Kettle Chips - Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar
More ‘premium’ crisps this week. The Kettle Foods company has been around since 1978 and Kettle Chip are, for me, the original premium crisp; or rather, the first premium crisp to make it big in the UK. They’re now a ubiquitous brand and hold a large market share here in the UK.
But without further ado, let’s get on with the review…
These crisps claim to be hand-cooked, but I’m wary of how ‘hand-cooked’ they are because of the huge quantities produced. It can’t be an out and out lie, perhaps staff just transfer the chipped chips into the oven by hand? In fact, when I think about it, how on earth can anything ever be hand cooked? Surely most things are oven-cooked?
Anyway, the ingredients list is pleasingly simple with ‘Potatoes, Sunflower Oil and Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Seasoning. The ‘Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Flavouring’ does contain malt vinegar, however, which is a little bit disappointing… but that’s just me being picky.
The packing has a similar ‘waxy’ feel to the Red Sky crisps I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, but is more plasticky, and not as pleasing over all. The branding is beautifully simple though, and the picture of crisps on the back is welcome… they’re a pretty fair representation of what you’re in for.
The real magic begins when you open the packet. The crisps are lovely and thick, having a pleasing dark tinge to them, and size and quality is pretty standard throughout the bag. They’re also some of the crunchiest crisps I’ve ever had and are loaded with flavour. The vinegar is tangy and the salt is evidently there. The intensity makes them ever so moreish, too, which is a good thing for Kettle Foods.
The most perversely pleasing thing about these, however, is the way the flavouring sticks to your fingers; creating in a thick, salty, greasy flavourful film on any finger tip which comes into with a crisp.
I feel some quantification is in order…
Crunch: 9/10 (We’re getting close to perfection, here.)
Flavour
- Intensity: 7/10
- Accuracy: 8/10
Quality: 9/10
Packaging: 8/10
These crisps, then, are pretty darn delicious. And whilst the intensity makes them good for a treat, they’re not something I’d indulge in too regularly, lest they loose their magic.
