Review Bites - Spicy Snacks for the Summer - Official Scott Roberts Web Site

Review Bites - Spicy Snacks for the Summer

Scott Roberts June 17, 2011 at 10:09 am food review-bites Digg this Article

I'm kicking off the first installment of Review Bites with a quartet of spicy snack food items: Chip'Ins Hot Buffalo Wing Popcorn Chips, B More Nutz Jalapeno Cheddar Nutterz Peanut Snacks, Old Vienna Red Hot Riplet Hot Fries and Old Vienna Pork Steak-Flavored Potato Chips...

ChipIns Hot Buffalo Wing Popcorn Chips

Chip'Ins Hot Buffalo Wing Popcorn Chips Puffed corn and puffed rice are remarkably alike, so anything with their consistency and feel will automatically flood the mind of rice cakes, those famous "diet" snacks that have the unfortunate reputation of being flat and flavorless to the tongue. Actually, I think that some of the chocolate or caramel-flavored varieties of rice cakes aren't too bad, as a sugary and sometimes sticky coating lends itself nicely to the light, puffy texture of the rice or corn.

Unfortunately, Chip'Ins Hot Buffalo Wing Popcorn Chips, aren't sweet but have a savory and spicy buffalo-style sprinkling on them, and therefore clash like Lady Gaga would at a Jimmy Swaggert Evangelical conference. The buffalo seasoning itself is very, very good; if this where doused on a regular potato chip it would make an excellent choice for a late night munchie session. On these triangular popcorn pieces - which are dying for a sweet coating - the spicy tones are simply terrible.

Rating:

Chip'Ins Hot Buffalo Wing Popcorn Chips

B More Nutz Jalapeno Cheddar Nutterz

B More Nutz Jalapeno Cheddar Nutterz Dick Taylor of B More Nutz has perfected a slightly bizarre but inspired kind of snack - a peanut covered in a layer of potato starch, and then coated with a seasoning. Because of this, you get the "soft" crunch from the peanuts and the "crisp" crunch of the potato shell. Not much more than that, other than Nutterz are an additive treat that challenge you not to scarf down the whole bag in one sitting.

Nutterz comes in Chili, Nuclear, Bacon Cheddar, Crab, Bloody Mary, and Jalapeno Cheddar versions. All are quite good; but my favorite, Jalapeno Cheddar, are to die for. Jalapeno Cheddar has lovely cheese tones with a dash of jalapeno pepper-flavored goodness, and the expected saltiness most people want in a snack product. Marvelous!

Rating:

B More Nutz Jalapeno Cheddar Nutterz

Old Vienna Red Hot Riplet Hot Fries

Old Vienna Red Hot Riplet Hot Fries Old Vienna LLC, which is headquartered just a stone's throw away from my house, produces what I consider the best spicy potato chips in the world, the hallowed Red Hot Riplets. They've applied the famous seasoning to a typical corn meal "hot fry"-shaped snack.

The results are so-so. There are a lot of the sweet, barbecue-esque back tones that rest under the dominant spicy and salty notes, not unlike the chips. Intentional or not, these Hot Fries also possess a darker, paprika-like taste which give an overall, heavier weight on the tongue. Red Hot Riplet Hot Fries are certainly not bad; in fact, in a pinch are a decent little snack. But they in no way are able to reach their older brother namesake potato chips as being a "must-try" munchie.

Rating:

Old Vienna Red Hot Riplet Hot Fries

Old Vienna Pork Steak-Flavored Potato Chips

Old Vienna Pork Steak-Flavored Potato Chips Pork steaks are as big of a BBQ staple in the Gateway City as St. Louis-style spare ribs are, perhaps even more so. Even though this may sound extremely unorthodox as a potato chip flavoring, it's not as big of a shock to us in the St. Louis metro area.

I've sampled BBQ pork rib chips before and these babiesfrom Old Vienna are not that far off from those in taste. Old Vienna's offering definitely has that odd pork meat flavoring entrenched in every bite, albeit less of the smokiness one might expect and has has more of a "meaty" sensation. There is only a tad of BBQ seasoning, letting the artificial-tasting pork likeness stand out more.

What's my bottom line take on this? It only works somewhat, but only under the mentality of this being as a novelty item. I could not eat a whole bag of this as my taste buds would quickly grow tired of the bizarreness. While these are not bad, I probably would never purchase a bag of this again.

Rating:

Old Vienna Pork Steak-Flavored Potato Chips

Comments

FIREHEAD THOMAS
2011-06-17 11:12:47

I think Bmore Nutz also has a Wasabi flavor....

Chileman
2011-06-17 12:56:10

Firehead, according to B More Nutz' website they are working on a Wasabi flavor but they aren't selling it yet.

CaJohn
2011-06-17 15:55:45

We carried a product like this several years ago, we offered them in 3 chile flavors, Tabasco chile, Chipotle and Red Savina. Chipnuts. They were made in Canada by the Picard Nut Company. We had exclusive distribution in the US and when the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002 went into effect, the manufacturer quit exporting them to us. Point is, this was not "perfected" by this company, it was merely copied from a long time manufacturer in Canada. They have also been available for years in Europe. Not to discredit Mr. Taylor, just want credit to go where credit is due. We had many fans of Chipnuts and they were quite P-Oed when they were no longer available to us. Sean Carlin of Fired-Up Foods created the chile flavors. They can be seen on firedupfoods.com

Scott Roberts
2011-06-17 23:17:24

Thanks for setting the record straight, CaJohn. I wasn't implying that Dick had invented this concept, just that I love them how he makes 'em.;-)

Bernie
2011-06-19 07:58:02

John Miss them a whole lot. We used to set them on the counter with a sample jar open. When people would see them and say "What are these?", I would grab the sample jar and made a quick sale!!! Sure miss them!!

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