Best of Both Worlds?

Lay's Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese

Everyone likes bacon. Everyone likes mac & cheese. This should be the perfect flavor of potato chip, right?

I've actually tried these before back when the flavor first came out, but I didn't write anything down so I guess it never really happened. That means it's time to have them again so I can do it right.

As I opened this bag I was greeted with a puff of bacon scent, not overpowering but enough to leave no doubt.

The flavor is surprisingly mild. The balance of bacon and cheese flavor is good with neither one masking the other. The chips are a bit cheese-powdery but not excessively so. I can't decide if there's an underlying flavor of macaroni or if it's just natural potato chip flavor.

The burps definitely taste like bacon mac & cheese.

On the whole these aren't bad. The flavor is a bit muted compared to some of the other chips, however one doesn't always want one's taste buds decimated with spice.

Celeste found them disappointing and declined to eat any more of them.

Rating: 3/5

Miss Cheese

Miss Vickie's Farmhouse Cheddar

Cheesy potato chips are generally a safe bet. Everybody knows what cheese tastes like, everybody (?) likes cheese, and apparently it's an easy flavor to add to chips.

When I opened this package I didn't get quite the scent I expected. The chips smelled cheesy enough, but it was more of a musty, aged cheese than the bright plastic neon cheddar that the masses are used to. Of course I suppose that's to be expected since it clearly says "White Cheddar" - I just didn't expect to be able to smell the difference.

On the flavor side of things, these chips were really good. None of the musty aspects of the smell came through to the taste. They had a decent amount of cheddar flavor without going overboard.

There was a notable amount of white cheddar powder on the chips. It wasn't up to the level usually found on cheddar popcorn, but you'll still want a napkin handy when eating these.

Rating: 4/5

A Small Wave of Barbecue

Lay's Wavy Hickory BBQ

This is one of (what I assume are) the standard line of Lay's flavors available at most groceries. I've liked most of the barbecue flavored chips I've tried to one degree or another, so this one was a fairly safe bet.

The opened bag smelled decently barbecue sauce. The chips had a bit of color powder on them but not to the finger-staining level. The flavor was fairly mild and in some ways I thought these were actually a big boring. Their saving grace though was the clear note of hickory smoke.

I wouldn't go out of my way to buy these, but given a choice between these and plain potato chips I'd be happy to have the extra flavor.

Rating: 3/5

Infused Basil

Cape Cod Infused Mediterranean

I saw these at the local grocery and bought them just to see what Mediterranean tastes like. Kettle chips aren't generally my favorites - they tend to be almost painfully crunchy to me. Cindy likes them more than regular chips though, so I know they won't go to waste.

Opening the bag gave a mild, herbal scent - nothing bad but nothing really impressive either. The overall flavor was basil, with notes of rosemary, basil, olive oil, basil, and a touch of tomato and basil.

These are probably the best basil-flavored chips I've ever had.

Rating: 3/5