Chiplog: President's Choice World of Flavours Jerk Chicken flavour

 Pre-chip: By the time I realized I enjoyed jerk chicken, it was too late. My onion intolerance had started to kick in and most places, when I asked, would say their jerk contains onion powder or was cooked with onions. So colour me surprised when this new flavour of chip emerged (and just barely, I've only seen it at my local Loblaws once) and it features no onion. Colour me intrigued.

Ingredients: Potatoes, sunflower/vegetable oil, seasoning (sugars, salt, spices and herbs, citric acid, yeast, dried garlic, paprica and other additives)

First smell: That's a rich concotion of odours. Smelling the paprika for sure, strangely smelling vinegar and tomato even though it's not part of the ingredients (essentially a ketchup chip smell) plus a tang of sweetness in the air.

First taste: I honestly am at a loss for words with what I'm tasting. It's really like no chip I've had before.

Aftertaste: The left side of my tongue is zinging from the paprika. the garlic is sitting somewhere twoards the middle, and whatever is emulating "chicken" lingers.

Mass consumption: We'll see, but I don't think I can really heavily consume these. The herb and spice flavour combination is intriguing but whatever is emulating meat, like a soup-stock-type powder, is putting me off. I don't mind the kick of the paprika and garlic at all, kind of welcome it actually.

Final thoughts: I'm certainly not being reminded of the best (or, really, any) jerk chicken I've ever had, but I'm not an expert.

Rating: 5.0

Chiplog: San Carlo's la Vita e Buona Tomato flavour AND Muji Garlic Sauce Flavour / French Jura Cheese Flavour

Toasty and I were to meet up, but I thought I was early and had to bide my time (I didn't, I actually just didn't see that he replied almost instantly, and my notifications were turned off...moops) so I "killed time" by exploring the local Eataly where I came across some Italian chips with (marginally) different chip flavours... this is one of those flavours (the only onion-free one)

Pre-chip: I recall coming across tomato flavoured chips before, I think Lays brand at one international grocer or another, but they must have had onion powder in them otherwise I would have tried them before. These are onion free. I wish I could say I was excited, but I never really liked ketchup flavoured chips (not that "ketchup" and all its vinegariness is the same as tomato flavour), and I'm not the hugest fan of tomato. I kinda wish that the Italians had like a tomato sauce flavoured chip.

Ingredients: vegetable oils, "tomato taste seasoning" (celery, sugar, corn flour, lactose, tomato powder, citric acit, salt, spices, msg, onion powder [...heeyyyyyy what? Fuck!] and paprika). I think I need to have my glasses on when I'm reading labels now.

First smell: Oh, you know they smell good because I can't eat (too many of) them. Weirdly they smell like baked potato chips, with a hint of sweetness and yeah, of course that onion powder is coming through a tad too. 

First taste: Um. Yeah, tomato, with a hint of onion...and celery, and yeah, the sugar is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I think I like it.

Aftertaste: The starchiness of the potato is the lingering flavour, which is always nice when a potato chip reminds you it's a potato chip. And it's a different type of potato that I'm used to in a chip, which is always a nice surprise, and what makes it worth trying international chips from time to time.

Mass consumption: This isn't an American potato chip, so it's rather lightly flavoured. It's not an assault on the taste buds, but there's just enough pleasant flavouring to keep you coming back. But I *shouldn't* eat too many of these because the onion powder will make me regret eating them... and while the flavour is good, it's not worth barfing at 3 am.

Final thoughts: I really like the potato San Carlo is using for their chip, so much so that next time I'm going by an Eataly I'll pick up a bag of just the plain salted chip. As for this tomato flavour, yeah, it's really decent. If I could actually eat these in larger doses I would actually probably put this on the *occasional* roster for when I just want a little something different.

Rating: 7.3

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Since the last chip flavour was a bust, I decided to bust out another package of chips I just so happened to come across today. Toasty needed to do a little pickup at Muji, the Japanese mini-department store (clothes, kitchen goods, stationary, travel gear, cleaning supplies, toiletries, snacks and more). Despite their drab exterior, I couldn't help but eye up the potato chip flavours on hand (and on sale!). And, well, there was a surprise in store....

Pre-chip: Looking at the back of the package of Garlic Sauce flavoured potato chips, I noted one very interesting factoid: "Made in France". I cocked and eye, noticed the minimal ingredients and wondered... are these just repackaged Brets? I'm so curious to find out.

Ingredients: Potatoes, sunflower oil, salt, garlic powder, natural flavouring (contains milk), butter.

First smell: Whoof. Garlic powder smacks you right in the face.

First taste: oh...oh no. It's like a smoky or fried garlic and... I'm only a mild garlic fan. This is not Brets. I was so wrong.The flavouring is too strong, and the chip is not as solid as a Brets rippled chip. Not what I was expecting. It hits you as much in the nostrils as it does in the taste buds.

Aftertaste: Garlic is a lingering smell and taste, but the scent lives longer than the taste.

Mass consumption: No. This one's not for me. Real garlic fans may like this but totally not for me.

Final thoughts: I had hoped they would be like Brets' Aioli or Chip Sauce flavour, but no. No no no no no. Woof. I went from being really excited to kinda repulsed in one chip.

Rating: 4.4

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Ok, one last bag...

Pre-chip: I had tried a Jura Cheese flavoured chip in the past, and, surprise surprise, it was a Brets. I have a draft post for those chips from 1 year ago (plus a day) that I never did finish writing up. I didn't even record my thoughts on the flavour...I'm assuming I liked it because I ate it all up without pausing to write about it. Or maybe I had too many thoughts and couldn't get them all down. So, I can't really compare...or maybe memories will come flooding back instantly.  I dunno...

Ingredients: Potatoes, sunflower oil, French Jura cheese powder, salt, whey powder, natural flavouring, dextrose, white pepper, and tumeric (for colouring)

First smell: there's more than a hint of ripe, sharp cheese. My dog perked up and took some deep sniffs with great excitement. 

First taste: Cheddar cheese is the typical chip cheese, but the jura powder gives a familiar smack of cheesiness with a nuttier flavour. It's also just a bit bolder and more fragrant than cheddar so the is a lot going on on the taste buds.

Aftertaste: The jura cheese powder flavour continues to feed back your taste buds as your saliva hydrates the powder, it's not quite as appealing as the slightly salty smack when you pop a chip into your mouth, so...

Mass consumption: yeah, you just want to keep eating, especially to explore the flavour at their maximum potency.

Final thoughts: I like these. They're interesting. Jura is not the most familiar cheese flavour for me so I don't quite have the palate for it yet. I know I ate the bag of Brets Jura flavour in one sitting, but I just can't do it with this one. It does seem more potent than my vague recollection of my time with the Brets' flavour last year (but my memory isn't really trustworthy at this point) so it's just a little more difficult to plow through a bag.

Rating: 7.3 

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I actually started my evening with another Eataly snack, the Favolosi Fava bean snack, lemon pepper flavour. I loved the flavouring, the bean... really dries your mouth out and is kind of unpleasant to eat.

Not the best night of snack adventuring, I must say.

Chiplog: President's Choice World Of Flavours Poutine flavour

If you're somehow reading this and you're not from Canada, President's Choice is the house brand of the major grocery/pharmacy chain Loblaws Inc. They are greedy capitalists who have taken advantage of every situation as well as their ubiquity to gauge their customer base with every possible excuse. They also, through their President's Choice brand, come up with some very interesting and experimental food products which delight and confound with equal measure.

Pre-chip: I'm not a poutine guy. Even before I couldn't eat most gravies because of onion and/or wheat content, I still didn't like the idea of soggy french fries. And as far as cheeses go, the "curd" variety isn't exactly my favourie. So, despite it being one of Canada's "delicacies" I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten poutine. Am I looking forward to tasting this? Nope, mostly because the "gravy" flavour is going to make or break whether it's even palatable or not.

Ingredients: Potatoes, oil of some type, seasoning (x 1000)

First smell: Strangely I'm not getting much of anything beyond potatoes and oil... a hint of the familiar smell of cheesy chips, but sans onion powder, it's not very potent.

First taste: The PC rippled chip is a good base for any flavour. They're always a thicker cut crinkle so they have a nice sturdy starch profile and a satisfying crunch. The Poutine flavour is shockingly subtle, where I'm getting a smack of the cheese (like a sour creme and cheddar chip) but with a hint of that gravy just teasing the tongue.  

Aftertaste: The cheese and the gravy both linger a little but compete for dominance in the aftertaste. The taste doesn't outstay its welcome though. Picking the chips out of my molars, the starch and oils are mostly what remain.

Mass consumption: I've already been back for more. I can't say that PC has hit an absolute winner here, but it's not a total dog either. The familiarity of the cheesey chip goes a long way in selling this one as a binge eat but as I keep going, the gravy is constantly threatening to be a deterrent, though, again, it's not potent enough to put me right off.

Final thoughts: This is advertised on the bag as "Limited Edition - The Canadian Series" (which is also accompanied by the onion-heavy Cesar flavour and Peameal Bacon Sandwich flavour so I won't be getting into those)... I don't see it sticking around. I could see it popping back up from time to time though. I have to wonder, with the World Cup popping into Canadian cities this year, and with Lays making World Cup-partnered flavours, is this "Canadian Series" something to dare the tourists with? 

Rating: 7.0

Chiplog: Cheetos Crunchy Flamin' Hot Dill Pickle flavour

It's been a while since the last chiplog, because I completely forgot about the chiplog...plus, new flavours of bagged (or tubed) snackables that are onion-free don't come along too often. But when it rains, things get wet, as the saying goes, and I have three new snacky comestibles to present (although one of them will be a total cheat since I've already eaten two bags of them and forgot all about Chiplogging them...yes, I've verbed Chiplog...and verb).

Pre-chip: I like Cheetos just fine, but if we're ranking, Hawkins takes top spot all day every day. But Hawkins, bless them, has stuck to their guns and only ever made one kind of cheesie, whereas Cheetos is constantly experimenting, for good or for ill. (I mean, Cheetos macaroni?)  I can't eat regular Cheetos Crunchy Flamin' Hot cheesies because onion powder, so imagine my surprise when the new Cheetos Crunchy Flamin' Hot Dill Pickle flavour came out and ...no onion powder. I guess onion and dill aren't the most complimentary?

Ingredients: Enriched dornmeal, vegetable oil, seasoning (so much seasoning), vinegar

First smell: That smell...it's definitely the dill and vinegar smell we're all familiar with from dill pickle chips of time immemorial...but there is that little pinch of paprika coming through as well. I can tell, even before my first bite, this isn't going to go well. I always expect cheesey flavour when it comes to the cornmeal based snacks (well, not corn chips, but I digress), and yeah, there is cheddar, monterey jack and swiss within, but I'm smelling no cheese. Dill isn't ever a flavour I've associated with cheese, or cheesies.

First taste: Woah, as a novice to the Flamin' Hot genre of cheesie, I wasn't actually expecting any kind of real punch out of this. Typically popular "spicy" things are dumbed down for the bland white person palate. But this hits immediately...the front, side and back of the tongue. It's a sting for sure.

Aftertaste: Just as the burning settles, the vinegar kicks in. If your mouth and throat are irritated by spice, that vinegar is just going to dial it up another 2-3 notches. And then the dill just kind of lingers, more as a scent than a taste. My tongue feels supercharged.

Mass consumption: Not gonna happen. I get about ten sticks in and I call it. 

Final thoughts: If you like spice, if you like dill, if you like a challenge out of your snack instead of pleasure, then this limited edition Cheeto is for you. It sort of reminds me of Blue Cheese and Buffalo Chicken Wing chips, only substitute the aromatic blue cheese for dill pickle and the texture profile of a rippled chip for extruded cornmeal twiglets and you're kind of getting the idea. Dill is not a flavour I'm intrinsically drawn towards, though I have come to enjoy it (somewhat) over the years. I've also some to appreciate heat and spice in my aging years. As my taste buds get duller and diet more limited, such flavour profiles add a bit of something new and exciting in my culinary journey. But this Cheeto dials the heat and the dill and especially the vinegar up to about an 8 collectively and it's just overwhelming. It's not enjoyable snacking.

Rating: 3.6/10

Chiplog: Doritos Ultimate Garlic Parm

Auto-immune issues have turned my diet into a minefield, treacherous to navigate lest I risk upset stomach, inflammatory skin disorders and migraines. The main adversaries are gluten, onion and alcohol. The latter is easily avoidable, the former are not. And one of the biggest sacrifices as a result has been my snack game. Almost every flavoured chip has onion powder in it, so when I find one without...it goes in the log.

Pre-chip: One of my favourite all-time chips is Zesty Doritos. Just an absolute blast of, well, zesty, cheesy flavour. Even now, with my systemic issues, I still will sneak a few Zestys into my body...just enough that it won't trigger the worst of the side effects. (The rest of the Doritos line I really don't care at all for, except the regular old Nacho flavour which has always just been...fine). 

I can still eat tortilla chips until my heart is content, but I don't usually go for tortilla chips as a snack, but instead as a meal with delicious toppings and dips, so not having Doritos in my life hasn't been much of a loss.  

Still, here's a brand new flavour of Doritos... and I have to wonder... is this riffing on the Miss Vickie's Cacio E Pepe?

Ingredients: Corn, Veg Oil, Seasoning (16 components), Calcium Hydroxide

First smell: The very first think I smell is that familiar corn-and-oil waft, and for a second I get a hint of the traditional Doritos smell, but that is soon overpowered by, I guess, the garlic?  There's definitely a garlic component to the smell, but it's not just that, and it's not necessarily cheese.  Maybe it's the sour cream and the undisclosed "spices and herbs"? 

Just to be clear, it's not the most pleasant smell. Not enticing in the slightest. It's actually kind of putting me off.

First taste: The good thing is the taste is better than the smell. The sour cream has an immediate punch, which is then joined by a complexity of other flavours stinging all areas of the tongue. On first taste, these flavours are not working in unison.

Aftertaste: Honestly, the sides of my tongue feel a little electrified...like when you put your tongue on both polarities of a 9-volt battery (we've all done it, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about) or if you have fillings and you've chewed on tinfoil (we've all done it, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about).  The odd thing is you would think the garlic would linger the most but it's just the corn-and-oil taste lingering.

Mass consumption: Eating a half dozen or so in quick succession and, for sure, it's those patented Doritos mixture of undisclosed "spices and herbs" that announce themselves the most and remind you that you are indeed eating a Dorito. It's sort of a mix of Cool Ranch, Nacho and Zesty, but subdued comparatively to any of them. You're still definitely getting more tortilla flavour than any other Dorito I've ever had before. 

Final thoughts: Ultimate Garlic Parm is a more subdued Dorito, but this is Doritos we're talking about here and even a subdued Dorito is popping with flavour. This isn't like the Bret's Chip version of Dorito where it's going for all-natural minimal, sophisticated hint of flavouring, this is still smacking you on the tongue like a bad boy but it's taking a more round-about way than your average Dorito. As a guy who really can't eat the other Doritos, this would do in a pinch if I had a Doritos hankering (which is rare anyway), but it's not going to incite a Doritos hankering. As a new flavour to the Doritos line I don't see it exciting the Doritos fan so I'm betting this will last on shelves for the season never to be seen from again.

Oh, and it's absolutely nothing like Miss Vickie's Cacio E Pepe.

[Slight update... even genuinely not loving the flavour, I am finding it hard to stop eating them. There is the right addictive combination of salt, cheese, sweet, tang and grease to make it highly consumable.]

[Double slight update... I did not feel wonderful the rest of the day/evening after eating a half a bag of these things. Not sick to my stomach or anything, just heavy with that lingering charge in my mouth. Knocking another full point off the rating]

Rating: 6.7 5.7

Chiplog: Brets Cream cheese and herbs

 Pre-chip: This looks to be the sophisticate's version of the classic sour cream and onion potato chip, and I couldn't be more excited, but also, nothing the "chive" flavouring ingredient I'm concerned if it will trigger my onion sensitivity or not. In the past green chives have not really triggered me like onions do, but then, one rarely ever consumes much chive ever. It's certainly not as common an ingredient as onion. Even if my body doesn't instinctively reject it, I wonder if I'll have a psychosomatic response to an onion-y flavour?

Ingredients: Potatoes, sunflower oil, whey powder, salt, fermented milk powder, lactose, creme fraiche powder, sugar, garlic powder, natural chive flavouring with other natural flavourings (milk), parsley, aromatic harbs extracts (parsley, dill, mint)

First smell: Heavenly. The hint of fermented dairy and the subtle aroma of garlic and chive and the other herbs are even subtler, but it's are jiving so well with the potato-and-oil combo. So inviting.

First taste: Oooh, there's a tartness to the dairy ingredients I really like. The garlic is stronger than the chive that's for sure.

Aftertaste: The garlic lingers as garlic does, but it lingers with that dairy flavour, like a smooth soft cheese sticking to the roof of your mouth a little. Very pleasing.

Mass consumption: Oh yes, this is a mow-down bag of chips for sure. As much as the dairy and garlic are the predominant flavours, the dill and the parsley are both coming through, though juuust slightly. As I plug away, enticed as I am to keep triggering those pleasure receptors repeatedly, I occasionally get a hint of the mint extract. It is the one thing I've noted previously about Bret's chips, each chip isn't seasoned equally. That may be a bad thing for some, but for me, it slows eating a little bit as each chip tastes a little different than the other. For full flavour, I grabbed a handful and ...wow pow! That's a good flavour palette. There's strangely a "freshness" to it, like eating a sprig of parsley or mint leaf with your fully loaded jack-et potato.. I think I would like this even more if those herbs had just a slightly bigger punch though.  The chive is a softer flavour in the onion category and works great. The "cream cheese" is the centrepiece here for sure. I could easily finish this in one sitting. But I do want to have a break just to see if I do react to it in any way at all.

Final thoughts: It really does seem like a hoity-toity low-key sour cream and onion flavour, and while, if I had an actual choice I would go for that fully-potent sour dairy/onion flavour most of the time, but if I didn't want my tastebuds absolutely assailed, this would be the perfect alternative to satisfy the craving.  I wonder if stinky breath will result regardless.

Rating: 8.1

Chiplog: Miss Vickie's Risoranti Series Cacio E Pepe

Pre-chip: I'm not sure if I've ever had authentic Cacio e Pepe pasta, but I love a creamy, buttery noodle with Parm and pepper. My go-to "Cacio e pepe" is taking Annie's Butter and Parmesean Mac and cheese and zhuzhing it up. I'm basically expecting that, but in chip form, which, if so, should be awesome. 

Ingredients: potatoes, vegetable oil, seasoning (maltodextril, buttermilk solids, salt, spices, whey powder, cheese powder, cream powder, natural flavour)

First smell: smells of powdered dairy and pepper, and not too far off from Miss Vickie's Lime and Black Pepper flavoured chips.

First taste: Oh, yeah. Definitely, getting that zing of pepper on side of my tongue, and the whey/cheese/cream powers coat the top of the tongue. I'm definitely getting the cacio e pepe-adjacent flavour 

Aftertaste:The creamy cheesiness lingers while the tingle of pepper haunts the taste buds. Delish.

Mass consumption: It's a pretty rich potato chip, so I may get oversaturated at some point but I'm certainly enjoying them in a very addictive fashion. I can probably keep eating and eating but I know that eating kettle chips, more so than regular chips, tend to unsettle my stomach, so I need to nosh lightly.

Final thoughts:I freaking love it. It's a limited edition flavour so I'm going to have to stock up.

Rating: 8.9

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

Chiplog: Bret's Aligot

Pre-chip: I don't know what "Aligot" is, but I gather from the package that it's, like, fondue cheese? Ok, quick search finds that Aligot is a fondue-like dish made from cheese blended into mashed potatoes from the L'Aubrac region in the south of France. I love mashed potatoes, and I love cheese, so I need to try Aligot at some point. But for now, le chipsier francais will have to do

Ingredients:Potatoes, sunflower oil, processed cheese powder, whey powder, natural flavourings (milk), salt, garlic, cream powder.

First smell:Even without sticking my nose into the bag, the aroma is punching me in the nose with delight. It's a sharp cheese smell that is unlike any Cheeto or Dorito out there. Super appealing but also intense.

First taste:This is perhaps the strongest flavour on a Brets chip I've ever had. Cheese and garlic in an intense combat in my mouth, powerful and pleasing. The sharpness of the cheese is like a bold white cheddar chip or popcorn flavour dialed up a couple notches without the side of manufactured flavour boosters or, as is so common, onion.

Aftertaste: The garlic lingers as garlic is want to do, but the desire for salted starchy cheesiness is what triggers the brain for more.

Mass consumption: At first I thought this would be too powerful a cheese flavour to want to eat too much of, but no, it's surprisingly easy to return back for more and more. I've already eaten three handfuls before I wrote these meager few paragraphs. This bag is going to go down real fast and real easy. 

Final thoughts: After repeatedly dipping into the bag, my oily powdered fingers mucking up my keyboard real good, I realized this flavour was triggering a familiar sensation, a sort of nostalgia tug. Growing up in Northwestern Ontario, our preferred brand of chips was a regional company called Old Dutch (who have since expanded nationally). They had a chip called "Onion and Garlic" which, to this day, is the only onion and garlic chip I think I've ever seen. Despite not having onion in the ingredients, the potency of the garlic and the creamy cheesiness for some reason (I guess "garlic") is creating that same sensation. Delicious onion-free chip plus nostalgia trip, oh yeah!  If ever I want a cheesy chip, this will definitely be a go-to (if it sticks around).

Rating; 8.8

Chiplog - Brets Porcini Mushroom

In recent years I have developed an intolerance to onions, consuming which in its various forms can lead to becoming violently ill at worst, and feeling hours of upper gastro-intestinal discomfort at best. Most flavoured chips (and most flavoured anything in North America) wind up having onion or onion powder as a cheap source of easy power-flavour, which leaves me on the outside looking in wanting flavour for myself but finding very little. Chiplog is my hunt for yummy chips that I can actually eat.

Preamblin': I discovered Brets French chips about two years ago at a local bodega (we don't have real "bodegas" in Toronto, but it sounds fancier than "fruit and vegetable store") and instantly fell in love. Despite a bag of Brets being about double the price of, say, a bag of Lays for about half the volume, I was just so golddang excited to have a whole new array of flavoured chips that I could actually consume.

I wrote about those on my mostly abandoned Instagram account (which I'll maybe collect into a supplement Chiplog post here) and absolutely loved logging my chiply adventures. Unfortunately, said Bodega stopped carrying Le Chipsier Francais, and I was very, very sad. Life has literally not been the same since (I'll have to write an entry about the most disgusting chip I've ever eaten).

Lo and behold I was walking past the very same bodega this Saturday, looking wistfully in the doorway, thinking of fonder times, when I spied, just inside the doorway, the STACK OF BOXES with the Brets chips logo on the side. I handed the dog leash off to my wife without a word and charged inside, ready and eager to get some of my favourite chips of all time back into my gullet....

only to discover....

these are ALL NEW FLAVOURS. None of my favourites from before. No Chip Sauce or anise-flavoured chips for me. No, now I had to go through about a dozen flavour varieties and determine which were onion-free and ready for my consumption.  About half proved safe for eating which meant I had decisions to make. I said "only two" but wound up getting three with nothing but utter glee filling my soul for the day. A new flavour adventure awaits!

 Pre-chip: The first chip I'm going with out of this selection is the one that fills me with the most trepidation, mainly because the worst chip experience I've ever had still lingers large in my subconscious and I was similarly excited about eating that chip. Also, I don't really like mushrooms. It's mostly a texture thing, which should not be a problem here...but what do mushrooms actually taste like?  

Why would I buy a mushroom flavoured chip if I don't like mushrooms? Because it's a flavoured chip I *can* actually eat without bad things happening (potentially).
Why would I choose it as my first? Just to get it out of the way in case I don't like it. That way if I don't like it I still have two other flavours I can dive into. Plus, Lady Kent loves mushrooms so perhaps she will like them even if I don't.

Ingredients: Potatoes (France), sunflower oil, salt, natural porcini mushroom flavouring with other natural flavourings, carob powder, dried garlic, powdered porcini mushrooms.

First smell:I was bracing myself for a powerful scent, but mostly it's the aroma of potatoes with a hint of oil, but strangely not sunflower that I'm smelling, but olive. For some reason the sunflower/porcini mix creates a sort of olive scent.

First Taste: Like all Brets chips, the flavour palette is a subtle one that takes a moment to kick in. Unlike American chips which seems intent on overloading your taste buds Brets always wants you to discover the flavour. First taste is, well, it's chips! Yay! Fucking love chips. And it's certainly not a flavour I'm rejecting at all. I don't really know "mushroom" flavour, but if this is it, it's gentle and pleasant ("earthy" as Lady Kent chimed in) and then the garlic finds you, but again, not overwhelmingly so.

Aftertaste: It's the garlic that lingers the most, and that's more than mighty fine.

Mass Consumption: Two chips in rapid succession and yes, I'm ready to consume. The "mushroom" element is coming more to the forefont and it's really is quite enjoyable, which is a definite surprise for this guy who really doesn't like mushrooms. Will this whole 125g bag get eaten tonight? Possibly, but maybe only if Lady Kent helps. A dozen chips down and the flavour is both benefiting from a cumulating effect of mushroom powder in my mouth, but also overwhelming me only in that it's a flavour I'm not fully accustomed to.

Final Thoughts:Oh, we're back! Back into Brets and I'm beside myself. Consistency from chip to chip is pretty erratic here. One chip very garlic heavy, the next really hitting that porcini, the next a dose of saltiness, but that makes the flavour adventure more adventuresome, and kind of encourages me to shovel three or four in my mouth in quick succession to rediscover the flavours. This would never be a staple chip for me, but I could definitely see having a craving for them, or even, when just wanting something different, reaching for a bag. More than anything though, it's really making me want to discover more chip flavours. (So I like it but I'm also ready to move on?)

Rating:6.9/10