Not like any BBQ I've been to! (Tyrell's Summer Barbecue Potato Chips)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Tyrell's Summer Barbecue Potato Chips
Date:	07/06/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: They taste posher than 'normal' crisps

Disadvantages: Too-hard texture, too spicy, not true to the name of the flavour

I do like BBQ flavoured crisps so when I saw Tyrell's have brought out a new flavour, Summer Barbecue, I had to buy a bag to try despite the hefty 65p price tag for a normal sized packet of crisps. I settled down with a film last night and got my crisps out of the cupboard to munch on as my granddaughters' devoured umpteen tubes of Pringles.

The aroma when I opened the packet was rather spicier than I had imagined it would be, there isn't much in the way of sweet BBQ hitting my nostrils but then I reasoned that crisps very rarely smell like what they are supposed to taste like so I proceeded to eat one.

Each crisp is somewhat larger than I'd expect from, say, Walkers, and the crisps are much more liberally coated in flavouring which gives these specific crisps a reddish, almost pink hue. They look very appetising and I couldn't wait to taste the BBQ seasoning as I must admit the crisps did look very promising after I'd tipped them into a bowl.

They're strange though. Tyrell's have jumped on the bandwagon of making incredibly hard crisps that snap with a *crunch* rather than a *crisp*, straight away I lost interest as a recent bag of Kettle crisps (another very hard brand) almost caused me to lose one of the very few teeth I can still call my own so I knew I'd have to be careful with these. They also don't taste of BBQ at all to me. They have been heavily seasoned which would have been fine if they had stuck to the BBQ flavouring I had been expecting; but no, Tyrell's have decided that they are actually too posh to deliver what they advertise and instead of a rich and warm BBQ flavouring they have simply made these spicy.

There is a distinct curry flavour to the crisps and they have been spiced up to the point of them making my mouth sore as I ate them. I can detect rather a lot of Cajun seasoning in there, although this isn't referred to on the ingredients list so perhaps the combination of spices have just given the impression of Cajun. I couldn't eat the whole packet as they made me feel sick after around half of them, and I don't mean a little queasiness - eventually I felt as though if I had eaten another one crisp I would have been sick. This is partly because of the growing spiciness of the crisps, but also because they have an odd underlying sweetness that is only really obvious once you've eaten a few crisps.

The crisps are not greasy in the slightest, they actually have a very pleasing texture despite the fact that they are too hard for my liking. They are lighter than I had originally thought they would be and this strange flavour has certainly not put me off trying other crisps in the Tyrell's range, to be completely fair to the brand I suppose just because one person doesn't like the flavour it doesn't mean that no-one else should. Personally these were far too spicy for my tastes and totally unlike any BBQ flavoured snacks I've eaten in the past, in fact there is nothing BBQ about them in my opinion.

A 40g bag contains 192 calories and 9.9g of fat, which is a huge amount considering the fact that these crisps are non-greasy in flavour and texture. If you want to try a packet then please be aware that this is a special edition flavour and only available between the months of April and October, although I personally won't miss them when they disappear as I think I'll stick to BBQ Pringles next time!

Summary: An expensive packet of crisps that doesn't deliver on flavour.