The Gamble of Limited Edition Chips: Kettle Brand Jalapeno Jack & Pringles Cheeseburger Chips

Even if I wasn't a part of this blog, the chances that I would drag my fat ass up and down the hallways of my local WalmAAHT without trying any new flavor of chips I see are pretty slim. Sure, this blog makes it mandatory, but it probably wasn't mandatory to push fellow fatguyfoodbloggers Rich and Josh out of the way to get my sweaty paws on this beautiful bag. 

It was the only bag I saw in a sea of normalcy, and as soon as I touched it, I knew I had something special in my hands. Kettle Brand is celebrating 30 years of making "great-tasting, all natural chips made with quality ingredients since 1982" (that's what it says on the bottom corner), and they put out 4 limited edition flavors, some of which they made way back in the day (like cheddar beer (!)). It's hard to find these chips, and to be honest, I am a chip lunatic and I only discovered Kettle Brand a few years ago. 30 Years?! Seriously?

These chips are excellent. They're super crunchy and greasy the way only natural chips cooked in canola oil can be. To be honest- at first, I didn't like them much. The taste of jalapeno was much more peppery sweet than I wanted, and the cheese wasn't too strong- it was more of a sour cream-esque flavor that took me awhile to notice. Jalapeno and cheese is a tough thing to get right, and the only other time I'd eaten jalapeno and cheese on a chip where it worked perfectly was with Doritos' Jalapeno and Cheddar, found only in Canada (which we reviewed last year). But those were more cheesy- like a different version of Doritos' Spicy Nacho. 

These are different, and with several revisits to this bag, I realized just how good these are. I wish the picture above was brighter, but the darkness brings out the sexiness of these chips. You don't throw these down your throat at a drunken BBQ- you savor these slowly with a delicious meal by candlelight with your special lady (or yourself, most likely yourself). The sweet and tangy pepper flavor meets the sour cream-esque cheese and then evolves into a delicate burn. And they're soo crunchy and greasy. 

You occasionally get giant mutant chips too, and some that are warped into knots. 

These were going to get a decent review based solely on the sexiness and strength of the bag (I had to cut it open with scissors because I couldn't open it normally- there's literally a small lining of plastic inside), but these were a happy surprise. These had a slow burn that brought out fancy deliciousness, and I'll be buying more. AND you can use the bag for pretty much anything after. It's strong enough. Look at it handle 15 pounds like nothing!

If you can't find these, you're not alone. This is literally the only bag of these or any other limited flavor I've seen. Luckily, Kettle Brand is light years ahead of the big chip brands and allow you to order chips online. HEY ALL CHIP COMPANIES: LEARN FROM THIS.

I'll be buying some more of these before they disappear, and I strongly recommend that you do too. 

I give these an A-

On the flip side of trying new chips, you get to try some that you're not entirely excited to try.

Yup, that's right. Cheeseburger Pringles. Pringles aren't exactly known for being fancy, top of the line chips, but they have their place, and occasionally come out with fantastic new flavors in addition to having some of the best sour cream and onion chips out there. 

These, however, are not good. In fact, they're terrible. To be fair, I don't think I've ever had a cheeseburger or hot dog chip that's been good. We've reviewed some here, and they usually have the same result- they kind of taste like cheeseburgers or hot dogs, but usually more like mustard. And even if they're close, they're still potato chips that taste like cheeseburgers or hot dogs. And honestly, other than the fun of trying it, who wants that? 

To be fair to Pringles, these are the most accurate depiction of cheeseburger flavor I've had on a chip. At first they just taste like mustard. Then kind of like honey mustard. Then cheese, pickles, and yes, meat. Pringles gets points for the slow evolution of flavor, and more for accuracy in actually capturing cheeseburger flavor, but again, does anyone really want to eat that on a chip? I sure don't.

Grade for capturing the flavor of cheeseburger on a potato chip: A

Grade for how much I want to eat these again: F

-review by mike