Trader Joe's Organic Spicy Avocado Hummus

And here's the other half of my two-part review of the new organic, attractively packaged members of the TJ's hummus fam. Who am I to neglect a new hummus? Maybe not a dessert hummus. I'm still need to be convinced that dessert hummus is a thing, but I'll bet that dessert hummus will hit TJ's shelves soon. As for me- savory all the way! 

I love avocado but few people eat straight avocado without anything on it. Especially not without the best seasoning ever. Sooooo...how does a mild avocado flavor a spicy hummus? With some help of course.

What's up with avocado pulp? What is it? Does it save money? And is organic avocado pulp better? How do I know that it's actually organic? As it turns out, Oregon Tilth is a third-party, non-profit organic certification agency that sits under the umbrella of the USDA National Organic Program, and it's one of the most reputable organic certifying organizations out there due to its higher standards. So when something is "Oregon Tilth Certified," it has met stricter requirements for actually being organic than the usual "USDA Organic" label. So yeah. They don't play. It's like peer-reviewed and everything (for argument's sake, I'm going to assume that part is true :P). Thanks Google. Thanks Trader Joe's. Let's all be informed consumers, shall we?

Typical nutrition stats. Cool.

1) Unlike its buffalo-style counterpart, this hummus is smoother and actually creamy (by store-bought hummus standards anyway).

2) When the label says spicy, they MEAN spicy. It's definitely spicier than the nonorganic "spicy hummus" that TJ's carries (or used to carry). If you can't take spice, this will be too much for you.

3) I don't think the avocado flavor is that obvious because I taste mostly savory (y'know, the usual suspects - sea salt, cumin, garlic, pepper) spiciness with a bit of acid, but certainly the avocado contributes the smoothness and buttery creaminess that is texturally appealing. Also, why have they used avocado pulp? How else are you going to keep the avo from browning? You gotta mash it to a pulp and preserve it with acid, duh, but the lime taste isn't really noticeable. So using real avocado instead of avocado pulp? I don't know if that's a viable option. But whatever - I don't really have anything negative to say about the taste. It's well-seasoned and spicy. Good enough for me.

4) When you consider that this hummus has passed a harder test to earn its organic label, then surely that justifies the extra $1, no? $2.99 is still not bad, especially if buying organic is important to you.

5) The buffalo-style hummus is also Oregon Tilth certified, but if we're going by taste alone, I choose this one over that one.

TL;DR: Trader Joe's Organic Spicy Avocado Hummus. Spicy hummus with creamy avo goodness. 8 out of 10. Mantou Joe repurchase? On occasion, sure.