Moscow Mule Chips: A Review Of Kettle Brand Chips For Your Cocktail Parties
May 06, 2020
Introduction
Potatoes are everyone’s favorite, the Americans ranking second only to the Europeans in per capita consumption of 110 pounds versus Europe’s 220! That’s a lot of potatoes to take in! Considered as the fourth crop in the world, potatoes make a huge impact in the livelihood and food production of the world.
Potatoes take many forms - flour, chips, fries, alcoholic beverages, and as a fresh ingredient for many dishes. Aside from food, potatoes are also used in the production of glue, animal feed and food-grade ethanol used in the production of essential oils, tinctures and concentrates.
However, with the advent of processing and value addition, potato chips made a debut in 1853 and had carved its own niche in the economy. Potato crisps and chips play a huge part in the diet of Americans. However, this classic snack item is not only popular in the US. Among the biggest consumers of potato chips and crisps are France, Great Britain, Egypt, Brazil, South Africa and China but other countries also follow close behind. Consumption of potato chips had crossed all borders and countries with dietary restrictions coming up with their own flavors.
The Kettle Brand Company
Kettle Brand is the 3rd most bought potato chips in Europe. At present, it is marketed as far as Dubai, UAE. Established in 1982 with achieving the perfect potato chips in mind, Kettle Brand started with humble beginnings but that didn't allow the founder to give up. In fact, over years, the company had come up with a wide variety of flavors that were diligently researched before putting it out in the market.
But this company is not into profit only, they are also very supportive of the world leader’s attempt to mitigate the current climatic trend of the world. Aside from renewable energy, they also support wildlife and prairie populations and other humanitarian activities.
Our Pick
Maybe you have decided to buy a Kettle Brand Potato Chips but have not decided on the flavor yet? Here’s our suggestions.
Most Palate-friendly
The Dill Pickle variant gets the vote for the palate-friendly. The sweet and sour taste of the vinegar brine and the fresh taste of the pickled cucumbers clean the palate for more tasty treats later.
Most Appropriate for Cocktail Canapes
You want your canape base not to clash with the topping so we go for the classic flavors. Take your pick from the Sea Salt , New York Cheddar , 40% Less Salt and Unsalted variants.
Most Adventurous
We’re taking the bet on the Honey Dijon flavor to be the most adventurous. The spicy, tangy and sweet combination are just the right touch. Surely an adventure on its own.
Epic Fail
Sad as it may sound, the Korean BBQ is an epic fail. The same goes to the Moscow Mule flavor. The combination of the individual flavors may have worked on the real thing but not on the chips. Sorry, Kettle but reviews did the talk. We’d rather go for the tried and tested flavors for our cocktail chips.
Introducing: Moscow Mule Potato Chips
What’s better than a cocktail chip that actually tastes like a cocktail? Try this Moscow Mule-flavored potato chips from the Kettle Brand. It’s just one of the myriad of flavors that the Kettle Brand produces each year, all using solar power. With the 120,000 kilowatts produced from their solar roofs annually, it can power 100-150 households in a month.
Other Kettle Brand Potato Chips
Kettle Brand has a myriad of potato chip variants that will really blow you away. We decided to group them accordingly so you will have an easier way to navigate in this list. Good luck finding something awesome for your parties!
Classic
These recipes continued to stick to the tried and tested recipes to give you the potato chips you have come to love over the years. Using only healthy oils to fry these chips, sunflower oil packs lots of Vit.E while safflower oil is rich in monounsaturated fats. Both are low in saturated fats and are actually a healthy cooking oil choice.
Sea Salt
Proudly made using the same tradition that kept the Kettle Brand chips alive in the market for the last 38 years, it is only made with potatoes, oil and salt. Okay, so it’s a little fancy because of the sea salt. One bag is enough for a party of 12 persons, if all your guests stick with the serving size of approximately 13 chips per serving. Each serving packs 150 calories, 80 of which comes from fat so be careful with your portions.
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
This Krinkle Cut chips pack more flavor than the regular potato chips as it has more surface area to hold the light sprinkling of flavoring into each chip.
Salt and pepper are among the world’s most famous spices and Kettle is not about to pass up on that variant. Packed with some kick from jalapeño powder, each serving of this chip has 140 calories, 80 of which from fats.
Backyard BBQ
Another classic taste is the Backyard BBQ, a favorite go-to on summer nights when friends and family come together for some good-natured bantering and outdoor bonding.
Capture the taste of that family favorite in each piece of this well-thought of recipe packed with just the right smoky spiciness of chili pepper and paprika.
Each serving packs a whopping 290 calories, 160 of which from fats.
Sea Salt N Vinegar
Another classic recipe - the mild saltiness and the tangy spiciness of vinegar boasts of how even the simplest of flavors can do wonders. This makes a great base for tangy canapes, instead of using the standard bread or crackers.
New York Cheddar
Who would pass the classic cheddar cheese, whether as a sandwich or burger topping or as a potato chip flavoring. Ranking third in the world’s most popular cheeses, it can also be used in making casseroles, pies and the ever-famous mac and cheese. This is also the go-to cheese for processed cheese foods and spreads.
Experience the same classic flavor in the New York Cheddar-flavored potato chips with its sharply tangy taste.
Allergen alert: Contains milk
Sour Cream and Onion
Make way for the addictive soup-turned-dip variant of Kettle’s arsenal of tasty potato chips. Just the right combination of the sweet sour cream and choice spices - onions, garlic and parsley - is enough to capture the flavor of everyone’s favorite. You can actually see the gentle smattering of parsley on the chips.
Made with mostly organic ingredients, this is certified gluten-free and Non-GMO as indicated on the emblems in each packet. Each serving as 150 calories, 80 of which comes from fat.
Allergen alert: Contains milk
Adventure-packed
Maple Bacon
You can’t let go of the sugar and most definitely not the bacon! These two can wreck enough havoc to your hip but it’s everyone’s go-to comfort food. Everyone loves bacon, in fact, even those with dietary restrictions and vegans have recreated it into turkey bacon and vegan bacon.
Enjoy the rich sweetness of the maple syrup, the spiciness of chili pepper and the smoky goodness of bacon in this potato chip variant. Each serving has 150 calories and that’s just 8-9 chips so be careful with the portions.
Dill Pickle
Krinkle cut potato chips are thicker than the regular potato chips so it can pack more flavor and crunch.
Dill pickles are everyone’s favorite, as a snack on its own or as an addition to sandwiches. Imagine this delightful pickle in your potato chip, complete with the tangy taste of the vinegar and the pickling herbs and spices such as onions, garlic and parsley.
Each pack is one serving which is equal to 300 calories with 162 calories from fat!
Buffalo Bleu Cheese
Blue cheese is made using cultures of a mold and carries its own characteristic smell and appearance. It is very common to find this cheese riddled with blue vein-like streaks of mold.
Not to be outdone, Kettle’s own food chefs and scientists came up with this very adventurous variant of potato chips that evoke the spiciness of buffalo wings and the flavor and aroma of blue cheese. Be prepared to be blown away.
Allergen alert: Contains milk
Honey Dijon
Dijon mustard is slightly less vibrant than the yellow mustard with a tinge of brown from the brown mustard seeds. It is also a bit tangy with the addition of white wine and young grape juice. Sweetened with honey, this makes a good dip or dressing. Now, it’s on your potato chips.
Internationally Spicy
Almost everyone loves a little spice. Whether you are into extra hot and spicy or into just mildly spiced, there is one for you. These variants are inspired by some known international cuisines and spices.
Jalapeño
Ranging from 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville heat units (SHU), the unit of measure for the hotness of peppers, this is a mildly hot pepper, even lower on the scale compared to cayenne. A Mexican staple in the kitchen, it is the pepper used in making chipotle.
Evenly seasoned with onion, garlic, jalapeño, and parsley, this potato chip has just the right spiciness for your discriminating taste.
Wasabi Ranch
If you crave something Japanese, this is it. This green paste comes from tubers known as Japanese horseradish. This can be a good substitute to hot mustard since they basically have the same flavor profile, it is a favorite condiment for sushi.
Now, you can enjoy it with this spicy condiment with a hint of ranch dressing in these potato chips. You’ll surely love how it flavors the Krinkle Cut chips.
Allergen alert: Contains milk
Spicy Queso
Go Mexican with this inspired Krinkle Cut potato chips. Spicy queso is a very good spicy cheesy dip flavored with cayenne and green peppers, parsley with a slight smoky taste.
Allergen alert: Contains milk
Pepperoncini
This Italian favorite, pepperoncini is a very mildly hot chili pepper usually used as a favorite spice in Southern and Central Italy.
This potato chip is flavored with a combination of pepperoncini peppers, garlic, onions, parsley and seasoned with sea salt with a slight tang of vinegar.
Korean BBQ
Koreans are big on sesame oil and you can get a hint of it in this potato chip. Combined with sweet plum, rice wine, vinegar and spices like garlic, paprika, onion and sweetened with molasses, this follows the authentic Korean recipe. It also has a smoky taste for that barbeque flavor.
However, if you are not into Korean cuisine, this may be a bit too much. Reviews rated it an epic fail, contrary to Kettle’s reputation of perfectly flavored chips.
Health-Conscious
40% Less Salt
Made with high quality potatoes and just a hint of salt, it has just 160mg of sodium to it. Perfect for those in the low sodium diet without depriving them of some comfort foods.
Unsalted
This is a better option for those in the low sodium diet with no salt added to it, just the plain potato flavor on it. It’s not zero sodium, though, as potatoes have natural sodium content but the sodium is very nil.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are Kettle Brand potato chips healthy?
Kettle Brand endeavors to make their products as healthy as possible. Even if they are fried, Kettle Brand uses low saturated fat, zero trans fat oils like sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil and specialty oils like almond and avocado oils.
Their products are also certified Kosher and gluten-free. Some of the products have already received the Non-GMO certification but the company has been using non-GMO ingredients since they started.
Are Kettle Brand potato products safe for people with peanut allergies?
Kettle’s potato chips are produced in an environment free from peanuts and other tree nuts. In case other facilities are used with peanuts and tree nuts, the brand makes sure that the public is informed by including a statement that the product has been made in a shared facility.
What is monounsaturated oil?
Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) are healthy types of fats. Between the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the monounsaturated fatty acids, the PUFAs are better, especially for weight watchers.
Although PUFAs are better, it does not mean that MUFAs are bad. In fact, MUFAs are known to also help in weight loss, reduce incidence of heart diseases, reduce cancer risk, may help improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce inflammation.
Why are kettle-cooked chips so crispy?
Kettle Brand has tried and tested many ways to produce their chips but found out that kettle-cooking is the best method because of the even distribution heat, the kettle fryers have just the right thickness to prevent scorching while giving it enough time to cook through. The heat is also maintained with the help of thermostats so the different batches maintain the same quality.
What is the difference between kettle-cooked and regular potato chips?
Kettle-cooked potato chips are just that, cooked in batches rather than the industrial continuous frying used in regular chips. This is a longer process because a new batch of potatoes cooked into the kettle fryer lowers the temperature.
Cocktail Party Chips
Potato chips and crisps make for good party appetizers. Not only do they are gluten-free, they are available in a comparatively neutral flavor that makes them a good base for canape-like appetizers. Not only that, one can never go wrong with quick and easy dips when it comes to potato chips.
Moscow Mule Parties
Throwing a Moscow Mule party? Here are 21 Moscow Mule variations you should try. It has a wide variety of selection, including the fruity strawberry and watermelon variants or the spicy Jalapeño. There’s one on this list that will satisfy your discriminating taste.
Why Use a Copper Mug for Moscow Mules?
Why indeed? Read on here to understand the art and science behind it. We might also interest you for some history of friendship, serendipitous find and pure luck behind the geniuses who came up with this iconic cocktail and the equally iconic mug. Seriously, why would one cocktail call for a mug of its own?
Conclusion
So, that’s about it! The drink that started out from pure luck came out so iconic as to inspire a huge snack company to come up with Moscow Mule potato chips. Maybe it was not that successful but Kettle Brand had earned itself the respect of its consumers that the other potato chip variants are actually worth your money.
Enjoy your parties but remember, drink responsibly. Someone is waiting for you to get home.