Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips (notable)
Chips discovered at Mariano’s; Westchester, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
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© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating
RATING: Neal Brothers Foods – Extremely Tasty Maple Bacon Kettle Chips
Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips (notable)
Chips provided to Chip Review by Neal Brothers for review
Neal Brothers Foods Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
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BIJOU-REVIEW: The Better Chip – Radish Chia Tortilla Chips
Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips (notable)
Do not adjust your dial, or screen….
It is true, your eyes are not deceiving you….
These are in fact RADISH flavored chip!
Now, we’ve been in the chip game a long, long time, but this is definitely a new first. Sure, there have been plenty of other weird flavors out there; we’re looking at you beet, and cappuccino, and feijoada, and marmite, but radish is right up there with the weirdest of them!
Unfortunately, we have tasted much better chips from The Better Chip company.
Now, these are not bad tortilla chips by any means. They deliver a rustic, course ground corn tortilla texture that mingles with the little nutty pop of the chia seeds.
They also provided a perfectly ample amount of salt and garlic seasoning.
What the chips did not do was exude any sort of radish AT ALL! Nada! Nunca!! Nothin’!!!
To say that we were disappointed by these would be absolutely correct. We were really hoping to taste some pungently spicy radish flavored tortilla chips. Alas, we will just have to wait for some better chips to actually do that!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at Byerly’s; St. Cloud, Minnesota
The Better Chip Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
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REVIEW: Zapp’s – VooDoo Heat New Orleans Kettle Style Potato Chips
Rating: ©©©©-3/4 chips (lip-smacking)
Long, long ago, in a place far, far away (we’re talking at least eight, maybe even ten miles) Chip Review fell hand over mouthfuls for Zapp’s Original VooDoo chips….
So, when we first heard about Zapp’s new HEAT variation of the original lip-smacking chips we had high hopes. Not high hopes like, oh we sure do hope this pull-tab is a $2 winner. No! High hopes as in these new Zapp’s chips could just be flippin’ amazing!
Before we go ahead and crunch into these new Zapp’s, perhaps a little backstory is in need.
According to Zapp’s themselves, the:
“Voodoo flavor is a result of an accident. An employee was moving a pallet of spices off the top shelf, and dropped it. While cleaning it up, someone stuck their finger into the mixture of about 5 flavors and pronounced it great.”
Now, if we had to gander a guess as to how the VooDoo Heat flavor came about, it would go something like this…
“The VooDoo Heat flavor is a result of someone (perhaps us, who knows) saying that the VooDoo flavor is lip-smacking, and wouldn’t they taste EVEN BETTER if we made them even SPICIER?!?!”
With Zapp’s original VooDoo chips we didn’t understand what exactly the VooDoo name was meant to represent (of course other than Zapp’s is New Orleans), but with these new chips, we totally get it. These chips encompass, and deliver, and absolutely cast a delicious dusting of VOODOO flavor Magic all over the New Orleans Kettle Style Potato Chips!
You really have to taste these chips to really understand the wonderful circus of flavors they have going on. First and foremost, the chips deliver a pungent zing of zippy vinegar. Then came a sugary sweetness that paired nicely with the vinegar’s acidity. Next, came the heat, and a good level of it for sure. One taster thought that they may have tasted horseradish…? Finally, we tasted a touch of sweet and tangy and vegetal tomato flavor, which helped round out the entire flavor combo.
All said and done, probably the best way that we can describe this delicious flavor to you would be to compare it to some spicy version of an American Chinese breaded chicken dish….sweet, tangy, sticky, spicy, and delicious in all of the right ways.
As far as the potato chips themselves go, Zapp’s knows what they’re doing. Their Cajun Kettle Recipe makes for some really crunchy, perfectly greasy, semi-thick potato chips, that we could munch on all day.
Overall, we were really, really impressed with these chips! And, although Zapp’s aren’t always readily available here in the Midwest, we know for certain that these chips are almost always available at Potbelly!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Zapp’s provided to Chip Review by MunchPak for review
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
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REVIEW: Terra – Sharp & Spicy Wasabi
Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips (lip-smacking)
We’re sorry to say it, but we feel like we do not review very many Terra chips these days. Now, whether that is due to Terra not introducing many new chips onto the market these days, or the fact that when they do release something new it is very often some sort of unusual vegetable chip that we’re just not feeling like reviewing….
What we do know for sure is that when we do try a new chip from Terra, whether it is good or bad, it is almost always something very unique and original!
Case in point, Terra’s newest Sharp & Spicy Wasabi real vegetable chips made with a UNIQUE seasonal potato blend. While these Wasabi flavored chips may not be as unique as the last chips we reviewed from Terra, we’re talking about you – Celery Root Chips w/ Aged Cheese!! Terra’s Wasabi chips are most certainly better tasting!
Now, if you are a huge fan of wasabi’s typically pungent, nose burning heat, and that is what you are really looking for from these then you may be somewhat disappointed. These chips are not about the seasoning at all. The seasoning is very subtle, and is just there to compliment the fantastic potato chips. A simple, perfect sprinkling of just the right amount of salt, and only delicate dash of what tasted like mustard powder.
As for those fantastic potato chips, well apparently they are made up of a seasonal selection of four types of potatoes. There’s Andover, Atlantic, Marcy and Waneta potatoes (and if those names mean anything to you, then bravo for being up on your potato varietal knowledge). What we can tell you is that we did not really notice any textural, or flavor, difference from chip to chip, but all together the seasonal variety delivered a fantastically rich, buttery, and earthy flavor combo. Seriously, chip for chip these were some of the best tasting potato chips we’ve tried in a while. Really, nothing to do with the seasoning, all about the chip!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at Pete’s Fresh Market; Villa Park, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
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BIJOU-REVIEW: 7 Select – Smoked Gouda Kettle Style Potato Chips
Rating: ©-3/4 chips (return to sender)
We picked up 7 Select’s Smoked Gouda Cheese Kettle Style Potato Chips on a recent stop at….. That’s right, you guessed it 7-Eleven.
What we wish we could say was that at a recent stop to 7-Eleven we happily did not pick up a bag of 7 Select’s Smoked Gouda Cheese Kettle Style Potato Chips….
Because these chips are B – A – D….. Bad!
Similar to 7 Select’s Maple Bacon Potato Chips the chips suffer, actually fail, from an extremely heavy hand of salt.
Any thoughts of smoked Gouda cheese upon tossing a chip into the chompar are quickly obliterated by the true flavor of these chips – ocean water.
Maybe, just maybe, there is a hint of smoke flavor somewhere off in the distance.
The kettle chips themselves are decent enough, and certainly do their job – that is if there job is technically salt delivery.
Medium-thick cut, Solid crunch, but no potato flavor.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at 7-Eleven, Burr Ridge, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
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REVIEW: Neal Brothers Foods – Extremely Tasty Spicy Srirachup Kettle Chips
Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips (lip-smacking)
For many of you out there, we’re willing to go out on a limb and guess that your all-time favorite, red colored condiment, is the same as it was when you were a child. You know what we are talking about, that french fry dipping, meat loaf topping, red squeeze bottle filled with that sweet, smooth paste from your past, as well as your present.
For a certain one of us here at Chip Review, ketchup was never a staple of his childhood. In fact, he wouldn’t touch the stuff, or any red sauce for that matter. Let’s put it this way, he never even tried PIZZA until he was TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OLD!!?? And yes, he now knows that this was one of his life’s biggest mistakes, and he has been trying to make up for it ever since.
Okay, so what’s the point? Well, now that he does enjoy red colored condiments and sauces of all types, he has realized that he hates ketchup with a passion. To him, ketchup just seems like a horribly sweet, candy colored condiment, most likely designed to get children to consume vegetables. Fortunately for him, ketchup flavored chips for the most part are usually rather tasty. And just FYI, overall our favorite red colored condiment here at Chip Review is Original Tabasco (okay reddish), but Huy Fong’s Sriracha, and all of its versatility, ain’t too shabby either.
Which brings us to the review at hand – Neal Brothers Spicy Srirachup Kettle Chips. That’s right. Sriracha and Ketchup flavored potato chips!! You know what that means don’t you? The best of both worlds! Sriracha for those of us who like a mildly sweet, definitely tangy, garlic heavy, decently spicy, Thai chili hot sauce; and ketchup for those of us who still like to eat as if we are 5 years old….just kidding! Ketchup for those of us who like a sweet-salty-tomato-y sauce that we have been enjoying for years and years.
Earlier this week we told you about Neal Brothers lip-smacking Montreal Steak Spice kettle chips, and we are happy to report that their Spicy Srirachup kettle chips are lip-smacking as well! We wouldn’t say that they are quite as dynamically delicious as the Montreal Steak Spice, but we could also see a lot of people liking the Sriracha Ketchup even more.
First and foremost, the chips are tangy, tangy, tangy. Lots of acid or vinegar, which sounds about right as both of the red condiments do have a tang to them. Next, we tasted a good dose of sriracha’s garlic and ketchup’s tomato. Lastly, a decent level of chili heat came creeping in and rounded the whole flavor combo out. We were very thankful and pleased that the seasoning stayed away from ketchup’s too sweet aspect.
Once again Neal Brothers’ medium-thick cut, extra crunchy, not greasy at all, kettle cooked potato chips pair nicely with their seasoning.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Chips provided to Chip Review by Neal Brothers for review
Neal Brothers Foods Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 