Trader Joe's Everything But the Bartender Paloma

It's a bonus weekend review! Not something we do very often, but I figure why not? Neither the beautiful wifey nor I have ever had a paloma before, though we've frequently had all the ingredients on hand and could've made one ourselves many times over. It's grapefruit juice, lime juice, tequila, sparkling water, and salt. It's essentially a margarita made with grapefruit juice instead of orange liqueur.

And Trader Joe's Everything But the Bartender Paloma is most definitely sweet—nearly syrupy sweet with agave. Sonia was surprised how sweet it is. I'd say it's pretty much on par with the sweetness level of Trader Joe's Everything But the Bartender Lime Margarita, reviewed just last year on this blog. I kind of like the grapefruit twist, to be honest. I never even knew a grapefruit margarita was a thing, and I certainly didn't know it was called a "paloma."

Sonia wishes it were less sweet but also admits that once her ice melts about halfway, it's just about perfect. She likes it just a tad more than the above-mentioned margarita. I'd have to agree. Looks like the Cosmopolitan is Sonia's favorite out of the three, while I'd have to say it's my least favorite. We've also reviewed Trader Joe's Everything But the Bartender Gin & Tonic.

The format of these Everything But the Bartender drinks is quite convenient, and there's no guesswork as far as mixing ratios or anything like that. In this case, each drink winds up costing about two and a half bucks, so you're talking about way less money than you'd drop if you were buying something like this at a bar or a club. They err on the side of sweet rather than stiff or strong or bitter.

$9.99 for the four pack of 200 mL cans. 15% alcohol by volume. I think this is more of a summer libation than an autumn one, but it was still on shelves as of our big TJ's run last month. Might buy again. I'm glad they actually show the ingredients since alcoholic beverages are not required to do so, and they genuinely look like very high quality contents. Eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Everything But the Bartender Paloma.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.