REVIEW: Off The Cob – Sweet Corn Tortilla Chips

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

Comments:

First of all, Off The Cob’s unique and colorful packaging is worth a good deal of recognition.  We are stumped as to whether the picture of the corn field with the bright red barn that graces the chip bag “cover”, is actually an enhanced photo, or a vibrant painting.  Either way it is refreshingly colorful and most definitely attention grabbing!

Off The Cob’s Sweet Corn Tortilla Chips have a sweet aura to them!  A rich, sweet corn essence!  The sweet corn flavor addition is easily identifiable, and certainly differentiates them from traditional corn tortilla chips.  Compared to the only other sweet corn tortilla chips that we have ever tasted, Off The Cob actually used real sweet corn to flavor and sweeten their chips, and in turn, they actually taste like it!  Also, it is probably worth noting that regardless of whether or not Off The Cob had decided not to use real sweet corn, they would still taste better than these unbearably, horrific sweet corn potato chips.

So, in one sense, Off The Cob’s Sweet Corn Tortilla Chips are executed perfectly.  They deliver on the premise they are built upon.  However, all that being said, how do the tortilla chips work overall when compared to all other tortilla chips?  The tortilla chips are lighter, crispy, with a softer crunch.  Their texture is fairly simple and smooth, not delivering very much complexity for our mouths to enjoy.  We would have appreciated a bit more salt to help counterbalance the chips’ natural sweetness.

All in all, the chips work, and are a notable addition to the tortilla chip game.

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 Off The Cob for review

Off The Cob Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

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©©© – notable

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REVIEW: Late July Organic – Sub Lime Multigrain Chips

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

Comments:

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, whomever Late July Organic has designing their wonderfully, colorful, line-up of chip bags for them, has really outdone themselves.  The bags are so intricately detailed, and so vibrantly designed, that we may just go ahead and call them the best looking bags in the industry!

At first sniff, we smelled no hint of any citrus-y flavors; only the fresh masa from the multigrain tortilla chips themselves.  The multigrain chip dough was scattered with a welcome presence of (the recently super-popular super-food) chia seeds, that added a wonderfully nutty, textural difference, as well as, a noticeably visual addition to them.  The triangle tortilla chips had soft, rounded edges, with a very fresh and light, crispy crunch.  In other words, the chips themselves were very good!

Unfortunately, as far as the flavoring went, we’re not sure of how much sour lime flavor we are really tasted!  At first we thought we may have just sampled a few of the lighter seasoned chips, but after we were about half we through the bag, we knew that the chips simply did not encompass the level of sour, acidic notes we were expecting.  One Chip Reviewer wondered if the ‘Sub Lime’ stood for below average lime flavor?  According to the back of the bag: “The taste of real lime is light, fresh…That’s why we bake real organic lime right into our SubLime tortilla chips, so the lingering flavor is like fresh squeezed lime”

Well, we now understand where the lack of lime flavor is coming from.  Late July Organics have tried to bake the organic lime flavor directly into the tortilla chip dough, but in the end the result was certainly a lack of lime flavor.  The bright, fresh, citrus-y, sour has all but disappeared, probably evaporated, and what we are left with, is an overall lack of, lime flavor!

Luckily, the multigrain chips are so tasty on their own, and most importantly, were coated with a liberal amount of salt (don’t believe the lightly salted on the front of the bag).  Some of the chips even had an extra decent amount of salt!!!  Lastly, can we just admit that we did not catch the cleverness of this flavor title until seeing it written as one word on the back of the bag!  Clever, clever, clever!  Like we said before, so much thought goes into the marketing and design of Late July Organic’s chips.

SubLime (sublime) – get it?!?  Brilliant.

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

Chip Ratings Scale:

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Chip Review of the day…..

Udi’s Ancient Grain – Jalapeno Cheddar Gluten Free Crisps

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

Comments:

Ancient Grains = yellow corn, brown rice, flaxseed, black sesame seeds, bran, and quinoa!

Crisp result = a peculiarly dense, and anciently grainy texture!

These days you can’t go anywhere without hearing gluten free this, and gluten free that, and we’re sure that many people often associate this lifestyle as encompassing relatively undesirable tasting food.  Luckily for us, and for those gluten free factions, companies such as Udi are out there doing their best to change those associations, and beliefs; and for the most part they are succeeding.

Udi’s Ancient Grain Crisps are on the harder end of the crisp spectrum.  Light, compact, dense, and loaded with plenty of ancient grains (seeds), adding some really great textural dimension and mouth feel, as well as, nutty flavor to the crunchy crisps!  The gluten free crisps are denser than we typically like, but the grains really elevate them.

The seasoning blend that coats the crisps is definitely packed full of bold flavors.  First and foremost, the crisps have plenty of that spicy jalapeno seasoning.  Hitting both the fresh, vegetal, pepper notes, along with that spicy chile heat!  The other half of the jalapeno and cheddar equation is certainly not lacking either.  Very flavorful, and salty, cheddar cheese powder dances with the jalapeno heat!

The crisps are surprisingly packed full of flavor and texture, and also satisfyingly hearty and filling for only having 3.5g of fat per serving!!  Gluten free haters would have to bite their tongue with these ones!!  Give them a try!

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

Chip Ratings Scale:

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REVIEW: Ziggy’s Kettle Corn – Happenin’ Jalapeno with Himalayan Pink Salt

Rating: ©©©©© chips  (“A” list)

Comments:

Happenin’ Jalapeno concludes our tasty journey through Ziggy’s Kettle Corn wonderland!

Our adventure began with Ziggy’s Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, which we instantly declared the sweet and salty combo as perfect.  We could not stop eating the stuff, literally.  We didn’t even take time to jot down any notes.  Next, we moved onto Ziggy’s Buttery Bliss Kettle Corn which was certainly some of the most rich, luscious, and buttery popcorn we had ever laid our lips on, and it came in a prepackaged bag!

We now find ourselves closing out our third, and final act, with Ziggy’s Happenin Jalapeno with Himalayan Pink Salt Kettle Corn – now that name is a mouthful that we cannot afford to spare right now!  All mouth space shall be spared for consuming Ziggy’s delicious kettle corn!

While the year of 2013 may have started out with a huge popcorn bang, as of late, it seemed as though the quality of popcorn that we were reviewing, was fading a bit.  Luckily for us, we still had Ziggy’s last flavor of kettle corn on reserve to reignite our claim that the year of 2013 truly is the Year of Great Popcorn (discovered by us at least!).  The year isn’t even over yet, and we have tasted, and reviewed, so many amazingly delicious popcorns!  Everything from terrific versions of classic flavors such as white cheddar popcorn , or caramel & cheese Chicago Mix, to creative new combinations like sweet & salty cheddar, or kettle corn with black licorice flavored hints of Anise.

Well, we really do hate to sound redundant but Ziggy has done it again with his Happenin’ Jalapeno Kettle Corn with Himalayan Pink Salt!!  The kettle corn itself is as good as it gets.  Large, round, full, fluffy-puffy, light, and yet substantial with a toothsome consistency to the kernels make up the majority of the bag.

We are hesitant to call Ziggy’s Happenin’ Jalapeno flavor as good as his original Sweet & Salty flavor (which we have declared as the best kettle corn ever to be packaged), but that is what they are, only in a slightly different way.  What it boils down to, is that Ziggy has simply taken his flawless original recipe, and added just enough of a slight variation as to not deviate and take anything away from what we most love about his classic sweet and salty recipe, but simply augment the flavor experience!

Ziggy’s Happenin’ Jalapeno seasoning does not bring very much of a chili heat to the equation, certainly nothing aggressive, rather it seems to just elevate, and compliment, the naturally “spicy” mineral, Himalayan pink sea salt we discussed in our initial review of their original kettle corn.  After a few handfuls we did begin to fell a bit of a tickle at the backs of our throats, and we could recognize some of the vegetal jalapeno flavors.  The Happenin’ seasoning also seems to probably include the typical flavor enhancing supporting characters that are garlic and onion (although there is no mention of them among the ingredients).

In the end, all we can say is that if you, like us, are fans of popcorn that is a lil’ sweet, lil’ spicy, lil’ salty, and a LOT DELICIOUS, than do yourself a favor and pick up a bag or two of Ziggy’s whenever you spot them!

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

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RATING: Tostitos – Multigrain Tortilla Chips

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

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Chip Review of the day…..

Mother’s Farms – Sweet Corn & Black Pepper Tortilla Chips

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

Comments:

Oh, Mother’s Farms how you have deceived us….

Mother’s Farms refers to these tortilla chips as Sweet Corn & Black Pepper.  Well, if you are like us, or the majority of the world, then we assume that when you hear the words “sweet” and “corn” then you assume that said “sweet corn” is none other than the delicious golden yellow, summer vegetable known as SWEET CORN!!  Sweet Corn – AKA: corn on the cob! AKA: what every farmer at every farmer’s market stand, everywhere, is selling during the middle of the summer.

Well, what Mother’s Farms has actually opted to offer us are not chips utilizing sweet corn in the tortilla recipe, but rather their standard corn tortilla chips, sweetened with honey.  In other words, the result is “sweet(ened) corn” tortilla chips.  In the end, does this deception really bother us?  Actually, it does a little bit.  We thought that these tortilla chips were going to be unlike anything we had ever tried before.  Instead, they tricked us with a lightly sweetened tortilla chip.

All that being said, Mother’s Farms Sweet Corn & Black Pepper Tortilla Chips (just like the rest of their line-up) are still some tasty chips. The tortilla chips are semi-thick, crispy and flaky, yet hearty and substantially rigid, yet light.  We could really taste the corn in these chips.

The flavor combination worked very nicely together.  The sweetness of the honey kissed tortilla chips, was balanced out by the lighter dose of effective black pepper presence.  At first we thought we were disappointed by the level of black pepper, wishing there was more.  However, with the more chips we ate the subtle black pepper heat would increase, and juxtapose the sweetened corn chips very nicely!!

Great job Mother’s Farms!!  Both for fooling us, and impressing us!

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 Mother’s Farms for review

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REVIEW: Lundberg Multigrain Chips – Mendocino Tomato & Herb

Rating: ©©-1/4 chips  (tolerable)

Comments:

Dear Lundberg Family: we just want to know what exactly gave you the idea to take every grain from the family farm, and combine them all into one unusual chip?  Was it because you had an excess of flax, chia and quinoa this season?  Or, was it because someone made a mistake?  Or, were you simply trying to make a positive, health conscientious, innovative, and hearty multigrain chip??  We’re pretty certain that it is most likely the latter!

We could tell even before chomping into the thick, rectangular chips that they consisted of more than just the standard Lundberg brown rice combination.  In fact, according to the bag these chips include: rice, quinoa, amaranth, corn, millet, garbanzo beans, chia, flax, and the list goes on.  And while some may think that by including so many different grains into one chip that the Lundberg Family Farms is just throwing grains in for the wow factor, but we’re going to tell you that the chip texture and flavor on their own really works. The semi-thick chips have a really different mouth feel to them.  They have a crispy, soft-crunch, and almost crumble in the mouth like a cracker.  Then some of the more seedy, crunchy grains like quinoa, chia and flax act almost like a caviar embedded within the chips, adding a surprisingly nice textural pop to them.

Unfortunately, the Mendocino Tomato & Herb seasoning does not support and blend as well with the multigrain chips as Lundberg’s Mojave Jalapeno flavor did.  The seasoning combo’s sweet, salty and sour notes do not co-mingle together very well either, and certainly not with the seedy-nutty-grainy chips.  The tangy sweet Mendocino tomato flavor dominates most of the flavor of these chips, but again, the flavor does not work very well with the multigrain chips.  In the background rests an oddly, sweet, vegetal flavor that tries to mix with the tomato, but cannot withstand the tomato flavor onslaught.  Lastly, if we strain our taste buds to the extreme, we think that we may just recognize a tiny bit of basil, but not to the extent that warrants the inclusion of “herbs” in the flavor name.

These are some very texturally unique multigrain chips, but the flavor tries too hard to coexist with them, and ultimately is not very successful in the end.  We plan to stick with Lundberg’s Mojave Jalapeno chips.

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)

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