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
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Trader Joe’s has come out with another variety of their CHOCOLATE BARK. I liked the original one with pretzels and sea salt (sweet and salty)
The new one comes in a pink bag. DARK CHOCOLATE BARK plus Puffed Quinoa and Freeze Dried Raspberries.
From Trader Joe’s: “The Bark you’ll find within each bag starts as a thin(ish) slab of rich Dark Chocolate studded with pieces of pleasantly tart freeze-Dried Raspberries and Puffed Quinoa.”
So I got some to review. At first I thought it was a bit sweet, however as frequently happens when I am tasting something from Trader Joe’s, I could not stop eating more. I kept saying to myself, “just one more bite.” Then I realize I had already devoured 3 or 4 pieces. Be warned, this chocolate may be slightly addictive.
This new variation on the dark chocolate slab is good. Quite tasty. In the bag quite a few largish pieces of the bark which you can break up into smaller bites. The chocolate combo is pretty yummy,, just a little bit on the sweet side however the tart dried raspberries in this does counterbalance it all out. There is a nice crunchy texture you get from the puffed quinoa in these, kind of like chocolate with Rice Krispies. Here its tiny puffed quinoa bits. The dried raspberries give a nice backnote of fruit in each bite.
Trader Joe’s “San Francisco Style Sourdough” is a popular bread at Trader Joe’s. And for good reason. Its just a really good tasting bread which everybody seems to love and it’s priced reasonably at three and a half bucks.
How about this for a review? I buy this all the time. This has consistently been one of my standard Go-To items to pick up whenever I shop at Trader Joe’s. One of my favorites breads they sell, and they have a lot of good breads!
This is a handy bread to have on hand. Good for many purposes.
I bet you love ingredient lists where the list is nice and short, like I do. Which it is here. Basically the ingredients say: “unbleached enriched flour, malted barley, water, salt.”
No preservatives.
Its a round loaf, sliced. The slices here are a bit thinner than another TJ sourdough, their CRACKED WHEAT SOURDOUGH which I also reviewed with a thumbs up. That bread is sliced thicker with about 13 slices to a loaf, while this one has about 16-17 slices per package. One slice has about 100 calories.
The crust looks slightly shiny, typical of sourdough bread, and has a nice hole structure in the interior. Its slightly dense, slightly chewy, with a nice taste and a hint of that “sour dough” flavor. It makes excellent toast.
I love a slice of this toasted, say for breakfast with some butter and good jam. This make great sandwiches of course. You can not go wrong making a grilled cheese sandwich with this. Ditto avocado toast.
I found some (incorrect) rumors online last summer about it being discontinued which seemed to upset lots of people, only to learn it was not discontinued. Just to confirm that again, I just bought it recently (Jan 2025) As it is popular you might find it sold out, on occasion, but just ask at the front desk when they expect to get more in, if they sold out of all the stock that day.
If you haven’t tried this yet, try it. I would say its well worth every penny.
San Francisco Style Sourdough Bread, $3.49 (1 1/2 lb, 24 oz round slice loaf)
I would buy this again
I freeze it for long term storage wrapped inside another bag (double bagged). If its hard to pry a slice off frozen I just use a knife to pry one off. Can last 1-2 months frozen.
You are at Trader Joe’s and want hummus. Wow, you will find so many choices to pick from. So which one should you get to start off with?
I would say you can not go wrong with a classic kind, meaning at least for the moment, ignore those where they have added flavors or additions (I’m looking at you tomato/basil hummus, oh crikey… and that dreaded chocolate hummus, don’t even get me started….)
Stick to Basics. Start with a good simple classic hummus. Like this one. This should give you a base line for decent (store bought) hummus. Later perhaps branch out and start exploring the other varieties with things mixed into it. Or add your own additions, as I frequently do*.
With that in mind if you want a very good, classic hummus, I’d say you can’t go wrong with this one. Trader Joe’s ORGANIC HUMMUS.
I like this hummus. I think it may be one of the best ones they sell. Trader Joe’s organic hummus is a tasty, well balanced, hummus with a deep flavor, one reason being this one has a little more tahini than some others. Tahini or sesame paste is a vital component of hummus, to me, at least. Trader Joe’s does sell some hummus that has NO tahini it it.
You can serve hummus in so many ways. As a dip, along with either warm pita bread, or any bread you love, or crackers. Add some to wraps or sandwiches. Use as a dip for fresh or cooked veggies.
Try mixing a dollop of hummus into your salad dressing. That will give it a nice creamy flavor. Or mix in some Tahini for that matter.
While fine as is, I do like to add a little squeeze of fresh lemon to my tub and mix it in well. Serving it, a drizzle of very good EVOO over the top. Serve with with some warm pita or lavash and a salad. Yes.
Though this is called “Soft”, rest assured it is not squishy soft. It has a nice crumb with a little structure. In other words don’t mistake the word “soft” here for something like squishy Wonder Bread soft. This is a high quality white bread.
I found this to be a very decent sliced white bread. For one thing, its just great for toast. Looking over the ingredient list one sees that it is fairly short and natural sounding, with no chemical names, no preservatives, no “conditioners”. All organic stuff. Has a little molasses and sesame.
The bread was best I think when I lightly toasted it, or at least slightly warmed it up, which let’s face it, applies to most any bread as far as I’m concerned. Warmed bread always tastes better. One of the reasons I always have a flat cast iron skillet on the stove.
This made nice toast, spread with butter and jam. It was particularly good when we used it to make your typical “egg in a hole”. You know… Cut out a hole using a with a small glass. Toss a nice hunk of butter in a pan, then toast one side till golden brown. Flip it over and carefully drop an egg in that hole. Add salt and pepper and let cook for a few minutes until your desired level of runiness, which in my case is pretty runny. My wife on the other hand likes hers cooked “well done” which I find a total waste as my favorite part is slicing open the yolk with my knife on my plate to let that lovely yolk ooze all over the place. Ha ha! I bet you want one of those right now after reading this don’t you!?
$3.49 loaf (24 oz) This bread is pretty good, priced fairly well, and I would say certainly worth a try if you want some “white bread” for sandwiches, toast and the like.
I’ve seen those Xmas tree style Rosemary Bushes that Whole Foods sells every year. They are cute, shaped to look like a mini Christmas tree. Suitable to serve as a little Xmas tree, and even decorate. $20 each?
At some point Trader Joe’s must have been “inspired” (nicer than copied) to make them too. They started offering the same type of little rosemary bushes, and for cheaper, of course!
The other day I saw this rosemary bush at my Trader Joe’s, which they start selling around Thanksgiving. The plants looked really healthy and smelled great of course. They were $10.99. I decided to get one, thinking this will serve two purposes. For this holiday season it will be a mini Xmas tree – in addition of course to supplying some fresh rosemary! To avoid damaging the rosemary bush I will probably not decorate it much. OK maybe a few cotton balls? Maybe some little led lights around the bottom?
Be sure to spray these once a day as they can dry out very easily. I have found rosemary trickier than it appears, as they can easily be over watered, yet let them dry out too much and that can be bad as well.
Whole Foods sells these for about double TJ’s price?
Trader Joe’s Rosemary Bushes, $10.99 (2024)
Tips here for keeping rosemary healthy and going all year. Fingers crossed!
Update: They don’t last forever for me. A few months, then sections turn black. Mine always eventually seem to croak no matter what I do (sob). Still, they served their purpose as a mini tree!
For year I’ve been buying the little cans of anchovies in olive oil at Trader Joe’s, sold in a yellow can under the famous Italian-American “CENTO” brand for as long as I can remember. I try to always have at least one can in the pantry, as anchovies are so useful for cooking (trust me)
Today I saw that those yellow cans of anchovies come in a new can now sold under the TJ brand: “Trader Joe’s Anchovy Fillets In Olive Oil”. Even the sign below them not only says “Cento” they even wrote the (R symbol – for registered trademark)! Perhaps they just didn’t get around to changing the sign. I think they had a price increase from $1.49 to $1.79.
(and now $1.99 I think! Summer 2025)
In any case, anchovy fillets are great to have in the pantry. Have a least one there for whenever you need it.
Anchovies can add a ton of flavor to many dishes. They are just full of UMAMI. Even the Romans used them (well as garum) a kind of fish sauce made from anchovies, just like Thai Nam Pla fish sauce.
Don’t be afraid of anchovies. They’re an amazing ingredient. For example when you have “nothing for dinner”, just go in the pantry. Grab a package of spaghetti or capellini and a can of these anchovies. Start with 3-4 cloves of garlic, chop and toss in your pan, then pour in 2 tbls olive oil and let that sauté for minute. Now add in a can of anchovies (or half a can if this is your first time). Crush them up with a spoon. As they cook they will dissolve into your anchovy garlic pasta sauce. Toss in your pasta (undercook it two minutes) and a 1/2 ladle of the pasta water and let it come together mixing it well for a minute or so. Cook for a minute plus or until just al dente. Add chopped parsley, maybe some toasted breadcrumbs or panko. A squeeze of lemon. Voila a yummy dinner. Your welcome!
Anchovies match incredibly well with tomatoes and especially tomato sauce. Want to add something special to your jar of store bought sauce which will give it a ton of flavor and make it taste homemade? Try smashing a few anchovy fillets up with a knife into a paste and toss that into your sauce on the stove. Let them mellow for 5-10 mins on a simmer.
TIP: If I just use a few fillets from the can don’t use the whole can up I put the left over anchovies in a little glass jar. Cover with oil. They will last a month or two in the fridge.
Here is a recipe I found on the TJ website for UMAMI DRESSING using a can of anchovies.
Umami Dressing
1 package Anchovy Fillets in Olive Oil, drained and diced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
Juice from two Lemons
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper or to taste
In a medium bowl, mash the anchovies and garlic with a fork to form a paste. Add the lemon juice and mustard and stir until well incorporated. Slowly whisk in oil until it starts to emulsify. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. Makes about 1 cup of dressing. Serving ideas: over bitter greens (radicchio, kale, arugula, Belgian endives) with freshly grated Parmesan, dress a Niçoise salad or as a dip for crusty bread
By the way, looking closely at the two cans, I see the yellow ones say Product of Morocco. The green ones say Product of Albania —
(google) “Albanian anchovies, particularly those sourced from the Adriatic Sea, are known for their high quality and are a popular culinary ingredient. Albania is a major exporter of fresh and processed anchovies, with some anchovy products being processed in Albania from anchovies caught in the Cantabrian Sea”
(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!)
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.”
Cheddar is one of my favorite cheeses, so it’s one kind of cheese that I buy all the time at Trader Joe’s.
I love me a good cheddar. As we know, Trader Joe’s carries a pretty amazing variety of cheese. Go there looking for a “cheddar cheese” and you may see 8 or more kinds.
But which ones are really good cheddars? While this is a very personal choice of course at least to my taste, one cheddar which would go right at the top would be the Cabot Vermont Extra Sharp. Its one of the best cheddar cheese’s they have if you like your cheddar Extra Sharp in a New England style of cheddar. What something a little bit less less sharp? Then I would say get the New Zealand Sharp cheddar. Another great choice. Then there is TJ’s famed Unexpected Cheddar which is in a class by itself of course.
This is a think a fairly recent addition… ENGLISH COASTAL CHEDDAR which comes from Dorset, located on England’s Southern coast. How is these one? Great. I add this English cheddar to the list of EXCELLENT CHEDDAR cheese at Trader Joe’s.
I found it bold and delicious. I would name this cheddar as one more “gourmet” level cheese Trader Joe’s sells, equal to something you would find at a very good cheese store. This what I might call an “adult” cheddar both figuratively and literally. It’s aged a minimum of 15 months. Its a sharp cheddar. Bold, mature, a bit crumbly, a bit rugged, tangy sharp with a lovely nutty taste. A bit in the realm of the Unexpected Cheddar. I tried to slice it thinly but found it easy to crumble when cutting.
This is one cheddar that will go great with a good crusty bread or crackers. It goes really well with fruit, in fact I just loved eating this with an ENVY APPLE. It was great melted. I would try this for an omelet for sure.
This cheese would be great on any #cheeseboard or #charcuterieboard. They say it’s a must for one of those, here. If you really like a cheddar cheese, this is well worth a try.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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