Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chili

More Walkers chips - thank you, UK candy store nearby that also sells chips!  They had this bag and I bought them.  Simple as that, friends.

The bag itself has two chili peppers on it, so I'm expecting to be in some pain.  Wahoo!  But, when I open the bag up... possible deception!  These mostly just smell like potatoes.  And look a little like Christmas with their red and green speckles.

But what do they taste like?

Like weirdly spicy potatoes is what they taste like.  My tongue is burning and I can't even pinpoint which taste of the chip caused it.  It's just burn-y.  They're really pretty mild, apart from the sudden onset mouth burn that disappears nearly as quickly as it arrived.

I wish I had more to say, but these don't taste like much more than spiced potatoes.  This is not what I expected from Thai Sweet Chili - or from Sensations!  With a bag like that I thought there'd be sensations.

Overall?  Not worth it.  The spiciness is without any real flavor and if I wanted chips that tasted like potatoes, I'd buy plain chips.  They're not awful, but I wouldn't buy them again

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Dirty Potato Chips Sundried Tomato and Basil

These I've been looking forward to!  I love sun-dried tomatoes (and tomatoes in general, come to that) and basil.  Let the chip eating commence!

To start, they have a very strong smell that smells more like strange basil and maybe a hint of tomato paste.  They also have weird brown seasoning nibblies everywhere which I can only imagine is the basil flakes?  Some chip are an orange-y/red which is the tomato, no doubt.

But what do they taste like?
Salty.  They taste very salty.  With a very strong, sweet sort of tomato paste aftertaste.  I don't know if I'd call these tomato and basil - I'm not sure what I'd call them, but they're not bad.  They're also weird.  I don't quite know how I feel about them.  The strongest taste is the taste of tomato paste and salt I think, and a bit of sweetness after (leftover from the paste taste?).

One thing that's so nice about chips is they go with so many different meals.  These?  Their flavor is so strong I'm not sure what you'd eat them with that they wouldn't completely overpower.  There are also some absolutely giant chips in this bag which seems strange.  Somehow kettle chips seem like they should be smaller.

While I like these, the flavor is so strong and... unique... that I can't see myself eating them again unless I want this specific tomato paste-y flavor.  I can't think of anything these would go well with other than overkill on tomato soup maybe.  Still, they aren't bad - I like the flavor well enough... it's just that a few of these go a looooong way.

Rating

Walkers Cheese and Onion

I picked these up at the UK store near my apartment.  I think I've heard that the cheese and onion are good, but I can't remember.  Still... I like cheese and I like onion so how bad can it be?  They had a bag of these in MAX style, that looked like Ruffles (with ridges), but I opted for the original after the salesguy recommended them.

Walkers seem to be the Lay's of the UK so they look pretty much as expected.  Though, Walkers never seem to have flavoring stuff on them.  I'm used to onion nibblies being green (from sour cream and onion chips) so these chips seem deceptively plain.

But what do they taste like?
Salty!  The strongest flavors are the salt and onion.  The onion has a bit of a bite to it - almost like eating raw onions, rather than cooked ones.  I'm not really getting much 'cheese' actually.  The flavor doesn't last very long, which isn't that surprising considering the chips look like they have no seasoning on them.

I wish I tasted more cheese - or knew if I was tasting cheese.  I can definitely taste the onion, but the cheese is much more subtle.  Maybe the cheese is supposed to be that saltiness that hits the first time you bit into a chip?  Not sure, but the onion is definitely the main flavor. 

Still, despite not being cheese-y enough, they're pretty good!  I do wish the flavor lasted longer - after a minute or two I just taste a hint of onion and chip, but other than that it's pretty mild.  These aren't my favorite chips, but I'd get them again.  I like onions so the stronger onion flavor doesn't bother me.  If you hate onions, though, I'd give these a pass.

Rating

Lay's Spicy Ketchup

I bought these right before seeing Dark Knight Rises and I'm fairly certain they got a bit crumpled in my bag, but oh well.  I bought 'em because I hadn't seen them before and of course I suddenly saw them all over the place after.  If they're good that just means I'll be able to find them again!  Sweet.

The bag is bright red and the chips are bright red.  They clearly understand that ketchup is red.  The only thing that isn't red (minus parts of the Lay's logo) are the bowl the ketchup is in, and the jalapeno.  Everything else is red as all get out.

But what do they taste like?
They taste ketchup-y and spicy.  It's the kind of spice that burns my throat, rather than my mouth, which is kinda weird.  There's also a little bit of saltiness in there too - these are Lay's after all.  The flavor isn't actually all that strong after a minute - I tasted more of the chip than the ketchup.  I kinda like these, but the extra spiciness isn't really needed I don't think.

Eating these is a lot like eating plain Lay's chips that got some ketchup on them.  You taste the ketchup from time to time, but you also taste the plain Lay's.  Also, the 'spicy' gets stronger than the actual flavor quite quickly so I really didn't find myself tasting much ketchup.

There's also a very uneven seasoning distribution.  Some of the chips are practically red with flavoring, and others look like they barely got any.  These chips did make me want to try regular ketchup chips, though.  I think without the extra spice these could be pretty good, but as is they leave my mouth burning a bit too long.  If you've tried the ketchup chips and felt that they didn't make your mouth burn enough, you could do worse than picking up a bag of these.

Rating

Marmite Flavour Potato Crisps

I'll be honest.  I'm terrified.  I don't like Vegemite (and I've tried it properly with a friend who likes it fixing me a sandwich of it) and I don't like Marmite.  Even my friends who like Vegemite don't like Marmite.  But here these chips sit.  Mocking me.

Bag open.  They smell awful.  They smell like Marmite I guess.  Potent.  It smells like an old shoe maybe?  I'm trying not to be biased against these from the start, but the smell is really not helping here.  Ok... here it goes nothin.

But what do they taste like?
I picked one without a lot of Marmite flavor on it and mostly tasted chip.  Tolerable.  A bit like eating weird tasting cardboard I'd imagine.  Time to stop mucking about - I'm going to try one that's covered in flavor.  It's not as bad as I thought, but it's not nice either.  And the chips themselves weirdly disintegrate as you eat them.  I'm actually shocked at how not awful these are.  But, let's not kid ourselves here - I am never eating them again after this.

They're very salty for the first bit and then weirdly bland.  Rarely eating Marmite, I can't verify if these taste all that much like it, but I don't think they do.  I remember a strong dislike of Marmite and I can't even muster up the energy to dislike these.  I really expected to have my socks knocked off with horrible flavors and these were just pretty meh.

Is it weird to be disappointed that chips weren't worse?  Maybe.  There's something very unappealing about the first bite - the way that weird cardboard-y flavor just hits you.  They're not as bad after a bit though - it's mostly just a weird savory salt taste that's not particularly appealing.  I could stomach eating more than one, so they don't get a 0, but barely.

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