The 5 Best Trader Joe’s Drinks You Absolutely Need to Try
We all know Trader Joe’s has pretty much every cuisine you’d ever care to try. But did you know they also offer an extensive selection of beverages? Yup, that’s right – from sodas and fresh-pressed juice to smoothies and sparkling water, the Trader Joe’s drink aisle is just as overwhelming as their food aisles.
Lucky for you, I’ve tried almost every beverage offered by the grocery chain and narrowed them down to the best of the best. Here’s the scoop on the five best Trader Joe’s drinks of all time for a delicious, refreshing treat.
1. Ginger Lemon Probiotic Sparkling Beverage
Let’s start off with something light and fresh. This Trader Joe’s drink is like a hybrid between lemonade, kombucha, and soda.
Probiotic beverages are definitely an acquired taste, but this one has far less of that sour, fermented taste you get in kombucha. Instead, you’ll taste just a little bit of tanginess, which is mostly covered by the lemon, ginger, and bubbles.
The prominent flavor here is the sour lemon, which is super refreshing when paired with the carbonated water. There’s a nice hint of ginger inside, too, which brings a bit of spicy sweetness to balance out the lemon.
It also gets extra points for its ingredient list. Even though it’s super flavorful and fun to drink, there’s nothing artificial inside. It’s made with carbonated water, apple and lemon juice concentrates, orange juice, ginger juice, and probiotic cultures.
This is the perfect drink to sip on a hot summer day, but it’s just as good in the winter. Lemon and ginger are known for helping to soothe side effects of the common cold, so why not crack open a can of this sparkling probiotic drink next time you’re starting to feel under the weather?
2. Organic Tea & Lemonade
An Arnold Palmer is a mix of lemonade and iced tea and is one of the most popular drinks in the US. Trader Joe’s take on this American classic is refreshing, tart, and nostalgic.
This drink tastes like a 50/50 split between tea and lemonade. It begins with a tart kick of lemon and ends with a sweet hit of tea. The tea used here is black, so there are some fruity, earthy undertones to each sip, which are brightened up by the lemon flavor.
It comes already sweetened, so you don’t have to add any sugar to it unless you like your Arnold Palmers extra sweet. To me, this drink has just the right amount of sugar. The sweetness doesn’t overtake other flavors and complements the sourness of the lemonade.
Since it’s an organic product, all the ingredients, from tea to sugar to lemon juice, are certified organic. I don’t know if that changes the taste at all, but it makes me feel like I’m being a tiny bit healthier.
3. Rhubarb & Strawberry Soda
I’ll admit that it took me a few years to actually try this Trader Joe’s drink. I’m not a huge soda person, and the thought of rhubarb, a vegetable, in my soda just felt wrong. But once I finally gave it a go, I was pleasantly surprised by what I tasted.
For starters, this soda has just the right amount of sweetness. It’s mostly made with carbonated water, strawberry juice, and rhubarb juice. There’s cane sugar in there, too, but only enough to bring a little sweetness to each sip.
The strawberry and rhubarb flavors are pretty balanced in this drink. I’d estimate it’s 60% strawberry and 40% rhubarb. The sweet, nostalgic taste of strawberry is the first flavor you’ll find when you take a sip, but the tart rhubarb is quick to follow.
You always hear that rhubarb is super tart, and you either love it or hate it, but this is not that sour of a drink. The sweetness of the strawberry and the fizz of the water take the main spotlight, and that tartness is there in the background as a complement.
4. Sparkling Pomegranate Punch
If I had to choose my favorite Trader Joe’s drink of all time, it would be their Sparkling Pomegranate Punch. It’s only available during the holiday season, and I look forward to its arrival every winter.
This drink contains a whopping FIVE different kinds of juice – pomegranate, pineapple, orange, apple, and ginger, to be exact. These flavors all mix together for a drink that’s predominantly pomegranate but with some wintery fruit flavors as supporting characters.
The amount of ginger is just enough to give the drink some holiday flare, but it’s probably the least prominent of all the flavors. It’s a bright, sweet drink without being overly sugary and has a nice sour punch to keep things interesting.
This drink makes a great mocktail, but it can also be mixed with alcohol to make a mean mixed drink. If you go the cocktail route, you could add some champagne for an extra fizzy pomegranate mimosa or a dash of gin for a quick, uncomplicated gin fizz.
5. Spiced Cider
To me, no drink is quite as comforting as a glass of spiced cider. Trader Joe’s version is one of the best I’ve tried, including homemade. This cider is made with a handful of warming spices, including cinnamon, clove, and allspice.
The main ingredient is, of course, apple juice, which is blended with orange and lemon peels and orange oil for a touch of citrus and flavor depth.
Some apple ciders tend to get cloyingly sweet, but not this one. There’s no added sugar here, meaning all the sweetness comes straight from the fruit itself. The freshness of the apple juice and the slight citrus notes are on full display, which makes every sip of this drink feel like a brisk autumn night around the bonfire.
This cider is refreshing and delicious when served cold, but I always drink mine warmed up. It’s comforting, warming, and spicy. This may be a controversial take, but I’d choose a warm mug of Trader Joe’s spiced cider over a hot chocolate any day.
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