Trader Joe's Cinnamon Sugar Grinder

I know, I know. It's cinnamon and sugar. I could buy them separately (in fact, I have both on my shelves anyway), mix them together, and be good to go for a lot less money. But I don't. Actually setting aside time to find the right kind of container--one with a hole for pouring the resultant mixture--and look up the right ratio and then get it all shaken up well...it just doesn't happen. Which is kind of strange, because I remember when I was a kid, my dad would put the cinnamon and sugar in an old jelly jar, and I thought it was great fun to get to be the one to roll and shake the jar until it was all smoothly blended together. Ah, the small joys of childhood. Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years.

Anyway, I keep having good intentions along those lines, but no actual results. It has always been easier to grab "just one more" pre-mixed concoction from the grocery store, while promising myself, yet again, that I'll do the mix-and-shake thing next time I'm out. Here's the one I have on hand right now, for instance:

So that's what Trader Joe's is up against with their mixture in a grinder. Why a grinder? Because the sugar and cinnamon are in large crystals inside. Here's a close-up:

(OK, so cinnamon technically doesn't come in crystals. Whatever.)

Which seems cool and maybe a little artsy-fartsy. Until you actually put it into use. Then, not so much. Then it feels slow and seems like unnecessary work, when you just want to get to eating the hot buttered toast already. Also, it comes out a lot more unevenly than the McCormick:

It's kind of messy, hard to drop the mixture into a nice, even layer across the toast. And even after a pass through the grinder (which is built into the container), you end up with fairly large sugar crystals.

I've gone through this for about a dozen breakfasts now, and I'm not getting any more fond of either the process or the result. I thought it might grow on me, or I'd find a technique that made it come out better.

Nope.

Will I buy it again? 

Nope.