Chiplog: Lay's Cucumber Flavor

 Pre-chip: A couple months ago Toasty and I were on a walkabout in downtown Toronto when he asked to pop into an Asian grocery (or two). While he was looking for a specific bottled sauce, I was transfixed by the variety of potato chip flavours and was perusing to see what might actually be onion-free. I was on a chip-break at the time, so nothing was purchased then, but the kernel was seeded that I would need to go back to such a grocery store and partake in some international flavours.  

Lady Kent and I perused the local Nations shop just the other day and their (potato) chip selection did leave a little to be desired, as did the English ingredients sticker ("edible flavourings" doesn't actually tell me what's in it). I only wound up with one bag, being Lay's Cucumber Flavor [sic] (Lady Kent picked up a bag of Brets salt and vinegar, which only had a small sampling of and forgot to review).

Am I excited for cucumber potato chips? I'm excited for any new flavour of chip, but only tepidly anticipating cucumber. I don't associate "cucumber" with "snacking", and I honestly can't single out what cucumber flavouring should taste like. Guess I'm about to find out...

Ingredients: Potato, Vegetable Oil, Cucumber Flavor (with Flavor!), TBHQ(?)

First smell: Well, I guess whatever that smell is, it's cucumber.  Now that I think of it, I have had cucumber water more than a few times so maybe I do know what cucumber flavour is?  It's not an off-putting smell, but I'm also not terribly drawn into it.  It's not enticing me in the slightest.

First taste: There's a potency to the cucumber flavour that I wasn't expecting. It's almost sour, but not quite. There's almost three phases to the flavour...first a bite on the middle of the tongue that I don't like, then an acceptable, almost refreshing cucumber flavour on the side of the tongue, and then sort of a slightly salty nothingness.

Aftertaste: Four phases, actually... strangely, there's like a mild honey sweetness that lingers. How is that possible?

Mass consumption: I am eating these chip-by-chip, which is rare for me. I usually eat chips in clusters, a pinch of chips between the thumb and index finger.  Here it seems like too much to go at quickly, and that initial recoil I have each time doesn't scream at me to repeat it. Yet, I don't recall my mouth ever salivating this much after eating a chip. My mouth is just watering. I'm glad this is only a 70g bag and not something larger, as I'm not actually sure if I can finish this... [timestamp 7:46]. I finished it in 

Final thoughts: I imagine "cucumber flavouring" is an acquired taste, like watermelon flavouring or banana flavouring...flavours that don't totally resemble the thing they're trying to resemble because they're a more potent facsimile of it. I have not yet acquired this taste, and while chips are chips, and I'm willing to almost power through any flavour to get that starchy-oily-salty goodness, this one's a rough one for me. I kind of like it less the more I eat it in fact.

Rating: 3.3