Before I start this review, let me express my happiness and
appreciation. Another reader sent me a
TJ’s bag and honey!!!!!!!! Can you even
believe it? Peoples’ generosity really
makes me smile!!
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| LOOK!!! Another box in the mail from a blog friend!! |
This one came from Robert, a reader who also has a Trader
Joe’s blog (something I didn’t know existed until I was well into this project –
note to self: Google before starting
huge projects!!!). He got me a bag from
the Ashville, NC Trader Joe’s store and it is SO CUTE! We have used it several times. The other night our cashier, Carole, at the
Clarendon VA store noticed it and loved it!
Carole had a great idea: people
should be able to buy and collect the TJ’s bags from all the states! She said that she for one would start a
collection. Hey, it would be more useful
than those Disney collectible pins, my collection of squished pennies, or some
of the other things people collect, wouldn’t it?? She thought the NC bag was awesome, and so do
I! We have not tasted the honey yet, but
it came in a delightful jar that made it look as if your Great Aunt Tilly made
the honey for you instead of a store. As
soon as we finish one of the honeys we have open this one is next on deck! Robert’s blog also reviews Trader Joe’s
products and is very fun. You can find
it at: Exploring Trader Joe's blog
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| Look!!! An adorable NC bag and a jar of HONEY! |
Robert recently reviewed TJ’s Tangerine Juice. Here is his review that I saw, which piqued
my interest in this product: Exploring Trader Joe's Tangerine Juice review . Tangerine juice was something I had not tried before, and Robert liked it, so I
figured, “Let’s give it a go!”.
 |
| Here's the bottle - 32 fl oz of straight tangerine juice |
Ohhhh Robert, Robert, Robert… What path did you lead me down???
OK, so at $3.29 for a 32 oz bottle, this was not a cheap
drink. It was more of a “splurge” for a
bit of excitement, or a health food splurge if you will since the ingredient
(singular) is just TANGERINE JUICE. I thought
this would be a nice treat. I was wrong.
It is very BITTER.
The first drink was horrible. Bad,
bad, bad…. The second drink (this is
going to sound weird I know, but I am being honest here) tasted like
colonoscopy prep stuff… If you have ever
had a colonoscopy you KNOW the taste I am talking about. I must have had orange or tangerine flavored
prep one time because when the second drink of this tangerine juice hit my
taste buds I had a colonoscopy flashback!
(Note: this is not really a
flashback you want to have.) I was a bit
afraid I might have to excuse myself to the bathroom if I continued to drink
this juice, but I convinced myself that this was not, as my sisters and I like
to call it, “Go All Nightly” (colonoscopy prep stuff). I steeled myself to take another sip.*
 |
| Looks pretty in our juice glasses, eh? |
The 3rd and 4th drinks got a little
better. Not GOOD mind you, but BETTER.
To me it tastes like Tang. I don’t remember ever having Tang at our
house growing up but I must have had it at a friend’s house, because this makes
me think TANG! To me, the only thing
cool about Tang was the idea that actual real live astronauts up in space might
have drank it. The taste, to me, is not cool… I wasn’t sure what the actual FLAVOR of Tang
was, so I Googled it. Consensus seemed
to be that it was supposed to be ORANGE, and I was going to go along with that. Only, in the middle of the night I had an “Aha!”
moment – HEL-LO! Tang? T-A-N-G…
Tang. Umm, those are the first
four letters of TANGerine! Obviously the
flavor of Tang is tangerine, it is just tricky in that we pronounce it
differently than you would expect! So Tang
is basically a covert astronaut drink.
 |
| First taste |
 |
| Reaction.... |
The color of this juice is unnaturally bright
orange. It is a very pretty color! We have a wall this color. But I would rather see this color on a wall I
guess than in my juice glass.
 |
| See, our wall is the same color! New Year's Eve tradition - eat 12 grapes in one minute at the stroke of midnight! (As you can see we were drinking an excellent Beaujolais Nouveau reviewed waaaaay back on day 2 of this blog! Review here ) |
We both gave this juice a 2.5 rating. The upside is that it quenches your
thirst. Then again, water can do that,
too, and it is not as expensive or nearly as bitter.
 |
| If you WANT Tangerine Juice, get it at TJ's - it was much more expensive at Safeway |
Sorry Robert, we need to agree to disagree on this
one. J
It is a good example of how some things
taste great to some people and “meh” to others.
But THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the gifts! I love them!
*Note from David:
Susan has a bit of PTSD about colonoscopy prep, so expressions of her
feelings on that issue may appear larger than in your rear view mirror.
Price - $3.29
Rating – 2.5
