Trader Joe’s IVY’S RESERVE SOMERSET RED CHEESE, reviewed

26 Jul 2026 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, cheese, condiments, DIY, Dried Fruits and Nuts, fresh, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, review, snacks, tea, Trader Joes, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


RAVE

IVY’S RESERVE SOMERSET RED is an award winning cheese, featured by Trader Joe’s sometime back as their “Spotlight Cheese”.

Is it worth buying? Here’s my honest review.

Excellent. This cheese is so good. I enjoyed tasting it so much, I had to stop myself from devouring about 1/2 the package. If you haven’t tried it already, put this cheese on your list. Especially as it’s TIME LIMITED.

This is yet one more fantastic super premium Imported cheese you can buy at Trader Joe’s for a decent price. Note that this is one of those products sold under it’s own brand.

IVY’S RESERVE SOMERSET RED is a bit like an “aged cheddar” with a mouthwatering edge of sharpness, a hint of sweetness and a lot of umami with a lovely orange red color. While in the cheddar family this is actually a “Red Leicester“cheese and is produced at Wyke’s Farm in Somerset, England. The label for Ivy’s Reserve Somerset Red describes it as “nutty, mellow & moreish,” More-ish is a British term that means, “having a very pleasant taste and making you want to eat more.”

That’s exactly the effect it had on me. I kept wanting just one more taste, and when I finished my taste test, I saw about a 1/4 of the package somehow had magically vanished 😉

“Crafted in the style of a Red Leicester, Ivy’s Red is a special edition among Wyke Farm’s variety of Cheddars. It definitely stands out for its burnt-orange color and nutty & fruity notes, which are delivered with a firm texture that is rich, creamy, a bit tangy”

Lovely deep orange color with the taste of aged authentic British cheddar (aged over 1 year) A little earthy, a little tangy.

I had to try it melted, and of course it tasted fantastic melted. I think this might make the best melted cheese sandwich. Try that and add to other things…. an omelet perhaps?

Trader Joe’s has a picture with a cheese board and I am sure this would be a big hit on any ones #cheeseboard. They picture it with some some chutney, dates, nuts and crackers. Indicating how great this could contrast with the sweet spiciness of say, their MANGO CHUTNEY.

It says “LIMITED” so don’t expect to always find it but if you see it, I highly recommend trying this. At a high end cheese shop I would not be surprised to see this imported farm cheese selling for at least $20 a pound.

Trader Joe’s sell this for $5.49 (for a 7 oz piece)

Trader Joe’s BRITISH STYLE CRUMPETS

23 Aug 2021 7 Comments

by promacnyc in bread, General, Pantry, Products, Rave, review, snacks, Staple, tea, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , ,


RULE BRITANNIA.

Have you tried Trader Joe’s “British Style Crumpets”? If you do, I think you will love them as much as we do.

First, you can not get more British than crumpets. Check these out which you will find near Trader Joe’s English Muffins.

Just in case you’ve never tried crumpets, well they are really good. Trader Joe’s version is actually quite decent. After they are toasted up, crumpets are nicely chewy yet a little crispy on the outside. The main thing about crumpets is that they are chock full of little holes and those hold onto butter and jam, etc.

Try these yummy baked treats too next time you’re reaching for English Muffins so you can really get your full Brit on while watching THE CROWN or BRIDGERTON.

Crumpets are soft and as you can see in the picture, loaded with tiny holes. They get those holes, the way pancakes get them while cooking, and this unique texture and the holes makes them fantastic at absorbing butter and jam. Which helps makes them scrumptious. Toast these up gently, until slightly golden brown. Top with good butter and your favorite jam (or marmalade). They are both a bit soft and a bit crunchy, a fantastic combo. TJ’s crumpets are about $3.29 for a pack of six that come in two sealed plastic compartments. Personally I cut the package in two and freeze some for later.

Crumpets happen to be quite delicious and obviously these will go really well with some tea.

TIP: I recommend you really get them toasted, just to the point where they stop being soft and get a little bit of hard texture on top and bottom. Spread immediately with butter, getting it into all the holes. Top with Marmalade.

Mustard and Ale Cheddar Cheese

19 Feb 2021 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Beer, cheese, dairy, General, New, Products, Rave, snacks, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , ,


Trader Joe’s “British Mustard and Ale Cheddar”? Hmmm…Sounds a bit intriguing, no? Comes in a small package, only 5 ounces and kind of cheap, it was well under two bucks. Now I have to say I’m not usually one who is too into cheeses with added “flavors”. Still on rare occasion you do come across a quite decent cheese with something added to the cheese that works quite well. An example are some Dutch Gouda’s that have cumin or caraway seeds in them. I’ve tried some that are really delicious. I didn’t know what to expect from a Mustard and Ale Cheddar. I love mustard with cheese of course especially cheddar. So I got some of this mustard and ale cheese to taste, and frankly thought well it’s OK, its got a lot of whole mustard seeds in there which are a little strong, maybe over-shadowing the cheddar. I couldn’t put my finger on the “ale” part really. So I think, it’s OK but would I buy more, no, not really, I’d rather buy a jar of TJ’s excellent Whole Grain Dijon Mustard and some Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar or New Zealand Extra Sharp Cheddar and use some mustard as I see fit. But here’s the funny part. During this evaluation, I tasted a piece, then tasted another. Just one more bite…. ok one more… and soon I realized during this tasting I had eaten about half the package. It was hard for me to stop tasting this cheese! Maybe I liked it more than I though? So if the combination sounds appealing to you, you may want to give this a try and see what you think.

TIP While we are at it, if you want a great melted cheese sandwich, try spreading that TJ whole grain Dijon on some nice bread before you add your cheese. Grill it up with butter. When all the elements melt together its pretty great. So I figure this cheese might make a very good melted cheese sandwich too. If anyone tries that let us know if its any good like that. So its a bit odd, but this cheese may be worth trying. If you put it out on a cheese plate, folks might even ask where you got this stuff.