I Can't Hear You

Pringles Loud Zesty Ranch

I took one look at these in the grocery store and said, "What?" 

I suppose potato chips can be considered "LOUD" if they're really really crunchy. Like when, no matter how slowly and gently you chew them, the crunching sound goes right through your cheeks and wakes up the neighbor's dog who then watches you eat the rest of the chips, following each one from the package to your mouth and silently judging you as the sort of person who wouldn't give and obviously starving dog one measly little potato chip. You monster.

A potato chip could also be considered "LOUD" if the flavor were really strong. You know the kind. You eat one and for the next three hours you taste nothing but flavor powder and your breath peels the paint off the walls and nobody will kiss you ever again.

I had to know which one it was, so I bought them.

I opened the canister and was greeted by the scent of ... something. It was really pretty faint. Maybe ranch? Yeah, it could be ranch ... I suppose ... on a foggy day.

The chips looked like slightly thicker than normal Pringles, with heavy yellow powder on one side only.  They were also a bit browner than usual.

I ate one. It didn't crunch any more than usual. No sign of the neighbor's dog.

The flavor was of onions, salt, corn chips, and a slight hint of sour cream. As I crunched I looked at the ingredients label. It turns out Pringles LOUD is made from yellow corn flour rather than potato.

I ate a few more to try and understand the experience I was having. After a bit the taste got to be more ranch-like, but it was still mostly salt and corn chips.

The paint stayed on the walls. Cindy was still willing to kiss me.

Nope. They're ok, but I just don't get the "LOUD" part.

Rating: 3/5

Extra Something!

Pringles Extra Hot Chili & Lime

I picked these up at the local Kroger. I have to admit that in spite of their highly-processed artificiality, I like Pringles ... well, at least the oddly flavored ones. There's something about the uniform shape and the blank flavor palate of them that lends itself perfectly to novelty chips.

On opening the tube I was greeted by a cheerful scent of vinegar and chili. It was surprisingly pleasant given how strong it was.

Then I took out some of the chips ...

"Indy, why are the chips bleeding?"

They've got a substantial amount of disturbingly red flavor powder. Napkins are going to be necessary with these to deal with finger-staining. Then again, they're spicy chips, so you're going to want to wash your hands after eating them. Otherwise an unthinking brush of the eye (or other sensitive area) is going to be cause for interesting times.

Maybe they chose that color on purpose.

Anyways, on to the actual tasting. They have a really nice lime flavor and some chili. There's also enough burn that eating too many too quickly would become unpleasantly painful. I stopped after 4 chips in rapid succession.  I later went back and ate a bunch more, with long pauses here and there to give my taste buds a chance to recover.

Rating: 4/5

Chip Dip Chip

Pringles French Onion Dip

This chip uncovered a generational gap when Celeste looked at the can and asked if French onions were different from American ones. I had to explain how back in the 70s it was a big thing to make dip by mixing powdered French onion soup mix into sour cream, and how that became something you could buy ready-made.

Which is all kind of weird now that I think back on it.

Anyway, the chips had a nice, onion-y smell and tasted exactly like French onion dip. Caramelized onions, sour cream, and chip all in one. It probably was nostalgia or something but I think I liked them a lot more than Celeste did.

Rating: 4/5

Feel the burn!

Pringles Jalapeño

With a couple exceptions I've been pretty impressed with the various flavors of Pringles, and this one turned out to be with the majority.

On opening the package I was greeted with a strong, but not unpleasant, vinegar scent similar to what you get with most salt & vinegar chips. That was promising, but I've learned that sometimes a good smell doesn't end up matched with a good taste, so I proceeded with caution.

The first chip had a good, recognizable jalapeño flavor mixed with vinegar - pickled peppers then, no problem. I like pickled jalapeños. There was also a mild amount of heat.  After the third or fourth chip I realized that the burn was steadily building. The jalapeño flavor was still there but zowie!

I kept eating them.

The level of heat never quite got to the point of painful and never overwhelmed the other flavors. This is one of those chips that I can easily scarf down the whole package.

Rating: 4/5

Not as Buffalo as the last Buffalo

Pringles XTRA-ordinary flavor Tangy Buffalo Wing

Given how awesome their Buffalo Ranch chips were, I had high expectations for these. Sadly, they didn't reach the mark. The scent on opening the package was pretty low-key, and the flavor wasn't all that impressive. There was a touch of vinegar and maybe a hint of greasy chicken, but mostly it was a very mild spice potato chip. Not bad per se, but kind of boring.

I guess the hyphen in the name was intentional. Instead of being extraordinary they're extra-ordinary.

Rating: 3/5

Pringles Misfire

Pringles Loaded Baked Potato

I've liked some of the other varieties of Pringles so I thought these would be worth a shot. Sadly, they missed the mark with this one.

They didn't have much of a noticeable smell and the color was almost like that of unflavored Pringles. That's not too much of a problem in itself, but they really failed in the flavor department.

Other than being overly salty, there wasn't much else to taste. A hint of bacon and maybe a tiny bit of cheese or sour cream ... hard to tell really.  If they were a "loaded" baked potato at a restaurant I'd expect I'd see maybe a couple imitation bacon bits, a dab of butter, and a single lonely shred of cheddar.

Everyone else in the family agreed, these were a disappointment.

Rating: 3/5

Buffalo Chips Doesn't Sound Quite Right

Pringles Buffalo Ranch

I've had these before but hadn't posted about them here. Like their Cheese Burger chips, Pringles does a good job of getting this flavor right. There's a nice, sharp taste of buffalo sauce and even a bit of an afterburn. I'm not at all surprised to see this flavor has stuck around.

Rating: 5/5

Disturbingly Accurate

Pringles Food Truck Flavors Cheese Burger

These tasted exactly like a McDonald's cheeseburger, right down to the diced onions and pickles. Actually, I kind of like them.

Pringles is a brand of potato and wheat-based stackable snack chips owned by Kellogg's.