Tickle your Tastebuds (Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar)

Member Name: wantaratgirl

Product:	Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar
Date:	09/08/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicous

Disadvantages: Price

Kettles hand cooked Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar chips (crisps) are definitely in the top three bags of crisps I ever ate. The taste grabs you, the design of the bag is yet again tasteful and the quality and morals of the kettle company and brilliant. Kettle chips were one of the first brands of top quality, expensive or "posh" crisps i encountered and to be perfectly honest i have sold my soul to them - I will never look back. This is my review of my favourite crisps and how i came to be addicted...
KETTLE COMPANY


The Kettle Company, Kettle Foods, has been established since 1978 and is an American company. It was founded by Cameron Healy and was given the aim of providing high-quality, naturally sourced products. However it wasn't until 1982 that it began to make Crisps. Luckily it was only five years later before Kettle Foods was established in the UK. Kettle Foods UK was first based in Norfolk to be able to be close with their potato growers so that they could ensure that the potatoes were of the highest quality. Kettle Foods is still based in Norwich.
THE SEA SALT AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR CHIPS


The Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Crisps were invented in 1997 and have gone on to become some of the most popular chips that Kettle make. They are made with one hundred percent natural ingredients, no added MSG, artificial colourings or artificial flavours. The chips are cooked in small batches so that each crisp is evenly cooked and perfectly crunchy.

===WHY I LIKE THEM===

I love Kettle's Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Chips for several reasons: The Tangy Flavours - The vinegar is tangy and flavoursome, however it not too over whelming and allows room for the salt and crunchy potato-y flavour.

The Crunchy Texture - The texture of the crisps is irresistibly crunchy and crisp. They are much more crunchy and crisp than Walkers crisps and any other brand. They are crunchy and lovely to munch on.
UK sourced - In these times when global warming and the Carbon Balloon matters and a bag of crisps could have a carbon footprint bigger than it, it's good to know that some crisps are good for the environment and that potatoes are from the UK. As well as it being good for the environment, the fact that they are sourced from the UK means that they are of good quality as the Kettle Food company check on the suppliers and farmers.
WHAT THE CRISPS LOOK LIKE


The Kettle Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Chips are a lovely golden yellow/brown colour. They are crunchy and circular. Each one is a similar size and is about 10cm wide. I have never yet found a Kettle Chip that is green or black round the edges. The chips are a slightly darker colour than most crisps and are also generally crunchier.
WHAT THE PACKAGING LOOKS LIKE


The Kettle Chips Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar packaging is of a royal blue colour with a lighter section about two thirds of the way down the packet. The quite distinctive Kettle Chips logo is at the top of the packet and is of an creamy, pale yellow colour. The text used on the packaging is of a Times New Roman style only thicker and has an old-fashioned quality about it. On the lighter section of the packaging the text tells you what flavour the crisps are. Again this is in a Times New Roman font and is of a cream colour. The line underneath it reads "absolutely nothing artificial".
The packaging is similar for each small bag of Kettle Chips, except the colouring is different depending on the flavour. e.g. Cream background, white section two thirds down, with dark brown writing for Lightly salted. Or Black with a Grey section and a smokier cream for Sea Salt with Crushed Black Pepper.
WHAT THEY SMELL LIKE


The Crisps smell like tangy vinegar, as you would expect, and a warm baking smell with a greasy chip smell too. When you open the bag you get a big poof of tangy vinegar crunchy crisp flavour. It is quite hard to explain as it is quite unique to Kettle Chips and is gorgeous and just another section of their addictive quality.
WHAT THEY FEEL LIKE


The Crisps have a crunchy feel in the mouth and a slightly greasy feel in the mouth and when you pick them up. However it is not overwhelming and just adds to the gorgeous flavour-some flavours and brings out the other rich tasty vinegar and the salty tang.
ABOUT THE CRISPS

To quote from the Kettle Foods website of what they say about their Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar crisps: "Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar - around 12 years ago, our head chef, Chris, hit upon the idea of complementing sea salt with the distinctively subtle tang of real balsamic vinegar. Sourced from Modena and oak-aged, it creates the perfect balance". I say I have to agree with what they say as the crisps are definitely some of the best crisps ever and flavours really make them delightful.

The boring bit. What the crisps contain:
Select potatoes, sunflower oil, sea salt, dried balsamic vinegar, potato maltodextrin, white sugar, dried barley malt vinegar, citric acid from sugar beet molasses. The Crisps are also suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans. However it is not suitable for people with a Gluten allergy as it contains this.

The nutrition information:

For each 40g serving (which is the weight of a typical small sized Kettle Chips bag) there is:
Calories: 190, which is 10% of your Guideline Daily Amount.
Sugar: 1.2g, which is 1% of your Guideline Daily Amount.
Fat: 10.0g, which is 14% of your Guideline Daily Amount.
Saturates: 1.0g which is 5% of your Guideline Daily Amount.
Salt: 0.8g, which is 13% of your Guideline Daily Amount.
OTHER INFORMATION

Kettle Foods company is owned by Lion Capital who took over the company in 2006. The Crisps do not contain and nuts or sesame seeds and they Kettle Food company do not handle these in their factory.
The price of Kettle Chips ranges from forty-five pence to seventy-five pence depending on where you buy them. My local shop sells them for fifty-two pence.
Other flavours for the crisps include : Lightly Salted, Sweet Chilli, Mature Cheddar and Red Onion, Sea Salt with Crushed Black Pepper Corn and Sour Cream and Chives. However during seasonal months Kettle Chips bring out a limited edition bag of flavoured crisps, some of them are: Roasted Tomato and Basil, White Stilton and Apricot, Wensleydale Dale Cheese and Cranberry, Cambert and Plum, Mature Cheddar with Adnams Broadside Beer, Blue Stilton and Port.
THE GOOD
Kettle Chips are delicious in flavour.
They are quite healthy.
The Potatoes are gorgeous and UK sourced.
The Crisps are crunchy.
The Crisps are completely flavoursome.
THE BAD

They are quite expensive compared to Walkers and own brand crisps.
CONCLUSION

Kettles Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar crisps are the most gorgeous crips i have ever eaten. They are a perfect blend of tasty and crunchy, smooth and buttery, tangy vinegar and tantalising salt. They are delicious and addictive, however they are quite expensive (although well worth it) so it might be worth just buying them occasionally and forgetting other brands of crisps and nothing compares anywhere near to Kettle's Chips. I'm so glad they were invented!
Thank You for Reading!
Ratty

Summary: Well worth every penny