Trader Joe's Worst Winter Holiday Item Is A Flop In More Ways Than One

Oftentimes, retail and grocery stores begin prepping us for the holiday season before we've even gotten the previous holiday out of our minds. Starbucks seems to release its fall-themed drink menu earlier in August every year, but many still argue that's too deep in the throes of summer to truly appreciate any pumpkin spice. Trader Joe's is arguably on the same level, releasing its winter holiday line around the beginning of November every year. We explored 13 of Trader Joe's 2025 winter holiday items, so you don't have to, and determined that the O'Nog Non-Dairy Oat Beverage is a major flop for multiple reasons. 

Compared to TJ's standard eggnog, or any other eggnog for that matter, this O'Nog is strangely thick and disconcerting. In TJ's egg-based eggnog, you get an ideal combination of thick yet syrupy, but the O'Nog version strays away from that preferred consistency and ventures into sludge territory. The spices you'd associate with eggnog are all but missing, even though you'd expect the O'Nog's nutmeg to shine (spoiler alert: it doesn't). The missing egg yolk component certainly contributes to the off-tasting drink, furthered by the overpowering flavor from oats used to make the base of the drink. It all adds to that feeling of missing the classic eggnog taste we were hoping for. The yellowish hue from turmeric and annatto extract isn't enough to mask the generally disappointing taste and unsettling texture, no matter the benefits of a dairy-free nog.

The internet's opinions on Trader Joe's O'Nog are fairly divided, though many agree with our assessment. "I feel I have a responsibility to my fellow human beings to warn everybody to never drink this," explained one concerned Redditor, going on to describe a "disgusting" flavor, "chunky, slimy" texture, and likeness to "old, spoiled milk." Several other shoppers on social media mentioned a chunky, weird consistency that just doesn't compare with traditional eggnog. One Reddit shopper complained about how the O'Nog "comes out in nasty globs" when trying to pour it in coffee, despite being advertised as a creamer. Likewise, other shoppers on TikTok demonstrated similar experiences.

On the other hand, some people love the O'Nog, with one Redditor saying it "would be [their] vegan nog of choice," and giving it nearly a perfect score. In a previous ranking of 30 Trader Joe's holiday items, we did rank TJ's O'Nog in the number two spot, so we can see why shoppers on Reddit might say it's "THICC but oooo sooo good." The O'Nog Non-Dairy Oat Beverage has been a holiday staple at TJ's since its debut in 2021, going for $2.99 per carton this year. Its main ingredient is water and hydrolyzed oats, but it's also made with cane sugar, sunflower oil, nutmeg, turmeric, annatto extract, natural flavors, and other additives (even though Alton Brown suggests a rice substitute for holiday eggnog).