Day 229 - Aprium

We are in a new city, which means visiting a NEW TRADER JOE’S!  Yippee!  We went to the TJ’s on West 86^th Street in Indianapolis.  It is a pretty store!

Yah - Indianapolis Trader Joe's!!

The employees were all super nice.  One woman asked us right off the bat if we needed help finding anything.  Other employees were super helpful when we DID need help, especially the guy with the beard who knew a lot about beer (sorry, I wish I remembered his name!).  And Amy was our cashier.  Here is a photo of Amy and me.

Here's Amy and me showing a couple of our purchases!

Amy writes the local news for their Trader Joe’s newsletter!  So Amy and I are like sisters from a different mister – we both write about Trader Joe’s stuff a lot!  She was really knowledgeable and friendly.  It was cool to meet you Amy!

Now, on to the review.  We bought an APRIUM.  “A WHAT??” you say???  Well, I assume it is a cross between an apricot and a plum.  I am surprised the signage didn’t explain more about it.  There MUST be something fun you could do with a Frankenstein fruit like an aprium, no?  I am curious what other stores have on their aprium signs.

Don't they look pretty?  But I think more creative signage is needed.  :)

We liked this fruit.  It was much more PLUM than apricot.  It was firm without being hard – it had a lovely firm fleshy texture.  There was no mush factor, which was good.  It had a tiny bit of sourness (from the skin).  The flesh was sweet.  It was meaty and tasty.  It was not dry, but not so juicy that you got a sticky chin from juice trickling down as you ate it.  The stone was difficult to get out – you need to cut or chew that puppy out.

David chomping on an aprium

Here is an aprium cut open on a plate

All in all, the aprium is a nice fruit when you need something new.  If you are tired of regular plums, and a traditional apricot just won’t do, why not try their love child, an aprium?

Price - .59 cents each

Rating – 4.25

Day 196 - Golden Plum

This golden plum was purchased at a visit to TRADER JOE’S in Chicago!  Specifically, the SOUTH LOOP Trader Joe’s!  

David and the lovely GOLDEN PLUM

We were in Chicago this month for my partner David to participate in the Physical Festival, so of course while we were there we tried out a new TJ’s!  It was a really nice store.  Bright, open, with friendly staff.  We TRIED to buy 2 local beers, but the cashier told us we had to get either 4 or 6 L.  She was super sweet about it – I mean, it obviously is not HER rule.  She even walked us over to the beer section to see if there were any more we wanted to try.  But we were only there for a couple of days and so we decided to forego the local beer but got other stuff.

South Loop Chicago TRADER JOE'S!

Once such thing we got was a golden plum.  And we had a GUEST REVIEWER review it with us – David’s brother Ted!  We sat outside at a little café for brunch and ate this plum as our appetizer.  

David and his brother Ted.  They have not lived near one another for a long time so don't see each other very often.

Here is what we thought:

Susan: 

o   Sticks quite a bit to the pit (I know this because I am the one who cut it into pieces to share)

o   Tart

o   Pretty color – like a sunny day

o   Fruity

o   Yummy

o   Rating - 4

David:

o   Flavorful

o   Tart, but you want that in a plum really

o   The skin has it’s own little tartness to it, which I like

o   Satisfying

o   Ample

o   Delicious

o   Rating - 4.75

Ted (guest reviewer):

o   Tart

o   It doesn’t smush in the hand when it is cut

o   How do you rate a FRUIT?

o   Rating – 4

After tasting it, we had a lively debate over what one could PAIR this plum with.  I went with BLUE CHEESE, which then led to a discussion on how blue cheese goes with everything.  Other ideas were pears, cherries, strawberries, Manchego cheese…  Ted, a tech guy, then GOOGLED what to pair this plum with and ended up on a site of “stone fruit pairings”, which recommended washed rind cheeses.

Price per PIECE, not by the pound.  Makes checking out faster!

I will give the final review by averaging all 3 reviewers’ ratings.  I will also add that, like with other produce, I like the fact that TJ’s priced these plums per piece and not by the pound. 

Price – .59 cents each

Rating – 4.25 (average of all 3 ratings)

Day 92 - Tart Cherry 100% Juice Blend

This juice wasn’t as TART as it was THICK.  Maybe it should be called “Thick Cherry 100% Juice Blend”.  I mean, it was TART, but not toooo tart.  And really not too thick, either.  It was quite good.  It is not the kind of juice you want to grab when you are super thirsty, because it is more like a little MEAL than it is a thirst quencher.  But it feels quite HEALTHY to drink.  J

Tart Cherry Juice Blend - on the left of the photo.  I will try the other juices before the year is out! 

We picked this up on our recent visit to the first ever New York City Trader Joe’s!  We chose it because we had never seen it at “our” Trader Joe’s in Northern Virginia and so thought it was special.  However, I went to our local Trader Joe’s tonight and oops, they DO have it, we just had never noticed it!

Anyway, it is a healthy juice – I would put it in the Pom category if you know what Pom is.  The label says it is “tart cherry juice from concentrate with notes of plum, pear and apple juices and white grape juice from concentrate”.  It definitely tastes mostly like cherries.

It says it is 2 servings and I think that is about right.  One thing that might seem like a small point but to me it was good – it has a tight screw on cap.  Some juices have flimsy pop or snap on lids, and those are not good if you want to throw it in your bag after you have started drinking it.  With this tight cap, we felt confident bringing it with us after we had opened and re-closed it.

See??  You can open and reseal it - drink it in the NYC Subway Station!  

 If you like cherry juice and you want a healthy snack/drink, try it out.

Price - $2.99

Rating – 3.75