Pepper / Cracked Pepper

REVIEW: Tyrrell’s – Sweet Chili & Red Pepper Hand Cooked Potato Crisps

/ duthow / 2 Comments

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

Tyrells Sweet Chili and Red Pepper_couplef

Comments:

Apparently, some time ago, we here at Chip Review already had the pleasure of tasting Tyrrell’s Sweet Chili and Red Pepper Potato Crisps.  The bag above on the left, must be some older rendition that Tyrrell’s released years ago.  While the bag on the right displays one of the Tyrrell’s timeless black and white photos.  Since we cannot find any notes, or rating for these crisps, and none of us can even remember tasting them at all, we will approach and review them as if it was for the very first time.

First, and foremost, we must admit that there was a bit of a disagreement here at Chip Review about who each of the dapper gentlemen were gracing the front of the potato crisp bag.  In the end, after a bit of yelling and stomping, and even name calling, the dust settled and we agreed that the gent on the right must be none other than Sweet Chili himself, and that would make Mr. Red Pepper his sidekick on the left.

As for the potato crisps themselves, well, it did not take more than a couple of handfuls for us to determine that Tyrrell’s had created a uniquely complex, and tasty flavor combination with their Sweet Chili & Red Pepper.  In fact, it was easy for us to declare these as the best Tyrrell’s potato crisps that we had ever tasted!  One miniscule issue we did initially have with the crisps was the flavor name.  To us, it seemed a bit redundant to say both chili and pepper flavored, because quite often these two words are referring to the same thing.  Maybe with a tad more clarification, or description, we would have understood that the pepper in the name was referring to peppercorns and flakes, and the chili was referring to the chili pepper?  Minor qualm, but one that we felt needed addressing.

Getting back to that uniquely complex and tasty flavor combo we mentioned above.  We should just say from the get go, that we are not going to do the description of this flavor the justice that it deserves.  The complexity of this multilfaceted flavor bonanza was quite simply amazing.  From the very get go we tasted the sweet, the spicy chili, and the aromatic and zippy pepper punch.  The flavor seemed to hit each taste bud with every chip.  Beyond the expected seasoning notes, we also tasted loads of garlic, and then lots of other intricate flavors that we could not pinpoint; but one glance to the ingredients list and we saw there there was also anise, ginger, basil and white pepper – WOW!  Can we just point out the spicy spectrum that these chips deliver – they include ginger, garlic, white pepper, jalapeno chili pepper, cayenne pepper, and red pepper.

We’ve commented numerous times on Tyrrell’s potato crisps in the past.  How their crisps are very crunchy, nearly verging on being too hard.  How the crisps are made of whole cross sections of the potato, meaning that the entire edge of the crisp still has the peel intact, and that the majority of the crisps are whole slices (pretty darn unique within the industry if you ask us).  The potato crisps are a perfect match for Tyrrell’s flavor extravaganza.

Lastly, it took us a while to figure it out, but we finally realized that these Sweet Chili and Red Pepper crisps, kind of remind us of a cross between Kettle Brand’s Spicy Thai Potato Chips, and Mackie’s of Scotland Scotch Bonnet Potato Crisps.

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 from Tyrrell’s Potato Crisps for review

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REVIEW: Hawaiian – Cracked Pepper & Sea Salt Kettle Style Potato Chips

/ duthow / Leave a comment

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

newest 013

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The back of the Hawaiian Kettle Cooked Potato Chips bag says that they come from New Jersey….huh?

We are happy to report that these new Hawaiian potato chips are very reminiscent of Kettle Brand’s version of the same flavor…in other words, meaning delicious.  As we’ve pointed out before, many of the salt & pepper chips on the market today tend to be purists, or minimalists.  They like to keep it straight, and to the point – only 4 simple ingredients: potatoes, oil, salt and pepper.  Well, you can call it cheating, or you can call it brilliant, but brands like Hawaiian Kettle Cooked, and Kettle Brand, prefer to up the flavor ante, and add complimentary background flavors like onion and garlic to enhance, and enrich the classic S&P combination.

So, the question is two-fold: 1) Should we penalize these brands from veering off the classic S&P path?  And 2) Which chips do you prefer – traditional, straight forward, salt & pepper? Or, jazzed up flavor combo S&P?  We say, bring on the additional flavor depth, because we feel like the extra ingredients add dimension and character.

Hawaiian’s salt and pepper combo is not very powerful.  The cracked pepper is definitely present, and easily identifiable, but also not as nasal-y and “spicy” as we normally taste it.  Their sea salt level is completely spot on.  The garlic and onion notes linger in the background, and add that depth to the flavor, without ever diluting the true flavor stars of these chips.  The kettle cooked potato chips are medium thickness, with a good, strong, hearty, kettle crunch, and great mouth texture.  Their appearance and crunch really remind us of Kettle Brand’s standard potato chips.  However, where these definitely differ from Kettle Brand is in the flavor of the potato chips themselves.  We just don’t really identify much earthy potato flavor, the seasoning combination covers up most of it.

So, all in all, Hawaiian’s newest chips are a welcome addition to the salt and pepper flav0r family, even if they won’t be making our Top 5 Salt & Pepper chips of all-time.

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

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REVIEW: Sun Bites – Sour Cream and Cracked Black Pepper

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

 Sun Bites - Sour Cream & Cracked Black Pepper

Comments:

Now we all know what happens when Sun Chips French Onion & Peppercorn Ranch flavors finally decide to tie the not, and have a little Sun Bite of their own…..

Apparently, U.K.’s Sun Chips have been miniaturized, and renamed more appropriately ‘Sun Bites’.  The Sun Bites’ shape and texture remains the same as our U.S. Sun Chips version, only the size has changed in this case.  Which can only mean one of two things: either, we will likely consume these Bites even quicker than we normally do regular Sun Chips, or we will actually tire ourselves out from having to lift each Bite individually into our mouths, resulting in snack fatigue, and hunger.

The liberal dusting of tangy, buttermilk-sour cream seasoning, blends very well with the light sprinkle of spicy, black pepper.  The usual one-two flavor duo of garlic and onion help support, and fuse the flavor combination together.  Plain and simple, the combo works, and is quite delicious, especially when combined with the Sun Bite’s multigrain texture and flavor.

Can you believe that Chip Review is still working our way through the amazing selection that our good friend Josh over at Crisp Nation sent us all the way from London, England!  It’s like the chips will never end!!

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 our good friend Josh at Crisp Nation for review

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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