Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame

I know this might go without saying for some blogs- Popular Mechanics, Cigar Aficionado, Christian Children's Book Review- that they don't condone or promote the abuse of animals. And if you're asking me point blank, sure, Foodette joins those noble ranks.

But shit, it is hard to photograph a squirming kitten next to some damned edamame beans without using some tricky tactics. Like superglue.

I picked this up at Trader Joe's a few days ago while on a mission to gather some weird ass shit for Tampa Bay Food Monster and had to review it. Also, photograph it next to unrelated condiments. Chocolate covered edamame seemed neat as far as things covered in chocolate went. It came in little beans and looked shiny and approachable.Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as impressive as it sounded. After trying to come up with cute ways to photograph it, I settled for the Asian cat and gave up. Truth is, it's kind of a boring snack. It carries that quintessentially mealy and soil-like flavor that soybeans take on. Its only hint of savory flavor was a slight sea saltiness that quickly disappeared, and then ceded to blandness. The dark chocolate Trader Joe's used was nice, though- it was a fruity dark. If I had to guess I'd say it was somewhere in the 60-70% and was rich and sweet with very little bitterness. It was this fruity note that made me keep coming back to these, whereupon I realized it would be more practical to simply buy a nice chocolate bar rather than suffer through the queer edamame flavoring.I'd only be tempted to buy this combination again in a situation that imparted more saltiness or "umame" to the overall flavor- if these had fleur du sel, wasabi, or soy sauce mixed in, as a nod to the traditional applications of edamame, it would be another story.

Also, here's a picture of our new kitten. Her spirit name is Purr and she looks peeved to be associated with an inferior product.