Walkers Crisps Vote 2014

     There are 6 new flavours that - as Walkers seem to do every year - are competing to become a 'new' flavour in the Walkers range.  I have bought two large variety bags and will be trying them all.

Hot Dog and Tomato Ketchup

     Possibly a poor move to start with the one that I feel will be my favourite.  They have certainly captured the authentic flavour of a hot dog .  I did feel that when I finished the bag, that seems to have fewer crisps in than I remember from years gone by,  I actually wanted to eat more.  Possibly a little too similar to tomato ketchup crisps.

Ranch Raccoon

    When I explained to my brother, who lives in Canada, that Walkers were releasing a raccoon flavoured crisp and that I wouldn't be able to tell whether they'd managed to get the real flavour of raccoon, he asked me to read the ingredients.  When I got to 'Dorset sour cream', my sister in law shouted "ranch salad dressing flavour". Ah, problem solved; but I don't know what that should taste like either.  On eating the first one it was so sour that I had to get a drink to take the taste away, the second one tasted better, the third one sour again and so on alternately.  They tasted to me like curdled mayonnaise and although I finished the bag, it's not something I'd care to try again.  I'm sure the fact that for 24 hours afterwards I felt as if I wanted to vomit is a coincidence.  Other sites have reviewed these crisps, such as Grocery Gems, and have described them as 'meaty'.  I thought them sour.  My take on this is that we've been influenced by what we've read; the other reviewers saw the word 'raccoon' and expected meat, I read sour cream and expected sour. However, few of us have found them tasty.  Or, as a Devonian, maybe the Dorset put me off.

Cheesy Beans on Toast

      The one I was least looking forward to as I don't like cheese and don't like beans, but I do like toast. It was therefore a relief that they don't taste of cheese or beans but simply, as with a number of crisp flavours, the great taste of synthetic. I'd say this was like a cheap barbecue flavour, but might just stick with "like nothing that exists in the natural world". I may be doing Walkers a disservice as they do not state which sauce the beans were cooked in. Or if they were cooked at all.

Chip Shop Chicken Curry

     I'm guessing Walker's have labelled these 'chip shop' to avoid being sued by curry houses throughout the world.  On tasting it seems that what they were aiming at was the curry sauce that you get to dip your chips in.  And jolly nice they are too. Or maybe it was just the fact that they're made with free range chicken from Devon.

Pulled Pork in a Sticky Barbecue Sauce

     I was expecting to taste pork and to need to wash my hands afterwards.  Turns out that the crisps aren't sticky and the major taste is the barbecue sauce.  Again the great taste of synthetic. Possibly the most off putting thing is the name 'pulled pork'. I know it's a fashionable thing but to me it has unfortunate connotations.

Sizzling Steak Fajita

      A strong taste of peppers and, so I read, paprika. not an unpleasant taste but I don't like hot, spicy food.  Finding out that the inventor/ proposer is studying civil engineering simply reminds me of the (alleged) Yellow Pages entry - Boring: See Civil Engineers.

Order of merit:

Hot dog with tomato ketchup
Chip shop chicken curry
Cheesy beans on toast
Pulled Pork in Sticky Barbecue Sauce
Sizzling Steak Fajita
Ranch raccoon (frankly, cardboard would be rated higher than these)

Before compiling the order of merit I did try most of the flavours again. And some cardboard to check that I preferred it to Ranch Raccoon flavour.  I couldn't be arsed to vote as it would've mean registering on the Walkers site and quite frankly they can poke it.