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

BIJOU-REVIEW: Deep River Snacks Honchos – Ranch Tortilla Chips

Rating: ©©-1/4 chips  (tolerable)

We have been huge fans of Deep River Snacks for quite some time.  We respect the company’s decision to provide us with a more nutritious snack option, and we quite simply love a lot of their chips.

Unfortunately, these Ranch flavored Honchos are not among that long list of the Deep River chips that we do love.

We were going to simply chock these chips up to being tortilla chips, and that Deep River Snacks perhaps had not yet perfected their new Honchos line, but then we remembered that a couple of years ago we reviewed, and loved, their lip-smacking Peach Habanero Tortilla Chips.  Today these chips are apart of the Honchos line, but back when we reviewed them they were just tortilla chips with In Your Face Flavor!

But, enough about those great chips, today we are dealing with these only tolerable chips.

At first we thought that we were going to really like these chips.  All the usual ranch flavor notes were present and accounted for, but then somewhere in the background was a weird, sorta tangy and very salty intruder…..

And there it was, smack-dab in the middle of the ingredients list – cheddar cheese?!?  Huh?  Sorry, cheddar cheese is not meant to be used in ranch dressing.

Unfortunately, that is not our only issue with these chips.  We are also not very huge fans of the tortilla chips themselves.  Maybe we let the chips slip too close to their expiration date, or maybe they had already taken a wrong turn down the too hard and crunchy chip highway.

No light and crispy chips here.  Simply too dense, too hard and rigid tortilla chips for lthe likes of our palettes.

Sorry Deep River but these are not among our favorites from you.

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 Deep River Snacks for review

Deep River Snacks Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Kettle Brand – Moscow Mule Potato Chips

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

We finally found you!  That’s right, you thought you could hide from us by completely selling out of the entire Chicago area, but NO! we have Chip Review friends everywhere, and with their help you have shown up at our front doorstep, ready to be reviewed just like all the others!

First of all, we’re going to assume that most of you out there know what a Moscow Mule is.  If you do not, a quick Google search will solve that, and we would also recommend finding your local watering hole and procuring one.

Next, let’s take note of the gorgeous copper colored packaging that Kettle Brand has chosen for these chips (sorry our pic is not as nice as it could be – here are some more examples).  There’s no doubt that the shiny metallic top-half of the bag is meant to represent the classic copper mug that a proper Moscow Mule cocktail is traditionally served in.  We are very impressed with the amount of creativity and consideration put into this packaging.  In fact, we’ve quite liked the packaging for all three of the newer Kettle Brand chips.

As far as the Moscow Mule flavor itself goes, well, it is another delicious home run from Kettle Brand.  For what it is worth, it has become very apparent to us here that Kettle Brand has either gone GINGER CRAZY – because all three new flavors that we have tried of theirs, have all been very ginger focused; or, perhaps Kettle Brand just came across a free supply of ginger and thought that they would make the best out of it?!  Either way, it has worked out in our favor, because these are really delicious.

These chips may not be for everyone as they do definitely lean towards the sweeter end of the flavor spectrum, but there’s just something about that unique sweet-sour-pungent combination of ginger and lime that we really enjoy.  The chips are just so aromatic, and refreshing, and tropical, that we felt like they perfectly compliment Kettle Brand’s always fantastic, medium-thick, slightly greasy, potato-ful kettle cooked potato chips.

Don’t quote us but as far as we know it, both these Moscow Mule, along with the new Korean Barbeque, can only be acquired at World Markets. That’s all we know, and we’re sticking to it!

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 LRH & RLH for review (thanks you two)

Kettle Brand Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

RATING: Lay’s Kettle Cooked Limited Edition Flavor – Spicy Chili & Cheese Potato Chips

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

As we thought to ourselves “Lay’s All New Limited Edition Spicy Chili & Cheese Kettle Cooked Potato Chips are a pretty darn tasty addition to the L.K.C. line-up….and yet, at the same time…..also very familiar.”

Apparently, a little bit too familiar.  A few minutes of Chip Review research and we discovered that a couple of years back we tasted and rated (but no review) Lay’s Kettle Cooked Spicy Cayenne & Cheese Potato Chips, or in other words, what we’re guessing were the SAME EXACT CHIPS!!  We can’t verify the accuracy of this statement for, but if we could locate the  Cayenne & Cheese list of ingredients we’re more than certain they would look exactly like THESE.  We mean come’on, both bags are using the SAME EXACT INGREDIENT PIC!  Bunch of kettle cooked, heavily seasoned potato chips, with a large block of white cheese, and a couple of red chili/cayenne peppers sitting directly in front.

So, long story short, we’ve eaten these chips before.  That being said, technically we did not review them the first go around, so we will take this time to scribe a few descriptive details regarding their flavor.

Lay’s Spicy Chili & Cheese seasoning is not lacking in flavor.  To more or less quote the great Junk Food Guy, these taste a lot like Spicy Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos did a bit too much mingling with Ruffles Sour Cream & Cheddar chips.  In other words, the seasoning has plenty of salty and tangy cheese flavor, a decent enough dash of chili pepper heat, and a surprisingly tasty splash of tart sour cream.  The flavor combo has been used plenty of times before, but that does not make it any less tasty.

All in all, tasty “NEW” limited RE-edition of Lay’s.  We’ll enjoy them while they last.

Chips discovered at Walmart; Villa Park, Illinois

Lay’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Popchips Potato Ridges – Tangy Barbeque

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

OK, we are starting to feel a bit redundant here but Popchips just continues to impress us again, and again, with their Potato Ridges line of potato chips.

Popchips new Tangy Barbeque Potato Ridges are yet another lip-smackingly solid addition to the new-ish line of ridged potato crisps.

It has now become apparent to us here at Chip Review that the unifying element that makes this line of Popchips so great is their potato RIDGES texture.

So as to not have to recreate the descriptive words to describe these chips once again:

The Ridges take Popchips into a tasty terrain that we have never encountered with their chips before – SubstantionalPotatofulLand.  We have always thought of Popchips as light, and airy, and crispy, but these Ridges are hearty, sturdy, crunchy, and packed with lots of potato flavor!  We really like’em.  Same standard shape as traditional potato Popchips, only now those potato Popchips a little bit thick (we think), and they have ridges in them (duh!).

As for the Tangy Barbeque, well it is definitely more tangy than TANGY.  Quite frankly they taste an awful lot like Popchips regular bargeque chips.  Slightly smoky, on the sweeter side, with just a lightest hint of tang.  Nothing unusual, but perfectly eatable.

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

Chips discovered at Walmart; Villa Park, Illinois

Popchips Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: Kernel Season’s – Kettle Corn Crunchin’ Kernels

Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips  (notable)

First, there was Gladcorn.  The original corn trail blazer!

Next, came Pop’d Kerns with “a corn crunch like no other!”

Heck, even Trader Joe’s tried their hand at a couple of ‘Partially Popped Popcorns’.

And now, Kernel Season’s Crunchin’ Kernels are joining the “half-popped popcorn” club!

For more on Kernel Season’s Crunchin’ Kernels see our review for their Original Corn Flavor.

Usually we are a sucker for any type of sweet & salty Kettle Corn product, but for one reason or another Kernel Season’s offering does not really suit our fancy.

Both the sweet & salty are there, but when combined with the half-popped kernels, there are just no fireworks.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that with this flavor, more than any of Kernel Season’s others, the half-popped kernels far more broken down into tiny kernel bits.  In other words, a LOT more of those pesky – stuck in your gums – kernels.

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

Crunchin’ Kernels provided to Chip Review by Kernel Season’s for review

Kernel Season’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: Kernel Season’s – Ranch Crunchin’ Kernels

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

First, there was Gladcorn.  The original corn trail blazer!

Next, came Pop’d Kerns with “a corn crunch like no other!”

Heck, even Trader Joe’s tried their hand at a couple of ‘Partially Popped Popcorns’.

And now, Kernel Season’s Crunchin’ Kernels are joining the “half-popped popcorn” club!

For more on Kernel Season’s Crunchin’ Kernels see our review for their Original Corn Flavor.

Surprisingly, the super flavorful ranch seasoning pairs lip-smackingly well with the half-popped popcorn.

Creamy, herb-y, tangy, with a good bit of garlic, onion and other seasonings.  The Kernel’s ranch recipe hits all of the necessary flavor notes.

Really quite impressed.

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

Crunchin’ Kernels provided to Chip Review by Kernel Season’s for review

Kernel Season’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list