Trader Joe’s Chocolate Cheddar Cheese

OK, when I saw this in the February 2012 Fearless Flyer, I just had to run to the store and pick up a hunk of this cheese/chocolate concoction! There aren’t two things I love more than chocolate and cheese! This kind of sound like the equivalent of Reeses Cups ads. Who put chocolate in my cheese! Who put cheese in my chocolate!

This sounds perfectly decadent, but in reality Trader Joe’s doesn’t quite pull it off! This is listed as “Trader Joe’s Spotlight” cheese for the February 2012 Fearless Flyer and it has the special sticker on the upper right hand side of the packaging. I assume it will be limited in terms of how long it stays in the store.

To be honest, I think this is a novelty item that won’t have staying power. I really wanted this to work out, but the cheese and chocolate just don’t mesh well. My wife, Becky, is a serious cheese head! She studies cheese. She reads books about it and of course, she loves chocolate so when I brought this home we both pounced on it immediately hoping for the best!

She could barely gag it down! I didn’t think it was that bad, but combination of cheese and chocolate fight with each other and it leaves a weird taste on your palate. I think the use of milk chocolate instead of something more savory, like dark chocolate is the problem here. The sweet milky chocolate and sharp, english cheddar don’t meld well. I also think there is too much chocolate in the cheese and it ends up killing both flavors instead of blending together. Maybe if they had sprinkled cocoa powder on the outside or little chocolate nibs inside.

This is something I will not buy again and I can’t really recommend it other than a novelty and I think clearly Trader Joe’s has no intention of keeping this around long term.

Becky hated it and I thought it was just mediocre, so I am going to rate this one 4 Bells.

 

12 Comments

  1. We’ve tried this twice now. The first time was around when it came out in February. It’s okay in small doses. You have to be ready for the strange flavor mix. Second time we had it I was less excited about it. I agree, not as awesome as you would initially hope based on the fact that it’s made from two delicious foods!

    • Agree! I have looked the past 2 yrs. They didn’t have it 🙁 wish I could find another place that carries it. We loved it!!!!

  2. try it melted on a croissant. In europe a common snack is a slice of cheese and a piece of choco, melted together on a hunk of bread … yumyum!

  3. when i was a kid my folks brought home some super sharp cheddar… i instantly craved chocolate… so i started dipping it in hershey sauce. i have chased this combo ever since. sorry i missed this item, hope it is still around, i’ll be looking next time i go in for my “mochi”. Please folks… POST if you see it again.

  4. I love this cheese!! I first found it two years ago in the fearless flyer and thought it more than met any advertisement claims. Love it. Last year, it wasn’t advertised, but TJ had it and I bought several again. I was told it was a seasonal item, so I’v been looking forward to it. I just got back from TJ store and am very downcast to find that they don’t have it and won’t have it. Now what???? Disappointed.

  5. This cheese is Awesome! I guess it doesn’t fit everyone’s taste buds because it’s a taste one has to acquire! I’m on my way to TJ’s and I hope I come across it again.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *