Deep River Snacks New York Spicy Dill Pickle

Now these Deep River chips I'm looking forward to trying.  I'm wary of the 'spicy' in the title, but I've been trying to find new pickle chips for ages (ever since the amazing Intense Pickle Doritos I tried in Montreal).  Could it be that I've finally found a replacement pickle chip?  These even have 'New York' in the title... will it also taste like NY somehow?  I'm intrigued.

These smell pretty pickle-y so I'm feeling pretty confident they'll actually taste like what they're supposed to.  I'm just not sure how the 'spicy' is going to factor in at this point.  It also looks like they're covered in little dill nibblies and a healthy coating of flavor.  We shall see.

But what do they taste like?
Kinda strange.  At first I tasted mostly salt, then a hint of pickle, and then spiciness.  Deep River snacks seem to enjoy making my mouth burn.  Another weird thing that I don't know quite how to describe is that the flavors are very strong, but don't necessarily seem like they're coming from the chip.  It's very odd.  I eat a chip and then the chip is sort of boring tasting, but there's all sorts of salt and pickle flavors and then the roof of my mouth is burning.  Looking at the chips, they seem to be covered in seasoning.  I guess it's possible that the minute I eat them, all the seasoning falls off, leaving a plain chip and all the other flavors everywhere else.  The 'dill' in the dill pickle is also pretty intense... I taste much more dill than pickle in that brief moment when I actually taste it, before the spice starts up.  And, a less than even flavor coating leaves some chips ridiculous salty which is unpleasant.

The problem I've had with the spicy Deep River flavors so far is that they focus too much on the spice.  Pickles shouldn't be this spicy.  I really only taste the dill pickle flavor for the first few seconds and then it's just spicy.  I would much rather taste the pickle flavor rather than the spice.  Also, where is the 'New York' in all of this??  It's like Deep River decided 'New Yorkers like pickles... we should name our pickle chips 'New York' so they buy them... genius plan!'  False.  There is nothing 'New York' about these chips.

These are better than the Aged Cheddar and Horseradish and the Zesty Jalapeno, but they're still not good is the problem.  The search continues for a pickle chip I can easily find in the US.

Rating

El Sabroso Original Guacachip

I grabbed these a few days after I got the El Sabroso Salsa chips because why not, right?  And happily it's a much smaller bag so I won't have them lying around for ages!

For starters the bag is pretty small and seems pretty empty.  On the plate they look kinda lonely.  El Sabroso seems to have skimped on the chip count in this bag.  They don't smell like much and look a little weird.  With that, let's give them a try.

But what do they taste like?
They don't taste like much strangely.  Definitely not like avocados or any sort of guac.  The chips are kind of hard and bland tasting.  There's a hint of salt and spice every so often, but really there's not much.  These definitely do not taste like guacamole unless it's terribly made.  They don't taste bad, but they're way off the mark as far as decent guac flavors go.  There's a smoothness to them, but it's just mild nothingness.  Compared to the El Sabroso salsa chips which weren't great, but at least had some flavor, these definitely miss the mark.

The green chips are also a little disconcerting.  It's not a fresh green... more of a 'this isn't quite right' green.  These are okay chips, but okay doesn't really cut it when it comes to buying them again.  Also, strangely, some of the chips are covered in seasoning and others barely have any, but they all taste roughly the same.  Usually those smothered chips at least pack a bit of a punch, but not in this case evidently.  That being said, I don't mind eating them.  The very mild flavor (a hint of... avocado maybe) is kinda nice.  I just don't feel it's worth it to eat chips that taste so mild.  I'd like to taste what I'm eating!

These weren't bad, but I wouldn't get them again.  There's not enough flavor to make it worth it really.

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Deep River Snacks Zesty Jalapeno

More Deep River chips courtesy of my mom who spotted them and snagged them for me.  Today's chip is the Zesty Jalapeno flavor.  I've never tried Jalapeno chips before (zesty or otherwise) so it'll be an interesting experience.  I like spice if it's the right spice - flavorful, not just painful.

They don't smell like anything much, but as I've learned, that doesn't always mean much.  They seem almost a sickly green color and have weird brown speckles on them.  Excellent!

But what do they taste like?
It just tastes like spicy nothingness.  Ow.  Nothing that burns my mouth.  Ow.  These are definitely spicy, but they don't have any sort of flavor at the same time.  It's very disconcerting!   And it's burning my mouth still.  I only tried one chip to start and there's still spicy pain everywhere.  I wish I had more to describe about these, but the only defining feature at the moment is that they 'are quite spicy'.

I keep eating them in the hopes that I'll taste something else, but these is really nothing to these other than that they are extremely spicy.  I can't keep eating these - they're burning my mouth and it's the kind of burn that will probably last for a bit, too.  It's like Deep River decided 'Jalapenos are spicy... ok that's thinking enough - put these into production!' because it is just spice.

I'm not sure what other Zesty Jalapeno chips taste like, but if they're anything like this then I'm pretty disappointed.  These were definitely not the chips for me, though I do like the kettle cooked crunchiness that Deep River has going on.

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Ruffles Ultimate Sweet & Smokin' BBQ

I got these Ruffles Ultimate Sweet & Smokin' BBQ at the same time I got the Kickin' Jalapeno Ranch chips.  Considering how crap those were my hopes aren't high for these.  The bag doesn't fill me with confidence as it has what looks like a bowl of brown sugar and some jalapenos on it.  Call me crazy, but that doesn't scream BBQ to me.  Oh well - here goes nothin.

It's more promising immediately because they don't smell awful.  They actually smell like BBQ and my hopes lift slightly.  A little sweet and smoky smelling which is what I'd expect given the name.  The chips themselves are practically neon orange - maybe they're radioactive.


But what do they taste like?
Well, just like last time the chips are too big and the oversized ridges detract from my enjoyment of the chips.  The taste, though?  No horrible Jalapeno Ranch experience here!  They taste pretty good for a few seconds - like your typical barbecue chips really, but the flavor is a little stronger which I like.  But then there's this weird spicy kick that I'm not a fan of.  Don't get me wrong - spiciness isn't out of place in BBQ sauce and I'm not surprised because there were jalapenos on the bag, but it's been at least ten minutes since I had one and I can still taste them, even after drinking water.

Overall these are actually pretty good.  At first I wasn't a fan of the extra spice, but it actually really grew on me as I ate them.  Unfortunately I still find the large Ultimate chip size annoying, but they aren't as greasy as regular Ruffles so that's a point in its favor.  The flavor is also very strong - nothing at all like the supremely mild Lay's Honey BBQ I tried.  There's something that both works and doesn't work about these chips.  I think if this flavor was on different chips I'd like them better - as it is, I like how they taste, but don't like the chip itself.

It's strange how much better these are than the Kickin' Jalapeno Ranch.  Why were those so bad?  There are so many BBQ flavors out there, but basically no decent ranch flavors.  Bummer!

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Deep River Snacks Aged Cheddar and Horseradish

My mom found these (and a bunch of other strange Deep River flavors) and picked me up a couple of the weirdest ones!  Thanks, mom!  These aged cheddar and horseradish definitely make my list of 'strange chips'.  The bag is a bright orange and I was actually pretty sure they were sweet potato chips at first glance.

I'm not much of a fan of horseradish, but I do love cheddar so let's see how this goes.  I've also never seen it as a chip combo before, though I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.  They don't smell like much of anything - I was expecting a really potent smell so that's a surprise right there.

But what do they taste like?
Oh!  These... these taste like horseradish.  There's a powerful 'horseradish' taste right off the bat and hardly any cheddar.  It's a very strange sensation - the horseradish flavor overpowers everything with a taste that is distinctly 'horseradish-y' and a spicy burn to match, but then it kind of goes away completely and I'm left with some mouth burn and nothing much else.  It's strange because the chips themselves feel like they're covered in cheddar flavor, but none of it comes out in the bite.  I think the horseradish completely over powers the cheddar; if it's there I've no hope of tasting it.

These chips are definitely a kick in the mouth.  Geez!  Happily, the spiciness doesn't last too long so my mouth has stopped burning which is a plus.  I'm also not sure why aged cheddar and horseradish is a flavor of chips.  Cheddar by itself, sure, but combined with horseradish?  Why?

Hopefully the rest of the Deep River chips are more delightful than this!  I won't be finishing this bag - they just aren't appealing at all.  If you like horseradish, though, give them a shot.  You'll certainly be tasting it every mouthful and may well enjoy them.

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