As a matter of principle, we are proudly, pronouncedly, and profoundly passionate about passion fruit in all its forms. Recently, one of our buyers found a form of passion fruit that took us by surprise: dried passion fruit. Never before had we tried something that so captured the experience of enjoying a jubilantly juicy passion fruit, while remaining rather un-juicy—and, we might add, un-messy. We knew right away that it was destined for our shelves, in the form of Trader Joe’s Passion Fruit Rounds.

Our supplier in Vietnam—an expert in all things dried fruit—makes each bag of our Passion Fruit Rounds by taking passion fruit seeds, along with the sweet, tart, and delighftully tropical pulp that surrounds them, and combines them with a bit of apple juice and sugar to provide some extra body. They then pour the whole mixture into disc-shaped molds, and dehydrate the whole mix it until it reaches a charmingly chewy texture. Together, the combo of sweet and sour, chewy and crunchy (courtesy of the generously-studded seeds throughout) create a harmonious balance that’s as unique as the passion fruit itself is. We recommend enjoying them as a quick, fruity snack, as a sweet treat to munch while watching a movie, or as a fun bit of cocktail decor, affixed to the rim of something sweet and tangy.