Review of Trader Joe's Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones

One item I discovered recently at Trader Joe's is their glazed vanilla bean scones. They come 3 to a box, cost $3.99 and have real vanilla bean specks in them. These scones are really tasty and wonderful to have with tea or by themselves. Supposedly, they're sold exclusively by Trader Joe's. I give them 2 thumbs up. If you find them in your local Trader Joe's store, they're definitely worth trying. Bon Appétit!

Review of Springfield, Virginia Trader Joe's Store

The church I go to is located in Springfield, Virginia. While down there, I've taken advantage of some of the stores they have in Springfield. One of them is their Trader Joe's store (store number 651) located at 6394 Springfield Plaza.

The store is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It has plenty of parking and really good staff. The thing I really like about it is it's outstanding deals on various wines and beers. I live in Maryland and due to the state's liquor laws, Trader Joe's stores in Maryland can't sell anything alcoholic. In Virginia, thankfully, that isn't the case.

One particular stellar buy they have at this store is Charles Shaw wines. The wines come in 750 milliliter (ml) bottles. Apparently, they've earned awards at a wine tasting in San Francisco, California. I've tried their Pinot Grigio and found it pretty good though I'm definitely not any kind of wine connoisseur. The thing I particularly like about these wines is the price. A 750 ml bottle at this Trader Joe's store will cost you just $3.29. This price is good as of this post on their Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and White Zinfandel (I bought a bottle of each and have a receipt to prove this price is valid at the time of this post). Give them a gold star for these deals.

Another plus about this store is their staff on how they keep the check out lines short. This store does get a fair amount of business but, I found the staff did an excellent job of keeping the check out lines short so, you don't spend a lot of time waiting to pay for the stuff you want to buy. I don't know about others but, when I go shopping, I want to get what I want to buy, pay for it and leave. I don't want to spend a lot of time waiting at check out. So, they get another gold star for this.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this store and plan to shop here again. I give it 2 thumbs up and definitely recommend it to others who are fans of Trader Joe's stores. If you're nearby, you might want to give this excellent store a look. Happy shopping all!

Trader Joe's Old World Rye Bread With Caraway Seeds Review

I like rye bread and, I like caraway seeds. To me, rye bread isn't rye bread without caraway seeds which add a nice flavor to the bread. So, I was delighted to see Trader Joe's had what looked like some very good rye bread for sale at its store in Elkridge, Maryland.

The bread comes sliced in 1 pound packages, 12 slices to the pound. It sells for $2.49. It has 80 calories per slice as well as 3 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of dietary fiber per slice (Source: the loaf I bought at the Elkridge Trader Joe's). Each slice does have 160 milligrams of sodium for those who have to watch their sodium intake.

The bread has an excellent texture and does well in a sandwich or as a flavorful toast. I found this to be an excellent all around bread with a really nice flavor.

Overall, I was really pleased with this bread, would buy it again and definitely recommend it. The bread does contain wheat, soy and possible traces of sesame seeds (according to the package) for those who have health issues with those. Barring that, if you like a hearty and solid rye bread, this bread is for you. Bon Appetit!

Before, I had to mention that at the time, I had a sister who worked for Trader Joe's even though it didn't influence my reviews of their products. My sister no longer works for them so, there isn't the slightest possibility of conflict with my reviews of their products. If I think the product sucks, I'll tell you so!

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Mint Creams Review

A month ago (I think), while visiting the Pikesville, Maryland Trader Joe's, I noticed and decided to try their Dark Chocolate Mint Creams. The creams come in 10 ounce plastic containers and sell for $3.99. They're shaped like the Tootsie Roll Junior Mint candy only bigger.

Taste wise, the creams have a wonderful creamy mint center that is deliciously minty. The dark chocolate that covers them gives a nice contrast to the creamy center.

Calorie wise, 6 of the cremes have 170 calories (normal serving size) with 40 fat calories and zero trans fats.

Overall, I think this is an excellent product and, people who like mint candy will like Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Mint Creams. I give them a big thumbs up!

Trader Joe's Maple Water Review

Another product I decided to try at Trader Joe's while shopping at their Pikesville, Maryland store is maple water. The water is the sap that runs out of sugar maple trees in late winter/early spring. The sap is boiled down and turned into maple syrup. Trader Joe's sells the water/sap in 32 ounce containers for $2.99.

I expected a maple taste and some kind of dark coloring as you see in maple syrup. To my surprise, the maple flavor was extremely faint and, there wasn't any kind of color in the water. The water at times was clear. However, each 8 ounce glass of the water still has 25 calories and gives you 30% of your daily requirement of manganese. So, the water is good for you.

Overall, I thought this product was neat for its novelty. I won't rush out to buy more as I can hydrate myself more cheaply with Powerade or Gatorade. You might want to buy some if you think it would be neat to try some maple water/sap. Happy drinking all!

Trader Joe's Maple Leaf Cookies Review

While visiting the Pikesville, Maryland Trader Joe's, I noticed they had Maple Leaf Cookies for sale. The cookies are a sandwich type cookie. You have a white maple creme center sandwiched by 2 maple leaf shaped cookies. The cookies come in a 11.4 ounce box and, there are approximately 14 cookies in each box. Each cookie has 110 calories. Trader Joe's sell the cookies for $3.29.

I found I liked the maple flavor of the creme center and, the maple leaf shaped outer cookies added a nice touch.

Overall, I was pleased with these cookies. I think they're reasonably priced and have a nice maple flavor (they use real maple syrup in them). If you like maple flavored cookies, you'll probably like these. I would recommend them. Bon Appetit!

Dr Best Soda Review

While shopping at the Columbia, Maryland Wegman's store, I noticed that they had a soda called Virgil's Dr. Better (made by Reed's Inc.). As I understood it, this was their version of the classic soda Dr. Pepper. While I'm not a big fan of Dr. Pepper, I decided to try this soda.

It comes in 12 ounce bottles in 4 bottle cartons and sells for $3.99 at Trader Joe's (see note) and Wegman's (if they have it, the Columbia, Maryland store doesn't at the time of this review).

The soda has no caffeine unlike Dr. Pepper, uses unbleached cane sugar unlike Dr. Pepper which uses high fructose corn syrup and has no preservatives unlike Dr. Pepper which uses sodium benzoate. All of these are pluses in my book.

Taste wise, I compared the two and, I feel (for what it's worth) that Dr. Best has a smoother and creamier taste than Dr. Pepper making it the better of the two sodas.

The only down side to Dr. Best is it is more expensive. This is a gourmet soda made with the finest ingredients (supposedly) and, you pay more for that.
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Overall, I'd definitely recommend this soda if you like Dr. Pepper. It is very good. Happy Drinking all!

Note: Per this post by Trader Joe's dated August 21, 2014 http://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/virgils-dr-better, you can expect to pay $4.49 for a 4 pack of this soda in West Coast, Pacific Northwest and Southwestern parts of the United States of America.

Trader Joe's Sweet Tea Review

Today, I stopped by the Trader Joe's at 6610 Marie Curie Drive in Elkridge, Maryland (close to Columbia). I wanted to buy another 1 gallon jug of their Sweet Tea so, I could write this review.

According to Trader Joe's, the sweet black tea is kettle brewed (I don't know what difference that makes) and sweetened with cane sugar vice high fructose corn syrup. I do like that they use cane sugar with it. I'm not a fan of the corn syrup Coco-Cola uses in their soft drinks.

Price wise, it sells for $3.99 for a 1 gallon jug of the tea which seems a decent enough price to me though I couldn't tell you how that stacks up compared to other packaged sweet teas.

Taste wise, the tea isn't overly sweet. I think McDonald's sweet tea might be sweeter. This disappoints me a little as it is supposed to be SWEET tea.

Overall, I think Trader Joe's Sweet Tea is ok. It isn't outstanding and, it's terrible. It's more in the middle i.e. decent stuff. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy (though I did in this case solely so I could write this review) the stuff but, I wouldn't turn it down if a glass was offered to me. I'd recommend the same to you. It's decent sweet tea. Happy sipping all!

Trader Joe's Pomegranate White Tea Review

Another Trader Joe's tea I decided to try recently is their Pomegranate White Tea. The tea calls itself an "antioxidant powerhouse." It gets its antioxidants from the white tea part of the blend. At the same time, the white tea doesn't give a huge caffeine high. White tea in general is a very weak tea with a very faint flavor to it. In this case, the pomegranate extract Trader Joe's uses in the tea totally overpowers the white tea flavor though this isn't a bad thing. The pomegranate extract actually in my opinion gives it a better taste than if it were a straight white tea. As far as their antioxidant claim, I don't know how I could tell if that is true or not.

Price wise, the tea is very reasonable. A box of 20 tea bags costs $2.49 (this is the price I paid at their Elkridge, Maryland store).

The tea has 94% organic ingredients including organic white tea leaves, organic hibiscus flowers and organic lemongrass (Source: the box of the tea I bought) and is certified organic by the Quality Assurance International. The tea is made in Canada.

Trader Joe's recommends customers brew a bag of the tea for 4 to 5 minutes and sweeten if they so desire though I didn't feel it needed it.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this tea. I like the pomegranate taste and appreciate the antioxidant benefits it gives drinking it. Also, I like the low caffeine levels. It's a tea worth checking out when you're visiting your local Trader Joe's store. Happy drinking all!

Trader Joe's Rooibos & Honeybush Tea Review

I haven't written a review on a Trader Joe's product in a while so, I thought I'd do one.

Around March 13th of this year, Trader Joe's came out with a new product called Rooibos & Honeybush tea. The tea combines 2 traditional South African teas - Rooibos and Honeybush. Both are supposed to have a slightly sweet taste with the honeybush the sweeter of the two. Rooibos helps provide healthy antioxidants while having none of the caffeine of real tea.

Price wise, Trader Joe's is selling a 20 tea bag box of the tea for $2.49 in Maryland. According to the post they posted (http://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/organic-fairtrade-rooibos-honeybush-tea), prices may be different in other parts of the United States.

Brewing time (per one of the tea bags in the box I bought) is 6 minutes for 1 tea bag, 8 minutes for a pot of the tea (put in 1 tea bag per person and 1 for the pot).

Taste wise, I didn't think the tea tasted much different from a straight up Rooibos tea. I found I like Trader Joe's Spiced Rooibos (also known as Ruby Red Chai) better though they may have stopped making their Spiced Rooibos (I haven't been able to find it in 2 different stores in Maryland).

Lastly, the tea is organic and Fair trade i.e. South African farmers are paid a fair wage for its production.

Overall, I thought this is a decent product though not a great one. There are other Rooibos teas out there that are just as good so, I wouldn't go out of your way to get this product. Happy sipping all!

Giant White Beans Product Review

Recently, I visited the Trader Joe's at 6610 Marie Curie Drive in Elkridge, Maryland (phone number 410-953-8139). Trader Joe's offers some very nice products. This trip, I decided to try their giant white beans. The beans are sort of like large lima beans. They're cooked in a light tomato sauce according to a traditional Greek recipe (so says Trader Joe's) and come from Bulgaria of all places. The beans come in a 12 ounce jar and sell for $1.99. The beans do have to be refrigerated after they've been opened.

I found the beans tasty. They can make a nice small side dish to some kind of Greek food if you're feeling in a Greek mood. The sauce wasn't heavy and the beans are nicely complimented by onions, carrots, chopped tomatoes and parsley.

Overall, I thought they were a fine dish that I'd gladly try again. If you like beans, you might like to try this Greek dish by Trader Joe's. Bon Appetit!

Almond Bark

I visited the Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland. They have almond bark again. Their almond bark is made with dark chocolate and at 50% California almonds (I don't see what is so big about California almonds). They're selling it in 8 ounce single slab boxes vice last year when they were selling it in 1 pound/2 slab boxes. At the Columbia Trader Joe's, a box is selling for $4.99. This is a seasonal item so if you want to enjoy their almond bark, you'll need to buy it during the Christmas season. Come January, it'll be gone again till next Christmas season. Cheers all!

Trader Joe's Sparkling Pomegranate and Blueberry Juices Review

Recently, I tried Trader Joe's Sparkling Pomegranate Juice and Sparkling Blueberry Juice. This review in on those 2 products. I'd never had either pomegranate or blueberry juice so I thought I'd give Trader Joe's products a try. Taste wise, both juices tasted good. Neither have any kind of chemicals or preservatives which is another plus. However, there were some notable negatives with these 2 products. For starters, you don't get 100% pomegranate juice or 100% blueberry juice. The bottles say 100% juice and then in far smaller letters state that they are a blend of 4 juice concentrates. For example, their sparkling blueberry juice has blueberry juice, apple juice, pear juice and white grape juice. So while it's 100% juice, it isn't 100% blueberry juice. While Trader Joe's can technically say their being honest about the product, I feel they aren't being totally above board. Second, I had problems with the price. A 25.4 ounce bottle of blueberry juice cost $2.69 at Trader Joe's Columbia, Maryland store. That isn't a lot of juice for the money, especially when you figure in the carbonation. The pomegranate juice was a little cheaper selling for $2.49. In my opinion, these juices are a bit pricey.

Overall, while I thought the 2 juices had good flavor, I found them too pricey and not what they claimed to be. I feel they should call them in bigger letters some kind of juice blend vice stating they are a particular type of juice. If Trader Joe's is going to claim something is blueberry juice, it should be 100% blueberry juice. Because of their price and their labeling, I can't recommend either product. Cheers all!

Trader Joe's Almond Bark Review

Recently, I decided to try Trader Joe's Almond Bark. Almond bark is almonds covered in dark chocolate and cut into slabs. Trader Joe's cuts their slabs into 5" by 9 and 3/4" blocks. They sell the bark in 1 pound boxes (2 slabs) for $9.99. I found their almond bark really good. The dark chocolate is slightly bitter but then, all dark chocolate normally is. Their bark is packed with almonds. Each almond bark slab is sealed in a clear plastic wrapper and then packaged in a nice box.

Overall, I was very pleased with their almond bark and I'd definitely recommend it. It would also make a nice inexpensive present for a chocolate lover. Cheers all!

Herring Fillets

Trader Joe's carries 2 brands of herring fillets. As I like herring, I decided to try both of them and see what the difference was between them. Here is what I found out.

Both are smoked though the more expensive fillets are "Naturally Hardwood Smoked." Price wise, while you get more fish in the hardwood smoked fillets (.85 of an ounce), they were also more expensive per ounce vice the cheaper kipper herring fillets (43 cents vice 40 cents). The cheaper kipper fillets were the better deal price wise. Taste wise, I didn't notice any noticeable taste difference between the two. I thought both tasted very good. I liked that both were deboned. The hardwood smoked fillets are canned in their natural juices while the kipper fillets were canned in canola oil. As far as I know, this didn't add greatly to the calorie count with the kipper fillets. The hardwood smoked fillets are caught and processed in Canada while the kipper fillets are processed in Germany. I would've thought the Canada fillets would be cheaper considering the shorter distance between the countries but that wasn't the case.

Overall, both of the herring products Trader Joe's offers were very good. They were both very tasty and have long shelf life. Neither need refridgeration. They are something you could easily pack for a hike or a camping trip. If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with the kipper fillets because they are cheaper. If you like herring, you won't be disappointed with either product. Bon appetit!

Trader Joe's Gouda Cheese

I'm not a big cheese fan but ever since a trip to the Netherlands where I got to try some yellow wax gouda cheese, I've liked the stuff. Yellow wax gouda tends to be younger and thereby mellower gouda cheese. On my first shopping trip to the new Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland, I noticed they had a double cream gouda cheese imported from the Netherlands/Holland. When I went back this past Sunday, I decided to try it.

The cheese is a yellow wax gouda so it has a mellow taste to it. The double cream in it causes it to have a creamier flavor though the cheese itself is solid enough to where you can use a regular cheese cutter to slice it. The cheese comes in pre-sliced portions. Trader Joe's sells it for $7.99 a pound which isn't cheap but, it is imported. My sister Ellie tells me that Trader Joe's offers some good deals on cheese so this might be a pretty good price. I don't know if this cheese is a regular all the stores carry or it it was a one off buy that the Columbia store will offer until its sold out.

Overall, I found Trader Joe's Double Cream Gouda Cheese to be very good. It has a nice mellow creamy taste to it. It would be great for snacking or as serving as an hors d'oeuvre. It isn't cheap but, you wouldn't expect a cheese imported from Holland to be cheap. If there is a Trader Joe's close to where you live and you like cheese, this is one you should try. Bon Appetit!

Trader Joe's in Columbia

The new Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland opened today. I checked it out and found it jumping with people. I suspect it'll do well in Columbia as it would appeal to people who live there. I bought different items to try. I had one of their sushi packs for dinner. I found it really good. I would definitely recommend their sushi.

Hours wise, the store will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. I think their hours are great. It'll make it really easy to shop there. I was also impressed with the people they hired. I found them very courteous. I look forward to shopping at the Columbia store again.