REVIEW: Lumberjack Snacks – Bacon Lovers Kettle Chips

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

From the back of the bag:

HEY. JACK! HOW’S ABOUT KEEPING TWO HANDS ON THAT AXE?

It’s happened a million times.  You get your mitt caught in a potato party like the one you’ve got here, and it’s pretty hard to go back to work.  Of course, if you were sixty feet up a knotty pine, and it had to come down before you did, you might think twice about chopping before chomping.  Anyhow, we raise an axe to the men who inspired these ruggedly crisp chips – guys who risked life and, well, limb, to get the job done.  Salute them yourself by diving in with both fists.  Goodness knows we will.

Okay…..  Well, we may not quite understand exactly what the Lumberjack Team is trying to convey to us with the above statement….we’re thinking they are saying that we have been invited to some type of potato party that is being hosted by Paul Bunyan?!?!  Again, we’re not exactly sure.

We discovered these thick-cut, north woods, kettle cooked potato chips on a recent trip up to Paul Bunyan’s original hometown of Bemidji, Minnesota (also the original hometown of a couple of us here at Chip Review).  How could we not be pleasantly surprised by the sight of a new bacon flavored potato chip themed after our old hometown high school mascot – The Lumberjacks!!  That’s right, we never painted our faces green, and held up big signs telling the world that #23 is the best player ever!!  No, we put on our black and red flannel button up shirts, grew our beards, and carried our double edged axes to the arena!!  Ok, obviously the axes were fake, and we’re guessing that schools don’t even allow the fake ones into sporting events any more.  Plus, we couldn’t actually grow real beards so we would just rub Vaseline onto our faces and coat them with coffee grounds (it did the trick).  Long story short, these Lumberjack themed chips had an immediate connection  with some of us here at Chip Review, and although we may not fully understand what the Lumberjack Snacks Team is trying to tell us on the back of the bag, we do wear plaid shirts, grow beards, and of course enjoy potato chips from time to time.

These are pretty tasty chips.  They DO NOT taste anything like real bacon, but they are tasty nonetheless.  In a blind taste test, we are more than certain that we would have called these were extra smoky, slightly sweet, barbecue chips.  In fact, everyone who tasted these chips described them as barbecue flavored chips.  The artificial bacon flavor was just missing any level of rich and fatty and salty pork essence.  Instead the seasoning seemed to really focus on smoke and paprika and sugar – which simply made us think of BBQ chips, and not bacon.  That being said, the seasoning blend was pretty well balanced, if a touch overly smoky – but we prefer that over overly sweet.

The kettle cooked potato chips were on the thicker end of the spectrum.  They encompassed that usual sturdy kettle cooked crunch, and a neutral potato flavor that let the seasoning do most of the flavor talking.  Overall, they were more than acceptable kettle chips, that we’re pretty sure most lumberjacks would also enjoy – even the ones who are 63 axe handles high, with their feet on the ground and their head in the sky!!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Chips discovered at Lueken’s Village Foods; Bemidji, Minnesota

Ackie’s Product Line

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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