Kotas Reviews Guinness Potato Chips

We are getting deep into Spring, and Summer is just around the corner. What a wonderful time to sit outdoors with an ice cold beer and a big bag of potato chips to indulge in some pure snackitude. Chips and beer have gone together since the era of the Free Lunch in saloons and bars across the country, because what better way to quench your thirst after eating a bunch of salty chips than to wash it all away with pint or three? If only we could get that experience in a single snack food. Well, that time is upon us. Today we crack open a nice big bag of Guinness Potato Chips.

Thick Cut, because Manliness!

I honestly never thought I'd see the day where two products that were as vaguely related to each other as these would be crammed together in marketing bliss. Then again, I always did underestimate the snack food industry's insatiable appetite for gimmickry. So here we are. Oh, and for those of you who think this is merely a Guinness branded bag of regular old chips...

Exhibit A.

 This is the real deal ladies and gentlemen. Irish Stout (specifically Guinness) flavored potato chips. What is this world coming to? Now, as a tippler of taste, I do enjoy me a good Irish stout, and Guinness will always be my first love. There is simply nothing like having a nice Guinness straight from the tap to make a meal feel comforting. That said, this is profoundly strange. Let's open up the old bag, shall we? 

They remind me of the Lay's Cappuccino chips from way back when.

Well, that certainly is a flavoring. I guess I should have expected this sort of look from a Guinness flavored anything, but "coal dust" is not a look I generally desire on my potato chips. They mostly just look dirty. The scent is only sorta kinda like Irish stout, though I probably wouldn't be able to place it without looking at the package. Very earthy. Let's dig in.

Again, this is kind of okay, I guess. It does have the bitterness associated with Guinness, but this flavor doesn't really sit well with the large potato flavor it is trying, and failing, to compliment. The overall experience is mostly fine, but it isn't what I would call good, nor does it recreate the experience of "eating potato chips while drinking Guinness". It hints at it, and it does have novelty factor, but the price of these chips is too high for what you get. At least it doesn't taste like a mouthful of coal dust, I guess. Oh, and it's $4 for a "half standard chip bag". Not the best value in the world.

On the FACE Rating System, these chips get 0 Faces. I do not hate them, but I don't like them either. They are "okay, I guess" and I get to say that I ate Guinness Flavored Chips. If this matters to you, you might try to score some, but otherwise? Give it a pass. Just go get a bag of Kettle Chips and drink a Guinness. Much nicer experience.

Kotas Reviews Superman Cereal

Well, we've covered one half of the summer's biggest superhero throw down, time to look at the other side of that coin. Let me level with you, I've always felt that Superman works best as a part of an ensemble because he serves as the powerhouse AND the moral compass. It his own stories, it is how those around him act and react that adds interest, because this kind of character is easy to make boring or stupid (or kind of a dick). Of course, we're not here to examine Superman as a character, but as a breakfast...

Look! Up in the Sky! It's a Bird! It's a Plane! No, it's...a cereal?

Again, they don't list the hero's name on the front of the box, but that big red S is reeeeeally hard to miss. It is also very very shiny, which it turns out the Batman box was too, but since it is BLACK it doesn't stand out nearly as much. Super fancy, General Mills! I applaud your best efforts here. So, how does it look in the bowl? 

Like, well, cereal. I expected it to be fancier...

So, this is listed as Caramel Crunch cereal. Frankly, I am surprised at this. When it comes to flavors, Caramel does not scream "Last Son of Krypton's breakfast" to me, but hey, what do I know about alien physiology? The scent is straight corn and fakey caramel. Smells pretty good actually. The look of the pieces is...well, it sucks. It is the OUTLINE of the traditional Superman symbol. With the Batman cereal, it's pretty obviously Batman (or at least, bat) themed, but this? It's pretty damn generic and bland. Which, come to think of it, is a criticism leveled at Superman from time to time. Huh. Anyway...

The taste is pretty amazing. Super, even. Nice caramel flavoring, with a hearty corn crunch to back it up. It's like Corn Pops, but instead of Honey you get Caramel instead. It's not particularly thematic, but sometimes what you want is something that just tastes good from start to finish and doesn't ask much of you. It isn't the cereal we deserve, but the cereal we need. 

On the FACE Rating System, this gets 2 smileys. It may not be particularly thematic, but it's damn tasty and the theme doesn't detract from it. Reliable, good, not particularly fancy...kind of like the hero it represents. If you like sugary cereal, give this one a whirl!