Latest small lot coffee offering from Trader Joe’s. An organic coffee from the La Concordia region in Chiapas. Whole Beans in a Light Roast, and yes it did have some fruity notes with hints of chocolate and caramel as they describe.
This one was pretty good! Especially if you like your coffee from TJ’s a bit lighter as opposed to a medium or darker roast. “Que lo disfrutes!” (may you enjoy it)
$8.99 (12 oz)
“The newest addition to our Small Lot Coffee program, we’re making a return to Chiapas, a state in southern Mexico. This time, we’ve sourced our coffee from a group of growers within the La Concordia region of Chiapas, where the high elevation and oceanic micro-climate create optimum conditions for growing rich, chocolatey, full-flavored coffees. True to form, each sip of Trader Joe’s La Concordia Mexico Small Lot Coffee is indeed remarkably rich, deliciously chocolatey, and fabulously full-flavored, with notes of sticky caramel and fresh berries throughout.”
I heard about this new cheese and had to try it. My review? Yes, it’s as good as they say. I really, really liked it. In fact, I could not stop eating it. This cheese is pretty damn delicious.
Try this spread on crackers or on a slice of good crusty sourdough bread. Toast some up and spread this on a Crostini. It pairs great with fruit. Apples, grapes, figs….. On the other hand, they recommend putting on a burger!! Even a turkey burger or Veg. Masala Burger would be improved if you put some of this on top.
This would be great for #Holidays, gatherings….
If you included it on a #cheeseboard or charcuterie board I think this would get a ton of “where did you get this cheese ?” comments.
Goes great with eggs, I am thinking about mixing this into an omelet. Should be wonderful like that…
$2.99 – Says “LIMITED SUPPLY” so grab one while you can… (or two!)
“…And for a tangy and tart goat’s milk cheese? Something sweet, umami-rich, and irresistibly alliaceous will make it sing— something like the combo found in Trader Joe’s Caramelized Onion Goat’s Milk Cheese, in fact. Whether it’s enjoyed on a cracker, a bit of crostini, or a well-toasted bagel, this Caramelized Onion Goat Cheese creates a synergistic symphony on the palate. It elevates cheese plates and charcuterie boards with its balance of sweet and savory. It uplifts burgers and sandwiches when used as a spread. And when baked with a bit of puff pastry and fresh fig, makes a truly unforgettable hors d’oeuvre. Just be sure to stop by the cheese section of your neighborhood Trader Joe’s soon, because supplies are limited!”
Chefs and pro cooks love these as its the purest, most natural form of vanilla. “Bourbon Vanilla” is considered the best vanilla, from Southeast Asia. I did check the label but assume these may be from Madagascar.
Pro cooks scrape out the tiny seeds inside these pods with a knife and use that in recipes that call for vanilla. Don’t throw out the pod after using either as they still have lots of aroma. You can put the pods into a large jar and and cover them with about a pound of sugar. Let that sit for a few days or more as the vanilla beans infuse the sugar so it becomes yummy Vanilla Sugar.
$2.99 for two vanilla beans
In addition to these Trader Joe’s has lots of other vanilla products like BOURBON VANILLA BEAN PASTE and they are all on the shelves now for the FALL/WINTER baking season.
Here’s a new (Summer ’24) Small Lot Coffee offering. This one is from Brazil, which is of course one of the largest coffee producers in the world. This particular small lot coffee is from the North East coastal region of Bahia, a very vibrant and culturally important region of Brazil.
The coffee is grown there but since Bahia doesn’t have ideal conditions for drying the coffee, the beans are transported elsewhere for that by truck. During these truck rides, the beans naturally ferment.
Trader Joe says: “Ripe Arabica coffee beans spend the long drive in a hot, closed truck. These conditions set off a fermentation process that, unlike the controlled and monitored process for most coffee, happens naturally and with minimal interference. Such spontaneity gives Tropical Bahia Brazil its unique character. A medium roast results in a balanced coffee that boasts layered flavors, notes of sweet fruits, and a touch of acidity.”
I would not say this is one of my favorite of the small lot coffees I have tried from Trader Joe’s (they have had some stunners, like that DOMINICAN one, I adored) – however this is a nice decent coffee, with a light balanced flavor and body with just a bit of acidity and fruitiness. The beans are a Medium Roast.
One nice thing about this coffee is it’s its price, at $7.99 one of the lowest priced small lot coffees I can remember them selling?
Trader Joe’s is selling these potted sunflower plants for $4.99 each (Summer ’24)
I think these are so cool looking, don’t you?
They will really brighten up a room.
After I saw them at the entrance to my Trader Joe’s, I just could not resist.
I picked up one and then actually went and got another to give to my neighbor. She thought this might be a special mini variety that will stay fairly small. I’ve seen sunflower plants grow to be 6 feet tall or more. But this size is perfect for any room or entrance way. We will see if it grows into a monster but if it stays in fairly small pots will probably stay fairly small.
The nice thing about this living plant over the cut sunflowers I’ve also seen at Trader Joe’s is as this should stay around for longer than the cut sunflowers, which I think probably look best for about four or five days.
There are a number of buds below the flower that may flower themselves in time. I will probably re-pot this in a week or two as its very root bound.
I may update this with another picture in future as more buds open up and if it gets more flowers. Here are some tips on growing i found…
UPDATE: The plant looked healthy and for a few weeks but after about a month it doesn’t look great anymore. Oh well! I confess I didn’t replant it, which might have helped it last longer.
Saw these today at my local Trader Joe’s. These long peppers caught my eye and looked really good, though I didn’t get to try them yet. They say these are sweet, not hot, some gourmet variety for a long pepper. Most peppers I see shaped like this have been of the hot variety but not this one.
One idea for these is they would be perfect for stuffing and I found the growers website and they have a number of recipes for stuffed peppers which look and sound pretty pretty good.
I would expect these are one offs so if you want too try them and you see them, probably buy asap while they are in stock, which I expect is Limited.
Being able to pick a few leaves of basil whenever you want some is a pleasure. The smell you get from fresh basil is amazing, say ripped up on top of your plate of pasta. Yum. So once or twice a year if I see it, I buy a new pot of ORGANIC BASIL at Trader Joe’s. They sell the big pots for $3.99, a pretty good deal. You can get a smaller pot of herbs for even less ($2.49)
There are lots of plants in the container, at least a dozen if not more. So sure you can just take this pot home, put it on a sunny window sill and pick off some leaves when you want them. But the reality is if you leave it as it is, the plants will last maybe a few months.
You need to re-pot it, if you want it to thrive. I’ve learned the hard way that the trick with these herb containers you buy at the supermarket is, if you want them to really flourish, you have to take them out and re-pot them. You heard me. You need to get your hands in some dirt!
Why bother? Well basil grows quite easily and pretty fast. Each one of those little plants will grow and grow and each one sends out lots of roots. If you just just leave all of those plants together in the orginal pot they will get way too crowded, and the roots will kind of strangle each other. Become “root bound”. Maybe after two or three months the plants will start to look worse and worse as they all fight each other to survive in that limited space. Therefore with these, the best thing to do is when you get the plant home is take it out of the pot. Break them up (gently) and replant them in a number of pots. I save old pots for this to re-use.
You gently separate the roots, very carefully with your fingers and get one or two or three plants max in a bunch and re-pot them. To really see How To just search YouTube where you will find lots of instructional videos on How To re-pot a basil plant. Of course you will need a few pots and dirt to do this but its worth the effort as the plants will live a lot longer. And you will get lots more basil as a result. A dollar store is good place to find soil and pots cheap.
I wish as well as this Italian basil that Trader Joe’s also carried THAI BASIL too. Never see that there. But they do have other herbs like rosemary, oregano, mint….
“Kosher for Passover. Light and crispy with a mild flavor”
(seasonal item)
I like how Trader Joe’s puts a nice spin on matzos by saying they have a “mild flavor”. Let’s face it, matzos are at best bland so yes one could say a “mild flavor”. I find them almost tasteless on their own. But put some butter on them and then we’ll talk!
I tasted these Trader Joe’s matzo and they tasted like well matzo. In my time I’ve eaten plenty of matzos, and I am pretty Meh on them but especially with a premium butter all over them they make a good butter delivery system. While as a “cracker” or for a “base for hearty toppings” they remain rather bland, I have always found matzos to be best as a vehicle to put things on like a huge spoon of sweet delicious charoses (a sweet yummy mix of chopped apples, nuts and honey) or maybe made into a Matzobrei … as with addition of butter, eggs and some good jam and fried up they are pretty good.
Price wise this box of Matzo seems to be going for about half the price where I’ve just seen them in a supermarket and at Zabar’s. There they are at least $5 / box so this price is a plus.
If you are in the market for some matzo for your Seder, grab a box, and give these a try.
Getting near St. Patrick’s Day, I saw two new Irish cheeses in the cheese case at Trader Joe’s.
They looked interesting so I decided to try them.
The first one is called IRISH PORTER CHEDDAR CHEESE. As you can see, it’s got yellow areas mixed with brown areas which I imagine is the porter beer (the brown color makes me think of Guinness though that is technically a stout) Its a nice mild cheddar cheese. I think the porter mellows it out nicely. When you slice this cheese it looks really interesting with a pattern of swirls of brown and yellow.
The second cheese is also a cheese with a little something extra, here an IRISH CHEDDAR CHEESE with Irish Whiskey. This cheddar is a bit more robust than the other one, and this is very tasty too. It has a little more sharpness to it. However to be honest I could not distinguish the taste of whiskey but the cheese has a nice blend of flavors. Maybe a hint of whiskey is in there so very subtle; don’t expect this to taste like a big slug of Jameson’s.
Both of these cheeses were $11.99 a pound; a bit more expensive of course than many other imported cheddar cheese’s such as one my top favorite cheeses at Trader Joe’s: the excellent New Zealand Grass Fed Sharp Cheddar, which is now $6.99 a pound (used to be 5.99)
Still if you want to have some Irish cheese on the table for St. Paddy’s Day you may find either of these Irish cheddar cheeses worth trying. They would be nice on a cheese plate with an assortment of crackers and fruit. Or I imagine would match nicely with some Irish Soda Bread.
I assume these are “Seasonal” cheeses put out around the holiday; they may not be stocked forever, maybe just for a few months?
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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