Trader Joe's Limone Alfredo Sauce

This is the third Trader Joe's Alfredo sauce that I know of. I liked both of the first two I found (see here and here)--but this new product is the one I want to buy again and again and again. It's far and away my favorite of the three.

I admit that I was skeptical of adding lemon to a creamy/cheesy sauce. I was amazed at how well the combination works. Who knew? (Trader Joe did, that's who.) It's not just a faint whiff of lemon, either--they doused it up strongly, and I like it.

Nina found the lemon to be much less prominent than I did. As she speculated, this may be because she used a much lighter coating of the sauce, whereas I went pretty heavy-handed. Overall, she found it nice, but nothing special.

The label claims 3.5 servings per jar. I've had two, Nina one, and it looks like there's enough for one more serving left--so I think the label is about right.

Predictably, it is high in both fat and calories. That will stifle my usage somewhat. If not for that, I think it would become a staple. Even with that factor, I can see a lot of this stuff in my future.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes.

Trader Joe's Lemon Basil Pasta Salad

I found this to be perfectly pleasant, though it didn't spark joy. The bow-tie pasta was perfectly done. I liked the lemon slice to be squeezed on for an extra, final burst of lemon flavor. The green stuff is spinach, which was on the wilty side. There's Asiago cheese, which looks plentiful but is so mild in flavor that it's hard to notice. Finally, there's a few ingredients that are so sparse that one wonders why they're there at all. I'm looking at you, peas and zucchini.

As you can see, in the salad's native state, everything is segregated. You have to dump it all out into a larger bowl and stir, lest you end up with a clump of pasta here and a wad of spinach there.

I did like it as a side dish, but it boiled down to just lemon-flavored pasta with small bits of cheese, dressing, and spinach--not an ensemble in which the components had equal roles.

Nina was thoroughly unimpressed.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Organic No Joke Ginger Juice Shot

This is some serious, wake-you-up, kick-your-butt, take-no-prisoners peppery juice. Between the ginger, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper, it will burn your throat and clear your sinuses. I'm not sure I'd call this a pleasant experience, but it's definitely interesting. It makes the potent Triple Ginger Brew look like Kool-Aid in comparison.


Will I buy it again? 

No. It was far more memorable than the relatively tame turmeric version, but not something I need in my life--especially for $1.99 per shot. But do try it once, then get the t-shirt bragging that you survived it.

Trader Joe's Mini Meyer Lemon Flavored Biscotti

I had never heard of Meyer lemons before I started shopping at Trader Joe's. Of the first two Meyer lemon products I tried, one was great, one not so much. Now the tie is broken...in favor of the not-so-much. The lemon here tastes completely artificial, and the frosting on top is almost sickeningly sweet.

Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Lemon Creme Sandwich Cookies

Day 2 of Cookie Week.

This is the shelf-mate to the chocolate ones from yesterday. I did not like them as much. I thought they were too sweet, and the lemon tasted artificial. Nina, on the other hand, liked them better than the chocolate.

They have in common with the chocolate ones (1) the soft texture, (2) the present but hard-to-notice vanilla filling, and (3) the atrocious "1/2 cookie" serving size. As if.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Organic Lemonade

This is pretty decent, though unextraordinary, lemonade--not much other than water, sugar, and lemon juice. Nina thought it was too sweet, but I think it gets the sweet/tart balance about right.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I'd rather have either the frozen concentrate and mix it up myself, or this version in a carton (and skip the plastic jug).

Trader Joe's Lemon Elderflower Soda

This is a shelf-mate to the rhubarb-strawberry soda released at the same time--and it is leaps and bounds better. It is, in fact, superb--one of the best sodas I've ever tasted. Its perfection is primarily marred by being sold in such pathetically small cans. And it's not just me; Nina concurred.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes--though it's terribly expensive, as sodas go, so that will be a severe limiting factor. But I will definitely get it as a treat once in a while.

Oh, and, by the way, I'm adding it to my Top Ten list.

Trader Joe's 12 Classic Lemon Bars

In the realm of store-bought desserts, you've got two broad categories: things that virtually nobody makes at home--ice cream, for example--and things that lots of people make at home--like cookies and pies. In the former category, manufacturers have the considerable advantage that they must compete only with other manufacturers, and not with the public's memory of homemade. Items in the latter category, by contrast, labor under the burden of our collective experience of superb, fresh, homemade versions. It's a true rarity that mass-produced, commercial items will be as good.

Well, lemme tell you: Here is one of those rarities. These are as good as any homemade lemon bars I've ever had, and I would pick them in a heartbeat over an unknown, randomly selected homemade version, even if the latter were all from highly competent cooks.

They've got a wonderful mix of sweetness and sourness, with real-tasting lemon flavor. The texture is pleasing. They're easy to eat and not messy. I also like the light dusting of powdered sugar on top.


Will I buy them again? 

Oh, yes. They're a new favorite. I don't think they're quite Top-Ten level, but the fact that I had to stop and think about that possibility should tell you that they're well worth a try.

P.S.: Nina loved them, too.

Trader Joe's Sweetened Dried Lemon Slices

Until I saw this on the new-products shelf, I had no idea that dried lemon slices were a thing. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me, though; why wouldn't they give basically the same treatment to lemons that they did to Mandarin oranges?

You're supposed to eat them rind and all--so I did. It's an interesting experience, but not especially in a good way. It's startling how sweet they've made them. The "interesting" part of tasting them is the contrast between what your life experience tells you to expect when biting into a lemon, and what you get here.

I thought they were way too sweet to enjoy. Nina, conversely, liked them a lot. (Long-time readers will note that this is a reversal of our traditional positions with respect to sweetness.) But we both agreed that it would be a much better product if TJ's cut back the added sugar by about half.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Super Lemony Lemon Bites

I find reviews of this product dating back to 2013, so apparently it's nothing new, but I somehow never noticed it on the baked-goods table at my local Trader Joe's. I know that their bakery products are made regionally, and vary from one part of the country to another, so maybe it's new to my area.

Anyway, the first I knew about it was when Nina texted me a picture of her empty container, with this message: "Gone in 2 days. Best lemon-flavored dessert ever. I now weigh 400 lbs. I understand if you need to break up with me."

So of course I bought my own batch on my next TJ's run, so that we could both weigh 400 pounds. Except that that won't be happening, because I didn't love them nearly as much as Nina did.

They definitely have an admirable quantity of lemoniness, including that distinctive lemon sourness, which is unusual in baked goods. But I thought it was overbalanced by sweetness. The icing in particular seemed a bit much.

Also, you'd better be able to eat the whole bunch in two days, like Nina, because they dry out something terrible if left any longer than that. It's probably due to a high ratio of cut-surface area to volume in these small morsels.


Will I buy it again? 

Not for myself. But when I want to push Nina up to 500 lbs., I'll buy her a few more boxes.

Trader Joe's Sparkling Lemon Spring Water

This is the least successful of the three flavors from this line that I've tried (see here and here). The lemon is so weak as to be barely noticeable. You end up with a highly carbonated water with just a whiff of lemon that makes you wonder whether it's really there or you're just imagining it.


Will I buy it again? 

No. What's the point?

Trader Joe's Organic Lemon Ginger Herbal Flavored Water

See here for my comments on this product's shelfmate, the lemongrass-spearmint version.

I like this one less. It has both lemon and ginger flavors readily apparent, and the ginger certainly kicks it up a notch over ordinary lemon water. But it still lacks the interesting little zing that the spearmint delivers in the other one.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I drink a lot of water, but--heathen that I am--I'm content to get it from the kitchen faucet. No lemon, no ginger, no "organic." Just wet.

Trader Joe's Girasoli Ricotta & Lemon Zest

I've had this twice now. Nina and I each bought it separately. She served it with a tomato sauce and fake ground beef. I served it with just butter.

Surprisingly, the latter worked better. Somehow, the lemon clashed with the tomato/meat sauce. It seemed too strongly lemony. But with just butter, it seemed toned down, in a better ratio with the cheese.


Will I buy it again? 

Probably not. I like the arugula, the cauliflower, and the goat cheese/tomato versions better than this one, so I think I would always pick one of those over this.

Trader Joe's Meyer Lemon Cake Mix With Lemon Icing

I spotted this in the Trader Joe's baking-supplies section while looking for something else. It's possible it's been around for a while, but I think it's new--even though it was never on the "new products" shelf in my local store--because I don't find any online references to it prior to February. I've purchased similar mixes before (see here and here), and I certainly would have noticed this one if it had been sitting next to those.

The directions call for a 4" x 8" loaf pan, which I did not have. So I made it in an 8" x 8" cake pan, and reduced the baking time by about 10 minutes. It turned out just right.

The mix required a whole lot of stirring. You're supposed to keep mixing, by hand, until the batter is smooth. This takes forever. It greatly exceeded my attention span, and made me question how badly I wanted to eat lemon cake.

I liked the result, but I wasn't in love with it. It definitely is lemony, but I couldn't detect anything that was specifically Meyer lemony. Nice texture. I finished the whole thing in a few days, but never felt craving for it.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Organic Ginger Zinger

New product--and I like it a lot. For once, the copy on the label is being accurate: "The perfect level of ginger spice and lemon zing." It's enough to be pleasant and attention-grabbing, but nothing like the nearly overwhelming bite from the Triple Ginger Brew.


Will I buy it again? 

Definitely. It's a welcome relief from the endless parade of melted-lollipop fruity glop that Trader Joe's sells as "juice."

Spindrift Sparkling Water--Lemon

I bought this at the same time as the watermelon version reviewed yesterday. As with that one, I forgot to photograph it. The picture above is from the manufacturer's web site.

This one is pleasant and refreshing--my second-favorite flavor in the line, after the grapefruit one.


Will I buy it again? 

Probably not, even though I liked it, simply because I would always choose the grapefruit version over this.

Trader Joe's French Market Sparkling Pink Lemonade

This is just what you'd expect. Take some pretty-good-quality pink lemonade, lightly carbonate it, and voila. I liked it.


Will I buy it again? 

It won't be a staple, but for an occasional treat, yes.

Trader Joe's French Market Sparkling Lemonade

I love lemonade--but not this. It was OK, but I'm not sure I would have pegged it as lemonade if not primed by the label. It's just not distinctly lemon at all. It's pleasantly sweet and pleasantly tickley. But lemon? No.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Mango Lemonade

I shouldn't like this. It's mostly sugar water, with some mango puree and lemon juice added. It's fully in line with the big-jug juice "blends" that Nina and I have condemned here too many times.

But I do kinda like it. The mango and lemon are nicely balanced. The sweetness is subdued enough that if I'm not paying attention, I can believe that it's natural sugar from the fruits, even though it really isn't. It feels refreshing.

I don't want to think about it too much, or I'll analyze my way out of liking it.


Will I buy it again? 

Probably not. It was an interesting and pleasant change-up, but I really prefer straight lemonade.

Trader Joe's Original Lemonade With Pulp

This is what lemonade is supposed to be. It's just like what you get from reconstituting a can of frozen lemonade, which is what I've always done. Very tasty.


Will I buy it again? 

I'm more likely to continue buying TJ's frozen lemonade and mixing it up myself. This is because (1) it's easier to carry home from the store, (2) I can keep it on hand for using whenever I feel like it, (3) it's almost zero work to add water and stir, and (4) it has a smaller container to put in the landfill. But as for the lemonade itself, I'd be equally happy with either this product or the frozen one.