This New Trader Joe’s Treat Actually Brings the Heat

For the past few years, hot honey has been the trendy condiment that absolutely refuses to quit…and I guess we’re still eating it up, because Trader Joe’s Hot Honey Fudge just hit stores this month. I suppose we’ll continue to see hot honey this, that, and the other until food scientists decide on the next spicy fad food (personally, I’m rooting for something that goes better with hot dogs).

I can’t be too hard on Trader Joe’s for riding out the hot honey trend to the very end. And, as Sporked‘s unofficial new Trader Joe’s product taste tester, I gotta say that they’ve been on a hot streak lately (pun intended). Was Trader Joe’s able to keep up their momentum alive and make a hot honey fudge that’s worth checking out? We tried it to find out.

New Product!

Trader Joe’s Hot Honey Fudge

Trader Joe’s

Pros: In terms of both flavor and overall experience, this stuff scores high marks. Big slabs of fudge are cut into cute little handheld pieces. They’re not quite bite-sized, but perfect all the same. Likewise, Trader Joe’s put just enough hot chili pepper extract in the fudge that you certainly feel it as it lingers on your palate just long enough that you can’t down one piece right after another. A little built-in moderation isn’t so bad.

Cons: We gotta talk about Trader Joe’s timing for this one. We already pointed out that the hot honey trend is at risk of overstaying its welcome, but my quibble here goes deeper than that. Fudge is such a wintery food—so what’s with the summer launch date? And a spicy fudge for that matter. You know, during the hottest time of the year. While I certainly think this would have been a better fit for the winter months (I mean, there’s even a polar bear on the box!), it’s something you can keep in the pantry and revisit when colder weather comes around.

Rating:

8/10

Sporks