were expecting. We both thought, “just OK”. Yes, the cheesy part, the Asiago on top that is baked in, that is good, however it is called a “cheesy bagel” so the bagel itself has to be good. It’s not. Trader Joe’s says “delightfully doughy inside”. It is doughy. Just soft and doughy, bready. It did not delight this bagel maven. These have none of the chewy texture which defines a real bagel. You can tell this so called “bagel” is only baked and not boiled and baked, which is what makes a real bagel. Just to compare, these are nothing at all like Trader Joe’s ARTISAN BAGELS, which are boiled and baked and to which I gave a big thumbs up. Those are good, real authentic bagels with a chewy crust and soft chewy interior. And once again this is coming from a picky New Yorker who knows from bagels!
These just taste to me like the kind of “bagels” seen in supermarkets in maybe Iowa, where they have no idea about bagels. Now I think one could come up with something akin to a good “cheesy bagel”. Take one of Trader Joe’s good Artisan Plain Bagels, cut it open and toss on some grated Asiago Cheese. Toast this up till the cheese is melted all bubbly, and you may come up with a good tasty “Cheesy Bagel”. It will be far far better than this disappointing so called bagel.
Two of us reviewing them said the same thing: “Would not buy these again”
TJ’s Artisan Bagels are $1.99 for three (good) perfectly chewy bagels. I kind of suggest you just buy those and toast them up with your favorite cheese.
I saw good reviews of this small lot coffee on the ‘net so I thought I would try it for review. For me, just OK. Not bad but not great either as many Small Lot ones have turned out to be in the past. While tasty, nothing stood out here to me as outstanding especially when I mentally compared this with some truly outstanding Small Lot coffees Trader Joe’s has had in the past (like UGANDAN MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON). Not to mention some non-small lot faves of mine: I’m talking about you, Fair Trade ORGANIC BOLIVIAN blend – which for the last few months has become my standard Go To coffee that TJ’s sells.
So while I would say this coffee may be worth a try if you are one who likes to explore every small lot that Trader Joe’s comes out with, frankly I would suggest you save your money to spend on some other coffee they have. Again for example the excellent Organic Bolivian one if you haven’t tried that before.
OK let’s be honest This is not going to win any awards for the way it tastes, however its not bad. It tastes OK. In fact once I got used to it, I kind of like the taste.
Frankly you don’t buy this for the way it tastes. You would buy this because it’s High Fiber, and because its one the the healthier cereal options you will see in the cereal section at Trader Joe’s This is a very easy way to get more dietary Fiber into your diet.
Trader Joe’s HIGH FIBER CEREAL has 9 grams of dietary fiber per serving (2/3 cup). That is about 33% or 1/3 of the recommended daily amount of fiber
I usually buy granola, which tastes better My wife buys this. As the name implies the main purpose of this cereal is simple, fiber. It does this mainly from all the different types of bran it has – wheat, corn, and oat bran are in this cereal. Bran is the outer coating of grains., which is often removed from most grains except from “whole grains”. That’s what the “whole” indicates. Bran is loaded with fiber and it is usually stripped out.
Not here. Its actually added! Here’s the ingredient list….
Ingredients: wheat bran, corn flour, corn bran, cane sugar, whole wheat, oat bran, whey, salt…… Fortified with vitamins plus iron (60% of the DVI for Iron).
This has 9 grams fiber per serving. My granola has about 5 grams (2/3 cup).
So on the fiber front it delivers. It is not exciting taste wise but is OK. Especially as you are probably not eating just this by itself. You are likely adding things…. milk or a milk type beverage. Yogurt? Fresh fruit, like perhaps some sliced banana, maybe berries, apples or other fresh fruits or maybe some dried fruits. Yogurt or Kefir… so this is just one part of your breakfast bowl. That’s what I do. That stuff will make it taste fine. I do put a bit of granola on top of everything.
My wife buys this high fiber cereal as she feels she needs more even more fiber in her diet, though I think we eat pretty well in the fiber department. Still she says has trouble staying “regular” and High Fiber cereal helps!
Also in the plus column: is it’s low in calories, very low in fat, is low in sodium, has zerocholesterol, PLUS this cereal is low in Added Sugars, compared to almost any other cereal Trader Joe’s sells. So really compared to many others, this is a “healthy choice” in the Trader Joe’s cereal department. Maybe the healthiest cereal they sell?
It looks like little bits of brown stringy things which I assume have been extruded and baked. I am not very familiar with Nabisco’s FIBER ONE cereal but its a little similar, though I think the shape of that cereal is thicker that this.
Taste wise? I doubt anyone would say “this is the best cereal I ever had”. The best I would say is its”not too bad”. No really, I think it tastes it’s OK. Fairly neutral in flavor, it is nice and crunchy. A bit naturally sweet. It taste healthy. Generally I myself use it like a topping, and put it on top of my breakfast mixture of chia seeds, fruit, yogurt and sometimes kefir. I sometimes add a little bit of granola on top of everything to improve it all. But again, if you want an easy way to add some extra fiber in your diet, this cereal is certainly an easy way to add some to your breakfast in the morning, which will be good for you!
(You can compare to FIBER ONE)
Other things I get from Trader Joe’s for breakfast that are healthy, high fiber are Steel Cut Oats. Chia Seeds……
Personally I have always liked the classic GRAPE NUTS cereal – which is also pretty high fiber, and prefer it to this however my wife prefers TJ’s High Fiber cereal. She doesn’t like Grape Nuts. She has brought this home quite a few times now, which means she really likes it, and says it works to keep her regular! Just saying if that’s what you are looking for too, this will probably be good for you too! 😉
“the recommended daily amount of fiber is 28 grams per day” so this is just one part….
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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