Day 277 - Apple Grape Juice

This juice was first sampled under perfect conditions.  Picture this:

It was a Friday.  We both had the DAY OFF.  We slept in.  The sun was shining.  The kitchen door was open – letting a breeze in.  We lazed around and finally sat down for breakfast at 12:25 PM, a time when “adults” would be eating LUNCH, not breakfast.  We sat down to a delicious spread, which included this Trader Joe’s Apple Grape Juice.  Sounds idyllic… 

David with this juice in the store.  Before we tasted it.

 And yet…

To me – drinking this was like drinking industrial strength airport bathroom cleaning liquid in a cup.  This is not what I want to drink.  It was not good.  It is too perfume-y – it smells fake.  The smell totally put me off.  And of course, you SMELL a juice before you TASTE it.  So to me, it seemed like I had a little juice glass full of public toilet water from O’Hare with my breakfast.  JUST FLUSHED and CLEANED airport toilet water, mind you, but toilet water none-the-less.  And that is NOT what I like to wash my omelets down with.  It was, to say the least, off putting… 

The SMELL then influenced the TASTE, making my taste buds think they were drinking toilet cleaner.  This did not help my appetite.

I did due diligence - I TRIED tasting this juice with my nose plugged.  I STILL didn't like it! 

I would rather drink Trader Joe's plain white grape juice  ( review here ) or much better still, Concord grape juice (that is the bomb!):  (review here).   Heck, if you twisted my arm and said, “Susan you MUST drink a glass of this fake toilet cleaner-scented juice or a glass of actual toilet WATER (without cleaner)!!!” I think I would choose the plain water.  This was that yucky.

David, on the other hand, drank the juice then said, “It’s mild.  Mellow.  Very peasant.  It’s alright by me!”

David, happily drinking toilet water cleaner.

And when I explained the whole “toilet cleaner” thing, David replied, “This is a fiiiiine toilet cleaner!”.

You can keep this toilet cleaner crap.  I bought a bottle of TJ’s Honey Crisp Apple Cider that I adore (to be reviewed soon) and I pushed this gross toilet juice to the back of the fridge (David is still drinking it, ewww.)

"Slightly sweet" my ass!  Slightly GROSS is more like it.  Organic or not, this juice isn't coming home with us again.

Price – $3.99

Rating – 2.25 (this score would be lower, but David likes it...)

Day 265 - White Grape Juice (organic)

So yeah…  The year has 100 days left, meaning this project can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I finally decide to make a Facebook page for the blog.  Can anyone say “LATE BLOOMER”???  Oh well, late or not, it is up and running now!  You can find it at:  https://www.facebook.com/traderjoes365  Do me a favor and “like” the page, will ya?

Now on to today’s review.

Organic White Grape Juice- find it in the juice aisle at TJ's (non refrigerated)

First off, let’s address the elephant in the room.  This White Grape Juice being reviewed today cannot compare to the awesomeness that is Trader Joe’s Concord Grape juice (reviewed on day 137).  I’m sorry, it just CAN’T be that good.  So do not go in expecting THAT.   Then again, the Concord is the SAME PRICE for only HALF THE JUICE.  (Concord is 32 oz and this White Grape is 64 oz…)  And both are organic.  So see, how rich do you wanna go?  That’s what you have to decide here…  Really though, both bottles are cheaper than name brand grape juice, so whichever one you choose you cannot go wrong.  Concord Grape Juice review here

But as far as the White Grape Juice goes, to me it seems like this Trader Joe’s brand is not as sweet or quite as tasty as the name brands (like Welch’s).  But it is extremely acceptable.  It is good with breakfast.   It is not too watery.  It is not too sweet.  It is PRETTY GOOD.

Verily I say unto you - this is miracle juice (though it sort of looks like something else in this glass...)

This juice should really be called “miracle juice”.  It is like the Biblical parable of the loaves and the fishes if you know that one – every morning when I go to pour this juice, somehow there is MORE of it in the bottle!  It multiplies overnight… 

Twice the juice for the same price if you go with the white variety. Not twice the taste, but not half bad.
(That is a lot of math for one caption.)

David agrees with all the points I made.  And we both agreed on our rating, too.  Ahhh it is a good morning.

Price –$3.99

Rating – 3.75

NOTE - 100 DAYS OF REVIEWS REMAIN FOR THE YEAR!  MILESTONE!!

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