Trader Joe's Unsulfured Dried Pear Slices

I expected that I would love these, but they were no good. Too dry and tough, not flavorful enough.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Pear & Persimmon Tarte

This makes a pretty nice dessert pastry. It's pretty to look at. The crust has good texture. Not too sweet.

Minor flaw: I'm not sure exactly what persimmons taste like, but I didn't detect anything other than pear.

Major flaw: The filling:crust ratio is way too low. In the picture above, imagine that the little puddle of fruit you see in the middle is all there is, and that those wide margins of crust are, in fact, nothing but crust. Because that's about how it is.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Pear Tarte

After deciding that the Trader Joe's raspberry tarte was the best thing in the store, we naturally were eager to try its sibling, the pear tarte. The verdict: It's good, but not great. I would rather have this than most other desserts, but it's not in the best-of-the-best, to-die-for categories.

Will I buy it again? 

That's tricky in this case, because it's so similar to the raspberry version that the occasions or moods that would trigger buying one would equally trigger buying the other--but the raspberry is so much better that it's hard to see myself ever going for the pear instead. But maybe if I were bringing a dessert to a dinner where I knew raspberry wouldn't go well, or if they stopped making the raspberry one (heaven forbid!), or if it were temporarily out of stock, then, sure, I'd happily have the pear.

Nina's View

The pear tarte est une grande déception. The raspberry tarte is so good because the fruit is exquisitely ripe and full of flavor. The pears, by contrast, in the tarte we had were NOT perfectly ripe (a little too hard) and not especially flavorful. This created a mouthful of sweet blandness. 

I would give this dessert a second tasting, on the chance that we got a subpar sample. But only one, because RASPBERRY TARTE.

Trader Joe's Pear Cinnamon Cider

This isn't complicated. You pretty much know from the name of this product whether you're going to like it.

I like pears. I like cinnamon. Ergo, I was virtually certain to like a cider made from pears and cinnamon--plus some apple juice thrown in. (What makes it cider instead of juice? It's the use of unfiltered juices.)

Yummy.

Will I buy it again? 

Unlike many of the TJ's autumnal products, this is one I will genuinely look forward to again next year.

Nina's View

This is pretty good. Except TOO MUCH APPLE JUICE (i.e., too sweet). If I were to buy it (which I won't), I'd probably squeeze a little lemon or lime juice in it to cut back on the sweetness. I could also use with a touch less cinnamon.