Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo!

Kettle Brand Krinkle Cut Bufflao Bleu

First, what the heck is up with Kettle Brand that all their packaging has the evil bag-ruining notch in the upper right corner? Is this some kind of scam on their part, knowing the bag will be opened to the point of uncloseability so we'll have to eat all the chips or let them go stale?

I saw these at the local Kroger (which apparently has a wider variety of chips than most grocery stores ... coincidence?) and being a fan of both buffalo and blue cheese I didn't have to think for long before buying them.

On opening the bag my first thought was that it was only half-full (or maybe half-empty). Yeah, I know. "This product is packaged by weight, not volume" and "The air-filled package helps keep the chips from getting crushed."  Blah blah blah. It still makes you guys look like you're trying to pull a fast one - especially when combined with the whole notch thing. I've got my eye on you!

Anyway...

I found the scent of the chips a bit disappointing. There was a decent amount of blue cheese smell, but only a hint of buffalo ... maybe. It was that faint, really.

The chips had a moderate amount of powder on them - these are definitely wash-hands-after-eating chips, which on further thought is probably a necessity because of the whole buffalo thing.

It was in the tasting that everything came together. ZING! There it is! Full-on spice followed by some decent buffalo flavor and a bleu finish. On top of that the chips had a pretty good afterburn.

Rating:  4/5

Generally Disappointing

Private Selection General Tso's Chicken

This was one of those cases where I really didn't know what to expect. The premise certainly sounded interesting, but I haven't reviewed any of the Private Selection brand chips so there was no track record to go by. Still, it's all for science ... or whatever.

The scent of these chips was a bit low-key. There was a good amount of barbecue and maybe hints of bell pepper.

The chips had a moderate amount of powder on them, though it was mostly chip-colored which made it less noticeable. They also had the kettle-chip greasiness.

I should probably admit here that I don't like kettle chips as much as other kinds. Not because of the greasiness, but I find them to be a bit too hard and sharp. Why do I keep buying them? Well, partly because I really like to try new flavors. Mostly though is because Cindy really likes them so I don't have to worry about open bags going stale.

Ok, enough of that.  Back to the review ...

They did have a good amount of chicken flavor, along with a sweet touch and maybe a hint of ... banana? There was an odd, almost plastic aftertaste though that (upon much painful thinking) was reminiscent of cheap Chinese food.

On the whole, I suppose it was a fairly accurate reproduction of General Tso's Chicken. Not from a restaurant I'd go back to often though.

Rating: 2/5

Just In Queso

Kettle Brand Krinkle Cut Spicy Queso

I tried Lay's Southwestern Queso last year and they turned out to be pretty good, so that kind of cranked up the expectations when I found these at the local Kroger.

One moment for a brief digression:  Note the cut off top of the package because of Kettle Brand's evil "easy-open" notch documented in the post for their Chile Verde chips.  Hello, Snyder-Lance?  Are you listening?  Cease your evil ways immediately!  A curse upon your head of packaging!

Now that I have that out of the way, on to the quest for the queso!

These chips had a reasonably pleasant scent of smoked paprika and cheese. I said "reasonably" because they also smelled a bit ... musty?

The chips were dusted with a slight amount of yellow and brown powder, with little green flecks. As typical with kettle chips, they're also pretty greasy.

The flavor wasn't bad, with a smokey taste and mild amount of spiciness. They didn't have much cheese flavor, except for an odd aftertaste that was almost bad parmesan.  On the whole these chips weren't bad, but they were kind of boring.

Rating: 3/5