Ruffles Max Loaded Bacon & Cheddar

I've heard good things about these Ruffles Loaded Bacon & Cheddar chips so I'm pretty excited.  Also, bacon.  So... you know... my hopes are pretty high.

 

I'm guessing that the baked potato part is the chip, while the rest of the flavors are the seasoning bits.  Somehow I thought these would be orange-r, but they look more like sour cream and onion.  They also don't smell great.  I'm not sure what they smell like, but... maybe a little tangy?

But what do they taste like?
They taste like sour cream and onion with a hint of bacon.  And, as with all Ruffles chips, they taste strongly of greasy potato chips and they feel like it too.  Overall I'm pretty unimpressed.  They don't taste bad, don't get me wrong.  I'd happily eat these, but they're not very bacon-y.  Each chip is actually less bacon-y than the last.  They taste more like sour cream and onion than anything else actually.  If these had more bacon flavor they'd be pretty awesome.

Maybe it's just me, but the flavor I taste most when I eat Ruffles is grease.  The flavor is nearly always either drowned out, or at least muted, but it's never as strong as I'd like.  I just can't get over the greasiness to want to eat more of them.  Maybe I got a bad bag?  I really thought these would have a stronger flavor.  All I'm left with right now is a lingering taste of sour cream and onion.

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Joe Chips Sour Cream and Toasted Onion

Who is Joe?  I don't know, but he makes chips.  They're not even Joe's Chips - they are simply Joe Chips.  My dad happened to see these at the store and grabbed me a bag.  Thanks!  I'm intrigued to see how toasted onions stack up against regular onions!

The chips have an odd smell; I'm not sure if it's the toasted onions, or something mysterious and sinister.  The smell a little bit like Ramen instant soup powder.  Not the soup itself, but just the powder.  I'm also used to more seasoning nibblies on my sour cream and onion chips - these don't seem to have very many.  What does it all mean!?

But what do they taste like?
They taste a little bit like the Ramen packet smells, but also with a hint of sour cream and onion.  There's a lot a bit of a flavor which I have to assume is the toasted part of the onion.  It's strange - they both have flavor and don't have much flavor at the same time.

 

There's also a big kick of salt in that first bite before the other flavors make themselves known - and of grease since these seem to be your standard kettle cooked chips.  I also feel like part of the flavor I'm getting is the chip grease taste?  Tough to say.  If I tried these without knowing the flavor I think it'd take me a minute to figure out they're sour cream and onion.

They taste good, but they're not as sour cream and onion-y as most sour cream and onion chips.  Since I rather like that taste, I'll probably stick to other brands, but these aren't bad.  Still not sure why the onion is 'toasted', though.

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