Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips (notable)
Not quite sure how this local Detroit area popcorn company thinks that they can make Chicago’s Finest Popcorn?!? That’s just silly!
Popcorn gifted to V&A from ASI
Susie’s Sweets & Eats Facebook
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©© chips (lip-smacking)
We don’t like to spread rumors around here but from what we’ve heard it was most likely Eve who convinced Adam to first taste the Butternut Squash Tortilla Chips in the Garden of Eatin’. Luckily for Adam, and the rest of mankind, they were delightful!
For the most part, we have always been quite impressed with Garden of Eatin’ chips. Fairly unique flavors, high quality ingredients, and most importantly, delicious chips! That being said, we don’t very often think about the brand, or even purchase their chips (that is unless we spot some new flavor). Wonder why that is? Maybe it is the fact that we do not shop at Whole Foods, or Fruitful Yield, very often (pretty sure only the so called “healthy” grocery stores carry Garden of Eatin’)? Or, is it simply the fact that while their chips are really good, they don’t have any of those really, really great ones that have us coming back for more?!
These butternut squash flavored corn tortillas do a fine job of straddling the line between being a sweet and savory chip. Very similar to some other pumpkin flavored tortilla chips that we’ve reviewed in the past, but with an even more subtle hand on their seasoning, resulting in more savory tortilla chips.
The tortilla chips have a light tan colored hue, and a medium thickness to them. Their crunch is sufficiently sturdy, with a good grainy mouth texture. The chips exude a light sweetness from the inclusion of sugar, that helps to emphasize the naturally sweet butternut squash flavor. A light sprinkling of onion powder and salt helps to balance out that sweetness, and keep the chips away from the realm of being called dessert chips.
We quite liked them, and would certainly chomp them again if given the chance.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Chips discovered at Whole Foods; Willowbrook, Illinois
Garden of Eatin’ Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips (notable)
Oh no!! Not another bacon cheese flavored snack from Old Dutch….
Luckily our fear was unwarranted, and these Arriba Cheddar Bacon Cheese Stix aren’t half bad!
Question: why exactly did Old Dutch feel it necessary to call these cheese stix instead of the more commonly used cheese puff, or curl, classification? Do cheese stix sound tastier? We’re sure that they wanted to differentiate their product from the rest of the bunch, but come’on, when you are clearly making a product that is already so widely recognized as another established product, why not just call them by that name?! Next thing we know they will be giving us ‘sliced fry potatoes’.
The back of the bag says Intense Flavor + Amazing Crunch. Well, we can get behind the amazing crunch portion of that statement, but we would actually say the exact opposite as for their flavor.
Arriba’s cheese puffs (excuse us – STIX), are a touch crunchier than the usual cheese puff. Despite their solid initial bite, the stix do still melt in your mouth (a necessity for any good cheese puff) if you let them hang out and absorb your tongue’s moisture.
If subtlety is a synonym for intense, then yes these bacon cheddar stix are indeed intense. They delivered just a kiss of smoke to represent the bacon, which we enjoyed. A good level of tangy and salty cheddar cheese rounds out the combination. And, that’s it. Simple, precise and notably delicious. Much, much better than Old Dutch’s popcorn of the same flavor!
As always we would love to hear what you think. Let us know.
Discovered at Kwik Stop Gas Station; Plymouth, Minnesota
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©-1/2 chips (notable)
Yeah, we’re as surprised as you are that we liked this flavor less than Wicked Mix’s Chocolate-Laced version. Just goes to show that you just never 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: ©©©-1/4 chips (notable)
FINALLY! We have found you!! We’ve been hearing rumors about this new Ruffles flavor for some time now, and just yesterday they finally appeared on our local grocery store shelves. The funny thing is that not only did they appear at the grocery store but then when we stopped by a random gas station and wouldn’t you know it, they had them now too. Made a quick stop at the local pharmacy, sure enough, tons of new bags of Ruffles All Dressed! We started to wonder if we were seeing things?! Was this all a dream?!? Had we just missed them up until now? Were these chips not even really ‘all dressed’? WERE WE EVEN DRESSED!?!? No longer were we worried about acquiring these illusive new Ruffles, but rather finding our clothes and rectifying this common reoccurring nightmare! Okay, deep breath, we’re fine, we’re ‘all dressed’ and so are the chips!
These are not the first All Dressed flavored potato chips that we have tried. Granted the other brands that we have tried have all been generic private labeled grocery line brands, so in essence that would make these the first ones that we have seen or tasted from any of the “big name” chip companies.
Are you familiar with the ‘All Dressed’ flavor?! No? Well, according to the back of the Ruffles bag: In America it just means that you are wearing all of your clothes. But, in Canada ‘All Dressed’ actually means delicious ridgy chips that somehow taste salty, savory, & sweet all at the same time.
There you have it. The flavor is Canadian, we get that much. But, we don’t really appreciate Ruffles vague and frankly uninformative description of what Canada’s delicious ‘All Dressed’ flavor really is! First of all, pretty sure (maybe we are wrong) ‘All Dressed’ does not mean delicious ridgy chips, that would just be Ruffles trying to say that their chips represent all ‘All Dressed’ chips, when in fact the best ‘All Dressed’ chips that we have ever tried were not of the ripple/wavy/ruffle variety! Secondly, what sort of flavor description is salty, savory, & sweet all at the same time? Come’on Ruffles, that’s just lazy and ambiguous – we know plenty of flavors that fall within those descriptors!
Ruffles ‘All Dressed’ seasoning is quite a bit more savory than other ‘dressed’ chips that we have tried. Rather then embracing, and highlighting, the sour vinegar tang (which we tend to like), Ruffles has opted for a more subtle flavor combination. Only a hint of vinegar really shines through. Some smoke, onion, garlic, and paprika provide those savory notes, and frankly trigger thoughts of your typical BBQ flavor. In fact, that’s what it is, Ruffles ‘All Dressed’ chips taste a LOT like traditional BBQ flavored chips, with maybe the tiniest twist. There is also plenty of sugary sweetness to go around. And, there is of course salt, because these are potato chips we are talking about. So, in that aspect maybe Ruffles flavor description wasn’t completely inaccurate, the chips were salty, savory, & sweet all at the same time, but they certainly weren’t anything new to the flavor game!
As for the potato chips themselves, they were the same old Ruffles thinner rippled potato chips – classically greasy, crispy and delicious!
For another more positive review, check out Kevin’s thoughts over @ The Impulsive Buy.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Chips discovered at Jewell Osco; Westchester, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©© chips (lip-smacking)
What do we have here? Yep, that’s right, another unique, startling and lip-smacking flavor from everyone’s favorite Warrenville Popcorn Store – Chef’s Shoppe! In case you are unfamiliar with this great specialty cooking and food store (which would mean you haven’t read our reviews for their other fantastic flavors – Sriracha-Cheese and Spicy Beer Cheese – shame on you!), this shop also makes some of the best popcorn around!! Edwardsville is the third oldest city in the state of Illinois. And although technically a city in southwestern Illinois, Edwardsville is considered a part of the greater metro area of St. Louis. So, we’re not sure if Edwardsville citizens cheer for the Blackhawks or the Blues, but we’re guessing that regardless of sports team loyalty, all Edwardsville-ians love themselves some Chef’s Shoppe popcorn!
So, how did this gourmet kitchen store get into the popcorn game? According to the Chef Shoppe legend, and we have no reason to question it:
In May 2012 the Chef’s Shoppe expanded again, taking over the 2,500 square foot space adjacent to the existing business and adding popcorn. But they didn’t start small – offering over 70 flavors of popcorn every day, the Chef’s Shoppe entered the popcorn scene in a big way. Scott, having officially retired after 32 years with AT&T the year before, is the head “popologist”. With the help of his merry band of popping and coating specialists they turn out hundreds of gallons of popcorn every week. ALL are made fresh in house – ALL are available to taste before you buy – ALL are so delicious that picking just one is nearly impossible.
Right from the get go, a potent blast of wasabi sets the flavor tone for this lip-smacking popcorn. That undeniable wasabi burn clears the nasal passageway, and then lingers there for a while. Not really sure if we can actually pinpoint any soy in the mix, but then again it is sort of tough with the barrage of wasabi slapping taste buds around! The real kicker, or curve ball, in this flavor combination is the inclusion of white cheddar cheese. This cheese powder adds a dynamic facet to the flavor that is really unlike anything we have tasted before. It sort of smooths out, or mellows, the wasabi just a little bit, but still allows the green root to do its intended job.
Not sure if we have brought this up before, but we love the Chef’s Shoppe technique for applying seasoning. Somehow they are able to cake the popcorn kernels with an almost wet slathering of seasoning that delivers this richness to the popcorn that our mouths enjoy very much!
In the end it is probably fair to say that we appreciate this flavor more than we actually loved eating it. It is certainly not a flavor of popcorn that we would want to sit down and enjoy a big bowl, or even a bag of. This wasabi & soy is meant to be sampled, and maybe grazed upon in passing, but not eaten by the handful. Either way, count us impressed by Chef’s Shoppe once again!
As always, these are our thoughts. Agree or disagree, make sure to let us know.
Popcorn provided to Chip Review by J & V for review
Chef’s Shoppe Official Website
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips (Notable)
Discovered at Lassak Market & Deli; Willowbrook, IL
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 