Kent Crisps Ashmore Cheese & Onion

These crisps are made with Ashmore Cheese: traditionally matured Ashmore farmhouse cheese (I wonder if "farmhouse" is a technical term?) made by cheesemakers of Canterbury. Apparently Jane the producer of Ashmore farmhouse cheese loves the full-bodied flavour of these crisps.

And they are pretty tasty. I have found some of the Kent Crisp flavours a little disappointing but this fancy version of cheese & onion is pretty good. Yes, very nice indeed.

It seems I left my camera at home the day the reluctant taste testers and I tried this very tasty crisp; so no photo of the actual crisps. But I recall a rich golden colour and lots of flavour dust.

And once again the Kent Crisp team have come up with a lovely packet design. All the packets are wonderfully designed and if I ever saw this on a supermarket shelf (remember I have only ever found them on a cross channel ferry) I am certain that they would stand out.

Kent Crisps Oyster & Vinegar

Yup, another Kent Crisp. With a great image of beach huts on the packaging. Yes, we love the packaging.

But I'm not sure about the flavour. I didn't tell anyone what this crisp was because I was absolutely sure no-one would get it. And I was right. Most of the reluctant taste testers commented that these crisps were very vinegary. I confess I didn't notice this particularly. But none of them picked the actual flavour at all, apart (nearly) from History Graduate taste tester who suggested Fish & Chips.

Now, that's an idea. Fish & Chips crisps. Or in the US, Fish & Chips Chips. Or would that be Fish & French Fries Chips? Not such a good name in that case. And er, anyway, is Fish & Chips a thing in the USA? I don't know. And in case you weren't aware, Fish & Chips, or perhaps these days Fish'n'Chips is huge in the UK.

So... no-one thought of oyster as a flavour and I can't say I'm surprised. To be honest I tasted with a little trepidation (you know I don't eat fish) but to me the flavour was bread. Not unpleasant, but bread. And Tall Elegant taste tester said she saw what I meant.

I think we award this crisp a "could do better".

I wonder would these crisps taste more convincing if there weren't suitable for vegetarians? After all, an oyster is not a vegetable. So there aren't any oysters here.

Kent Crisps Smoked Chipotle Chilli

This is another packet of crisps from the cross channel ferry between Dover and Calais. You can find them at some supermarkets I'm told, but not at any supermarket I've been to. So I stocked up on the ferry. Much to the mystification of the staff.

A nice little 40g packet of crisps, lovely orange chilli colour, nice crunch, and a very attractive savoury chilli flavour. Not too hot and certainly not too sweet.

The reluctant taste testers took no time at all to polish off these crisps.

Very nice. And the packaging design is lovely too.

The crisps are made in Ramsgate in Kent, with chilli grown by a guy called Steve who farms chillis in Kent. Nice local product. Well... local if you live in Kent!

Kent Crisps Sea Salt

Found on the cross channel ferry once again, this Sea Salt flavour from Kent Crisps is pretty good.

Not super exciting, not fancy in its flavour, not particularly fabulous or different in any way. But tasty. Big crisps with a nice salty taste. And a good crunch.

No, not exciting. But pretty good.

The people on the ferry assured me I could buy these crisps in my local supermarket. But I can't. Not in North London I can't. Which is a shame. But there you are.

As ever with Kent Crisps the packaging is rather a nice design.

Kent Crisps Roast Beef & Spitfire Ale

Tall Taste Tester found this packet of crisps in his local Budgens.

The first time I went to our local Budgens I was very impressed at the interesting and unusual variety of crisps. Next time I went, only a few weeks later, the unusual crisps had all vanished so I didn't go back. Perhaps I should.

Because here is a packet of Kent Crisps, such as I found on the ferry from France and we rather enjoyed.

The packaging tells me that Shepherd Neame, which produces Spitfire Ale (made with Kentish hops of course), is Britain's oldest brewer. It also tells me that the flavour of this Ale gives the perfect zesty punch to the roast beef flavour.

I'm not so sure. As Tech Taste Tester put it, he'd rather had a pint of ale with a packet of beefy crisps. For myself I think I'd sooner have a plate of roast beef with a pint of ale... or a pint of white wine. Sorry! I mean a glass of wine.

Good quality hand cooked crisps, a good crunch and rather dark coloured flavour dust. Not a bad crisp at all. But we weren't sure that the ale added to the flavour, and we found the beef flavour only appears right at the end of your mouthful. Not a resounding success with the taste testers. And the Chef said the crispy part is OK, it's the taste part that's not so clever.

But another flavour from Kent Crisps might be brilliant. So we'll see what we can find.

In the meantime, I applaud Kent Crisps because the packaging design for these crisps is wonderful. Of course this flavour is illustrated with a Spitfire (an RAF plane famed for taking part in the Battle of Britain in WWII) flying over the Kentish coast. Brilliant.

Kent Crisps Sea Salt & Vinegar with Biddenden Cider

This was an exciting find on the P&O cross channel ferry last week. I think it was the Pride of France. Maybe?

And huge thanks to the lovely Maggie who allowed me to buy this packet despite the fact that the tills were already closed. Basically I blackmailed her into it: I said (with a sob in my voice) "but I didn't know you sold these great crisps and I've never seen them before... and I write a blog about crisps" and she gave in and sold me this little 40g packet.

There were other flavours on sale but I grabbed the first bag that met my hand. And since the tills were closed and I was on borrowed time I didn't think it was appropriate to start reading all the different packets. Plus I didn't have all that much UK money in my purse and maybe trying to pay in Euros might be pushing it.

Maggie did tell me that you can buy these crisps in Tesco. But I have a feeling that's Tesco in Dover and not Tesco Finchley Central. I haven't yet had the chance to check but I would be quite surprised to find them on sale in North London.

This is a lovely fine cut crisp with a nice clean crunch. And a really quite sharp taste. Not only do we have sea salt & vinegar, but also the addition of Biddenden cider. The packet says that Julian from Biddenden Vineyards believes we have created a truly mouthwatering crisp. Which I guess is pretty much the case; with the sharpness of the vinegar and the Biddenden cider it would probably be hard not to create a mouthwatering crisp.

I would be interested to try another flavour from Kent Crisps. This seems like a product from a company determined to produce a good product.

Nice packaging design too.

 

Update: the Chef doesn't even like salt & vinegar crisps but he finished the packet all by himself.