Return to Traverse City

Product: Great Lakes Potato Chip Co.--Parmesan Ranch
Origin: Traverse City, Michigan

First looks

Nick:
Parmesan... ranch? I'm not quite sure I understand the flavor pairing here. Katie likes both flavors, so maybe she'll know if these go together. Honestly, I'm not too excited about these; they smell like vague salt, and that's literally putting my nose directly on a chip to try and figure out what they're going to taste like. The best I'm hoping for is that these are less disgusting than the buffalo chips we had from this company, and those were one of the most disgusting things I've tried, so a pretty low bar for these to clear, I think.

Katie:
As I said in the Mark Buffalo review, the chips would have been better if they were a different flavor and now it's time to test that hypothesis. Who knows, maybe I'll have an elegant potato chip string theory to present in post-bite thoughts. *cue the Provost speech about string theory from the Alpha Centauri game*.

Post-bite thoughts

Nick:
A brave little theory - and actually quite coherent for a system of five or seven dimensions. If only we lived in one! (pause for applause)
Anyway, these chips are okay; I definitely don't taste ranch at all. The main flavor is salt, and then some kind of sharp taste that I guess is supposed to be the Parmesan, but honestly, you could tell me these are salt and vinegar chips and I'd believe that over Parmesan ranch. That being said, they're not bad; I don't think I'd go out and get more, but I'll finish the bag at least. Way better than the buffalo chips.

Katie:
I was right, these are good. Reminds me of sour cream and onion. As Nick said, I'm not sure I pick up the parm or ranch really but the taste is good nonetheless. I also appreciate that these are kettle chips, which--for me--last better in the bag than regular potato chips. Inevitably, I always find these weird, nearly translucent mushy ones in the bottom of the bag when it's regular chips. Kettle chips are nice and crunchy without going strange in the bag. Definitely grab this flavor over the buffalo one if you see these out and about.