Chips Across America (A Taste-fully done review thread)
8Let’s talk about Chips.
No, not those. These:
https://www.laystastesofamerica.com
I managed to snag a bag of each flavor while they were available on Lay’s site. Now, here we are a month later, and we had a good old fashioned taste test here in the office.
I’ll post my formal review below, and you can expect other staffers to chime in as well. Have you tried any of them? Let us know!
- 18 comments, 49 replies
- Comment
Toothpaste next to a thing of BeanBoozled.
@PlacidPenguin @targaryen
Here’s my semi-amateur ranking, with 8 being the best:
Fried Pickles would have been higher if they’d been slightly more pickle, slightly less ranch.
Lobster Roll would have taken the top, but the lobster flavor showed up late to the party and was more of an aftertaste than anything.
@Supportathan
ಠ_ಠ
Really the one I loved was that Thai Sweet Chili. I’m a sucker for anything with that flavor.
@riskybryzness Thai Sweet Chili is my first choice as well.
@ruouttaurmind If you like Thai Sweet Chili in general, try the Blue Diamond Almonds–they have Thai Sweet Chili and another one that is Wasabi. Really good snack.
@riskybryzness @ruouttaurmind Those wasabi almonds are really good.
@riskybryzness @sammydog01 Agreed on both flavors! Also love the Wasabi Snappea Crisps.
@riskybryzness @ruouttaurmind Yes- I love Snappeas.
did a quick taste of each:
cajun spice > chesapeake bay crab spice > new england lobster roll > thai sweet chili > deep dish pizza > pimento cheese > chili con queso > fried pickles with ranch
@brandom
You asked for it. I think you did anyway. So here it is, a complete flavor-by-flavor review in reverse order EDIT I guess the forum added it’s own order so I’m getting rid of the rankings. I will start by saying that none of them are bad.
Queso - Ok, look. We live in Texas. You can throw a rock and hit multiple places that have queso that tastes better than these do. That said, they aren’t bad, and they do have a weird, Velveeta taste that is hard to explain.
Fried Pickles and Ranch - I’m sure people will fight me on this one. They’re good, but they need to pick and flavor and focus on it. Be more pickle, or be more ranch. Don’t try to ride the middle. What’s neat is there is something that definitely tastes like breading in there as well, so that’s a cool spin.
Pimento Cheese - These are better than Queso, and they have that Pimento funkiness to them, but not enough of it to really be special.
Deep Dish Pizza - I generally don’t like pizza-flavored things. Other than pizza. These do taste distinctly like Chicago-style pizza sauce, which is cool and nostalgic for me.
Lobster Roll - This one had the most opportunity. It could have been incredibly special. Much like the pickle chips, it just didn’t commit to any of the flavors. There is a butter taste, there is a bready taste, and there is subtle hint of richness and seafood. If they would have doubled down on that seafood taste, these would be #1. I kept coming back expecting it to be more than it was, but it never grew on me. Flavor stayed flat but was always ok.
Cajun Spice - It’s cajun spice. It’s hard to go wrong. These are great. The spice blend is solid and they don’t get boring.
Thai Sweet Chili - The are sweet. They have heat. These are delicious. I actually expect this is the one that gets mass produced from this batch of chips.
Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice - Old Bay seasoning is great. These have a ton of flavor, and if you like old bay, you’re going to dig these. This is the flavor I wanted more of right away.
Like I said before, they were all good and easy to eat. No really bad flavors. But they all could be improved by simply upping the amount of flavor. It seems obvious that the strongest flavors in concept are the best. Anyway, this was fun.
@ChadP Old Bay chips were already a thing here. I really like them.
@sammydog01 I have a friend whose brewery makes Old Bay beer. It’s pretty good.
@ChadP Productive morning. Good job.
@ChadP @sammydog01 old bay beer? Interesting. Is it dark, light, hoppy, what?
New England Lobster Roll tasted like they placed a single drop “essence of generic flavoring” in the bag and shook it up. It was definitely not a plain chip, but it didn’t really taste like anything else. It was a weird form of “bland,” like unseasoned ground beef cooked and served on white bread.
Cajun Spice was great. I figured like it would just be a Zapps ripoff or taste like they dumped a bottle of Tony’s on them, but they tasted both unique (for chips, anyway) and accurate.
Fried Pickles with Ranch was interesting because it wasn’t just a pickle-flavored chip; they matched the taste of whatever magic happens to the batter when it drops in the fryer. Didn’t notice any ranch but the flavor was not hurt by this.
Deep Dish Pizza tasted like pizza flavored chips but with extra marinara, so points for authenticity I guess.
Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice was good
the others were okay too.
As a Taki torilla chips fan my rankings:
Not Takis
Not Takis
Not Takis.
Takis? Nope.
Still?
Reserved for new Takis flavors.
Angry Burger
Guacamole
My official rankings as a chip fan:
Pimento (I like cheese)
Fried pickles and ranch. (This was fairly unique)
Pizza (tomato and light cheese flavor)
Cajun (Good.)
Thai (Nothing fancy I enjoyed them.)
Queso (we’ve got too much quest.)
7/8. Nah. (Not a fan)
@Targaryen As a Takis fan, where do you stand on Hot Cheetos?
/youtube hot cheetos and takis
Ponch is my favorite
@woodhouse Are you a 13 year old girl?
@sammydog01 yes
also, @chadp said he deleted this comment and i would like the record to reflect that he lied
There is still time.
@ChadP
Time is relative.
@woodhouse he’s coming to our local comiccon knockoff. I think that’s this weekend. You could come get his autograph and possibly swoon!
Edit: oops, it was last weekend. And $40 for an autograph, damn! http://geekdcon.com/2018-guests/
@djslack dammit, djslack, i gotta know these things ahead of time!
@djslack @woodhouse I would have CHiPped in a few bucks for an autograph.
This review seems unfair, as it is now mid-afternoon, I am hungry, and I have no chips.
Just closed up the bags, and Pimento Cheese and Thai Chili make strong afternoon showings. There is a vinegar taste to the Thai Chili that really works well. Anyway. I’m tired of chips
@ChadP Told you pimento was good.
Do these chips even exist on shelves anymore?
@RiotDemon I saw them here not too long ago, along with Lay’s “Southern Biscuits and Gravy” chips. Do not want any of them.
@Barney the biscuits and gravy one was a winner a year or two ago. They are yummy.
@RiotDemon Nah… No way could that be yummy.
@Barney I was surprised, honestly. I don’t know how a chip that tastes like sausage gravy can be good, but it is.
@RiotDemon Okay, I guess I’ll have to believe your taste buds and not that you’ve been out in the Florida heat and humidity too long.
@Barney @RiotDemon I don’t think sausage gravy that tastes like sausage gravy is good.
@sammydog01 Agreed.
@Barney @RiotDemon I just read that the Miami herald is endorsing a candidate for the House of Representatives that claims to have been abducted by aliens. I love Florida. Don’t think I’ll move there though.
@Barney @sammydog01 Florida isn’t weird at all!
@RiotDemon @sammydog01 True, Florida isn’t weird – it’s just the people who live there that are.
@Barney @sammydog01 no idea what you mean.
@Barney @RiotDemon Ask @OldCatLady.
@Barney @RiotDemon @sammydog01 @OldCatLady
On Reddit, news stories from Florida are… interesting…
Particularly when they involve ‘Florida Man’.
@Barney @OldCatLady @PlacidPenguin @RiotDemon I almost put up the link from know your meme and was to embarrassed to do it.
You can’t be that embarrassed! @sammydog01
@Barney @RiotDemon YES. The biscuits and gravy chips are way too good/. Almost could eat the whole bag.
@moonhat @RiotDemon @sammydog01 Noooooooo!
@Barney @moonhat seeeee, it’s not just Floridians! (At least I don’t think she’s Floridian…)
@Barney @RiotDemon me? No, opposite corner of the country (WA)
@moonhat @RiotDemon
I hear that WA people are crazy too.
Lays had a “Crispy Taco” flavor for their “vote” contest a year or two ago… I got like 1 bag during the promotion… that flavor won… those were the best taco simulated chips I’ve ever tasted… I haven’t seen a bag since the voting bags… even though it won… lame.
Late to the party but I here is my ranking from best to worst…clearly since I’m reaching into the bag in the photo you know my first pick…
Thai Sweet Chili
Cajun Spice
Deep Dish Pizza
Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice
Fried Pickles with Ranch
New England Lobster Roll
Chili Con Queso
Pimento Cheese
I wish we could taste test food everyday…
I had some Giordanos deep dish pizza chips. Coincidentally I had some Lou Malnati’s deep dish pepperoni pizza the same day. Could have been a Giordanos but I didn’t know about the chips when I ordered the pizza.
Its a real stretch to say the chips taste anything like good pizza. Slightly reminiscent at most.
Next time around let’s brainstorm a Meh flavor and try to get it made. You need votes on their website and such. Any suggestions?
@Targaryen a mini-brainstorm…
Hot sauce and regret?
Candy corn?
Twang?
Chipotle burrito (the restaurant, not the smoked pepper)?
Thousand Island?
Chicken spaghetti?
Those are all mediocre flavors.
For something Meh could get behind, though, how about something purple?
@djslack I love purple.
@djslack @Targaryen Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia is purple in person. I love it.
enter link description here
@djslack I’d totally eat these. My one time addition was blueberry cream curry chips.
No,the sodium is too high! Daneene
You young people and your fancy flavored chips. In my day, there was only one flavor of chip - potato! And we liked it that way!
@parodymandotcom these are potato and delicious!
/image lays poppables sea salt
@RiotDemon somebody had some of the barbecue ones around me last weekend. I tried them and thought they came out like they fed the Chex machine with Pringles paste.
@djslack I laughed.
Here I am with a small bag that is Fried Green Tomatoes. Is that a previous years flavor? It has a tiny picture of the flavors listed here.
Either way, it’s tasty. It smells kinda like ketchup when you open the bag. Has a slightly spicy tomato flavor. Maybe a fried batter flavor. Other flavors are there, but I’ve never had a fried green tomato so I have no idea if they nailed the flavor.
My cat enjoyed a couple of bites.
I might buy it again if I find a small bag. Don’t think I’d buy the big bag if it exists. I usually prefer just salt or salt and pepper.