Day 330 - Toblerone (candy bar)

Damn autocorrect...  Anyway - TAPPY HHANKSGIVING from us to you!!

Hope your Thanksgiving holiday is full of joy, food, and thankfulness.

Now, onto the REVIEW!

This is what it looks like.

Here’s the deal:  you know Toblerone.  It is a famous candy bar.  It is Swiss.  It is in a weirdly shaped box (that is hard to wrap as a gift).  It tastes good.  It is expensive.

Only here’s the tricky part:  at Trader Joe’s, it is NOT expensive!

I know, right??!!!!

Here is it at Trader Joe's - same candy bar you will find everywhere else but for a fraction of the cost

I buy Toblerones once or twice a year as gifts for our niece and nephews (who used to live in Germany).  This is how I know they are difficult to wrap – I have wrapped my share of Toblerones.  I like to not put them in another box before I wrap them – I present them to the kids in all of their triangle shaped glory, only slightly masked by shiny wrapping paper.  It makes me smile – it is the gift that cannot be hidden by mere paper.

So this item is something that you would buy at TJ’s based on price alone.  it is the same candy bar you are going to get at Safeway, Rite Aid, or Target.  Same candy, different price.  BETTER PRICE at TJ’s.

And here is the big twist – because of Toblerone I recently learned that Trader Joe’s ACCEPTS COUPONS!

Bizaare!!!! 

I had never even considered the idea.  Prior to this project I used coupons at other stores when I could.  In fact, I am still clipping coupons out of the Sunday Washington Post (even though I end up throwing most of them away after they expire before I use them these days).  But I saw one the other day for Toblerone so thought I would try it!

It worked!!  The TJ’s cashier was happy to take the coupon!  He said that TJ’s DOES take coupons, but because most of the products are store brand there are not normally coupons that apply.  Only mine did!  Wheee!

So not only did I save a bunch by just choosing to purchase the candy bar at TJ’s instead of across the street at Safeway, I saved EVEN MORE by using a coupon.

Spend a ton for the same thing at Safeway (same size)

Like to waste money?  Go to a drugstore and buy one

OR BE SMART - buy the same exact candy bar, same quality, same size, at Trader Joe's.

Savvy shoppers unite!

Price – $1.99 (even LESS if you have a coupon!)

Rating – 5 (that is a rating for the yumminess of Toblerone & the great price at TJ’s)

Day 263 - Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar

What a bizarre shopping experience tonight!  Just as we were pulling into our parking spot in the TJ’s Bailey’s Crossroads parking lot I got a text from our sister-in-law Joan saying, “We are at Trader Joe’s, what should we get?”.  I texted back asking “WHICH TJ’S ARE YOU AT??  We are going into one right now!”.  But before she could read the text and reply I had found her down an aisle of the same store we were going to!  Yippee – shopping buddies!  Joan doesn’t like to grocery shop.  Greg (her husband, my brother-in-law) normally does their shopping.  They were both there tonight.  And David was with me.  It was a little family reunion by the meat section of Trader Joe’s!

Joan and Greg attended our Trader Joe’s Dinner Party back in April, where every item served, from appetizers to wine to bubbly water to dessert, was from Trader Joe’s.  It was a fun evening!  And now that we were shopping with them tonight we realize that we need to have ANOTHER Trader Joe’s dinner party!  Who’s in???

This is the table full of ingredients before the Trader JOe's dinner Party in April

Anyway, I walked around the store with Joan pointing out stuff that we like (and a few things I recommended she avoid…) while David and Greg chatted.  The items in Joan’s cart piled up pretty quickly!  J  I am glad she took our advice and is trying the bacon we love (reviewed on day 242 http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2015/08/day-242-uncured-black-forest-bacon.html ).  Actually, while we were raving about the bacon to Greg and Joan a woman was listening and put some in her cart, too!  I hope everyone likes it as much as we do.

When they checked out with their food they must have gotten to talking to the nice cashier (Courtney) and SOMEHOW gotten hooked up with a free chocolate bar!  Joan came rushing back to find us, saying we could all taste test a candy bar!  Well you didn’t have to ask us twice – we followed her to the front.

David loves chocolate

David picked out a bar we had not tried before – an organic Milk Chocolate Truffle bar.  The turquoise packaging is really pretty, don’t you think?  They said we could take it home to do the taste test, but we were having so much fun, plus we had met a really sweet, cool lady (Wendy) in the frozen food aisle and we wanted to share it with her, so we busted it open right in the store!  Here is what we thought:

Pretty packaging

Wendy:  (She ate hers as the cashier was ringing up her purchases) – “It is smooth and very chocolate-y.  I give it a 3. See you here at the same store next Saturday night so we can have fun shopping again, right?”

 (Wendy showed me the chocolate bars in a box that are her particular favorite, and also recommended we try Inner Peas (which I have been scared to try since I gagged on a product I think is similar, Embrace Your Inner Bean, on day 62…  Review here:  http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2015/03/day-62-embrace-your-inner-bean.html ).  But hey, if our new friend Wendy recommends Inner Peas, I am gonna try Inner Peas!

Here we are in the store before trying the chocolate bar (Wendy is not pictured - cuz she TOOK the picture!)

Greg:  Ah – it has a dark chocolate truffle layer inside!  That is what makes it truffle - a ribbon in the middle.  It has a slight bitterness.  It is not my favorite chocolate.  I gave it a 2.

Joan:  I give it a 2.

David:  it is pleasant.  It has a nice filling.  It is sweet, not as creamy as some, but chocolate-y.  The squares are nice and attractive.  It has a good, firm crispness in the bite.  I give it a 4.5

Susan:  It is kind of hard…  I like the little “Trader Joe’s” written on the squares.  It is good, but I don’t want to marry it or anything.  I would eat it again though.  I would give it a 3.25.

Here is the shelf David chose from

So to get the final rating here I will average all of our scores.  And to reiterate – this bar was eaten, reviewed, and scored while still standing in Trader Joe’s.  J  Ahhh what a fun Saturday night.

Price – $1.99

Rating (average of 5 tasters) – 3

Day 210 - Fireworks Chocolate Bar

I picked this wacky chocolate bar up a while back, then we kept putting off eating it.  Other treats jumped in line in front of it.  But yesterday was the day.  And boy what a day it was.  J

The drawing on the package is old fashioned, but ain't nuttin' old fashioned about THIS chocolate bar.

First, let’s examine what the wrapper of this bar says:  “Rich dark chocolate with a touch of heat and a popping sensation that will ignite your senses.”

HUH?  Better check the ingredients…  Ahhh, here are the ones that “don’t belong” in a chocolate bar:  “popping candy” (aka POP ROCKS!), chipotle chili, pasilla chile, and cayenne pepper!! 

A CHOCOLATE BAR WITH POP ROCKS AND HOT STUFF?  Mamma mia! 

As you can see, David, a lover of chocolate, was nervous when we bought this one...

Instead of reviewing this myself, I decided to invite David (as I often do) and also our nephew Chris to share the experience with me.  So the 3 of us arrived early to see Cirque Italia, settled into our seats, and busted open this Fireworks Chocolate Bar.

Reviewers Chris and David pre-Circus and pre-chocolate.  David looks nervous, Chris is psyched.

Here is what we thought:

Chris (teenager):  (Before tasting) - Smells good.  Fruity.  (Took a bite) – WOAH!!  I was chewing it and it was fine, then I swallowed and it started FIZZING (points at throat)!!!  What an odd sensation.  It’s good though.  Kind of kinky.  Weird.  Would be good in a s’more.  Don’t tell your friends what kind of chocolate it is and they would eat it and go, “What IS THIS??”.  

Rating:  3.5

David:  (Before tasting) – smells very dark, almost like cooking chocolate.  (Took a bite) – I thought it was all over after the Pop Rocks and it was a little disappointing.  Then the HOT STUFF HIT.  That was a surprise!  And I was worried.  But in the end I think it was a good balance.  I like the chipotles.  I don’t really need the cayenne.  It would be good with espresso and a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 

Rating:  3.5

Susan:  On first bite, the Pop Rocks feel more like Rice Krispy bits than Pop Rocks.  Then bam – the hot hits your throat hard!!  The Pop Rocks stick in your teeth and linger on – popping after the chocolate is gone.  Kinky!  I think this would be a fun treat for a first date.  Impress your date by sharing one of these with them.  This is not a chocolate bar I would ever really want to sit down and enjoy, but it would be very fun to break it into the tiny little pieces and serve it on a pretty plate at a dinner party. 

Rating:  3.5

None of us really wanted to FINISH the chocolate bar, so I packed it up and brought it with us to our next event for the day – seeing “Brouhaha” at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC.  Karen Beriss, a friend and reader of this blog, was seated in the row in front of us.  So I asked her and the woman seated next to her to join in on the tasting and reviewing!  Here is their take:

More reviewers!  Karen and Denise.  THANKS for helping!

Karen:  Note – Karen was well aware of this chocolate bar as she had bought and eaten it before and reallllly liked it. 

(After tasting) – I LOVE IT!  Suck on it!  I love everything about it.  I prefer it when it has been refrigerated (this was the first time she had one not cold), but it POPS more when it is not refrigerated.  Rating:  4

Denise:  Note – I had never met Denise.  It was fun to have a stranger review a product! 

It has Pop Rocks in it…  I just won’t stop…  My teeth are vibrating!  It’s in between my teeth, it is almost like it is going up to my gums.  Now it is dissipating.  I am scared to eat another piece.  (At this point I thought she hated it, but she was game and took another square.)  I LIKE IT!  I would buy it as a GIFT for someone.  It is a fun food. 

Rating:  3

Go ahead - splurge.  Spend $1.99 on a novelty chocolate.  

There you have it!  I will average all of the ratings together for the final score.  I still have a few squares left – wish I could give it to one of you out there in blog land to try.

Price – $1.99

Rating - 3.5

Day 170 - Crispy Rice Milk Chocolate

Yes, please!  I have had a long, hard day working and I need some CHOCOLATE!!!!  These 40 g bars (1.4 oz) always do the trick.  I like them because they are NICE CHOCOLATE, nice as in, like, the bars that are normally BIG and crazy expensive.  Only, they are not BIG, and they are not EXPENSIVE!  See – nice!!

If you are gonna eat a candy bar, make it this one

You can often find these near the check-out stand at Trader Joe’s (can we say “impulse buy”??).  if you have never been tempted enough to throw some in your cart, do it next time.  The crunchy rice bits are really good, but the chocolate is the star of the show.  They are in a way like Nestles Crunch bars, only the chocolate in these is much, much better.  I guess these are to Nestles Crunch like a fresh pineapple is to a tin can of Dole pineapple chunks – same basic premise but one is much preferred J.

Here is David enjoying a Crispy Rice Chocolate Bar :)

And do you want to hear more good news about these?  They come in a little pack of THREE bars!  So you can open one, enjoy it, and not worry about:  a.  eating too much, or b.  leaving a big candy bar open and it getting stale!

"IMPORTED FROM BELGIUM" - ooh-la-la!

They are cheap, too.  At $1.79 per pack, that works out to .60 cents per candy bar.  WORTH IT.

Price - $1.79 (for 3)

Rating – 4.5