Chip Review will be reviewing a duo of crisps from our neighbors across the pond in the next few days to come.
A tasty pair of dueling Mature Cheddar & Onion/Chives Crisps from the UK will be scrutinized over to see if we can determine who has the better cheddar and onion crisps (which apparently must be a standard flavor in the UK?)…..
The biggest debate since Fish & Chips!!
England or Scotland? Or, should we just be thankful for both?!?
Stay tuned to find out…..
Tyrrell’s – Worcestershire Sauce & Sundried Tomato Hand Cooked English Potato Chips
Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips (lip-smacking)
Comments:
We’ve reviewed a few of Tyrrell’s Potato Crisps in the past, but now that they decided to try their hand at the US Market, and begin calling “CHIPS” by their rightful name, it’s a whole ‘nother ballgame!
According to Tyrrell’s marketing release: “Tyrrells is based on a farm in the picturesque English Herefordshire countryside and since its creation in 2002, has grown to become one of the UK’s best-loved premium potato chip brands. Tyrrells uses Herefordshire grown potatoes such as Lady Claire and Lady Rosetta, which are carefully hand cooked by the master fryers.”
Can we just segway for a quick second and say “WE WANT TO MEET A MASTER FRYER, COOL!”
Also, according to Tyrrell’s marketing release: “Tyrrells believes in uncompromised quality and the seasonings are prepared with only natural local home grown ingredients. The result is great tasting whimsical flavors. Tyrrells well-kept-secret-recipes are all part of creating a range of truly top-notch English chips.”
And again, can we just say that “WE’RE HOPING THAT TYRRELLS UK DECIDES TO BRING SOME OF THEIR EVEN MORE “WHIMSICAL” ENGLISH FLAVORS TO OUR SIDE OF THE POND!!!!”
Tyrrell’s Worcestershire Sauce & Sundried Tomato Potato Chips are most definitely unlike any other chip flavor that we at Chip Review have ever tasted. The chips evoke an umami richness unlike any chips we’ve ever tasted. We didn’t taste too much of the sweetness from the sun dried tomatoes at first, but with the more chips we ate some of the tangy, vinegary tomato concentration did seem to peak through.
Speaking of Worcestershire Sauce…we all know of it, we all use it, but if you are like us, we don’t exactly know what it is. According to Wikipedia: It originated in Worcester, England. The sauce is fermented and most often used to flavor protein. Its ingredients include: malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spice, and flavouring. The “spice, and flavouring” is believed to include cloves, soy sauce, lemons, pickles and peppers.
After a few handful of these chips, the aftermath definitely left us with a bit of unexpected, and wholly welcomed, heat on the backs of our throats!! We simply can’t describe this flavor any further….we can just say, that we really enjoyed its complexity!! Especially combined with Tyrrell’s crispy, thinner potato “chips”!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Chip provided to Chip Review from Tyrrell’s Potato Crisps for review
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Tyrrell’s – Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar Hand Cooked English Crisps
Rating: ©©©© chips (lip-smacking)
Comments:
For those of you unfamiliar with Tyrrell’s English Crisps, these wonderful potato chips (ahem…crisps) made their way to us, courtesy of our friends S & A, from across the big blue pond. Chip Review is also happy to inform all of you that we recently learned that Tyrrell’s (the company) has made the decision to brave the long journey, make the jump, and test out the waters of our American chip market. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to their contribution to the greatest industry in the world!!
NOTE: As far as we can tell (and we’re self proclaimed experts on the subject…), there is no technical difference between an English potato crisp, and an American potato chip. The only difference appears to be regional….and we all know that potato chips have no boundaries and taste great everywhere.
Tyrrell’s potato crisps were predominantly larger in size, and their shapes varied quite a bit, but each and every crisp had a light, earthy potato flavor. We were not as thrilled with the potato crisps’ texture. In our opinion their crunch was slightly of. These dense, thinly cut crisps seemed like they had been triple dipped in the kettle oil, resulting in some heavy, tooth cracking crunching.
From the very first taste of these Sea Salt & Vinegar crisps we could tell these were not our typical run of the mill salt and vinegar chips. Right off the bat we appreciated the uniqueness that the cider vinegar added to this classic flavor combination. The cider vinegar somehow tastes “richer”, and simply has more depth and flavor than what we are used to. These crisps did not try to zing us to death with the usual acidic tones. Plus, the usage of sea salt really complimented the cider vinegar rather nicely.
When it comes down to it, what these crisps truly reminded us of was eating fresh cut french fries with malt vinegar. We love to douse our fries (or chips) with malt vinegar whenever we get the chance….and wouldn’t you know it – the ingredients on these crisps include malt vinegar. Yum. These are great salt & vinegar chips!! (or crisps!). For another great example of the classic U.K. flavor combination check out our review of Mackie’s of Scotland.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
…our good friends S & A brought us back some tasty looking treats from across the pond!!!
Stay tuned for reviews in the weeks to come!
Rating: ©© -3/4 chips (tolerable)
Comments:
Chip Review always shows appreciation for a new creative flavor combination, but in this case we just can’t fully get behind this bag of chips. Tyrrell’s hand cooked potato chips, for the most part, are usually a well crafted product. Normally producing a high quality hand cooked potato chip with a creative artisan flavor, but this time, pardon our language, they “screwed the pooch”!
We love the idea of a holiday themed flavor. And we know this combination can be a winner, at least in real life, with the actual product that the flavor is based on. I mean who doesn’t associate the flavors of ham and cranberry with the warm cozy feelings of being home for the holidays??? So…..where did these chips go wrong??? Flavor execution, is what we think. The ham is overly salted, with only a little bit of smoke and none of the richness, or umami, that certain “pork flavored” chips are able to convey. And, as far as cranberry goes….we did not taste any….zip.
As always Chip Review suggests you give them a taste for yourselves, but don’t say we didn’t warn you…..
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 