And as Russ pointed out in his last review, there has most definitely been a caffeine-laden incursion of coffee-themed commodities at Trader Joe's lately. After 2016's moderately-fruitful mango endeavor, TJ's decided to follow it up with a cascade of coffee—an even more universally-appreciated flavor. In fact, coffee is the second most traded asset in the world. In order to top that, for 2018, Trader Joe's will have to introduce a line of crude oil flavored food products. Good luck with that, Big Joe.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Because there are plenty more coffee items to examine right now in 2017, like these fascinating coffee squares.
Like the Mocha Joe-Joe's, they feature chocolate elements as well as real ground coffee beans. And to me, once again, the taste heavily favors coffee. The texture is not unlike a typical chocolate bar. It's a smooth, creamy effect, with a bit of that "melts-in-your-mouth" kind of vibe.
Lacking a candy shell, these squares would easily melt in your hand if not for the convenient, if perhaps a bit wasteful, individual packaging. The bag itself is resealable, with a ziplock at the top—so there's no way you'll find these squares going stale...or doing whatever chocolate does when it's exposed to the air. Speaking of packaging, Sonia noticed that the bag has the same fonts, color schemes, and art work as Trader Joe's Dark Roast Coffee. Interesting. She's got a great eye for design like that.
The squares are fairly filling. One piece at a time is probably enough for the average Trader Joe's shopper. They make a nice after-meal treat. Or I suppose you could even have a couple for breakfast if you're running low on actual java (or Rockstar or black tea or whatever your preferred vehicle of caffeine ingestion may be).
In the end, I didn't like these as much as the Joe-Joe's, probably because they're so rich, with the coffee flavor coming through a little too much for my personal taste. It makes me want to chug a big glass of water just thinking about the richness of them. But for people with a taste for true coffee flavor, these would be perfect. $2.99 for fourteen squares.
Four and a half stars from Sonia. Three from me.
Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.
I'm not really into coffee flavored desserts.
ReplyDeleteI'm not usually into coffee flavored desserts either. I did like the Joe Joes but I thought these were so-so.
DeleteAmerica loves their coffee, however coffee candy and deserts never do as well here as they do in other countries - I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteIf TJ's has anything to say about it, Murica will be consuming coffee desserts at unprecedented levels.
DeleteI saw these in our local store last week and was curious enough to take a good look, but didn't purchase because I couldn't guess whether I'd like them or not. Your review makes me want to make a special trip today!
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's not surprising that the coffee flavor dominates, because these aren't actually chocolate, and the packaging carefully avoids claiming that while allowing the customer to assume that they are. They're more like a coffee-flavored white chocolate, per the ingredients, because without cocoa solids/mass/chocolate in the ingredients, it's not chocolate. Cocoa butter is just a fat that happens to come from the cocoa plant, with a very mild flavor. So, as the package indicates, I'll be expecting coffee, not mocha. And I'm excited!
Thanks for this highly informative comment, Karen! I totally assumed cocoa butter was, like, cocoa-flavored. That explains a lot :) I think you'll like these. Yes, coffee, not mocha.
DeleteI view these more as a little caffeine pick me up than a dessert per se. My colleague actually just wanted to sniff the inside of the bag to get a caffeine pick-me-up.....lol. It wouldn't even occur for me to have these as an evening treat as I mentioned in the review under the JoJo's.
DeleteOoh, I had my eyes on these, but I was suspicious about the lack of cocoa content. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the new Trader Joe's coffee ice cream? It's a coffee base with a mocha fudge swirl and chunks of Kona shortbread cookies (without any glaze!). I highly recommend it. :)
I with you Elaine on the Kona Coffee Cookie Mocha Swirl Ice Cream. So delicious with the perfect chew on the shortbread. Dense sections of mocha swirls can sneak up and bite you with coffee flavor. But otherwise, its the perfect remedy to a sore throat and a sweet pick me up on a bad day.
DeleteI would eat one of these if someone came and handed it to me on the couch, but it isn't good enough that I would get up off the couch to go get one myself from the kitchen.
ReplyDelete3/5 would maybe eat again