Crisp Review

Kettle Ridge Crisps - Salt & Malt Vinegar

Well, the first review of the new year isn’t anything unusual, but it is pretty tasty. I’ve given you some background about Kettle Foods before, so I won’t bother rehearsing that again. Here, then, is the review…

The ingredients here are pleasingly simple; Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Dried Malt Barley Vinegar, Natural Flavouring, Sugar, and Yeast Extract. With the exception of the obscure and vague ‘natural flavouring’ this is exactly what you would expect to be in a bag of Salt & Malt Vinegar” crisps. Actual vinegar is something of a rarity in the crisp world, so I’m pleased to see it listed here.

And the inclusion of vinegar definitely carries over into the taste. The crisps have a nice strong, acidic, tang, and the balance between salt and vinegar is good. They’re pretty strongly flavoured, and thus, quite moreish. I managed to polish of a large bag in a short period of time, but I’ve got poor self control, so that may or may not be relevant.

Having mentioned ingredients and flavouring, we should turn to the star of the show, the ridges…

These ridges, then, add a nice new dimension to the otherwise standard Kettle Crisps. The crisps are not as thick as McCoys (my bench mark crinkle cut crisp), but create a really nice level of crunch. They’re very well done, and the flavour stick in the gaps nicely. They’re a nice change of pace, and I have to commend kettle Crisps for pulling it off so well.

The packaging is nice, understated, and some what waxy in texture. As with standard Kettle Crisps, these crisps claim to be hand cooked, but we wont go down that path again. And they use blue to denote that they’re salt and vinegar; hurray!

I terms of numbers…

Crunch: 8/10
Flavour
- Intensity: 7/10 (Strong, but not overly so)
- Accuracy: 9/10 
Quality: 9/10
Packaging: 8/10

A very nice bag of crisps that you should try if you get a chance. They’re not as good as standard Kettle Crisps, but are pretty good none the less.

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.