A “Jelly Bean” for the Coffee-Lover in Your Family

Trader Joe's Espresso Pillows

About the only jelly beans Mrs Fiend eats are the licorice ones that get left at her place on the kitchen table (someone has to eat them, and I usually don’t). That doesn’t mean she’s not a candy lover in her own way, but her drug of choice is chocolate – the darker, the better. So it was no surprise to find that, on her last visit to Trader Joe’s, she came out with the “adult” version of jelly beans: Trader Joe’s Espresso Pillows.

Joe calls these things “toffee espresso bits covered in dark chocolate,” and that’s as good a description as yours truly can come up with. They’re about the size of a mini bean and the iconic bean shape; small enough that it takes around 45 to make up an ounce. Each bean has a tiny bit of hard toffee – think a Heath Bar – impregnated with tiny crunches of espresso coffee beans. The rectangular chunk of toffee is coated with dark chocolate, about the same darkness (and quality) as a Hershey’s Special Dark bar. The crunch is satisfying, though a little surprising at first bite (especially for something called a “pillow”).

In reality, they’re pretty good – and perhaps the best thing is that, unlike chocolate-covered espresso beans, they don’t leave specks of coffee grounds on your teeth. They come in a cute round tin that looks a lot like a repurposed Kiwi shoe polish tin, except that it has a clear plastic window in the center.

Nutritionally, they’re about standard for sugary candy – 140 calories per ounce, with 8g of fat. Trader Joe’s is mum about the caffeine content, but the amount of espresso in a serving is probably less than in a gulp of a grande latte. Overall? Though they cost even more per ounce than Jelly Bellys, they’re still a fun little treat – occasionally.
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