Rating: ©©©© chips (lip-smacking)
Comments:
The back of the Hawaiian Kettle Cooked Potato Chips bag says that they come from New Jersey….huh?
We are happy to report that these new Hawaiian potato chips are very reminiscent of Kettle Brand’s version of the same flavor…in other words, meaning delicious. As we’ve pointed out before, many of the salt & pepper chips on the market today tend to be purists, or minimalists. They like to keep it straight, and to the point – only 4 simple ingredients: potatoes, oil, salt and pepper. Well, you can call it cheating, or you can call it brilliant, but brands like Hawaiian Kettle Cooked, and Kettle Brand, prefer to up the flavor ante, and add complimentary background flavors like onion and garlic to enhance, and enrich the classic S&P combination.
So, the question is two-fold: 1) Should we penalize these brands from veering off the classic S&P path? And 2) Which chips do you prefer – traditional, straight forward, salt & pepper? Or, jazzed up flavor combo S&P? We say, bring on the additional flavor depth, because we feel like the extra ingredients add dimension and character.
Hawaiian’s salt and pepper combo is not very powerful. The cracked pepper is definitely present, and easily identifiable, but also not as nasal-y and “spicy” as we normally taste it. Their sea salt level is completely spot on. The garlic and onion notes linger in the background, and add that depth to the flavor, without ever diluting the true flavor stars of these chips. The kettle cooked potato chips are medium thickness, with a good, strong, hearty, kettle crunch, and great mouth texture. Their appearance and crunch really remind us of Kettle Brand’s standard potato chips. However, where these definitely differ from Kettle Brand is in the flavor of the potato chips themselves. We just don’t really identify much earthy potato flavor, the seasoning combination covers up most of it.
So, all in all, Hawaiian’s newest chips are a welcome addition to the salt and pepper flav0r family, even if they won’t be making our Top 5 Salt & Pepper chips of all-time.
These are our thoughts, agree or disagree, make sure to let us know!
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 