This weeks taste sensations...

Following the RND tasting and the lure of unknown crisps I decided to break from the norm over this last week and try some old favourites and hunt down something new to try.
First up on the list was an old favourite of mine, Spicy Tomato Wheat Crunchies. Now I know that spicy tomato isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I have to say, out of all the tomato flavour snacks, the added 'spicy' to this crisp certainly gives it the edge.

Next was a little journey into the world of Tyrrells Crisps. Having seen a few entries to Desert Island Crisps raving about these I thought it was time to hunt some down and give them a try. The 2 flavours I chose to sample were 'Mature Cheddar and Chives' and 'Pork and Apple'...

...and I'm so glad I did! The 'posh cheese and onion' crisps were thin, very crunchy (without those painful sharp bits you get with kettle chips) and were full of flavour. The chives were not overpowering and complemented the mature cheese taste. Verdict: Definite contenders

Now... I didn't know quite what to expect with the Pork and Apple packet. Maybe a smokey bacon type flavour with added 'fake' apple... But I wasn't quite prepared for what actually came out of the bag...

They were good, and when I say good, I mean extremely good. The pork wasn't at all 'bacony' as I thought they would be and the apple, although very subtle, worked really well in a crisp form. Verdict: A new favourite

Going back to the RND flavours of last weeks crisp-off, it is evident that the manufacturers are able to create all sorts of flavours, which DO actually taste of what they say they should. The big question is 'Do they actually work as crisps'? Unfortunately for the Walkers RND flavours, tasting like the intended flavours did not make them fantastic crisps.

...which brings me to my final bag of crisps this week. Red Sky Roasted Red Pepper and Lime.

Unfortunately these didn't do it for me. The Red Pepper didn't taste of 'Red' pepper just 'pepper' and the lime was far too strong. Having said that, it didn't stop me from finishing the whole bag! 

The crisps themselves were also incredibly loud! I think I might start a special blog section for loud crisps, you know the ones that other people seem to eat on the bus or in the library, as I think these could be worthy cup winners..

'Stay classy San Diego'

Scott

RND Pos'crisp't

Following last weeks 'RND Crisp-Off' between the 4 Red Nose Day flavours I felt compelled to add a postscript to the blog after the results were announced. While I agree wholeheartedly with my crisp aficionado colleagues sentiments, I feel that we still have to announce which one out of the 4 was the best..... (drum-roll please...)
The group concluded that Mr Stephen Fry's 'Fry Up' crisps took the top slot in the competition. However, none of the participants in the crisp-off felt that any of the flavours would make it into their Desert Island Crisp selections.

The only thing left to add is that despite the flavours not going down too well with us, they did obviously go down well with the general public. Walkers managed to donate over £1.2million to this years record breaking total of £74.3million.
If you want to see what the forfeit was for the 3 loosing comics  Click here and have a laugh on them !


Stay crunchy
Scott

Red Nose Walkers Crisps: 'Noble idea, dubious flavours' says Local Consumer Group

Hello Snackers,


We hope your week is going well, without snitch, snag or mishap! Got the week off work myself, which provides the expediency of time and space to sit back, put The First Time with Andrew Weatherall on the Iplayer, crack open a red and drop you a line - comfortable in the knowledge that there's no work tomorrow and that I can enjoy the lateness of the hour and the possibility of time. Long lazy days would be ours on our island, I ask you this: would we want Red Nose crisps as our only chip of choice? Read on to see what our hastily convened, utterly informal survey group thought.

All you need to form a tasting group is the right conditions: a table, four bowls, a piece of paper and a pencil, some tasters and the product. Seeing as we had (still have) a complimentary box of Red Nose-flavoured crisps, it was easy to throw them out to the room and beg the question,''whaddya think?''. So our group comprised 6 adults and one, fairly confident & intelligent 5 year old. Other kids were present but refused to take part. The varieties being considered are Steak & Al Pie, Stephen Fry Up, Frank Roast Dinner and Jimmy Con Carne. Here are some general comments garnered on our piece of paper:-

JIMMY CON CARNE

'..very bolagnaisy'

'..really not pleasant'

STEAK & AL PIE

'..disgusting'

'..very boozy'

FRANK ROAST DINNER

'..done before'

'..predicted strong chicken overtones before tasting. Wasn't wrong'

STEPHEN FRY UP

'..hints of smoky bacon''

'..individual crisps have individual flavours'

'..the only one of this experiment that stands out slightly'

'..a whole bag could be too much'

We're not ungrateful for these free crisps, for they were free - sent by Walkers to Scott only minutes before they went out of date - but as you can probably gather from this tiny selection of comments, they ain't exactly tasty. ''But that's not the point!'' we hear you cry. The point is worthy causes. Yes, but then would not a better way to raise cash quickly to be to take 20p from every bag of regular Walkers sold in Comic Relief week and give that to the chosen cause, than market a crisp that no-one particularly likes or will necessarily be thinking 'I must have some crisps but I must also remember to contribute to a good cause and choose a bag of celebrity-endorsed one's over a good old bag of trusty, guaranteed good-munching Salt & Vinegar''. Or is that just crisp socialism, plain and unsalted? Well, more money would be raised that way than in sales of these I betcha.


This entry goes out to Smiley Culture, who seems to have died in the most tragically ironic but sad circumstances, to Nate Dogg and above all, to the Japanese nation - home and away - who are going through one helluva time. I am positive amongst numerous reportage of the unfolding disaster over the weekend, I heard a reporter say that survival provisions included rice, water and crisps.


Love to One And All,

Luke

In Search Of.....

When we started this site, I new there were an awful lot of flavours, types, shapes and makes to choose from, but in posting the choices of others, I'm listing so many new varieties and that I've never heard of. This is giving me somewhat of a headache as I can't help but think there are still packets that I haven't yet had the pleasure of trying... and maybe, just maybe, one of these un-tasted crisps would knock from the pedestal my chosen 'One'.......(or two?)
So, I've decided to try and seek out some of these 'Holy Grails' just to be on the safe side. So here's 3 that I've heard of this week that I think I'm really going to have to go in search of...

1.    Wasabi Pringles - There's just something about this combination that I can't help but think its going to be a winner. What do you reckon?

2.   Kent Crisps - Oyster and Vinegar - just curious about these little beauties...

  

3.  Seabrooks - Mustard (Hot English) - I can almost imagine these in a bacon sandwich. In fact, I think the combination could replace the BLT as a lunchtime 'Weatherspoon'  bar snack!

If you can think or suggest any others that I should be setting my sights on then please leave a comment and i'll add them to the wish list. In the meantime, If I find any of these three above, i'll be sure to post my opinion!


Happy snacking
Scott

Essex's Finest..

Fairfield's Wicks Manor Bacon for number one, 
Walkers Salt &Vinegar, 
Nice & Spicy Nic Naks! 
Cheesy Balls, 
Bacon Fries, 
Chipsticks.....Hmm, how about 
Jackpots Beef and Horseradish and 
Walkers Cheese & Onion. 


Mix of old & new there!

Nicola, BuyBritishFood via Twitter

Family Favourites

Found you through crisp-comments on Twitter, there's an astoundingly

good variety of them around now.

Seabrooks have always been a firm favourite in our family, we used to

buy them regularly when I was growing up in Bradford in the 80s, and I

still buy them now after moving back to Leeds a few years ago after

living on the coast.  They're a good crunchy crinkle-cut crisp, strong

in flavour and not as thick as McCoys.  Shame they don't sell them in

windowed bags so you can go for the non-broken ones.

I tend to switch between these and Morrisons Baked (much better than

walkers) if I'm buying a few packs to go with lunches.

Other than those, I'll sometimes treat myself to Yorkshire crisps,

Real crisps (with the gurning faces on the front) or kettle chips.

Stephen, via Twitter

Big Hitter..

1.  Pickled Onion Monster Munch – Even periodic size changes haven’t dented this colossus of a crisp

2.  Sweet Chilli Walkers Sensations – Best amongst the plethora of contemporary potato based snacks.

3.  Mango Chilli Kettle chips – For some reason this middle class range of burnt crisps is lauded as the thinking-mans crisp. I hate all but one flavour - the majestic mango chilli flavour.  This balance of flavours cleverly counteracts the horrible burnt taste of the Kettle range, creating something that is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

4.  Walkers Cheese and Onion – King of the Walkers classics

5.  Doritos Hint of Lime Tortillas – Brilliant alternative to the typically shit tortilla range.

6.  Quarterbacks – burger flavour American sycophantic corn snacks. Alternative to the supa-crunchies eaten by gippos

7. Cheese Snaps – like a poor mans quaver but actually would kick a quavers face in if they had a fight.

8.  Prawn cocktail skips – melt on the tongue greatness.


Jon, via Facebook

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