Trader Joe's 100% Florida Grapefruit Juice

Back in July, Nina and I did a comparison test of what I thought were all of Trader Joe's grapefruit juices. A commenter to that post pointed out that I had missed one, and indeed I had. This isn't actually "fresh squeezed" as the commenter said, but I'm sure it's what he or she had in mind.

I brought it home and with Nina at my side did a direct comparison test of this stuff against our gold standard, the superb, Top-Ten-worthy Grapefruit Sunset.

The first thing that's obvious--from the color--is that this is made from white grapefruits, instead of the pink ones used for Sunset. The taste confirms that; though we didn't do this taste-test blind, I'm quite sure I could have identified which was from white and which from pink even blindfolded.

But despite tasting different, I thought they tasted equally good. This really surprised me, because I had become pretty well convinced that no grapefruit juice on the market could be the equal of Sunset. I sipped one, then the other, back and forth many times, and I was very, very hard-pressed to say which was better. I finally decided that I had a tiny preference for Sunset, but it was mighty close. For all practical purposes, I'd be equally happy drinking either one, even though they are fairly distinct from each other.

There is, however, one factor that plays a decisive role in determining which I will buy in the future: price. Sunset is $4.99 for 64 ounces, or about 7.8 cents per ounce. This is $3.29 for 32 ounces, or about 10.3 cents per ounce. That's about 32% more per ounce. It's not 32% better. This alone keeps it from being a Top Ten item for me. Sunset is, I think, only a hair better, but a meaningfully better value.

If it matters to you in deciding between these two near-equals, Sunset is a product of Mexico, while this here stuff is all 'Murican. On the other hand, Sunset is organically sourced, should that be a deciding factor for you. (I don't much care about either of those things.)

The final difference is that this one needs to be kept refrigerated and consumed fairly soon. Sunset has some shelf life.

Note that despite the similarity of names, this is not the same product as TJ's 100% Pure Florida Grapefruit Juice, which comes in refrigerated 64-oz cartons and says "Ruby Red" across the bottom. That one is quite good, but not as good as either this or Sunset.


Will I buy it again? 

Maybe once in a while, but it has not toppled the king of the grapefruit juice hill as my default choice.