Superbon's packaging is by far the most colorful of any salt & vinegar snack I have encountered with an anthropomorphized cow relaxing on the right and a friendly sheep's face breaking the fourth wall by looking directly at us on the left as its ear comes out of the frame. This is also the first salt & vinegar chip bag that is not dominated by light blue which is standard for the flavor for reasons unknown.
In addition to the wonderful packaging, these chips stood out as being the first brand from Spain to grace my table - Chips de Madrid. What are Spanish potatoes like? Would they use a light touch with the vinegar? Do they make 'em differently in Catalonia?
Although the chips' aroma lacked much in the way of vinegar tanginess. it did have a really nice earthy potato smell to it in addition to oil. The chips were of a light gold hue with an occasional brown spot. They were noticeably thicker than your average American spudly slice.
Tossing a couple into my maw, I found that they had a nice crunch to them. They didn't seem to have any extra salt but did have a decent sour zip to them. While I don't know anything about the varieties of potatoes they have over there in Spain, I can testify that the ones used here had a great earthy spud flavor to them and that they were distinctly unsweet.
Not being a food expert/chemist, I am unsure why certain chips have a sweeter taste than others even when the label shows no added sugars. Is it the variety of the potato? Or does handling have anything to do with it? It says here that potato-chipsmiths let potatoes that have been in cold storage sit at room temp for a couple months so that their glucose and fructose levels are lowered. I presume that the sweetness I taste in potato chips comes from these sugars but it's unclear to me if these levels are due to handling, the variety of potato, or both or none.
The chips also had a slight roasty flavor to them which I suppose should be expected considering their slightly darker color. That's another thing: is the color here more due to the cooking time that the chips underwent or more a product of the potatoes having extra sugars?
As expected, the chips at the bottom of the bag were covered in salt and vinaigrette flavouring which made for a nice treat.
The conclusion I come to with most salt & vinegar chips is that they need more vinegar. My tongue should not have to wait to get to chips sitting at the bottom of the bag in order to start going numb. That was the case here but it's OK. If you put enough into your mouth, your tongue will eventually start to feel it. And the potato flavor was quite delicious. To top things off, the illustration on the bag was really neat.
Just a fine eating experience overall.
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