I was a teenage Chippo!

I'm quite the chippoholic and always have been, looking for new flavors and different styles and types of chips. I live in NYC and work in the wine and spirits industry.

[iwasateenagechippo]

Jalapeno Cheddar Brand: Blair's Type: Kettle cooked potato chips These are from my buddy Rob who is nice enough to always have an eye out for unique chips for me. Taste: There's something about these that I'm not sure if I like it or not, these chips have a distinct flavor and crunch which really throws me off. My girl friend agreed, but she said what ever it was she definitely didn't like. First thing I'll let you know is these sucks are hot! They have a good cheddar flavor and as soon as that cheddar flavor hits it's followed by big heat. These chips are on the verge of being too spicy for me, the kind of chip where having a small handful will suffice unless you love your hotness. In general I am not a fan of these, it's just cheddar and hot. Pairs well with: Sour cream! A beer to cool your mouth off with after. Rating: Like I said there's something about these I just can't put my finger on that I don't like. And there is just way too much heat, if you don't like spicy chips stay the hell away from these ones. 2.5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Sea Salt and Vinegar

Brand: Cape Cod Type: Kettle cooked potato chips

Another salt and vinegar flavor and another one that I really enjoy. One of my favorite things is when someone takes something and makes it their own, and these guys do that with this flavor.

Taste: Now I know what you're thinking, it's just salt and vinegar how did they make this their own? Three words, apple cider vinegar! When you first take a bite out of it you think, mmm a good salt and vinegar chip! then something in your taste buds say, wait a minute.... I couldn't put my finger on it until I turned the bag around and read the ingredients, and when you see apple cider vinegar it all makes delicious sense! Although I feel like it's a little heavy handed.

Pairs well with: The chicken sandwich I'm eating right now, so tasty! Any food that you think needs a contrasting vinegar kick to it.

Rating: I'll give these guys a solid 4, not my favorite salt and vinegar chip, but it has something that sets it apart. I know I've said this before, but if you like salt and vinegar flavor but would like something a little different give these a try! 4/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Aged Cheddar and Horseraddish

Brand: Deep River Type: Kettle cooked potato chips

How does one rate a chip that has a flavor they don't like in it? I'll try to be as fair as possible because I really am not a fan of horseradish, it has to be very minimal for me to enjoy it, and in these chips it's at the front.

Taste: For a split second you get a good cheddar flavor, but before you can even enjoy it, you're assaulted with horseradish flavor. It's a bit over bearing, but I imagine if you like horseradish you'll love this flavor. Very good cheddar I do have to say, also these things can totally clear your sinuses!

Pairs well with: Roast beef sandwich I imagine.

Rating: I'm not sure how to rate them, so I'll do this. For me I give them a 2 because I really am not fond of the overly horseraddishy flavor. But I can easily imagine someone who likes horseraddish and cheddar will give these a solid 4 since deep river in general makes awesome chips and their cheddar flavor in this is great. 2 or 4/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Garlic Dill Pickle

Brand: McClure's Type: Crinkle cut potato chips

Yep, another dill pickle flavor! My girl friend got some of these from her work which was great because I wanted to give them a try and I was quite happy with these, although I don't think they are anything special either. But I will mention these guys make great pickles and good bloody mary mix, and are made right in Brooklyn, or Detroit, or something.

Taste: Great vinegar taste, at the start followed by a good dill flavor, but I don't really taste what I imagine should be extra garlic and it's a little disappointing, if it just said dill it would be fine. Either way the dill flavor is great, no spice in it though like the other flavors I've reviewed.

Pairs well with: I really like these on their own, but they are great burger or sandwich chips all the way through.

Rating: I'm going to have to go with a 3.5 on these, they are a good dill pickle chip, but they should really bring more to the table, either some spice or more garlicky punch or something. 3.5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Luau Barbeque Rings

Brand: Hawaiian Snacks Type: Those O-Ring Thingys

OK, I'm doing something I'm not technically supposed to be doing! I said to myself that I would only do potato chips and tortilla chips, these are neither, but they are just so good, I had to! I believe this is the last of my Hawaiian stuff, but I could have another bag hiding among all my stuff. Either way these things are like Funyuns, but so much better!

Taste: I should let you know that if you see "Luau BBQ" it typically just means it's some kind of spicy BBQ flavor. Also these things are SPICY! So if you don't like hot things you might not like these, or can only handle a few at a time. The first thing that hits your mouth with these is a brown sugar sweetness, then you get your typical savory BBQ flavors such as onion, garlic and paprika. And immediately after that, BAM you get the spice! Your mouth will totally be on fire if you keep eating them. 

Pairs well with: I wish these weren't so fragile because they would be awesome with sour cream. Also would be good with a light lager like Corona, I always think Corona and Pacifico are awesome with spicy foods.

Rating: I give these guys a 4, they are REALLY hot if you keep eating them, and it would be good if the heat was turned down a little on them, but if you love hot things you'll probably give them a 4.5 or a 5! They are crunchy, flavorful and spicy! 4/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Maui Onion

Brand: Maui Style Type: Kettle Cooked Potato Chip

Aloha again my friends! I'm sure some of you were expecting something better from Hawaii and today I've got just the thing! Although those taro chips were not up to par, we have something that will knock the flavor out of the ball park. My girlfriend and I are guilty of going through several bags of these at the beach during our stay, they are just simply delicious.

Taste: First off, these are just plain great kettle cooked chips, even the brands normal salted flavor is great, but when you add the flavor of Maui sweet onion it becomes incredible. These chips have the perfect combination of sweet and salty and that's why they are so hard to put down. When you first bite into them you get the sweetness up front then the Maui onion flavor, then it ends with a garlicky saltiness that's perfect. I can only imagine someone who doesn't like onions would dislike these. 

Pairs well with: Such a good sandwich chip, although I did eat these while eating rice and Portuguese sausage and they went great with those as well. If you did some kind of soy sauce dip of some sort I could see these going fantastic, maybe I'll make one somehow. Or anything with ginger too. Also goes great with Kona Brewing Company Fire Rock Pale Ale or their Big Wave.

Rating: Good god almighty did I love these, I could not stop eating them the whole trip, they deserve a 5/5 totally completely addicting. When it's this hard to put down some chips, they just have to be perfect! 5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Kiawe BBQ 

Brand: Hawaiian Chip Company Type: Taro Chips

Aloha bruddah! You got da kine chips dat are real ono? Ah dat kine broke da mout right there! Don't follow? Well I'm just trying to get you in the mood for these delicious taro (or kalo as we call it here in the islands) chips from Hawaii! As part of my vacation picks, you'll be seeing some special chips that I got while being out in the most remote set of islands in the world. And to start we are doing these chips made from the same root vege that we use to make poi!

Taste: To start off I'll say this, these chips are very inconsistent, some have a good amount of seasoning, some don't, some are cut much thinner than others. But all in all they are good. Taro have a much more nutty or earthy flavor, hard to describe, but much different than a potato chip, it's more bold. The BBQ flavor is very simple, but nice. Garlic, no spice to it at all, it's really nothing special.

Pairs well with: I don't think I would dip these in anything, they would probably break in any kind of thick dip. You could do some kind of dressing like a ranch or something like that. I would really just enjoy them by themselves.

Rating: I'm sad to say these special chips aren't anything amazing. It's a good change of pace from regular chips, but it's not something I'd like to eat every day, which is strange because I really enjoy taro fries. The flavor just isn't there, if you are in the island or come across them give them a try, but I don't think they will sweep you off your feet. 2/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Buffalo Cheddar

Brand: Cape Cod Type: Kettle Cooked Waffle Cut Chip

These things are so damned good I almost didn't get to write a review on them! I opened them up and was munching on them, then set them aside. A few days later I had a get together and one of my friends started eating them, my girl friend thankfully noticed how much she had eaten and restrained her from finishing the bag (she may have tackled her I assume?) and put them away for me.

Taste: First thing that hits you is the vinegar spiciness that reminds me of maybe franks red hot and then an awesome cheddar, similar to Kettle brands New York Cheddar chip. You get a little bit more heat at the end, but I think even people that don't like spicy things will still enjoy these. They are just plain delicious. And the fact that they are waffle cut makes them so much better and way more crunchy!

Pairs well with: I had this with Dog Fish Heads India Brown Ale and it went great, but any beer you'd pair with wings will work wonders with this! Plus dipping them in ranch or blue cheese is sure to be awesome.

Rating: Cape Cod just keeps knocking these out of the park! They consistently make a high quality chip with amazing and unique flavors. Can't decide if I want to give it a 4.5 simply because of the waffle cut! 

4/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Attention fellow chippos! I have finally figured out how to make my blog post right to my facebook! Amazing right? Also, I'm sorry, posts have been pretty slow, I was pretty sick the past few weeks due to my store being a refrigerator, and yeahhh I've been a little lazy. But I am going to be updating this weekend and I'll be putting up posts for the past few weeks I've missed. Also I'm going to Hawaii at the beginning of March to see some family which means I will be bringing back some awesome flavored chips, I'm crossing my fingers that I can find the wasabi doritos I had last time I was there. Also very soon I hope to be doing a review on some chips of my own! I'll try my hand at making a batch of chips in the next few weeks or when ever I have time.

[iwasateenagechippo]

Sour Cream & Chive

Brand: Route 11 Type: Kettle Cooked Chip

These are great, I think they might be the best sour cream and onion kind of flavor I've had. In general these guys make really good chips, although I'm pretty sure they don't normally sell them in NYC, because I don't think I've ever seen them at the store.

Taste: These are really just plain salted chips except they are “natural caramelized” which I call BS. It says on the back that they aren’t over fried, but that’s certainly what it tastes like, which is totally fine with me. Either way just imagine a normal Utz chip that got slightly over cooked, and that’s what it tastes like, almost burnt, but in a delicious way. If you’re one of those people who open a bag of chips and see a dark on in there and get excited, well this is a whole bag of them! Highly recommended, it’s like an original chip, but with so much more deep flavor.

Pairs well with: Good for chips and sandwiches, I think if you had some kind of dip that's spicy it would work really well with it.

Rating: Another solid 4 for Route 11, great taste, good chip!

4/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Sweet Potato

Brand: Route 11 Type: Kettle Cooked Chip Nom, these are tasty! Although I usually prefer savory or sweet most of the time, these things are great! My gf brought home a big box of Route 11 chips from her work and I will be making my way through them.

Taste: I don't think there's too much to really describe here, it's a lightly salted sweet potato chip. The light salt is perfect because it works with the sweetness and you wouldn't want them overly salty. They just do a really well made sweet potato chip, if you like sweet potato fries give these a whirl!

Pairs well with: Let me tell you, if you haven't had the pleasure of dipping sweet potato fries in maple syrup, then you reallllly need to get on that! And that's exactly what I did with these, it's super delicious.

Rating: These aren't as good as the Terra Spiced Sweet Potato which I really wish I could find again to review, those things were killer. But these are a fantastic sweet potato chip, get them if you see them!

4/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Dark Russets

Brand: Utz Type: Kettle Cooked Chip Holy moly am I in love with these things! This is a flavor I have been eye balling for some time at the Duane Reade by my work and I never bothered getting them because it was obvious they weren't going anywhere.

Taste: These are really just plain salted chips except they are "natural caramelized" which I call BS. It says on the back that they aren't over fried, but that's certainly what it tastes like, which is totally fine with me. Either way just imagine a normal Utz chip that got slightly over cooked, and that's what it tastes like, almost burnt, but in a delicious way. If you're one of those people who open a bag of chips and see a dark on in there and get excited, well this is a whole bag of them! Highly recommended, it's like an original chip, but with so much more deep flavor.

Pairs well with: Oh man talk about a friendly chip, I had these with some home made ranch and they are great, chicken sandwich? Awesome! On their own? Amazing! Just eat these!

Rating: These replace Deep River for my favorite "plain" chip, maybe it's a little unfair, but I highly recommend these to everyone!

5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Sweet Chili and Red Pepper

Brand: Tyrrell's Type: Kettle Cooked Chip My first time having this brand of chip, and although I'm not super into the flavor, the chips are great! I love that they have the skins on them still.

Taste: I'm not really into this flavor, and I'm not really sure why. Something about it just doesn't click with me, it's sweet, salty, no real spice at all, maybe just a touch, so I should love them, but I don't. I had to look at the ingredients to figure it out and it has anise in it, and I think that's what throws me off so much. 

Pairs well with: Went with my cider pretty well. But not sure what else I would have them with.

Rating: These aren't a bad chip, just a flavor I don't like. They are good enough for me to eat the bag no problem, but that's about it. 

3/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Jalapeno Heat

Brand: Dirty  Type: Kettle Cooked Chip You know I wonder if I should do short twitter chip reviews as if described by the doge meme. wow. such chip. much tasty. very crunch. wow. much heat. Maybe one day. Either way these things are tasty!

Taste: I like these because the heat is just right and I can munch on a whole small bag and not break a sweat. They are slightly more salty than I would like and that is going to make them lose some points, but the over all flavor is good.It's jalapeno with a little onion and garlic, a very simple taste compared to what I've been having recently.

Pairs well with: I really like a chip like this to kick up a sandwich that you want some heat added or if you have a good dip you'd like to spice up. I would really enjoy these with a fruity beer too, like a strawberry ale or maybe a cider. I had a jalapeno raspberry ale that just about knocked my socks off it was so good.

Rating: A good jalapeno chip, but as I said, too salty. but the heat is spot on. Not the kind of chip I'd want to munch on by itself, it really needs to be with something.

3.5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Feta and Rosemary

Brand: Cape Cod Type: Kettle Cooked Chip God damn, Cape Cod does it AGAIN! These things are so tasty my gf almost cleaned out the bag before I got a chance to write the review! It's another one of their Chef's Recipe flavors and man oh man is it delicious!

Taste: When you open the bag you get a deep rosemary smell and man from the first bite you are going to be hooked! I think what makes the cheesiness so good here is the fact that it's feta, and you aren't used to feta flavor for your chips, when chips are cheesy it's almost always cheddar. After the initial cheesiness you get the rosemary, and I'll tell you, I'm not too big into rosemary on anything, it can't be in the front it's gotta be subdued. And even though it's just these two flavors, the rosemary isn't overwhelming, it really complements the feta.

Pairs well with: Any sandwich! These are such awesome sandwich chips. And I could eat them all day by themselves.

Rating: Super good, must try, go out and find some now because you won't be disappointed!

4.5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Pecan Pie

Brand: Pringles Type: Potato Crisp I gotta thank Danielle from Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur for telling me about these, because I would not have known about them. To thank her let me tell you, if you like ginger you really have to check out Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur, it's made in Brooklyn has amazing spice to it, and here is a link, seriously, check this stuff out! Hand made, small batch it's one of our totally favorite products at the liquor store I work at. http://barrowsintense.com/

Taste: Smells like slightly nutty Pringles, if you had a blind fold on I'm not sure you'd know what it was. But first bite, HOLY COW! It's fricken pecan pie! They nailed this so well and it actually tastes really good! You can taste the sweetness, the nuttiness, it really tastes like dessert! You get that maple/brown sugar flavor right off the bat, it ends in a saltiness and it pretty much feels like you had pecan pie with a Pringles crust or something to that degree.

Pairs well with: Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert? What would you normally have pecan pie with? You could totally dip these in whip cream or crunch them up and put them on vanilla ice cream! Heck get that ice cream and put these and Barrow's Intense and you've got one unique dessert! I also have a strange idea, you know how people crunch up chips and use them to coat something they are frying? Well these would be cool to try that with. 

Rating: Honestly even though I'm not a big fan of pecan pie, I have to give these a 5/5, they totally nail the flavor and they are also the best (and only) dessert chip I've had. 

5/5

[iwasateenagechippo]

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper

Brand: Cape Cod "Chef's Recipe" Type: Kettle Cooked Potato Chip Cape Cod has always been a favorite chip brand of mine. I think they are the reason I started eating salt and vinegar flavors because my friend brought a bag over and I rather eat good chips of a flavor I didn't like than not eat any chips at all!

Taste: These reek of delicious roasted garlic when you smell them, it's fantastic! The first bit of taste you get is the red pepper which is a great flavor I've never experienced before on a chip come to think of it. Then it goes to the roasted garlic, you have that sweet garlicky flavor, but then it some how ends with more heat and more red pepper. I had to read the ingredients because of one flavor I wasn't sure I was tasting, it was a unique vinegar flavor and sure enough there was balsamic and regular vinegar, and even more unique, molasses in these!

Pairs well with: Pair them with anything! These would be awesome to dip if I didn't eat them so damned fast anyways.

Rating: Solid chip, great unique flavor, a perfect spice to them. Will go well with any sandwich or some beer, great with dips, a solid score of 4, grab these if you see them!

4/5