REVIEW: Hot-Headz – Chipotle Mustard Mildly Spiced Potato Chips

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

What flavor are these?

Are these Chicago Dog flavored?!?

Oh, Chipotle Mustard…huh?  Well, that is a unique new one, but I’m going to stand by my Chicago Dog flavor because that’s even more unique, and sounds delicious too, right?!?  Who’s with me?  (says one Chip Review taster as we sample Hot-Headz Chipotle Mustard Mild Chilli Chips)

Honestly, after we tasted a few more chips and thought about it for a minute, Chicago Dog flavor was not too far off from what these lip-smacking potato chips actually taste like.  You get a tiny touch of the hot dog meaty essence from the smoke of the chipotle chile.  There’s a good punch of chile heat, coming from a combination of the chipotle, and its un-smoked sibling the jalapeño chiles; both together providing the ample mouth burn that typically accompanies the sport peppers (pickled serranos) that come on a Chicago Dog.  Okay, so there may be no tomato, or celery salt, but there is actually a sprinkling of onion powder, so we can check that ingredient off the list as well.  And lastly, there is of course the star of the show (for these chips at least), a whole bunch of hot dog’s favorite yellow condiment MUSTARD!  So, maybe it is a little bit of a stretch to compare Hot-Headz chips to what we, and Anthony Bourdain call the best hot dogs in the country, but for those of us who know our Chi Dogs, the comparison is undeniable!!

Hot-Headz refers to the Chipotle Mustard flavor as the mildly spiced one within their potato chip line-up, but we’ll be the first to tell you that some of our tasters were feeling the burn from this “mild heat!”  First, the chips get you with a nice slap of that nasal-ly mustard burn.  Then, slowly but surely the chipotle (along with it’s unsmoked,  green, more vegetal version, the jalapeño) creeps up the back of the throat, and the tongue, and burns just a little…then a little more…and then, by the end, a good decent amount!  Heat seekers would not be floored by these chips, but they should at least acknowledge the heat, and even more importantly, they should appreciate the fantastic flavor!

The potato chips themselves are solid as well.  A little more toothsome than a “typical” kettle cooked potato chip.  And they don’t have that extra crispy-crisp to them, but more of a decently crispy crunch. Golden hue in color from the peanut oil, with a fairly nuetral potato canvas, perfect for flavor delivery!

Overall, just some really great chips from Hot-Heads!  Zingy, pungent, spicy, and a very flavorful combo!!  Now the question is, should we even try to attempt the chips they call Inferno Habanero?!?!

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 Hot-Headz for review

Hot-Headz Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

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©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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REVIEW: Pringles Exclusive Flavor! – White Cheddar & Black Pepper

Rating: ©-1/2 chips  (return to sender)

We’re sorry Target, but we just have to say it, as far as Pringles Exclusive Flavors are concerned, you got stuck with the worst of the bunch (thus far at least)!  Seriously, it is one thing to have one good flavor, and one bad flavor, but for both of your Exclusive Flavors to ultimately be less than stellar is just, well, disappointing!!

We have to admit we were pretty excited for these as the cheddar & pepper combination is not one we have seen very much of.  In fact the only other example we can find would be Lay’s Kettle Cooked Lattice Cut’s version, which we thought were lip-smacking!

So, what went wrong Pringles?!?

First of all, other than a tiny black dot here, and an even tinier black dot there, the black pepper aspect of these Pringles is practically nonexistent.  Seriously, some of our tasters could not taste any (nor see any) at all, while others said that they did catch little hints of the slightly spicy and fragrant spice.  This black pepper seasoning was not reminiscent of Pringles regular Salt & Pepper Crisps.  Strike 1.

Even worse than the black pepper facet, was the seasoning combination used to represent the white cheddar cheese!  In one word – Eeewww!  Actually, three words – eeewww, yuck, eewww!!  The seasoning just tastes off.  Apparently, the combination of cheddar cheese, buttermilk, nonfat milk, sugar and citric acid does not sit well with our palates!!  First, a shock of sour hits the tongue, then a creamy-milky wave coats the mouth, and then finally at the tail end we actually taste something recognizable as cheddar cheese powder.  It is almost impressive how weird these taste!  Not our favorite Pringles to say the least.

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

Discovered at Target; Hillside, Illinois

Pringles Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

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©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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BIJOU-REVIEW: the GOOD bean CHIPS – Jalapeño Cheddar

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

These were surprising chips to say the least!  As most of you may know, we are not usually the biggest fans of bean chips.  More often than not the bean chip texture is just too brittle and crumbly, and worst of all, amazingly mouth drying!!

However, true to their name, these are really good BEAN chips.  It must be due to their unique chip recipe, which according to the back of the bag includes: chickpeas, navy beans, red lentils, pea protein, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and quinoa!!

Triangular in shape, with a really firm texture and crunch.  We would definitely refer to these chips as crunchy, and not crispy.  SOLID – that’s a good word to describe them.

But, MOST IMPORTANTLY, these beans are not excruciatingly moisture absorbing!

The seasoning is true to its name – we taste both cheddar cheese and jalapeño chiles.  Unlike most cheese flavored chips The Good Bean Chips’ cheese seasoning tastes more like real cheese than it does salty cheese powder.  The white dusting is practically creamy when it touches the moisture on the tongue.  The jalapeños give off an undeniable vegetal aroma and taste, as well as, the expected (somewhat) spicy burn.

We were quite impressed with these chips, and not only because we did not have any expectations due to their bean-ness, but because they are also a respectable addition to the chip market!

Chips discovered at World Market; Oak Brook, Illinois

The Good Bean Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

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©©© – notable

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RATING: Ritz Toasted Chips – Cheddar

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

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REVIEW: Funyuns – Steakhouse Onion

Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips  (notable)

Rip open this bag and let the crunchy goodness of Funyuns Steakhouse Onion Flavored Rings make all your onion blossom dreams come true. Your taste buds will have no choice but to say, “THANK YOU!” Crunchy Rings of AWESOMENESS (these words are from the back of the Steakhouse Onion Funyuns bag)

Do we share this in this enthusiasm?

Maybe a little bit…

We’ll just get it out of the way and say that these are pretty good, and certainly not lacking in the flavor department.  The corn meal puffed onion rings are as crunchy as they ever are, BUT to be completely honest our “onion blossom dreams” have not come true (especially since our onion blossom dreams always include rainbows, pots of gold, and the occasional unicorn!!).

We just don’t really see the purpose of this flavor?!?  They taste very similar to original Funyuns with a sprinkling of muddled, generic seasoning on them.  Again, they are not bad, but they are unnecessary.  We simply feel like the only real reason for making a new version of a classic should be if you could enhance it in some way, or at the very least make such a difference that you can barely recognize the original  – neither of those two are apparent here!  The Steakhouse Onion seasoning basically just adds further onion flavor, a dash of garlic, traces of tomato, and a tiny smooch of heat on the finish.

If we had a choice, we would pick the Original Funyuns over these every time.  And, if we had another choice, we would pick both the Flamin’ Hot and Chile Limon versions over the Originals, probably because we really like both of them, but also because they provide an enhanced version of the Original!!  With the Funyuns Flamin’ version they were bright red, tangy & spicy, and with the Chile Limon, Funyuns took our taste buds on an exciting roller coaster of flavor that we had never ridden (eaten) before!

FUNYUNS – we are all for you giving us new flavors to try, but we want them to be just that – NEW!!  Not onion flavored onion rings!

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

Discovered at Walmart; Darien, Illinois

Funyuns Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

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©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

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BIJOU-REVIEW: Lundberg Rice Chips – Smoky Maple

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

We spotted these intriguingly flavored ‘Smoky Maple’ rice chips just the other day while perusing the new Whole Foods in the neighborhood.

As soon as we tasted these thoughts of Kettle Brand’s Maple Bacon Potato Chips came flooding in, and come to think of it, ‘Smoky Maple’ would have been a much more appropriate flavor name for their chips as well!

Not sure if Lundberg’s Smoky Maple seasoning was simply better than Kettle Brand’s, or if this seasoning just worked better with the rice chips?  The kicker was probably the fact that these chips weren’t trying to proclaim bacon flavor, but rather just let us know that they had been kissed with a hint of smoke.  Combine that with a good splash of sweetness, and yep, smoky maple is what we tasted.

Overall, pretty darn tasty chips.  They had that usual grainy rice texture and consistency.  More body and chew then your typical tortilla chip.

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; Elmhurst, Illinois

Lundberg Family Farms Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

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REVIEW: Rocky Mountain Popcorn Sinfully Thin – SuperPop Popcorn (Herb & Spice with Kale & Pomegranate)

Rating: ©©© chips  (notable)

Herb, and spice, and kale, and pomegranate…huh???  Does that flavor combination sound appealing?!  And, even more importantly, does the combo sound appealing on popcorn?!?  Unusual?  Yes. Intriguing?  Sure!  Appealing?  Not so much!!

But wait, just when we thought this popcorn couldn’t possibly get any weirder, the flavor plot thickens.  A quick glance at the ingredients list on the back of the bag and we learn that this “SuperPop” flavor actually includes even more than the front of the bag initially reveals. Let’s see here, beyond the kale and pomegranate there is of course both garlic and onion (prerequisites for every seasoning since the beginning of time), as well as, dill, rosemary and celery seeds!! That’s right, just when we thought this flavor was weird enough already, it got weirder!!  We are 100% sure that it is safe for us to say that this is the only kale-pomegranate-garlic-onion-dill-rosemary-celery seed popcorn that we have ever, and will ever try!

Initial thoughts, no big surprise, we don’t like it!  The flavor just doesn’t jive with our taste buds.  Lets break it down.  The rosemary is very apparent right away, and then there is sort of a sour fruity note (pomegranate we assume) that encapsulates the palate. The garlic is also very apparent and seemed really out of place at first.  Not sure if we could actually taste any of the little green kale flecks scattered all over the kernels (but, regardless of actual taste, they did make us feel like we were eating healthy, so they did their presumed job).

As we continued our struggle of examining this popcorn something changed somewhere along the line.  Slowly, but steadily, the seasoning actually began to grow on us.  And, believe it or not, but by the time we reached the bottom the bag, we may have even said that we were practically enjoying this popcorn!  What happened?  Why did our opinion change?  We aren’t exactly sure.  Maybe our taste buds were so perplexed that they simply gave in!!  Please do understand that this flavor probably wouldn’t appeal to most, but there was just something about it that sort of worked on a really, really weird level.

As always we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree.  Let us know.

Popcorn discovered at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport

Rocky Mountain Popcorn Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

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©©©© – lip-smacking

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