Can you believe that despite reviewing more than 2,250 Trader Joe's brand food products that we've never looked at their classic peanut butter cups? We've reviewed multiple types of almond butter cups and even sunflower seed butter cups but never their tried and true milk chocolate or dark chocolate peanut butter offerings.
Time to change that. I know I've purchased their milk chocolate peanut butter cups at least once or twice many years ago, but I don't think I've ever even tried this product. I've heard nothing but good things. Let's dive in.
Sonia loves that the layer of chocolate surrounding the peanut butter isn't very thick. She loves dark chocolate but thinks a lot of peanut butter cups are ruined by drowning out the flavor of the peanut butter with too much chocolate. I love that the peanut butter is super creamy and sweet. There's even a hint of vanilla in the mix which works to balance out the rich dark chocolate.
The texture and firmness of the shell is just about perfect, and the flavor combo couldn't be better. We can see why this product has been around for so long. It's a big tub with 35 or 36 peanut butter cups. It'll last you a good long time I would think, although that depends on how big your family is I guess.
$4.99 for 16 ounces of dark chocolate and peanut butter bliss. Kosher. I definitely want to try the milk chocolate peanut butter cups again next time, but we would repurchase this product at some point. Eight and a half out of ten stars from Sonia. Eight out of ten from me.
Mind you, I'm no expert, but I've had a handful of chocolate stouts and porters in my day, and none really stood out to me in a big way. Can't say this one is much different except for the fancy packaging. I think I've enjoyed coffee and peanut butter porters at least as much as the chocolate ones. Then there was that beer that was both coffee and peanut butter that we found at Trader Joe's a few years back. That post was scribed by my erstwhile Pittsburgh-based colleague, but I can't say I disagree with his sentiments about that particular brew in any case.
Hardywood Joe-Joe's Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout has a nice rich dark beer flavor with some mild sweetness and chocolate essence. It's a good bit milky, too. As far as anything cookie-esque, you really have to use your imagination. I didn't find the alcohol flavor to be particularly harsh despite a relatively high ABV for beer: 9.2%.
I didn't do the pro bartender pour in the video since I was recording with my other hand, but the beer still managed to fill my pint glass without an excessive head—just a nice layer of light tan on top of the deep dark brown body. No major complaints. The chocolate beer paired well with peanut butter pretzels and yielded a vaguely Reese's-esque flavor combo.
Not sure how we wound up with the moniker "Joe-Joe's" on the can but not the Trader Joe's logo. I imagine the Hardywood boss guy was like, "If we're gonna brew this stuff for you, how many times do you really need your name on the package? You get two instances of 'Joe' and then 'Hardywood' gets top billing, and that's my final offer."
Big Joe liked the product well enough that he shook hands on the deal. We like the brew well enough, too. $3.75 for a single pint or fifteen bucks for a four pack. Seven and a half stars from both Sonia and me for Hardywood Joe-Joe's Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout.
