Lay's Potato Chips - FLAVOR DEATHMATCH

There are four customer-submitted potato chip flavors being marketed right now by Frito-Lay. The winner via popular "voting" will be chosen to join the official Lay's Potato Chip flavor line. The official name of this contest is "Lay's Do Us A Flavor Choose Your Chip Contest," but "Flavor Deathmatch" sounds a lot more exciting.

Anyway, we've tried all four flavors and here's what we think of them:

Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger - this one was the hardest of the four for me to find...either it's so popular that stores can't keep it on the shelves, or so few people want them that supermarkets won't reorder them. Based on the flavor, I really can't decide.

I expected a strong horseradish/mustard/ginger kick from these chips, but they're a lot more gentle than I thought they'd be. I didn't get a lot of ginger flavor (a note or two in the background) and the horseradish was limited to only a hint of the true power of The Root, with the strongest flavor element being vinegar. I think these will really appeal to people who like salt-and-vinegar flavored chips...as long as they don't mind a [small] bit of horseradish kick. The kettle cooking  is a plus; the hearty crunch is a great accompaniment.

Wavy Mango Salsa - Fruity and slightly spicy, Lay's has come up with a rather odd interpretation of mango salsa for these chips. "Mango" is way down the list of ingredients in the "Mango Salsa Seasonings" on the label list (third from last!) and it comes through as kind of a vague fermenty citrus flavor, almost like overripe pineapple than mango.  Red bell peppers, onion powder, and paprika round out the salsa taste. I can't imagine this flavor winning the challenge. On it's own, it's kind of disgusting. But it's a wavy chip, and that means it's made for dipping! Maybe Lay's intends this flavor to get obliterated by heavily-seasoned dips. Oh well. I'll never know, because I'll never care.

Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese - A flavor bulls-eye, and why wouldn't it be? Powdered cheese flavoring has been turning fingers orange for at least 50 years, it would be almost impossible for them to screw it up. Now, most "bacon" flavored stuff is pure garbage, relying on smoke and salt to try to fool your taste buds into thinking it doesn't suck. And I'm sure that one of the components of the "Natural Bacon Type Flavor" listed on the label is smoke, because once you notice it, it becomes almost the only thing you can taste. But there is a "meaty" quality to the chip flavor that powdered chemicals alone can not explain. Oh, wait, maybe it's the bacon fat!  Yes, Frito-Lay doses the formula with real bacon fat for that authentic pigmeat experience. In the end, though, it probably doesn't matter: long before the end of the bag, I had eaten a lifetime's supply and the chips were tasting more like Cheetos rubbed around an ashtray than Bacon Mac & Cheese.  Sadly, this flavor will probably be the winner, because there are countless people who have been mesmerized by the Internet Bacon Meme

Cappuccino - Right off the bat, I was impressed by the Cappuccino variety. If you like coffee, your mouth is going to water as soon as you open the bag, because a sweet and gentle coffee aroma will wrap your face in a comfy caffeinated quilt that beckons your taste buds.

And they only get better from there. Cappuccino chips have a lot of complex things going on in their flavor profile. Coffee, cream, cinnamon, and a buttery richness that made me check the ingredients panel (sure enough, butter is on the list.) While the taste can't ever be said to be truly "cappuccino," they have the same kind of umami appeal that salty caramel has - I swear, the human mouth is hard-wired to instantly love anything that is simultaneously salty and sweet.

I liked them best of the four, but I have to qualify that by saying that these aren't the kind of chips you pile up on a plate to keep your burger company. They're a true snacking chip, meant to be eaten all by themselves (or maybe with a simple, unadorned sour cream dip) later in the evening while you're stretched out in your recliner watching Law & Order.

ALDI Deutsche Küche Paprika Potato Chips

Good ol' ALDI and their Deutsche Küche line of imported German treats. If it weren't for them, I never would have found these Paprika Potato Chips.

Quite an interesting flavor, actually, and not purely paprika - onion, garlic, tomato, cheese, and yeast powders are all used along with the paprika to create a blend in which no one individual taste (other than the paprika of course) comes through.

Deutsche Küche Paprika Potato Chips are another one of those limited-time-only items at ALDI and may not be available at your local store at this very moment. As you know, though, ALDI cycles their specialty items on and off the shelves, so if you can't find them now, you may be able to in a few weeks (or, you can always ask your local store manager if she can bring them in for you.)

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Review: Covered Bridge Sea Salt and Black Pepper Potato Chips

That's the West Dummerston VT covered bridge in the background.

Of all the potato chip flavors I've tried over the years, my favorite variety is (sea) salt and black pepper. The problem is finding one that's just salt and pepper. Most brands load up their salt-and-pepper chips with other, unwelcome flavors and ingredients like dextrose, garlic powder, whey, and other unnecessary ingredients. I don't understand how a chip maker can take such a simple concept - make potato chips, season with salt and pepper, sell them - and screw it up so badly by spraying on all the rest of that shit.

Anyway, Covered Bridge Sea Salt and Black Pepper potato chips are one of the chips that get it right. The ingredients are simple and straightforward: Potatoes, Oil (for frying), sea salt, black pepper.  They're kettle cooked using russet potatoes grown within just a few miles of the chip factory in Hartland, New Brunswick. The russets give the chips a beautiful deep golden color, and the black pepper gives 'em a good peppery kick.

Lucky Canadians can find Covered Bridge chips all across The Great White North, but down here in the States they're easiest to find in Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and - I kid you not - California. I'm looking forward to trying some of their other varieties, and I would absolutely recommend that you try them out if you find them near you.

Link:

Covered Bridge Chips has a website. Who doesn't these days, eh?

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Lay's Classic BLT Potato Chips

It's not often that I stop short in the snack aisle of the supermarket, do a double-take and say, "Wait...what?" But it's not often that I find something like these Lay's Classic BLT-flavored potato chips, either.

My first thought was that they would taste just like any other barbecue flavored chip on the market, since they were likely to have powdered tomato and some kind of smoke flavoring added to simulate the BLT experience. However, the ingredient panel listed things like "Natural Bacon Type Flavor" and "Natural Lettuce Type Flavor" as well as the expected tomato powder and paprika extracts. So I gambled four bucks and bought a bag...

...and I was amazed.  These chips really do taste like a classic BLT. Every flavor is there, in roughly the proper proportions - tangy tomato, smoky bacon, lettuce, and even a hint of mayo which totally took me by surprise because Lay's has managed to coax a mayo-like flavor using sour cream, whey, and sugar. The chips are completely and almost perfectly as advertised.

Okay, so they're not going to be my go-to standard potato chip any time soon, but they will certainly be something I buy for the sake of novelty, or that I pick up to bring to a picnic if someone tells me it's my turn to buy the chips.

Review: Beer Chips

Beer chips. Potato chips made with beer.  Where do I even begin with these things?

Well, I like beer. And I like potato chips. And you know, I gotta admit that chips and beer go pretty well together.  But they don't go together this way if you know what I mean.

Beer chips are thick-cut kettle-cooked chips which are flavored with a coating of powdered beer, and there is no mistaking it. The taste of beer is quite pronounced and certainly unique in the snack universe.

And they taste disgusting. Kind of like piss. Really cheap piss. Cheaper than Pabst Blue Ribbon. Cheaper even than Falstaff or Milwaukee's Best. 

I've eaten some pretty weird stuff. Balut. Canned pig brains. A German-made cheeseburger sealed in a can. Some things have been worse than others. But Beer Chips? They're just nasty. 

Herr's Pizza Flavored Potato Chips

This is just a week for Herr's potato chips, I guess.

Thanks to a tip from J. Astro, I sought out and found some Herr's Pizza Flavored Potato Chips. I was a bit skeptical; I'm not a fan of tomato powder seasoning and it was hard for me to imagine that a chip purporting to taste like a pizza could pull it off without something to simulate the flavor of the sauce.  Still, Astro knows his snacks as well as he knows his cheesy horror flicks (more on that later) so the hunt was on.

Amazingly, I found some for sale almost immediately at Ocean State Job Lot and took a bag home, resolving not to even look at the ingredients panel until after tasting so as not to influence our opinions.  

I have to admit, they do taste a lot like a pizza.  Not exactly, mind you, but as much like a pizza as, say, pizza flavored Combos or TGIFriday's Cheese Pizza Chips.  And they do it without tomato powder.  A few different cheeses (including Romano,) some spices, and extract of paprika for a peppery flavor and a red color combine for a strangely authentic flavor that everyone really enjoyed.  In fact, we just about killed the whole bag - something that rarely happens when we set out to sample something for a review.  I'd certainly buy these again if I found them, which sadly is not guaranteed since Herr's distribution network is still a little spotty in New England.

And speaking of J. Astro and his horror movie connoisseurship, if you're a fan of eclectically bizarre films (B-movies, horror, cult films, cut-out bin trash, and general cinematic sleaze) check out his blog Screen Grab! with J. Astro.  Full disclosure: it's NSFW and you'll have to click through a content warning, but it's worth it.

Herr's Kansas City Prime Steak Flavor Potato Chips

Hey, as long as we're talking about Herr's chips, allow me to present one of the most unique concepts for a potato chip ever: Kansas City Prime Steak Flavor.

One look at these babies and I knew they'd be coming home with me - how could I possibly resist?  Steak flavor chips?  WHAT SORCERY IS THIS, HERR'S?

No sorcery at all, as it turns out, and to be honest, not much steak flavor either. The ingredients list things like torula yeast and onion powder and so on, and when we opened the bag, our first impression was "Lipton French Onion Soup Mix!"  And that's pretty much what they taste like, too.  Not much steak flavor unless you happen to like your steak completely smothered in onions (and salt - Kansas City Prime chips are probably the saltiest-tasting chips anyone in the family had ever eaten, though the saltiness is mitigated somewhat if you dip them into sour cream as you nosh.)

They're probably one of the best onion-flavored chips the family has ever had, though we all agreed that they're a total failure when it comes to steak flavor.  Nevertheless, Maryanne, Lynnafred and I decided that Herr's Kansas City Prime chips were one of our all-time favorites. 

Herr's Blossoming Onion Snack

If you like oniony snack crisps but you're looking for something a bit different from the same old Funyuns kind of thing, allow me to personally recommend Herr's Blossoming Onion crisps.

Formed into petal shapes (the better to emulate their appetizer namesake) Blossoming Onions are puffy, light, and crunchy, and have a big flavor boost over plain puffed onion ring snacks like Funyuns.  Because restaurant "onion blossom" appetizers are usually served with some kind of zesty dip, Herr's incorporated the dip flavor into the crisp.  There's a hint of sour cream and vinegar, a touch of horseradish, and some spicy heat.  The heat is semi-cumulative; that is, it builds up a little bit on the first couple of bites, but once it reaches its somewhat mild peak, it levels off. (Not a fan of spicy heat? No problem - the heat never gets so intense it would scare you away.)  Definitely a winner.

Herr's, based in Lancaster PA, has only recently started making real inroads into the New England snack market.  They have a wide variety of chip flavors and varieties and I'm glad to see them become available here.

Doritos Pizza Supreme

Back in 2008, I reviewed a Doritos Collision combo, Pizza Cravers and Ranch. At the time, I mentioned that the Pizza Cravers variety was particularly good and would make a decent chip flavor all on it's own.

Now, I don't know if it really took Doritos a couple of years to put pizza-flavored chips into their own unique bag. I like Doritos, but new flavors tend to catch my eye primarily when they're in the vending machine at work (and I'm not on any kind of Frito-Lay press release list or anything.) But anyway, here it is 2011 and Doritos has got Pizza Supreme chips on the shelf.

Back in 2008, I described the Cravers as tangy and tomatoey, "but dosed with a good shot of black pepper, oregano, and other Italianish flavors with a mild but noticeable spicy kick at the finish."  Pizza Supreme is similar to this, but without the heat. Tomato and cheese flavors dominate, accented by oregano (of course - it's the Snack Food World's shortcut to "pizza flavor") and some other vaguely tasted herbs. Once again, though, the overall effect is quite good, and I like them.

But I won't let myself like them too much, because Doritos has Flavor ADD and will probably be ditching them for something new in a few months.

Blue Chip Casino Potato Chips

Lynnafred discovered these chips during our last Big Lots safari.  We'd never seen a potato chip - or any snack, for that matter - specifically designed for a casino before, so it piqued our interest.  Then we found from reading the back of the bag that Blue Chip Casino apparently gives out these chips as a gift to people who sign up for their rewards program to prove that they are, as the front of the package says, "all that and a bag of chips."

The casino/resort is located in Indiana, so there's little chance that we'd be joining one of their programs.  But we decided to buy a bag of chips just to see what manner of snack a high-end resort would think is a worthy standard bearer.

As it happens, Blue Chip Casino potato chips are exceptionally good!  They're thicker than regular chips, but thinner than standard kettle-style chips.  Yet their superior crunch and flavor tag them as probably kettle-cooked - a unique hybrid chip, bursting with spudliness and a hearty crunch but at the same time rather light and delicate. I would certainly classify them as a premium product.  I just wonder how they found their way to Big Lots.

Link:

This is Blue Chip Casino's website, detailing their extensive amenities.  Couldn't find any mention of potato chips, though.  Actually, I couldn't find any mention of these potato chips anywhere on the web at all.

A Delicious Bag Of Crunchy, Salty Bigoted Lulz

Back in 2008, UK supermarket chain Tesco redesigned their tortilla chip packaging to feature an over-the-top Mexican "bandito" character as a representation of their various chip flavors.  Every so often, someone "rediscovers" the design and posts a photo or two on the web, usually with some variant of a "holy shit is this really real?"-type comment.

The UK has fewer than 1 million Hispanic residents, which is probably why the package hardly ever stirs up more than a brief WTF and shake of the head.  After all, here in the US, where the number of Hispanic people is approaching 50 million (about 16% of the total US population) we wouldn't think of using such a blatantly offensive stereotype to sell a few bags of chips.

Frito-Lay

Well, we probably wouldn't use such a blatantly offensive stereotype to sell a few bags of chips, now that Frito-Lay has sent the Frito Bandito off into retirement.

Oh, wait, there's Mi Ranchito tortilla chips with Señior Pancho on the front.  I found these at Big Lots last Saturday.

Señior Pancho??  Seriously?