REVIEW: Uncle Ray’s – Sour Cream & Cheddar Potato Chips

Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips  (notable)

What’s this now?  Uncle Ray’s is the Official Potato Chip of the MLB??  Oh, wait, not THAT MLB – it appears that we’re talking Minor League Baseball (we all know who owns, or buys, that other MLB title right?  Their name rhymes with Squito Spray).

Uncle Ray’s is one of those brands that seems like they have been around forever.  Always lurking in the background.  Always content with the customers who do decide to buy their chips over those other choices.  Not exactly one of the “big guys” in the chip market, but definitely no longer one of the “little guys” either.  In fact, Uncle Ray just recently released 5 brand new flavors (that we are hoping to taste soon…wink – wink, nudge – nudge), so it appears that Ray is making to push to expand his flavor selection.

These Sour Cream & Cheddar rippled potato chips are not among those 5 new flavors (did we mention that we can’t wait to try Pepperoni Pizza flavored potato chips!?), and unfortunately, these SC&C are also not among our Top 5 Uncle Ray’s chips of all-time either.  That being said…..in case you were wondering what those Top 5 actually are:

1. Roasted Garlic Potato Chips

2. Salt & Pepper Potato Chips

3. Green Onion Potato Chips

4. Cheese Flavored Puffs

5. Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips

Well, as for these Sour Cream & Cheddar rippled potato chips, Uncle Ray once again seems to be relying a touch heavily on the salt level.  Now, we aren’t ones to shy away from salt, but these are on the verge of being described, and labeled, as “too salty” in our opinion.  The salt practically overwhelms any actual presence of sour cream and cheddar.  If we focused our palettes and strained our taste buds we could recognize just a smidgen of sour cream, but really no cheddar.  In the end the chips still went down pretty easily, but we just had to make sure that we had a beverage in hand to balance their seasoning level.

The semi-wide ridged potato chips were more than adequate, and delivered a very sturdy crunch.  Any weaker potato chip would have crumbled under the weight of Uncle Ray’s salty seasoning.

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

Discovered at Max Mart; River Grove, Illinois

Uncle Ray’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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BIJOU-REVIEW: PopCrinkles – Roasted Garlic & Sea Salt Popped Potato Crinkles

Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

We have been striking it pungently rich this year with cloves of delicious garlic snacks!

And we are happy to report that these New PopCrinkles can be easily added to that list!

We had a sneaking feeling PopCrinkles logo looked very familiar, and as it turns out, PopCrinkles are the new “popped potato crinkles”, aka potato crisps, from the creators of “the new shape of popcorn”, aka popcorn chips – PopCorners.

In other words, PopCrinkles has hopped right onto the popular popped potato bus, and hopes to ride it all the way to popular popped potato palace.

If these first crinkles are any indication of the entire flavor line-up than PopCrinkles is definitely headed in the right direction.

The popped potato crinkles are thicker than regular potato chips, and deliver a significantly solid crunch.  And yet at the same time are light and crispy enough that you can eat an entire bag and not really feel a dent in the old chip collector.

The crinkles deliver enough “real” potato flake flavor to evoke thoughts of eating delicious fried potato slices.

The Roasted Garlic & Sea Salt flavor delivers a deliciously well balanced seasoning blend.  Certainly not as powerfully garlic flavored as other garlic chips on the market.

We also wouldn’t go so far as to call it the most authentic representation of roasted garlic flavor, with the inclusion of ingredients such as: sour cream, brown sugar, cheddar cheese, butter powder, whey, and yeast extract…

All in all we are very pleased with PopCorners new PopCrinkles, and hope to see PopPuffs and PopPretzels soon!

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

Discovered at Fruitful Yield; Darien, Illinois

PopCrinkles Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Ikea – Potatischips Satade (Salted Potato Chips)

Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

We are 99.999% sure that we tried these many – many years ago (and of course by many – many we mean about 15 years or so).

We’re talking about a time when Ikea first appeared on the North American scene.  Yeah, we’re sure some of you probably can’t remember, or even believe, that there was actually a day when the blue and yellow behemoth wasn’t invading your lives with its absurdly cute, and insanely cheap, home goods.  But, we are here to tell you that that day did once exist….

Any who, we recently made a weekend voyage out to the burbs (is every Ikea everywhere located in the burbs?  Sure seems like it), to peruse the land of perfect rooms, and we stumbled upon Ikea’s delicious salted potato chips.

Ikea’s Potatischips Satades are rustic, skin on, thick cut, a touch oily (in a good way), crunchy and toothsome, and certainly salty!  We’re not sure who makes these chips for, or on behalf of, Ikea, but they do a great job!

At the end of our journey through Ikea’s winding wonderland path we used to always grab an ice cream cone to reward ourselves for having not spent every single one of our hard earned dollars, but we may just have to include a bag of these potato chips as well!

Potatischips Saltade Chips discovered at Ikea; Bolingbrook, Illinois

Ikea’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: 7 Select – Hot Italian Sausage Potato Chips

Rating: ©©©©-3/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

7 Select has been on a creative flavor roll as of lately!

7 Select’s newest “Certified Rockin’ Flavor:” Hot Italian Sausage!  (what the heck is a ‘Certified Rockin’ Flavor’?!?)

Yeah – yeah, we know, HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGE, let the jokes begin….

Okay, that’s probably enough….

Alright, just one more….

Are you finished?  Let’s get down to business here.

Upon ripping the extremely brightly colored potato chip bag open, we were smacked with an intensely strong aroma.  Some of us here at Chip Review looooved the smell, while others thought it was a bit off-putting.  But, one thing all of us could agree on is that it was a distinctly powerful aroma.  What is that scent?  Licorice? Anise??  Oh, it has to be fennel!

After our noses had finally adjusted, we took the leap, reached in, and grabbed a big handful of the Hot Italian Sausage potato chips, and you know what…?  These are fantastic tasting chips!  All at once salty, with smokey-grilled notes evoking thoughts of meat flavors, mingling with a good dash of long-lingering heat, and some classic Italian spices.  Frankly, here in Chicago we usually enjoy our grilled Italian sausages with a good layer of the perfect condiment – hot pickled giardiniera (and sweet peppers, if you’re into that).  In fact, giardiniera could possibly have pushed these 7 Selects into that next level rating category.

Long review short, these are some deliciously impressive convenient store potato chips!  If you happen to find yourself in a 7 eleven sometime soon, we encourage you to take an extra look for these, and grab yourself a bag or five.

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

7-Eleven Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: 7 Select – Spicy Guacamole Thin Tortilla Chips

Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips  (lip-smacking)

What do we have here?  Spicy Guacamole thin tortilla chips?  Yes please!

Punch to the tongue.  Great flavor.

Spicy chili pepper heat forward.

Delicious cayenne pepper sauce flavor, with notes of garlic and vinegar.

Followed by a tangy, vegetal, even more garlicky, and creamy buttermilk seasoning.

Does anything actually taste like guacamole?  No, not really.  There’s definitely no avocado among the ingredients.  But, the seasoning is delicious, and unlike anything else we have ever really tried – and that even goes for other spicy guacamole chips we have tried.

7 Select’s thin tortilla chips are light and crispy.  They pair perfectly with the seasoning.  Impressive convenience store chips to say the least.

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

7-Eleven Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Cheetos Crunchy – Wild Habanero

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

Cheetos Crunchy Wild Habanero are back again!  (original bag on the left, new bag on the right)

We can’t exactly remember when it was that these Cheetos appeared on, and vanished from, the scene – but it has to be 5+ years or so ago.

In the name of tasty science, we decided to eat these Wild Habanero along side with a bag of Cheetos Crunchy iconic Flamin’ Hots.  And, let’s just say, the Wild Habaneros do not come even remotely close to delivering the tangy, cheesy, spicy, deliciously perfect complexity that the Flamin’ Hots do!

That being said, these new(again) Cheetos are pretty tasty, and certainly draw similarities to the classic red finger stain-ers.  In fact, these could even be a case of the “if Flamin’ Hot Cheetos did not already exist, then we would most likely be praising the existence of them.”

The Wild Habanero Cheetos deliver a touch of cheese at the forefront, and then a splash of heat.  After a few more Cheetos, it becomes very apparent that these do in fact have habanero seasoning on them.  Not so much due to actually being able to taste any of the habanero chile pepper’s fruity notes, but more so that the heat level becomes pretty unbearable.  Yep, that’s right, the tops of our heads began to tingle, the little drops of sweat formed on our brows, and our tongues and backs of our throats burned for minutes on end.

If you are fans of Cheetos (and we’re guessing that you are – who isn’t?), and you like some heat, then we suggest you give these a try.

Cheetos provided by JK, discovered at Walmart, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Cheetos Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Lay’s – Creamy Bacon Potato Salad Potato Chips

Rating: ©©-1/4 chips (tolerable)

These chips have been out for a little while now, so we apologize that this review may be reaching many of you after you have already enjoyed yourself a few bags of Lay’s newest flavor to hit the market.

Okay, let’s get one thing out of the way right from the start.  Lay’s new Creamy Bacon Potato Salad potato chips are in deed quite tasty.  It did not take us very long to pound through this entire bag – but, whether or not that crazy chip chomping action was due to our taste buds enjoying what we were throwing their way, or the fact that they were bewildered by the flavor name, in comparison to what they were actually tasting – is unknown…?  Most likely, a little of both!

We would like to start out this review by reiterating Matt Linder’s spot-on thoughts regarding the flavor validity of Lay’s newbies in his review.  He mentions that “…if you’re expecting a flavor even remotely resembling actual potato salad, you’re going to be disappointed.”   Truer words regarding these chips have never been spoken.  So, if potato salad is what your heart yearns for, we would suggest you crunch elsewhere, and perhaps try Larry The Cable Guy’s Tater Salad Potato Chips.  As we recall his chips delivered much more of that classic fragrant mustard-y punch, as well as, some deliciously sharp wafts of vinegar that puckered our nasal cavities.  Larry may not have any bacon in his recipe, but we’re pretty sure he would have no qualms with you crumbling some of your own all over his fried taters!

Linder goes on to say in his review that “Creamy Bacon Potato Salad” has a nice ring to it from a marketing perspective, but a more accurate description of these chips would be “Sour Cream and Onion with Bacon,” because that’s exactly what they taste like. And that’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s quite brilliant, and I’m almost amazed someone hasn’t tried it before Lay’s.”  Well, to that we say, Matt you need to get your hands on some of Ruffles Sour Cream ‘N Bacon Potato Chips.  Because, you are right, they are amazing!  We would go one step further in our flavor description and say that Lay’s Creamy Bacon Potato Salad chips taste like sour cream, onion, bacon, as well as, cheddar cheese.  In other words, as if they were stolen right off of the appetizer section from practically every bar across this great country of ours!

In the end these chips are really just another addition (albeit a tasty one) to the The Works / Loaded Potato flavor family.  We’re not exactly sure why Lay’s is trying to pull a fast one over on us here?  We already had to scold Pringles earlier this week for trying to selling us on Cheesy Quesadilla flavored potato crisps that didn’t include ANY ACTUAL CHEESE among the ingredients!?!  If Lay’s would have just spilled the beans and admitted the truth to us right from the get go then maybe this snack relationship could have worked.  But, instead we had to resort to scooping up mom’s classic potato salad using Lay’s new chips!  We can admit it though, Lay’s bacon flavor did add a nice touch to the combination!!

So, if you have no issues with flavor accuracy, and you go into one of these bags knowing ahead of time that you will not be tasting potato salad, then by all means give these chips a whirl because they are cheesy, slightly sour cream and onion-y, definitely bacon-y, and certainly tasty!

As always we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree.  Let us know.

Chips discovered at Walmart; Villa Park, Illinois

Lay’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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