Wherein I question "Earthquake" flavor

Posted May 20th 2008 3:32PM by Kristyn Pomranz
Filed under: Snacks, Raves & Reviews

At AOL Food, we are currently conducting a flavored potato chip taste test. In order to ensure that we received a national breadth o' crispy taters, we hooked up with Anchor's Chip of the Month Club, and man alive did those chiphounds deliver! Among their mysterious inclusions, I found California Chips' "Earthquake" Potato Chips.

Earthquake? Um, huh? My mind went in a couple directions:

These chips are actually plain (erroneously placed in the "flavored box"), but they have such a hardcore crunch that when you bite down, your teeth and skull shatter, much like your Grandma's Ming during an earthquake.
These chips are so obscenely spicy that the burning tongue'n'throat pain can only be accurately captured with comparisons to undue destruction. (Although in that case, a more apropos disaster descriptor might have been "1871 Great Chicago Fire.")
These chips are flavored with sedimentary salt and damp peppercorns, evoking an air of rubble and must.
These chips are, simply, naturally disastrous.

It wasn't until a co-worker suggested, "Maybe it just means that a bunch of spices are all shaken together, like an everything bagel." Oh. Well isn't she rational! Rational and, as it turns out, correct.

According to California Chips, Earthquake is "a mixture of several of our most popular flavors all together." Indeed, upon braving the Earthquake, I discover the smoky sweetness of Honey Barbecue, the slight bite of Creamy Chipotle, the cool herb of Sour Cream & Onion, and the tongue-tingle of Salt & Vinegar - all sublimated into one deliciously nonsensical flavorsphere. For someone like me, who doesn't discriminate against any chip flavor, these Earthquake chips will make grocery shopping a breeze. But I still maintain they need a more appropriate name. Like "Stonehenge."

For more on potato chips, make sure to head over to AOL Food's Potato Chip Taste Test.

Tags: California Chips, CaliforniaChips, Earthquake chips, Earthquake potato chips, EarthquakeChips, EarthquakePotatoChips, potato chips, potato-chip, PotatoChips

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-21-2008 @ 12:30AM

KF said...

I would never equate "Earthquake" with "Everything" or "Mixed Up Spices." I'd equate it with "hard and crunchy or even big broken shards, and even then, it wouldn't make any sense. I'm with you -- it doesn't.

5-21-2008 @ 8:00PM

RJ said...

I am a chip-o-holic...would you recommend this Chip of the month club? I would hate to spend the cash and be disappointed!

7-07-2008 @ 10:02AM

Todd said...

I tried Earthquake chips out of the vending machine at work. I spit them out right away. They were hidious!

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