REVIEW: ips – chips with protein – White Cheddar

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

ips….?  Well…huh?  What??

Hey, it’s basically like chips only minus the C and H.  Well, lets just hope that the C and the H aren’t our favorite parts!!

Every now and again we here at Chip Review cross paths with a new type, style, flavor of chip that we have never ever tasted before.  Well, ips chips with protein just so happens to be one of those entirely new chips!  So, what’s so new about these chips you ask?  Well, let us elaborate.

ips = intelligent protein snacks

And where does this said intelligent protein actually come from?  You are never going to guess.  No, seriously, take a guess.  EGG WHITES!  That’s right E double-G whites! Now before you jump to any preconceived conclusions about how these ips chips simply cannot be very good tasting based on what we have told you thus far, we’re going to let you onto a little secret – they are surprisingly enough, very tasty!  We’re fairly certain that ips used to sport the slogan The Original Egg White Chips™, but we are guessing that many close minded people out there weren’t giving them the shot they deserve, and simply turning away before ever tasting them!  And so, ips made the decision to remove the slogan from the front of the bag, and instead focus on what the benefit of using the egg really offers – ‘chips with protein’.  Whatever it takes to get the word out!

According to ips founder Sean Olsen:

“The idea for ips first hatched when I was making breakfast for my kids. I’m always looking for healthier foods to feed them and they loved the crispy edges of the eggs I cooked. So I decided to turn that protein crunch into a treat the world could enjoy.

“That’s why we’re proud to offer the world’s first chip made with non-GMO corn and wholesome egg white, a breakthrough snack that has the tasty crunch you want and the satisfying protein you need!  We use our patent-pending Pressure-Puff process to make our light and crispy ips. We take corn, egg whites and other all natural ingredients, blend them together under high pressure and puff the mixture to create a light and crispy chip. Then we toast the chips in an oven – we never fry them – and apply our special seasonings.”

Texture wise, ips chips remind us of a potato puff, more than they do a corn puff.  Both puffs are airy and light, but where as a traditional corn puff has a certain level of meltability to it, a potato puff, or ips puffed egg-corn chips in this case, do not melt when the come in contact with the moisture in our mouths.  Their crunch retains a bright and crispy bite.  We’d say that the chips are roughly the size of a quarter, and amply coated in their white cheddar seasoning.  We really liked the tangy, slightly funky and salty, white cheddar seasoning that ips used on these chips.  It just seemed to embody a lot more character, and real cheese flavor than other white cheddar snacks we’ve tasted in the past.

So, there you have it, another crunchy alternative now available on the market; making our decision of what to snack on even more difficult.  However, our decision would be rather easy if we were looking for a healthier, protein-packed, snack that also tasted delicious!!

As always, these are our thoughts. Agree or disagree, make sure to let us know.

Chips provided to Chip Review by ips for review

ips Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Doritos Dinamita – Mojo Criollo

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

Something has recently happened that we simply cannot explain! Either the earth’s axis has shifted and everything we thought we knew has suddenly changed (some of which is, case in point, certainly for the better), or we are finally starting to come around, and really appreciate some of the rolled corn tortilla snacks – aka crunchy taquitos!  On more than one occasion we have described the crunchy tubular snacks as one of, if not our, least favorite type of snacks of all-time.  But, a few recently delicious additions to this particular snack type arsenal have changed the way we will perceive them forever!  So, lets toot that horn and join the tasty rolled corn tortilla train!!  That’s right, bring on those all too dense, and too crunchy-hard fried tortillas.  We no longer require a flat chip that provides an ample licking surface for us to accurately taste the seasoning.  We will remain content with crunching down on the tasty corn tubes like everyone else!!

Mojo Criollo?  Exact translation: we’re not sure.  That being said, we do know that mojo criollo is the name of a marinade or sauce that a handful of different companies produce.  And, according to legend, mojo sauce has many different variations throughout the Carribbean.  In this particular instance Doritos appears to be utilizing Cuba’s delicious rendition, focusing primarily on garlic and citrus. Personally, we have been fans of Cuban mojo sauce for many, many years; often enjoying it at Victor’s 1959 Cuban Cafe, with such dishes as yucca frita (fried) and pan con lechon (pulled pork)!!  Honestly, the flavorful sauce would probably pair well with just about any cut of meat, and in this case with a corn tortilla chip!

The front of the Dinamita bag pretty much sums it up.  Lime, lemon and garlic all mingle together to form a seasoning that is unlike any other we have tried before, and yet at the same time felt (tasted) very comfortable coating the fried corn tortillas.  The citrus-ful seasoning was slightly reminiscent of last year’s Doritos Test Flavor: 404…  Only this time Doritos nailed it, and gave us a nearly perfectly executed and balanced mojo criollo flavor!  We just love the combination of citrus, and garlic, and maybe some bay leaf and pepper?  Sour and savory and salty and yummy!  We appreciate how Doritos refrained from adding any real sweetness to the chips.  Everyone who tried these were impressed!  Keep up the great work Doritos!

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

Discovered at 7-eleven; Willowbrook, Illinois

Doritos Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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RATING: Cheez-it Crunch’d – Hot & Spicy

Rating: ©©-3/4 chips  (tolerable)

Cheez-It Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Pringles Exclusive Flavor! – Mango Salsa

Rating: ©©©-1/2 chips  (notable)

Just the other week we went into detail on our thoughts and concerns over the controversial Exclusive Flavor!  We’re not sure how many other stores are exceptional (rich, big) enough to have their own versions of Exclusive Flavors, but so far as we can tell most, if not all, Exclusive Flavors that we have spotted have both been from blue and white behemoth – Walmart.

Plain and simple, these are some of the oddest tasting chips (crisps) ever!  Just weird!!  And, not because we haven’t reviewed mango flavored chips before.  Most recently we tasted and reviewed last year’s Lay’s Wavy Do Us a Flavor Finalist, who gave us their variation of the mango salsa!  Unfortunately, our initial reaction to those was yuck!  A very surprised, and disappointed, YUCK!  We were thinking that the mango salsa flavor was going to be our favorite among the four flavor finalists.  So, the question at hand is, will Pringles Mango Salsa disappoint as well?  Does mango salsa just not work as a chip flavor?  Because it is worth mentioning that other chip brands have proven that mangoes plus habaneros plus potato chips can actually be a fantastic combination!

Pringles Mango Salsa potato crisps are a combination of zippy – sour, with a sort of real fruity mango essence, plenty of garlic, a little bit of heat, the sweet and aromatic balance of onion, loads of salt, and sort of like mango salsa actually….  OK, so we’ve settled that.  These do kinda, sorta, taste like mango salsa….in powder seasoning form of course.  That being said, do they really taste good?  In our opinion, sort of, well, not really!  Initially, we taste those delicious mango salsa flavors, but then on the back end of the tasting experience our enjoyment sort of transitions to an off-putting experience.  We’re pretty sure that our negative feelings are a result from the combination of the mango salsa flavor and potato crisps.  It just seems unnatural to combined those two!  Who eats salsa with potato chips?! Not us, and there is likely a good reason for that.  The combo does not seem organic. It just doesn’t jive! Corn and fruit = works.  Potatoes and fruit = not so much!

In the end, we appreciate Pringles mango salsa flavor accuracy, but this is not a combo we would be buying again for any reason.  That being said, of course we would crunch a few if we spotted them on a snack table at some great chip party we were attending!

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

Discovered at Walmart; Countryside, Illinois

Pringles Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: El Sabroso – Salt & Lime Flavored Potato Chips or Papas Fritas Sabor a Sal y Limón

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

Well, hello El Sabroso!  If we had to guess we would say that this particular bag of chips is bilingual!  On the top Spanish half of the bag we’ve got El Sabroso – Papas Fritas – Sabor a Sal y Limón.  On the bottom English half of the bag we’ve got Salt & Lime Flavored – Potato Chips.  But, what about the English translation for the brand name – El Sabroso?  We don’t think that we have ever looked up what the name means, and apparently it would translate to – The Tasty or The Delicious!  Sounds like a great name to us!!

It has been quite a long time since we have tasted or reviewed any strictly LIME flavored chips.  In fact, looking back through the database we discovered that there aren’t very many solely lime flavored chips.  Tons of lime plus chile flavored chips, and plenty of lime plus some other ingredient flavored chips, but when it comes to strictly lime flavored chips we have not tried very many.

While these chips are not very significant in any texture, flavor, or form, it is their refreshing simplicity that just sat very well with us.  And, while these potato chips taste very similar to so many other artificially lime flavored chips, (translation: they taste very much like salt & vinegar seasoning, or in other words, like potato chips that have been thoroughly coated with tongue zinging, ultra-sour, citric acid), we were more than prepared, and satisfied by them.  Mingling with the heavy dose of citric acid, was a dash of real lime juice, giving us just enough of that tingling lime flavor perception.  On the tail end of the flavor, our tongues also noticed a slight hint of sweetness that was a welcome addition to help counter the citrus sour.  Although we are not typically huge fans of very thin potato chips, these papas fritas were pretty good this time.  Very thin, no real potato flavor detectable, only a slight, soft, crunch, and what we would consider a medium size chip.

Overall, these chips were really nothing special, but sometimes that is more than enough, and expectations do not need to be exceeded, but only met!

These are our thoughts, agree or disagree, make sure to let us know!

Chips discovered at Shell Gas Station; Hillside, Illinois

El Sabroso Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Broad Ripple Chip Co. Potato Chips

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

Here at Chip Review we have tasted and reviewed potato chips of every shape and form over the years. Probably one of our most favorite style of chips, one we knew and loved as youngsters, were the wider rippled, or RIP-L, or wavy, or what ever you want to call them – potato chips (honestly, we were practically raised on Old Dutch’s classic potato chips!).  So, we were obviously excited when Broad Ripple Chip Co. decided to send us a sample of their hand crafted locally made potato chips!  Of course we assumed that Broad Ripple was simply yet another way of describing the classic potato chip shape.  However, one quick peak through the potato chip bag’s small viewing window and we’re a little baffled?!  We do not see any ripples to these chips!  Tear bag open and still nope!  What we have here are ripple-less Broad Ripple potato chips!  An oxymoron if we’ve ever seen one!!

A little bit of investigative work and we discover that the Broad Ripple Chip Co. most likely derived its misleading name from a small neighborhood in its hometown of Indianapolis.  Whether the potato chip company is actually based in this specific Indy neighborhood, or began there, or simply has some sort of connection or affinity to it, we’re not exactly sure.  However, we are more than confident that the Broad Ripple neighborhood is where these chips got their name from!  And, we are more than confident that Indianapolis better embrace these delicious potato chips, because they are so lucky to have them!

Before we bite right down into the skinny of these chips, or should we technically say, before we bite down into to the thick of these chips, because these are no thin potatoes!  We just wanted to point out that even Alton Brown, Mr. Good Eats himself (and quite possibly the most intellectually charismatic Food Network television star of all-time!), has tried, and loved, Broad Ripple Chip Co.’s Potato Chips!  If that isn’t just the type of endorsement every small, local company hopes for!!

Luckily for you, and us, no endorsement is needed for these potato chips as they speak delicious volumes all by themselves!  These are some really great, hearty, thicker cut russet potato chips.  For those of you unaware of russett potato chips, and their uniquely dark color, and caramelized-nutty-sort of burnt notes, may we suggest that you make yourselves aware as soon as possible, as you are missing out on one of, what we consider, the tastiest potato chip varieties that there ever were.  That being said, we have come to the the hypothesis that there are really two types of russet potato people in the this world.  Those who love them for their uniquely dark, nutty, pure potato essence, and those who think that they are actually burnt, and just don’t get it.  We pity those people!!

Broad Ripple’s chips are probably the thickest cut russet potato chips that we have encountered in our chip tasting years.  The chips have a solid and toothsome crunch, but still remain crispy.  But, above and beyond all else when it comes to describing these chips, we think that it is most important to focus on the potato flavor.  Broad Ripple lets the potato chips speak for themselves.  Pure potato essence!  Of course they have taken some measurements to help compliment and highlight the potato flavor.  Frying, being one of them, but also seasoning them with just a few of those classic seasoning ingredients.  Simply garlic and onion – a delicious combination that is typically used to compliment other flavors, but here has been allowed to shine with just a touch of sugar and salt.  Simply great tasting potato chips!

We imagine that the shelf life of these chips cannot be very long, and we’re assuming that the chips are made and distributed in very small batches.  They are packaged in thick paper bags, with a small viewing window so the potato chips can actually see who is going to buy and eat them!  Once you have purchased a bag, and especially opened them, you should finish them very soon afterwards.  One small complain would be that the chips did become a bit greasy after being opened for a day.

Before we go, we should probably point out the little pup on the front of the bag.  The pug is named Zeus, he is the family dog, and is the potato chip mascot!  And if we had to guess, we’re betting he eats chips for treats!!

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 Broad Ripple Chip Co. for review

Broad Ripple Potato Chip Co. Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Ziggy’s Kettle Corn – Tomato Basil with Himalayan Pink Salt

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

Two years ago we tasted Ziggy’s Kettle Corn for the first time here at Chip Review.  To call the experience deliciously amazing would be an understatement.  While Ziggy’s Buttery Bliss Kettle Corn was a lip-smacking rendition of the classic combination, it was Ziggy’s two other flavors (Sweet & Salty and Happenin’ Jalapeno) that really knocked our socks off!  In fact, just this past year we finally put together our Top 5 Popcorn list, and guess who landed at the top spot!

Well, it is now 2015, and we are betting that it will be yet another great year popcorn!! And, one of those reasons will likely be due to the fact that Ziggy’s has made the superb decision to release 4 all-new flavors!!  Yep, that’s right, everyone’s (at least ours!) favorite kettle corn brand has decided to branch out, and try their hand at combining some other flavors with their deliciously sweet and salty popcorn!  Lucky us, we have all four of those flavors in the snack vault, and will be reviewing each and every one in the near future!

First up, Tomato Basil with Himalayan Pink Salt.  To be completely honest, we chose this flavor first because the combination sounded the least interesting to us.  Obviously, tomato and basil is a time tested classic combination that has stood the test of time!  Maybe the flavor would work with kettle corn because it is very likely that the natural sweetness from the tomato would compliment the kettle corn’s sugary sweetness, while contrasting the salt, and the fragrant basil would lighten and freshen up the entire package.  Unfortunately, we didn’t actually taste the tomato basil flavor doing any of that!

Short and simply, we do not taste any fresh, herb-y basil notes, and only the very slightest possibility of tangy-sweet-sour tomato notes.  In fact, what we really thought we actually tasted was a splash of sweet honey!  Huh?!  Was our bag actually mislabeled?  Did some popcorn batches get mixed up??  To top it off, somehow Ziggy gets away with not having to list his top secret ingredients on the back of the bag, but rather simply tells us: Tomato Basil Seasoning…..??  Any which way we crunched it, we do not really taste a tomato and basil seasoning here!

Regardless of all that, the kettle corn tastes great as always!  The kettle corn once again includes Ziggy’s delicious, minerally, slight spicy Himalayan Pink Sea Salt that we love!!  Freshly popped, large white popcorn, that has been perfectly glazed with the sweet sugar coating.  We love Ziggy’s Kettle Corn!  But for now, we are going to stick to the original three flavors.

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

Popcorn provided to Chip Review by Ziggy’s Kettle Corn for review

Ziggy’s Kettle Corn Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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