I’m a sucker for smoothies. And so, of course, when we went to Trader Joe’s for literally the first time in over three years, what else would be one of the few non-food things to catch my eye? Actually, I seemed to remember trying these at some point back when my wife (briefly) worked there, and wanted to see if my memory was even remotely accurate, which it never is. The only thing making me pause for thought: the $2.99 price tag for a 16 oz. bottle which, come to think of it, is curiously around the exact same price for a bottle of the name brand stuff…
Anyway, I haven’t compared ingredients between the two (and at this point, I probably won’t), but I’m pretty sure that’s precisely what this is. It’s a very sweet, very tasty combination of five fruits and seven vegetables that goes down smooth, without any bizarre or off-putting aftertaste, vegetable or otherwise. In other words, it’s inherently drinkable, and something that’s along the lines of what I would consider to be an “ideal” beverage, at least in terms of taste. (As a counterpoint, as she frequently is: my wife found this to be sickeningly sweet, and wouldn’t go near the stuff, a feeling she shares with the name brand, too.)
About the only complaint I have—and it’s also something that holds true for the original product itself—is that I would consider this more a juice than an actual smoothie. It’s true that the texture is a little bit thicker than the average juice, but it’s definitely not thick enough to warrant usage of the term “smoothie”–although that may just be a matter of personal preference. At any rate, no matter the texture, and even though the proposition of value is rather weak (bottles of the name brand are available in Aldi stores for $3.05, following a recent price hike), it’s still a tasty way to get some of your daily fruit and veggie servings…assuming you can handle all that sweetness.
Overall: 9/10. A delicious “smoothie” that’s actually more juice in texture, this is still a great combination of fruit and vegetable juices that is perfect for those who hate veggies: it’s very sweet (sickeningly so, according to my wife), without a hint of broccoli or garlic aftertaste in sight, despite both of those ingredients appearing in the bottle. The taste is so highly reminiscent of the name brand stuff, that I’m pretty positive the same company makes it under a private label. There’s really not much in the way of value here (this 16 oz. bottle: $2.99; name brand 16 oz. bottle at Aldi: $3.05 following a recent dime price hike), but who cares? It’s delicious and readily available at Trader Joe’s stores everywhere, and that makes it a solid win in my book.
FUN FACT: My wife was working at TJ’s when she found out she was pregnant with the thing that would turn out to be our son. She worked there long enough that I was planning on adding frequent reviews of Trader Joe’s products…how would that have affected this blog? We will never know…
