Why Reddit Is Skeptical About Trader Joe's New Cheese
There are so many items at Trader Joe's that have cult followings, and while the most popular items tend to be savory and sweet snacks and offerings from the frozen aisle, the cheese section also offers some fan-favorites. The chain has had more of an impact on cheese consumption than you might expect: Actually, Trader Joe's made brie cheese more accessible in the United States.
Besides the usual brie, cheddars, and blue cheeses, Trader Joe's also offers plenty of seasonal varieties and creative cheese flavors, like a pizza bread cheese (via Instagram). But it looks like one of Trader Joe's newer cheeses isn't getting a lot of praise.
On the Trader Joe's subreddit, a user posted a photo of a new find in the cheese aisle: a limoncello-flavored gouda. If you're not sure whether you would want a lemon liqueur cheese, you're not alone. Based on the comments on this Reddit post, most Trader Joe's customers aren't loving the look of this gouda.
The bright yellow cheese is off-putting to Redditors
It's no surprise that a limoncello-flavored cheese would be yellow, but this Trader Joe's cheese is especially bright, and it looks like customers aren't loving how unnatural this color looks. In the comments of the Reddit post, multiple people have expressed how strange the color is. One person wrote, "That cheese looks and sounds like it'll taste like an abomination" while another commenter said, "That cheese looks so wrong..."
The original poster said that the color was created by turmeric, which you can also see in the ingredient list from the photo on the subreddit. While there's turmeric in the cheese, the ingredient list says this is for color, so it's unlikely that the flavor of the spice comes through at all. In fact, one commenter said that they thought it tastes like lemon cheesecake.
Some people criticized the cheese more playfully, with one person writing, "This is not a Gouda idea." Others were surprised that this cheese is being met with so much skepticism because customers were excited about a lemon ricotta cheese from the grocery store, per Instagram. Is this a cheese that you'll be keeping an eye out for on your next Trader Joe's haul? If you're looking for a gouda that has a wider appeal, recently Trader Joe's brought back the Green Goddess Gouda to much fan excitement.