Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Wafer Cookie

A frequent category of Trader Joe's products is those that are clearly copycat versions of some well-known national brand. Or perhaps I should say copyKat version here, because this is nakedly an attempt to reproduce the Kit Kat bar under the TJ's label. The duplication is so blatant that I'm kind of surprised they didn't go for one of their wink-wink product names, like Scandinavian Swimmers, or Quasar Bar.

I've always been basically meh on Kit Kats, and that feeling carries over here. Dull, cheap-tasting milk chocolate thinly layered on crisp but mostly flavorless sugar wafers. I just don't get the appeal. It's been so many decades since I last tried an actual Kit Kat that I don't dare make direct comparisons, but it doesn't feel any more important to figure out which is "better" than to declare a winner between the Ford Pinto and the Chevy Vega. Neither one is worth having.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Butter Spread

This is a small tub (you can't tell scale from this photo, but notice the number of ounces of product) of butter mixed with brown sugar and cinnamon. If you spread it on hot toast, you'll get essentially the same result as if you used regular butter and then sprinkled a cinnamon/sugar mixture on top--for very slightly less effort.

It's fine, but it's just not a product I need. It's terrible to try to spread when cold, so despite the "keep refrigerated" instruction, I've been leaving it out on the kitchen counter, alongside the regular butter. But I don't have cinnamon toast often enough to use it before it goes bad, so it's likely a lot of it will be wasted.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I'll just continue to use regular butter and McCormick cinnamon-sugar mixture. (Not the Trader Joe's one, for reasons explained here.)

There's also a companion product, "Roasted Garlic & Herb." I did not buy it, and won't, because I don't care for garlic.

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.


A trainer's 13 favorite items from Trader Joe's

5 must-buy items from Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's scores third among Americans' favorite grocery stores

Why indie rapper Junglepussy wrote a song about Trader Joe's



Best tweets of the week:

#bestSunscreen #TraderJoes as a consumer of this exact product, and being fortunate enough to live in a wonderfully sunny climate - I’ve been saying for years this SUNSCREEN is amazing. Never had a sunburn in 8+ years of using this product!! Way to go #TJs & #ConsumerReports !! pic.twitter.com/qeSzUbBIhO

— Eugene Hallinan (@eugERIN) June 17, 2018

(Thunder and lightning, rain pouring down, camera zooms up, face toward sky, echo chamber on): “Trader JOE! Why did you discontinue my #arancinibites!” #FirstWorldProblems #TraderJoes pic.twitter.com/uyPeSLm0Rf

— Tony Ramirez (@hildyjohns) June 18, 2018

@TraderJoesBest I would buy every single salad with cilantro in it that you guys carry if they didn’t have cilantro in it. #tasteslikesoap #itsgenetic #TraderJoes

— Resistance Warrior (@ReLLatiVe) June 19, 2018

I was chatting with a little boy in line at Target last night (3 or 4 years old, max), and he mentioned he and his mom going to #TraderJoes.
Me: Oh, I love Trader Joe's!
Boy: (With the wisest look I've seen on a child) "Heh, EVERYONE loves Trader Joe's." #smartkid

— Robin Privitt (@REPrivitt) June 20, 2018

Gotta like those Cheeky #TraderJoes people! #SpaceForce pic.twitter.com/JJwTJIgBrn

— 🍺BEER:30 TIMMEH!!🍺 (@Timmeh71) June 20, 2018

Trader Joe’s has a lot of great healthy options ... however I left with only chips and wine ... because obviously I have priorities. #TraderJoes #thisisnotwhattheyintended #nojustme 😂😍

— Amy Crosby (@ms_amycrosby) June 23, 2018

And finally, here's this week's cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag on a Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer.

Pretty sure this isn't what @traderjoes had in mind, but l couldn't resist posting this for the #readingmyflyercontest 😜
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.#cats #catlove #catsofig #catsofinstagram #neko #britishshorthair #catstagram #instacats #traderjoes https://t.co/fHSFcIxlDS pic.twitter.com/dG9j1khRB1

— Tara Quan (@TaraQuanAuthor) June 15, 2018

Trader Joe's Golden Caramel Swirl In French Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Creams

If I just dip my spoon in and eat this, I like it. But if I compare it with what I expected it to be from the product name, description, and package images, I'm disappointed.

The ice cream doesn't strike me as a "super premium"--not by a long shot. Neither the chocolate nor the vanilla is particularly rich in flavor.

But the most disappointing thing is the lack of caramel, which was what I was most looking forward to--the feature that I thought would set this apart from other chocolate/vanilla combos. I've had two servings of three scoops each, and in only two or three bites was there enough caramel for me to be able to detect its presence, visually and/or by taste.

It appears that I am not alone in this criticism. The good folks at the "What's Good at Trader Joe's" blog described the same problem nearly six years ago. The fact that TJ's has done nothing to improve the product since then goes to show you the immense influence we bloggers have over the company....


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Covered Bridge Cheddar

I found this in the cheese section at Trader Joe's while looking (without much hope) for two favorites that are apparently discontinued.

It's nothing special. It has a harsher edge to it than I like. But it slices easily and is overall pleasant enough.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I would instead pick this one or this one, which I think are the best of the remaining TJ's white cheddars. 

Trader Joe's Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I thought this was a new product, because I don't remember seeing it among the baked goods before, but there was a Fearless Flyer article about it last year, so I guess not.

I liked it a lot: light, moist, heavy on the cinnamon-sugar. I spooned some generic Cool-Whip kind of stuff on top, and it was just right.

I did not, however, have it with coffee, which Nina says means I didn't eat it right, and my review may not be valid. So be it.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes.

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.


The 5 best Trader Joe's wines

Why I'm (kind of) over Trader Joe's



Best tweets of the week:

I saw this at the #SantaFe #TraderJoes, and it's probably my favorite example ever of someone who works at a corporate chain deciding to make their job less boring. #SergioLeone pic.twitter.com/BZZrXxb1uj

— 💒 Poppy Is Innocent 💒 (@michaelallroy) June 9, 2018

Got all the #traderjoes groceries up the stairs in one trip ain’t nobody stopping me today pic.twitter.com/ORwFlDbE9X

— Janna Abraham (@SportsPundette) June 9, 2018

#TraderJoes speaking my language. pic.twitter.com/CcyU0rsvMo

— Kirsten Agnello-Dean (@Kirsten_AD) June 10, 2018

If I could eat 1 thing the rest of my life I honestly have to say it would be #TraderJoes #ChowMein 💕🍜 pic.twitter.com/IEMhmrfHKX

— CARLOSXRAMIREZ (@CARLOSXXRAMIREZ) June 12, 2018

I have never met a #TraderJoes parking lot that didn’t make me question my will to go on

— Sailor Sweatpants (@ChrmCtyChocobo) June 14, 2018

The upside of breaking a glass bottle of honey ginger dressing at #TraderJoes is how kind and concerned the employees were for safety and for making me feel like this is something that happens to everyone. pic.twitter.com/7vLlyeyeIB

— Rev. Katey Zeh (@kateyzeh) June 14, 2018

There’s another raccoon climbing things at #TraderJoes. #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/zwF54f3Iss

— Vanessa Fiorella (@vanessafiorella) June 14, 2018

And finally, here's this week's cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag:

Jyn lives for #TraderJoes bags 🛍 pic.twitter.com/pV25SYZFn3

— Bruise Wayne (@FreelanceBatman) June 13, 2018