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.
(NEWS: May 2026) – update1 – This has been Out of Stock for weeks, at least in my area (NYC). I was told at the front desk they finally got shipments of it coming in. So should back in your area too hopefully (update2 5/29/26) PS I was able to find it today and noticed they raised the price! Went from 2.99 to now $3.29
ZERO CHOLESTEROL
NINE GRAMS OF FIBER PER SERVING.
High Fiber. Low Fat. Low Sodium...
Fortified with 8 Vitamins Plus Iron.
What’s not to like?
Eating this is one easy way to get some more dietary Fiber into your diet. It’s surely one of the healthiest cereal options on the shelves at Trader Joe’s.
I am not sure this may win any awards for the way it tastes. However I think it actually tastes OK. In fact once I got used to it, I now even like the taste of this cereal. You pick this cereal because it’s healthy and want fiber, and on that front is does deliver and it tastes OK.
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 for myself, which tastes better that this of course. My wife buys this: High Fiber Cereal. As the name implies the main purpose of this is simple. Provide you with dietary Fiber. It does this mainly from all the different types of bran it has – wheat, corn, and oat bran. Bran is the outer coating of grains. Very often removed from most grains except from those listed as “whole grains”. That’s what the “whole” indicates.
Bran is loaded with fiber and it is usually stripped out. Not here, they actually add back THREE kinds of bran. Here’s the ingredient list….
Ingredients: wheatbran, corn flour, cornbran, cane sugar, whole wheat, oatbran, whey, salt…… Fortified with vitamins plus iron (60% of the DVI for Iron).
My wife buys this 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!
This has 9 grams fiber per serving. My granola has about 5 grams (2/3 cup). So on the fiber front it delivers. Taste wise its OK. The texture is nice and crunchy. It looks like little brown strings. There are sometimes clumps of them. I imagine like me, you are probably not eating just a bowl of this cereal and some milk.
You are likely adding things. Besides some milk or milk type beverage, maybe some Yogurt? Kefir? Fresh fruit, like perhaps some sliced banana, maybe berries, apples or other fresh fruits or maybe some dried fruits. Kefir… so this is just one part of your breakfast bowl. That’s what I do and it tastes fine. I even put a bit of granola on top of everything to make it a little tastier.
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 I do prefer it to this however my wife prefers this cereal by far, and doesn’t like Grape Nuts at all.
She has brought boxes of this cereal home quite a few times now, which means she really likes it, and says it does works to keep her system nice and regular! Just sayin’, if that’s what you are looking for too, this will probably be good for you as well!;)
“the recommended daily amount of fiber is 28 grams per day” so this is just one part….
High Fiber Cereal$2.99(14.5 oz)$3.29
So for two healthy cereal options from Trader Joe’s, I would recommend this as well as OATS (steel cut preferably) I buy both of them.
(PS One reader even Commented they use this cereal to bake bran muffins!)
Trader Joe’s says: “Trader Joe’s Instant Cold Brew Coffee starts with 100% Arabica coffee beans from India. Our supplier uses an all-natural, proprietary extraction method that took them over two years to develop. It’s truly a unique process that yields a fine, dark powder. Add one heaping teaspoon of this Instant Cold Brew Coffee to 12 fluid ounces of cold or hot water, then stir until dissolved. The result is a cup of Cold Brew that’s full-bodied, dark, and smooth, with a caramel-like aroma and rich, cold-brew coffee taste.”
I am a big fan of coffee, a real coffee. While I am not half as geeky and fanatic about it as many coffee geeks, I do love me some (great) coffee. Hence I almost never drink any “instant” coffee, which I find not even in the same league as a brewed coffee.
As far as the Cold brewed coffee trend that has caught on the last few years, well I always will prefer a regular brewed coffee too over that. If I want it Cold, I let it sit, chill it and enjoy it then, maybe with ice. But Cold brew doesn’t excite me compared to a chilled down brewed cup of coffee or some pre-made, iced brewed coffee. Still, I wanted to try this “Instant Cold Brew” from Trader Joe’s.
As I am not a big fan of any instant coffee I can’t say I am crazy about this one either however I found it actually made me a drinkable cold coffee beverage on a hot day. So maybe this is good for one of your Coffee Emergencies, where you didn’t plan ahead!
The label says add 1 heaping teaspoon per 12 oz of water but I think I will play with this and add more to make it stronger. This is of course very convenient which is its main selling point. It is convenient I’ve even used it to add to something as an ingredient where coffee was called for.
Trader Joe’s sells some fresh “PIZZA SAUCE” carried in the refrigerated case, near the pizza dough. The sauce goes for $2.69 for 10 oz. I decided to give it a try.
The other night we planned on making a fresh pizza from scratch (I made my own dough using the famous Jim Lahey recipe). When I was ready to assemble the pizza for cooking I used this sauce.
Now my Go-To typically for tomato sauce for making pizza might just be to use TJ’s very decent jarred Marinara. Either the Plain version or the Roasted Garlic version. I like them both.
So here’s my honest review of this fresh sauce. “Just OK”. I would find it hard to recommend. I just tasted it on a spoon. I could swear it gave me a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Possibly from so many dried herbs? It is thick with a lot of ingredients. Too complicated?
I gave it a chance and used it to make the pizza. The pizza turned out OK and yes the sauce was a bit better now cooked but again “just ok” so would stick to my Go-To (and cheaper) jar of TJ’s Marinara – or whatever sauce you like at TJ’s).
So instead of this I suggest using TJ’s regular or ROASTED GARLIC MARINARA if you are making your own pizza from scratch – using either Trader Joe’s pizza dough or your own dough or whatever – and add your mozzarella or favorite cheese(s). Or their prepared Pizza Base.
To top my (marinara) sauce for our pizza I will add a pinch of dried herbs like oregano, maybe some crushed red pepper. Usually I will add fresh garlic. Later I will add fresh basil, cut with a scissors. Then give it all a drizzle of EVOO.
This will be way better than this prepared “pizza sauce” and the Marinara is cheaper to boot. You will plenty left over too to use in another dish, or freeze for later.
I would not buy this again.
Speaking of fresh basil – Here is the legendary late, great Dom DeMarco cutting on some basil with scissors. The Master at work and whose pizza’s I was lucky enough to get to enjoy many times, sometimes waiting a hour or more…. RIP Maestro Dom.
I love pistachios and I love chocolate. So when I saw this new item Trader Joe’s recently came out with, naturally I wanted to try it. The concept sounds good.
But the reality? Well, while tasty three of us tasted this and had the same reaction. This isn’t a slam dunk success. Why not? Pistachios are kind of delicate and subtle in flavor. The texture is also a little soft. Coating them in chocolate sounds good but we found the the chocolate really dominates and overshadows the flavor of the pistachios. Unlike other nuts, say almonds where the almond can really stand up equally to the chocolate. You know you are eating almonds, as they have a more distinct in flavor not to mention a very crunchy texture.
So while I find it kind of tasty its a bit of a miss not a hit . I probably won’t buy this again. If I want a chocolate covered nut, I will just stick to the chocolate almonds or cashews.
My wife bought this to try though we are not lactose intolerant nor vegetarian. Taste wise it was very MEH. Neither of us thought it was good and we both thought “don’t buy this again”. Still if you are lactose intolerant (or vegetarian) perhaps this recent addition to the frozen dessert options at Trader Joe’s is something you might be interested in.
“A light roast with notes of dried fruit and orange”
This is the latest “small lot” coffee Trader Joe’s has come out with (Dec ’23). This coffee is from Brazil, called “Cachoeira da Grama”, which comes from Brazil’s Vale de Grama in the Sao Paolo region.
Trader Joe’s describes the beans as a “light roast” on the package and in this case, I agree (we know TJ’s roast descriptions can vary wildly). The package says these coffee beans were “double fermented”: “this innovative double fermenting process brings about the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, and the light roast unveils lively notes of dried fruit and orange.”
Naturally whenever I taste a new Trader Joe’s Small Lot coffee, I can’t help but to compare it with my memory of other small lot coffee they’ve had. How does this new one compare to the best of their Small Lot coffees some of which were so freaking good, they blew me away?
I neither loved nor hated this; it falls in the middle. This Brazilian one is good and is a decent coffee with yes notes of “dried fruit and orange”. While I thought it was fine I didn’t find it terribly special. Yet when I searched online about this coffee I found some reviewers just raving about it. Me, I would not give this a Rave however lets face it, things like coffee, or wine for that matter, are the most personal of taste preferences. At some point only you can decide what you think.
I found this this a decent coffee but when I thought of others… a few amazingsmall lot coffee gems Trader Joe’s had in the past – I would not put this one up there with at least two others I recall. Not terribly long ago, TJ’s had a terrific small lot coffee that came from the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – I found that one to be wonderful. A standout. Ditto for another one which was really good, the HONDURAN Small Lot Coffee.
Both of those two small lot coffees were incredible finds to my taste and I cross my fingers I may see someday either of them again someday at Trader Joe’s as I would buy either in a second. But I won’t hold my breath because as we know all too well, one of the first things about Trader Joe’s one learns the hard way is if you fall in love with something you may have your heart broken someday.
Trader Joe’s Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Small Lot Coffee was $9.99 (12 oz) a decent price for a small lot coffee. The small lot are “Limited Editions” so if you want to try it, grab it asap.
I would not buy this again. It was good but not as special as other Small Lot Coffees I’ve tasted. But I saw that some people really liked this, so as the French say, “à chacun son gout“
Just FYI – One of my Go To coffee’s at Trader Joe’s is the AZMARI BUNNI, Afro-Latin blend (light roast). It’s a consistently excellent and well balanced blend which I find to be a terrific all around coffee that never fails to please me in the morning. They carry this regularly now. If you have not tried it I suggest starting there.
My wife bought this “MISO RAMEN SOUP”. Now she loves ramen and will usually buy her favorite, Korean Shin Ramen, which is very good. It costs more. She made this and when I asked her what she thought her review was pretty short: “I’ll never buy this again”
Inside the cup there’s some noodles which don’t look like the dried ramen you are used to. These are straight wheat noodles which look semi-dry (pre-boiled?). There’s not a lot of noodles. There’s a dried packet of stuff (the soup) plus a little clear packet, which we thought was one of those drying packets and almost threw it away. Nope, its part of the ramen set; The clear packet contains a little bit of oil you add along with the dry packet of miso soup.
I tasted her ramen and here’s what I thought of this product.
The Good: The broth was actually pretty decent. Better than I expected. It tastes like a Japanese miso soup broth. There was even a piece or two of wakame (seaweed) floating around in the soup. Some umami from seaweed and mushrooms. The Ingredient list reads fairly natural; you don’t see wierd names of chemicals just dried ingredients. Broth 7/10
The Bad: Ramen? Well they really messed up the “ramen” part of this “miso ramen soup”. Noodles are lousy. We both thought the noodles were not very good and to add insult to injury they are very skimpy with the noodles. These noodles are not dry but a little flexible, like a semi-dried, pre-boiled noodles? They barely had any texture or bite to them after the recommended six minutes. Very MEH as they should be the star. Noodles 5/10
The Sodium content is listed as 870, which is almost 40% of your daily recommended level of salt. We cut that down by only using about 3/4 of the packet. Naturally that will make the broth a little less strong. It was fine for us. All instant ramen tends to have quite a bit of sodium. Always check the labels. This really applies to all the Asian products at TJ’s.
If you decide to actually try this, it may be better if you try adding a poached egg and chopped scallions as they suggest.
$1.89
I had an idea that since the broth was not bad but the noodles are Meh I thought one might combine this with the packet of cheap ramen dried noodles you might have in the house. I used to get them 5/$1 a few years back!
If you want good ramen, Korean Shin Ramen runs rings around this and most instant ramen though it costs more.
NEW PRODUCT: “Seasoned Cold Smoked Salmon with Dill Pickle Flavoring”.
Trader Joe’s seems to just love dill pickle stuff. They have quite a few products with the flavor. I love (fresh) dill on many things and especially love a sprinkle of fresh dill on smoked salmon (or fresh salmon). I love Gravlax (Scandinavian dill cured salmon).
However I didn’t love this new TJ smoked salmon flavor at all, I found it to be a Miss. For one thing I am guessing they use dried dill, not fresh. In fact they even list “dill weed oil” as one of the ingredients, which seems to me like trying to mimic fresh dill’s taste? Before reading this, I didn’t know “dill weed oil” existed as an ingredient. Furthermore this salmon seems a bit tougher (thicker cut?) then other seasoned salmons I really like from TJ’s, namely the Everything Smoked Salmon as well as the Pastrami Smoked Salmon, both of which I think work way better than this seasoning. I like both of those TJ’s smoked salmons
The 4 oz. package was $6.49. For me this stuff is a Miss. I rate it somewhere between a “Meh” and a Rant. Frankly my advice is pass on this but get either of those other two good seasoned smoked salmon Trader Joe’s offers.
(NOTE: Since when I originally wrote this review of the red package, they came out with another noodle flavor called, “SPICY GARLIC AND SESAME SAUCE” (in a black package). I recommend that (black) version over this one (red) because they improved the sauce in the black one. The cooking ideas in this post apply to both. PS – the “spicy” one is not very spicy!
Trader Joe’s Squiggly Knife Cut Style Noodles with Soy and Sesame Sauce
One could easily call me a noodle loving foodie. I will go for most any Asian noodle dish you put in front of me. So when I first saw these Trader Joe’s Noodles they looked promising. Not to mention they do say they are “Made in Taiwan”. Chinese/Asian noodles like these that have ruffled edges are quite typical and desired. Ruffled edges hold sauce better.
You will often see these type of “knife cut” noodles for sale in a Chinese/Asian supermarket. Nice to be able to buy them at Trader Joe’s as for most of us that is way easier.
Soon after Trader Joe’s came out with these noodles, they became hard to find on the shelves, learned because they blew up big time on Tiktok and Instagram. They became such a big thing on social media, that trying to find them became next to impossible when these first came out (early 2023). These were selling so fast, shelves were emptied almost as soon as they were filled*. Things got so nuts, believe it or not, there were “food scalpers” actually RESELLING THEM for profit* at way more than they cost! Argh!!%#@$
(Update-2, Aug 2023) Things seem to have calmed down with these noodles, and I’m able to find them on on the shelves.
(2025) They are way easier to find now, almost always in stock. Plus they came out with another version (in a black package) which I found even better.
So my first big question back then was : Why were these so popular? Are these really that good?
I had a feeling one simple reason was simply the price. For $4.99 for a package of 4 (or $1.25 each at that time) I was pretty sure people basically were viewing these as “dollar ramen”. I do mean cheap $1 ramen (or 2 for $1) NOT quality Korean or Japanese ramen packages that cost $4-5 each. I grant you these “squiggly noodles” look way better than cheap $1 ramen. Though, if you only cook them as them as directed, meaning just eat these noodles and the very mediocre sauce (“soy and sesame”) my answer to “are they that good” is basically a MEH – qualified on how you make these. If you make these exactly as they tell you to do (just boil noodles add sauce packet) At best I would say these are Mediocre / Meh. But these have potential!
If you make them as directed on the package, I give these maybe a 4/10.
My take: These noodles have great potential to be good, if you bother to fix them up! With a little effort and you can come up with a tasty dish using these noodles (and your noodle).
Solution. Consider these noodles a blank canvas. With a little effort you can turn these noodles into a decent tasting noodle dish. Basically you will add or make some sauce, plus likely add some of your own things. Do that and these noodles go way up. Perhaps 7/10.
(I found this package of “Soy and Sesame” sauce poor)
So my suggestion is do not even bother with the included sauce. Check the ingredients which reads as mostly chemicals (this refers to this sauce that comes in the red bag. The (black one) comes with way better sauce.
The package says: “Cook the Noodles in boiling water for four minutes, drain, then toss in the Sauce and prepare to be pleased.” My first time, I did just that. I found that dish of noodles very mediocre at best
Cooking (as per the package’s instructions): “Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add noodles. Cook 4 minutes. Drain and add sauce packet”.
Now while these aren’t superb noodles, the noodles are decent enough. They have potential. The ruffled edges are actually great at holding sauce. So you need some kind of good sauce with these. (red package) Come up with your own sauce. Add other things. Do this and these noodles can become a dish you will really enjoy. and it won’t take much effort. Really!
The second time I made these noodles I took a different take. First, I knew I would add my own sauce. I also thought I would use these noodles to make a Stir Fry dish. So here’s what I did. First I cooked (par-boiled) the noodles. I reduced the time from 4 minutes to 2 minutes. – as they will be cooked more stir frying them and adding sauce.
Cook 2 minutes, drain them, and run under cold water. Put drained noodles in a bowl temporarily. Mix in 1 tsp of oil, stirring to coat (this helps noodles from sticking together).
In a wok I sautéed chopped garlic, ginger, green onions and a few veggies I had in the fridge for a minute in a tablespoon of oil. I pushed those things up the side of my wok and poured in a little more oil I made a scrambled egg in the center of the wok. When the egg was about 75% cooked I tossed in the par-boiled noodles, and stir fried everything together for about a minute or two. Now I added my sauce* mixture and stirred everything gently to coat the noodles. I gave them 30-60 seconds like that to come together and let the sauce reduce a bit.
I plated the noodle dish, tossing on some chopped scallions, cilantro, sliced cucumber. Drizzled on a bit of Toasted Sesame Oil. Wow, this noodle dish was so much better it wasn’t funny. These noodles now tasted good! Here’s the dish (and yes I know I should have cut the cucumbers way thinner!)
So most important is make or add your ownsauce. Add a few things. Here’s some basic ideas….
(Quick basic Chinese saucerecipe: In a small bowl add 2 cloves garlic, crushed. Add 1 tbl soy sauce, 1/2 inch fresh grated ginger. 1 tsp brown sugar. Add 3 tbl of water and mix well.
OK, that’s a start. If you want more flavor consider adding : 1/2 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp black vinegar (sub: rice vinegar), toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp Gochugang. ) A heaping tbl of crunchy peanut butter can work great in a sauce with these noodles. If you use that, mix it with 2 tbs water to thin it out.
Oh come on, is that too much work for you? Ok, then just use a prepared Asian sauce for example TJ’s SOYAKI sauce plus Chili Onion Crunch. Maybe TJ’s GOCHUJANG sauce mixed with 2 tbls water, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and some Soy sauce. Maybe TJ roasted sesame oil.
Still too much work? Fine, add some soy sauce, butter and black pepper.
Almost anything will be better than the poor “soy and sesame” sauce this comes with. If you insist on using the included packet, use no more than half of it, then add a little a bit of low sodium soy sauce and a clove of crushed garlic, and peanut butter thinned out with some water. Toss on Chili Crunch.
Of course you can add veggies. Proteins. Just look in the fridge or freezer and see what you have that you could add. With just a bit of effort will figure out what you like on these noodles.
TJ’s “SQUIGGLY NOODLES”- red bag – $4.99 $5.49 (4 noodle packs with sauce). “Product of Taiwan”
I would suggest try them at least once as a stir fried dish. You could come up with a great sauce topping the way Aaron of “Aaron and Claire” makes this (Check out Aaron’s Chili Garlic Noodles recipe from YouTube). With ground pork or ground beef you can make a fantastic noodle dish. Even if you just add a runny fried egg, soft scrambled eggs or a 6 minute soft boiled egg on top, that can make these better. Chopped scallions and Cilantro if you like it. A really nice topping could be my hack for easy CharSiu made with TJ’s Carnitas Pork. Proteins? Sliced Baked tofu. Sliced chicken. I usually look through my fridge and whatever leftovers I find that could work go into my dish. TERIYAKI CHICKEN MEATBALLS!? For sho’
Watch Aaron make a Garlic Chili Noodle dish (video). “That Will Change Your Life”. One could definitely try this with these noodles which look like noodles he is using. I’ve watched so many of Aaron’s cooking videos, and I know this has really upped my cooking game for making Korean & Asian dishes especially using noodles. So check him out too if you want to up your noodle game.
Ingredients
Check and you will see way, way too many processed things and chemical names listed, at least for my tastes. Plus it has fairly high sodium!
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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