Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips (lip-smacking)
Deliciously similar to Cob’s Dark Chocolate Caramel version, only we prefer the more savory, toasty, bitter notes of the dark chocolate.
As always, these are our thoughts. Agree or disagree, make sure to let us know.
Popcorn provided to Chip Review by Cobs for review
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips (lip-smacking)
Okay, we really didn’t mean to judge a book by its cover, or in this case a snack mix by its flavor, but we’ll admit it, our initial thoughts regarding this stuff had bad idea written all over it! No seriously, small letters, right there in the bottom left hand corner of the bag. Oh, you’re actually looking for it? What’s that, you still can’t find it?? Well, you just keep looking, and we’ll just continue on.
Buck Wild’s Chocolate Banana Mix includes: Banana Chips, Chocolate Granola, Pretzel Sticks, and Little Chocolate (what they are calling) Cookies.
Are you thinking that this is an odd mix combination? Well, we are way ahead of you! But, we’re happy to tell you that the combination of textures and flavors actually works really well!
Right away our mouths recognized the classic sweet and salty juxtaposition. Certainly more sweet than salt, but the deeper we dug into the bag, the more salty the combo became.
None of the four ingredients were really anything special on their own, but to be completely honest, each time we crunched on a handful of the pieces our mouths were deliciously intrigued.
So, we are here to tell you, don’t judge a mix by its flavor!
P.S., we just noticed the other day that you can actually pick up a bag of this mix at Starbucks locations now. We’re thinking coffee may go very well with this odd sweet and salty combination.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Mix provided to Chip Review by Buck Wild for review
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips (lip-smacking)
Show of hands please – how many of you out there think that these new sweet & salty pretzel pieces sound good? Or, even more importantly, how many of you out there actually believe that Snyder’s of Hanover could somehow make this pretzel-s’more combination taste delicious? Crickets…crickets…..crickets…..
Yeah, well we can’t deny that we weren’t in the same exact boat until the first piece graced our lips and wowed our mouths! In other words, we are beyond thrilled to inform you that Snyder’s of Hanover (SOH) has in fact somehow, some way, knocked these out of the pretzel pieces park!
To be completely honest, we couldn’t have stumbled upon SOH’s S’mores pretzel pieces at a more perfect time. This review is coming off one of, if not, the worst SOH review (Zesty Ranch 50% Less Fat) of all-time. Frankly, we sort of thought that Snyder’s of Hanover may have gone off the deep end and decided to pursue less fat, and poor tasting variations of their typically fantastic pretzel pieces. Luckily SOH has pulled a complete 180 and wowed us with these odd flavored pretzels – who’d a thunk it.
Snyder’s of Hanover is no stranger to the sweet and salty game. In fact, this is the fourth flavor from their Sweet & Salty series of pretzel pieces that we have reviewed, and we can say with certainty, that it is far and away the tastiest!
To say that these S’mores pretzel pieces really, really surprised us would be an understatement. We’re going to tell you right off the bat that they do not necessarily taste like s’mores at all. Nope, not at all. So, if you are looking for some sort of truly authentic s’mores pretzel snack representation then look elsewhere. However, if you are alright with eating some deliciously rich, sweet and salty, inauthentic s’mores flavored pretzel pieces then look no further!
What these pieces do taste like is a heavy dose of chocolaty-cocoa mingling with some rich pretzel pieces. The marshmallow sugary-sweet aspect is pretty darn tasty. While the experience of eating a campfire roasted marshmallow can obviously not be captured in a pretzel seasoning, we sort of do feel like we were tasting marshmallow mixed in among the chocolate. But, two out of three main s’mores’ ingredients is all we get. It’s very apparent that SOH has made no huge attempt at the inclusion of graham with these. Sure, there is honey in the mix, but graham is a powerful, and very recognizable flavor – so, how the heck can you have s’mores without graham?! In our books, you can not! Maybe SOH was thinking that the pretzel pieces themselves were filling that void, but they just don’t quite do it for us. Who knows, maybe if there had been some graham thrown in this flavor equation these pieces could have been “A” list perfect?!
All that being said, in the end, these are really delicious pretzel pieces. If you like sweet and salty, and s’mores-y, than you most certainly will like these!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at Jewel Osco; Westchester, Illinois
Snyder’s of Hanover Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips (notable)
Are you a fan of cocoa flavored things? What about crunchy pita chips? Well, what if we told you that Stacy’s Pita Chips has decided to put the two together? How does that sound…?
Yeah, the combination does not feel very natural or organic to us either. Cocoa, and pita chips, hmmm….Limited Edition sounds about right.
Surprisingly enough we have actually tried more than a dozen different Chocolate / Cocoa flavored crunchy snacks over the years. Some have actually been quite deliciously impressive, while others have been downright disgusting.
Stacy’s new Simply Cocoa Pita Chips all into the upper tier of those cocoa snacks. They really aren’t half bad.
A hefty dusting of ultra dark brown cocoa powder liberally coated each and everyone of the pita chips.
We really appreciated how the cocoa chips were not overly sweet, and obviously Stacy did not feel it necessary to sugar them up for us.
As always, these are our thoughts. Agree or disagree, make sure to let us know.
Chips discovered at Jewel Osco; Westchester, Illinois
Stacy’s Snacks Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
#17
It’s Freakin’ Awesome Nosh Bag – & – Wicked Mix – Chocolate-Laced
Original Reviews Here and Here
Okay, maybe we are cheating just a little bit by including two different mixes with our choice for #17 on this year’s 25 Chips to Christmas; but in our defense there are only so many spots on the list, plus they are both delicious mixes unlike any others we had tried before them. Seriously, if you are a fan of sweet, salty and spicy snacks, then either one of these unique mixes should be on your ‘must find list’!! You can thanks us later!
Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips (lip-smacking)
One of these things is not like the others! One of these things just doesn’t belong!!
One of these things are so lip-smackingly different and delicious, that they even made us sing this song!!
Every once in a while we cross paths with a new snack that just does not fit nicely into any one category. Something new and unique! Sure, we’ve tasted and reviewed plenty of snack mixes, and even some of those have been of the sweet chocolate varietal, but never before have we tasted such a deliciously odd combination of chocolate and savory flavors!!
Just a short while ago we reviewed another unique sweet and salty snack mix by the name of It’s Freakin’ Awesome Nosh Bag! And just like we fell head over heals with that unique mix, we have found another tasty surprise in Wicked Mix’s Chocolate-Laced!
Wicked Mix has three flavors or varieties of their Wicked Mixes. There’s Spicy Original, Spicy Hot Chipotle, and then of course these Chocolate-Laced. Wicked Mix was kind enough to send us some of each to taste and review! Yeah, we know-we know, it is a tough job but someone has got to do it!! If we are being completely honest with you, we started our tasting process with the Chocolate-Laced flavor first because we were the least excited for it. Sure, we appreciate sweet and salty combinations, kettle corn popcorn is one of our all-time favorite snacks, but more often than not snacks that are covered in chocolate, completely lose sight of the sweet and salty (or savory) juxtaposition! Luckily for you, and us, and them, Wicked Mix has found that happy medium spot where every ingredient jives and comes together to form a unique flavor experience!
First, what exactly does Wicked Mix consist of? Well, a delightfully nutty combination of Pecan halves, Cashews, Almonds, plus 4 other tasty morsels…? Tasty morsels? Huh?! Don’t look at us, that is Wicked Mix’s own description. We think that those other morsels would be the pretzels, Chex like criss-cross wheat crisps, and some unusual honey roasted sesame crisps. Those morsels are then spiced with a wicked liquid brew containing 8 spices, some secret, some not, resulting in a tasty snack mix that cannot be adequately described, only experienced. But, since we are in the business of describing snacks to you, so you can in turn decide if you want to experience them, let us try and give this a shot. The Wicked Mix combo is impressively heavy on the nuts (which is always a good thing in our books) coated with a tangy, spicy, salty, savory, chocolatey-sweet flavor layer. At first the seasoning confuses the palette, but if you stick in there long enough to let the flavors develop, and give it a real open minded shot, we think that your taste buds will end eventually thank you!! To get a good idea of the depth of flavor going on with this mix, just take a look at some of ingredients (and mind you, in the end this is all finished with a drizzle of white and dark chocolates): distilled white vinegar, onions, ANCHOVIES, garlic, cloves, tamarind extract, fully aged peppers, salt, LARD, garlic, salt, Cayenne pepper & CELERY salt!! Whoa! That is one delicious mouthful!
Not to plagiarize a line from some of our own work, but this little snippet from a recent review just fits too perfectly not to use it – The myriad of contrasting ingredients are amazingly cohesive, and despite the unique combination they tasted oddly familiar? And that’s just it, this Wicked Mix hits all of those familiar flavor notes our childhood Chex Mix, while at the same time, taking it somewhere new and delicious!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Mix provided to Chip Review by Wicked Mix for review
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips (lip-smacking)
This sort of stuff is just not our thing. We have of course tried various different chocolate flavored snacks over the years, one of which was actually chocolate coated such as these, but when it comes down to it, we are not sweets people! There is a specific reason why we review chips and pretzels and popcorn. We love salt! We can enjoy a combination of the sweet and salty, but when there is no salt present, or at least none distinguishable, we simply have a difficult time of reviewing them objectively. Such is the case here…!
All that being said, if chocolate, in this case especially dark chocolate, is right up your alley, or suits your fancy, or gets your motor going, then we’re pretty sure that you would love this stuff! Because, even we could see past the existence of any salt, and recognize the quality of product that we were tasting. In fact, some of us here at Chip Review may have even loved it!
There’s just something about the combination of some fantastically light and crispy popcorn kernels, coated with a sweet thin kiss of caramel, enveloped in a rich, creamy, slightly sweet and bitter layer of some of the best dark chocolate we have ever tasted. The combination just works! And despite our own personal reservations regarding the lack of salt, we just can’t deny or argue with how well balanced and tasty this stuff is!
Although we may not be buying this stuff for ourselves in the future, we’ll stick with Cobs Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, we do know plenty of people who would absolutely enjoy receiving a bag of this stuff from us as a gift!
As always, these are our thoughts. Agree or disagree, make sure to let us know.
Popcorn provided to Chip Review by Cobs for review
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 