Kettle Brand Honey Dijon

Taking a big swing on the spectrum here from the usual spicy chips we've been reviewing lately, we chose to go with Kettle Brand Honey Dijon chips this time.

We didn't get any strong opinions from anyone on these, which is the very first time for that. Jane said they taste too mustard-y, and though they're not repulsive she's not sure that she'd go and buy them. James added "If you like honey dijon, you'll like these." And that's pretty much the truth. Kettle Brand really hit the nail on the head on these ones, flavour-wise. They've got a strong, but not overpoweringly strong, honey dijon flavour, no doubt about it. Jeff said he likes them, but he's not sure how much or why. Jonathan said they're just ok. Darcy I think put them into words the best out of everyone. "They're.....different." It's true, they're not like anything we've really had before. It's not bad, but it's not really something that anyone was rushing back for seconds of.

We were also pretty impressed with the texture of the chips themselves. They're nice and crunchy, and not too thinly sliced. Not quite as good as Blair's, but definitely better than Dutch Crunch.


Overall, these come with a warning from us: if you don't like honey mustard, don't get these. Will doesn't, so he had the most negative response to these. Everyone else was really indifferent about them. Worth trying? Yeah. Worth buying again? Probably not.

Blair's Death Rain Jolokia Pepper

Oh boy, ghost pepper chips. A little lesson before we begin: The bhut jolokia, or ghost pepper, is a hybrid chili pepper from India. Beginning in 2007, and lasting until 2012, the ghost pepper was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest pepper in the world. It is now ranked third. It is rated as 1,041,427 SHUs on the Scoville scale. For comparison, the jalapeno pepper is rated between 2,500 - 10,000 SHUs.

Right from the moment you open the bag and see the screaming red colour on these chips, take it as a warning of things to come. These are, without a doubt, the hottest chips we've had. Eat one and you'll feel the long after-burn. Eat a few and it'll kick you in the face. For those that like heat, these are the chips for you. Jonathan said they're amazing. Will and Prajeet both said these are their new favourite chips. They've got a great flavour to them, and they're not too salty like some other Blair's chips have been. Shawn said he expected to be sweating like a cartoon, but was severely disappointed to find that real life doesn't work like that.

For the most part, everyone in the office tried at least one. Some of the ladies found them to be uncomfortably spicy. There were a few who just weren't brave enough to give them a go. It is unconfirmed whether or not Jeff ran across the street for some milk from the cafeteria after eating his.

Unfortunately, for us, these aren't easy to come by. The only place we've found that carries them is Cabela's, and they only carry the small bags. If you can find them, these are great for heat junkies. And if you're one of those heat junkies, these are great for if you don't want to share with anyone else after the first chip.

Latest update on our Extreme Foods trials and tribulations

You may remember our issues with Extreme Foods, and then the subsequent response from them. Well, now we can give you an update on the saga.

I'm sure you've heard the stories of people getting coupons, or cases of product, or a bunch of free stuff as an apology from companies when they buy defective/faulty/bad products unknowingly and complain to the manufacturer. Companies will often do it to appease upset customers in hopes that they'll continue to buy their products, and to show how "loyal" and "respectful" they are to said customers.

Well, it turns out Extreme Foods are not one of these companies. They sent us this:

It is a small box, filled with exactly two small bags of Blair's chips. Two bags to replace the two defective bags we had. And after asking us which flavours we'd like to see, they didn't even send us the ones we'd requested. Top notch customer service. I'm (jokingly) surprised they didn't make us pay for shipping.

So there you have it. Closure. Extreme Foods doesn't care about your satisfaction, and they definitely don't go the extra mile to keep you as a customer.

Blair's Death Rain Chipotle

Finally, after all this waiting, the moment has arrived! We've got Blair's Death Rain Chipotle chips with flavour on them! The suspense has been killing us, as I'm sure it's been killing every one of you.

Quite frankly, the wait wasn't worth it. They're okay. We were expecting something a little more smoky, a little more spicy, something a little more like crushed chipotle pepper seasoning. Instead, we got something that tasted very similar to Dutch Crunch Jalapeno Cheddar chips - salt and pepper with a little spice and a little bit of an almost mesquite bbq flavour. Jonathan joked that the flavour-adding machine must still be on the fritz, because where these should have a more potent flavour, they were on the plainer side. Quite disappointing, all around.

In the end, we just can't recommend these. They're too salty, they're not really chipotle flavoured, and we've got a 33% success rate in finding bags that actually have seasoning. No wonder they've been discontinued by Blair's.

Dutch Crunch Montreal Steak Spice

There's been a lot of interest in this flavour, as the bag has been sitting around here in the office for a few days when we opened them. We finally decided to satisfy everyone's curiosity and give them a go.

First off, before we get to flavour, just a note about the texture on these ones. We complained in our review about the crunch of the Dutch Crunch Jalapeno Cheddar chips being less than satisfying after eating the Blair's ones. I don't know if that was a bad batch, maybe, or if it's just been long enough that Blair's spell on us has worn off, but we've had a couple comments saying these have a great crunch to them.

Now that we've got that out of the way, on to the reason we're here: Montreal Steak Spice. A conservative guess about these would be that they were aiming to make a chip that tastes like Montreal Steak Spice (yeah, we're getting crazy with our guesses). Well, they've succeeded. These taste very strongly of Montreal Steak Spice. There's a strong garlic flavour to them, with a good dose of salt and pepper to go with it. If you pretend really hard, you can almost imagine you're eating a nice thick pork chop, grilled to perfection, with a healthy sprinkling of steak spice. Then you bite down and the illusion is gone with a crunch.

As has been the trend lately, it's hard to find a solid consensus for us. Will thinks they're too salty. "I had to go get a drink, they're so salty that they made me thirsty." Jonathan thinks the flavour is great. Blair said he saw them giving these away at a baseball game this summer and people were throwing them away half-eaten. Darcy won't even try them. Wanda thinks they're the bee's knees.

I think a fair assessment would be somewhere in the middle of Will and Jonathan - they do taste pretty salty (though according to the bag they're not that much more salty than any other bag of chips we've got right now), but if you like a strong steak spice flavour then you'll like these.

Double Dutch Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders

This one was a tough one. It was hard to get an agreement on anything for it.
"I taste mustard!"
"No, relish!"
"No, ketchup!"
"No, bacon!"
"No dill pickle!"
"Tastes like a more boring version of All-dressed chips!"
At least everyone was pretty on with flavours you'd find in a hamburger (I wonder if they would've been so spot on if it was a blind taste test...). The chips have a sort of intangible flavour to them - you honestly can't put your finger on it and say "It tastes like this" because it has a bunch of different flavours going on. It's like a crappy version of the chewing gum from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory that tastes like an entire meal. One thing we could all agree on is that there's a pretty strong dill pickle flavour that comes in toward the end and lingers as an aftertaste. Take that as your warning, crazy people who don't like dill pickle chips.

Some liked these, others didn't. Our American friend, who admittedly has a deep love for All-dressed chips, thinks these are great. Norm really liked them too. Jonathan thought they were averagely good.Will said he probably wouldn't buy them again. The ladies in the office were all offended by the after taste.

These chips earn our official Seal of Controversy. Buy these if you want a debate on the pros and cons of sliders as a chip flavour.

Dutch Crunch Kettle Cooked Jalapeno & Cheddar

Short, sweet, and to the point on this one. This one does not taste like jalapeno or cheddar - they have more of a black pepper flavour. Also, after having the Blair's cauldron cooked chips, we're not huge fans of the texture of these ones. They're too thin, or they have too many bubbles in them, or something. They're not as firmly crunchy as we have learned is possible from the Blair's chips.

If you'd asked us about a week ago, we'd probably have rated them higher. Now, they're just ok. I guess they're good for that quick fix, and they're widely available. If you can get Blair's, go that way instead.

Blair's Death Rain Jalapeno Cheddar

Like all Blair's chips (except for, you know, that one time), these have a really strong flavour to them. Specifically cheddar, in this case. They weren't as spicy as we were hoping for, either. Having already tried the Habanero ones, we had high expectations that these would have a decent amount of kick behind them. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Shawn also pointed out that they were pretty salty, probably more than they should've been.

That said, they weren't bad. We really like the way that Extreme Foods cooks their chips. They're not cut too thin, and they're nice and crispy and crunchy. They're the way that cauldron cooked chips are meant to be.

In the end, we just can't come to an agreement on these guys. David wants them to be spicier. Will says "what do you expect, they're only jalapeno." Yeah, but normally jalapeno chips have a decent kick to them, and we know that Blair's aren't afraid to make a spicy flavour. Will also really likes the fact that they're so cheddar-y.

I think it's just going to be one of those ones that you'll have to try on your own, dear reader, and come to your own decision.

Lays Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger

Courtesy of our honourary American member, we've come into possession of one of the American Lays "Flavour Finalists". Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger, submitted by Meneko Signer McBeth.

"My grandmother is Japanese and I have always loved when she would make sushi. My favorite part was mixing wasabi with soy sauce and dipping"

 -Meneko Signer McBeth

The general consensus is that they're good, possibly the best out of the American flavour finalists (we'll have reviews of the rest in the next little while). Shawn thought the "kettle-cooked style was a good match for the spiciness." Sandy said that she "loved the level of wasabi and ginger. Perfect balance." Will agreed, saying that "They are not as spicy as wasabi peas, but the overall flavour is better, the ginger adds a nice touch." Jonathan wasn't on the same page, however, adding that he thought the "wasabi couldn't deliver because it was so weak! Likewise to the ginger. The onion powder and soy sauce overwhelmed the chip."

It's also nice that they're a more unique flavour, as opposed to just combining other flavours together (looking at you, bacon mac n' cheese). It also didn't try to stretch the limits of what a chip should taste like. "Wasabi ginger is a good combo. Does not ruin the integrity of what a chip needs to be – Salty!"  said Wanda.

 Overall, this one seems to have consistently come in ranked #1 out of the American flavour finalists by our panel of experts, with only a few dissenting opinions. 

Update from Extreme Foods

    Good news everyone!

We've heard back from Extreme Foods about the two bags of "Chipotle" chips that came out plain.

Hi Will,

I have forwarded it on to quality control. However, this flavor has been retired and is no longer in production. I would be more than happy to send 2 bags of a different flavor out to you. Please send over your address.

We do also have a Canadian importer that in the future may also help - They can be contacted at 1-866-414-2447 or online at www.gourmetchip.com. 

Thank you,

Marissa Ornstein
Blair’s Sauces and Snacks 
1-800-98-BLAIR (25247) 
marissa(at)extremefood.com 
www.extremefood.com 
Spreading the Worlds Hottest Most Flavorful Sauces & Snacks around the Globe; One Tongue at a time !!! Over 65 million proudly served since 1989  FEEL ALIVE!!!

Can't wait to review two new flavours!

Not a good first impression

Will bought Blair's Death Chipotle chips this morning.
We opened them up, tried one each, and came to the grim discovery that we'd somehow gotten a bag that someone forgot to put flavouring on.

Needless to say, we're not impressed. Extreme Foods, the company behind Blair's Death Rain chips has been contacted. We will update you, faithful readers, when we hear back.

Until then, Blair's Death Rain Chipotle get a big THUMBS DOWN.

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Welcome to the Winnipeg Chip Club official blog!