Day 338 - Soft and Juicy Mango (dried)

Guys, it is DECEMBER.  December!!!!  That means this is my last month of this project!!  Oh my – the emotions!  The decisions!  What should I review??  What is worthy of LAST MONTH attention?  I find myself in an Elaine (from “Seinfeld”) like situation, trying to determine what is “sponge worthy”…  see a short Seinfeld clip here

I want to review at least a few NON-SEASONAL products, things that are staples at TJ’s and always on the shelves.  Things you can find, buy, eat, and ENJOY long after I am done writing reviews.  J  I have given props to the nut/dried fruit aisle at Trader Joe’s before, but it is worth saying it again:  TRADER JOE’S HAS AN AMAZING SELECTION OF NUTS AND DRIED FRUITS.  If you are new to shopping there, you need to really explore this aisle.  And even if you are an experienced TJ’s shopper, you can often find something new and exciting that you have not tried before in this section of the store.

So I think I should review a staple – SOFT AND JUICY MANGOS.  They are dried and cost $1.99 per bag.  TJ’s dried fruits are cheaper than fancy name brand ones you will find in other stores. 

Aren't they a lovely color??

The other day when we went to a brunch, our hostess (Joan) started grabbing all the Trader Joe’s products she could find in her cupboards and asking me if they had been reviewed.  J  These mangos used to be a go-to item for me, but since I have changed my shopping patterns a bit this year to accommodate this blog, they had slipped off my radar.  So I gladly accepted Joan’s offer to bust them out, and I invited some fellow brunch goers to help me review.  Let’s see what they thought:

Connie (used to live in northern Virginia, has since moved to New Mexico):  “It is indeed SOFT and JUICY.  However, I find mango in general to be super sweet, and Trader Joe’s putting SUGAR on this mango I think was not called for.  It adds something – it is sort of like gilding the lily.  I think it is over the top.  I think I would give these just a 2 because the sugar makes it way too sweet for me.”

Snap - Connie gave these a TWO!  Ouch.

Stan (the sausage man):  “I found these way too sweet and not acidic enough.  I had Zabar’s mangos 2 weeks ago and they had a really good balance between the natural acidity of the mango and the natural sweetness.  (Zabar’s is a cool New York grocery store, you can see it here:  Zabars.)  I will give it a 2 also.”  (David inserted a lovely Zabar’s joke here, saying that what Stan meant is that, “The mangos at Zabar’s had more Hasidic-ty…”)  (I don't have a photo of Stan, sorry.)

 Judy (this brunch was the first time I met her, I think Judy and I would get along swimmingly, she was fun):  “I think these are FINE, I get good mango flavor.  But they are too sweet.  I give them a 3.” 

Here's Judy, mixing mango with coffee or tea.

Doug (Connie’s husband):  “I think these are toooo sweet.  When I think of mango – this is not a natural sweetness.  It tastes like an artificial sugary sweetness.  I give them a 2.”  (Oops, no photo of Doug, either...  I was too busy eating cinnamon buns to take pictures...)

Chris (our nephew, senior in high school, currently debating which college to attend): “I thought these were very nice!  The way the sweetness and the natural flavor of the mango mixed together made a nice taste.  The aftertaste was fairly good.   I would give these a solid 3.”

Chris, looking like a mango-eating Zombie...

Me:  I like these.  I used to eat them all the time.  They are very MANGO-Y.  These are a good dried fruit – more interesting than your “normal” dried fruit like apple (not that there is anything wrong with dried apple!).  I can imagine these chopped in pieces and put on top of Greek yogurt.  TJ’s has a few different variations of dried mango and this is the most simple, classic one.  I would give these a 3.75.

Look guys, it says LIGHTLY SWEET on the sign...  

Price - $1.99

Rating (average of 6 raters) – 2.75 (I am a bit disappointed they got this low of a score, but I am taking into account several people’s opinions, so perhaps this is what they deserve)