Popchips

Update Review, December 2020

Yes, I keep trying Popchips products, even though I don't ever really like them, as you know from my past reviews (and update review).  

This time, another new product, and, yup, not a winner.

Puffs

I had no idea Popchips had a "Puffs" product line, until after I discovered the Bamba Peanut Snacks at Trader Joe's (so good!), got #addicted, but found myself in rural New Hampshire with no Trader Joe's nearby.  What *is* a girl to do?  Seek out more common brands at grocery stories, like, Popchips.

"Popchips has gone nuts. peanuts. we’ve taken everything you love about peanut butter and packed it into one perfectly snackable puff. peanut butter nutter puffs are a symphony of salty-sweet memories born from our shared love for this seductive spread. now that’s #peanutbetter."

It turns out, Popchips also makes a puffed peanut snack, dubbed "Puffs", available in two varieties.  I was hopeful.

They are a different product, no question, the Trader Joe's version is made with just corn grits (salt, oil) and peanut paste, the Popchips version is yellow corn, peanut flour, and peanut butter (peanuts, sugar, salt), sweetened, etc, but, I was still eager to try.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate.

"Puffed snack with real peanut butter."

The chocolate variety called out to me, which, in addition to the aforementioned ingredients, adds in, um, "chocolate seasoning", a mix of sugar, cocoa, whey, cream, milk, salt, and of course "natural flavors".

I ... liked these, but didn't love them.

The puffy form factor was right, very munchable.

They were very peanut buttery, moreso than the Trader Joe's ones actually, but in a way that made them not very craveable - they felt too heavy, left your mouth too coated in peanut butter.  A good thing in some ways, and I did want them to be peanut buttery, but, it was actually just too much.  I guess I liked the lighter peanut paste way that the Trader Joe's manufacturer picked.

I also really wanted to taste chocolate, and these did not deliver in the chocolate department at all.  They were brown, you could see the cocoa powder dusting, but, chocolate taste they did not have.  They left me just wanting more chocolate.

So overall, they were good, they were immensely peanut buttery, but I certainly wouldn't buy them again, and never found myself really reaching for the bag impulsively.

**+.

Update Review, January 2020

I haven't ever really liked Popchips, as you've read in my past reviews.  Like many "healthy" chips, they just aren't actually tasty to me.  Strange textures, always.

But when I was in the UK, I saw a new form factor (ridges!) and an exciting flavor (smoky bacon!), so, I gave them a try.

Verdict?  Yup, I still don't want Popchips.

Smoky Bacon Ridges.

"Sizzling, smoky, sinless - these chips aren’t right off the grill, but they taste like they are. Popped to maximum crunch for ultimate satisfaction, with no greasy finger tips."

These sound fun.  Bacon.  Smoky.  And, ridges are far more exciting than regular potato chips.  But ... I still approached with apprehension, as they clock in at <100 calories a bag, and that isn't because the bag is poorly filled.

I tried one, and forgot that they were supposed to be smoky bacon.  They tasted like "Sweet BBQ", nothing I could really call "bacon" at all.  But far sweeter than a normal BBQ chip.  An interesting, bold flavor, not bad, just not bacon.

But for me, the problem was the texture.  The ridges helped perhaps a little, but not much.  They were still a strange mush base.  Not for me.

Original Review, January 2013

I've been craving salty snacks like crazy lately.  I have no idea why.  In attempts to at least have something slightly healthier, I decided to try out Popchips, a local San Francisco snack company, rather than standard chips.  You can find their products in many stores, and they sponsor tons of events around town.  The have two major product lines, potato chips and tortilla chips.  Their entire premise is that they make healthier chips using some crazy method to pop the chips, rather than fry (unhealthy! oils!) or bake (loses flavor).

I liked the idea behind their products, and I'm all for local brands, but I just can't get past the consistency of their chips.  No matter how great the flavors are, they are just totally and completely off-putting to me.  Blech.

• Tortilla Chips, made with stone ground masa.
• Salsa: These had a strange mouthfeel, like all popchips, that takes some getting used to.  It is very obvious that these are a healthy chip, without any oil.  But the flavor was good, zesty, from tomato, garlic, onion, cayenne.  I probably wouldn't buy these again, but they weren't bad.
• Potato Chips, made with potato starch, potato flakes, and rice flour.  All have a very strange consistency.
• Original: Super boring.  No flavor whatsoever.
• Barbecue: Pretty decent bbq flavor. [ I can't stand the consistency of these.  Flavors don't matter, they are just gross, gross gross. ]
• Cheddar: Meh, not that cheddary, popchip consistency wierd [ Popchip consistency is just horrible, can't really stand these. ]
• Thai Sweet Chili: These tasted like styrofoam.  With some slight flavor, that wasn't distinguishable as sweet chili, perhaps just a mild bbq.  But I couldn't get past the horrible airy styrofoam nature of them.  Eww.

Jimmy John's

Jimmy John's.  A sandwich shop.  That I've likely walked by, many times, over the years, without giving a second look.  I'm not a sandwich girl in general, and I didn't grow up anywhere with a Jimmy John's, so, it was entirely off my radar.

That is, until a T-Mobile Tuesdays freebie promotion offered a free sandwich.  You know me and my freebies (yes, just like Subway, which I reviewed in this same way before, although Subway I was far far more familiar with).

As often happens when I start to write a blog post about a place I am not familiar with, I got sucked into the hole that is learning about Jimmy John's.  It was fascinating!  Short story, yes, started by a guy named Jimmy John in 1982. Long one ... he was a horrible student, parents wanted him to go into military, he loved hot dogs, wanted to start a hot dog stand, turned out to be too high cost, so he ... pivoted to sandwiches.  Yadda yadda, did really well, worked a ton, expanded.  Now they are franchised and also corporate owned.

"FREAKY FAST® FREAKY FRESH®"

Jimmy John's entire premise, as I discovered once researching the place, is, *fast*. They have streamlined absolutely everything to be as fast as possible. This means, that compared to other sandwich shops, they have far fewer options. Some would call it an "opinionated" menu. I did kind of appreciate the simplicity.

"We slice our all-natural* meats and fresh veggies in-house every day. Our fresh-baked bread is made right here where you can see it, and our house-made tuna salad is fresh every day. The flavor of a ripe tomato, crisp shredded lettuce, combined with fresh-baked bread, fresh-sliced meat and real Hellmann's® mayo - that's when the magic happens. Made with love every single day since 1983. That's Jimmy Fresh!"  

Their other premise?  Freshness.   They claim to, literally, slice all their meats, every day, in each store. The produce is sourced locally.  The bread all baked at each store, and (the French) is only used within 4 hours of baking. They produce their own brand potato chips (Jimmy Chips, cooked in peanut oil), and have their own branded hot peppers and mustard. They even claim to make their Ranch dip in house every day?

I pulled up the menu to investigate.  The menu contains the "Originals", simply numbered 1-6, basic sandwich offerings, plus "Favorites", numbered 7-17, that are curated combos (e.g. roast beef AND turkey together, for the #14, vs roast beef alone (#2) or plain turkey (#4)).

And ... that is the menu.   Ok, not quite, you can have any Original made into a "Little John", a smaller version for only $3.  This applies only to Originals though.  It was a Little John that was offered for T-Mobile Tuesday.

I easily placed an order online, and went to claim my prize.

Storefront.

The SF Jimmy John's is located on Pine Street, and looked reasonably busy, mostly people entering for about 10 seconds to pick up their orders and promptly walk out.  I didn't see anyone order in person, although it was an option.  COVID restrictions required no seating of course.

Little John's

"It may be littler than our 8" Original sandwich but it's just as tasty, and the perfect size for your kid's meal or snack time. You can customize your Little John with any of your favorite Freebies or Add-ons."

Originals and Favorites are available in 8-inch or 16-inch, on one type of sub style bread (French loaf) or one type of sliced bread (thick sliced wheat bread), as an "unwich" - e.g. wrapped in lettuce.  The Little John version came in French bread only, in a smaller 6.5" size.

I could customize as I wanted, free sauces and spices to add are limited to mayo, mustard ("Jimmy Mustard" or grey poupon, they believe *ONLY* in dijon!), oil & vinegar, and a curious sounding oregano-basil mix. The later two, the oil & vinegar and herbs, seemed potentially useful to create a vinaigrette style "dressing"? They at least would accent Italian style sandwiches well.  Regular yellow mustard and mayo are also available as packets on the side.  You can pay for avocado guac as well.

The veggie lineup is equally simple: basic lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles.  Plus sliced cucumbers and the aforementioned branded spicy peppers.  You can add one kind of cheese only: provolone.

They offer 5 kinds of meat: ham, roast beef, turkey, salami, and capicola. Tuna salad. Oh, and bacon.  

Nicely Wrapped!

My order was ready very, very quickly, handed over well wrapped, and sealed.

Little John #2. Sliced in half. Don't scoop. $3.

"The Little John #2 is made with the same hand-sliced roast beef as The Big John® and topped with mayo and fresh-sliced lettuce & tomato."

I opted for the roast beef sandwich, otherwise known as the #2.  But of course I added as many free toppings as I could.  Yes, I added them all, and x-tra of nearly everything.

Interestingly, by default, they actually scoop out and remove some of the top bread, but you can always opt to have this left in (and they dominantly tell you how many calories this adds in - 100 for regular 8", 80 for the Little John).  I asked to have it left in, and for the sandwich to be sliced in half.

The bread was … eh.  Since Jimmy John’s focuses on speed, toasting is not an option.  The bread was soft, fresh-ish … but didn’t have much to it, just white bread, a bit … tangy?  Almost sourdough?  Not my thing really.

But it was inside I cared about, right?

Little John #2: Inside.  Lots of extras.

"Xtra Lettuce, Xtra Tomato, No Mayonnaise, Xtra Cucumber, Xtra Jimmy Peppers®, Xtra Sliced Pickles, EZ Jimmy Mustard®, Xtra Onions, Reg Oregano-Basil"

Yup, I got extra of most things, and added everything.  I removed the mayo that comes on it so it wouldn't get soggy, opting to get mayo packets on the side (you can get mayo or yellow mustard on side).

The sandwich was well constructed.  Every ingredient applied equally, distributed well.  Not much to say there.

The roast beef was good, seemed fresh, it was, well, roast beefy?  Not much of it though, as this was a pretty small sandwich.

As for the veggies, yeah, they seemed fresh enough.  Shredded iceberg lettuce and onions were standard, hot peppers were nice for a bit of kick, and I appreciated all the pickles (sliced, decent tang).  I wasn’t as into the regular cucumbers, thin sliced, a bit mushy.  The out-of-season tomatoes were not tasty, as expected, but they did seem fresh, not mushy. 

Little John #2: More Inside.

I did leave the special mustard on, as only regular yellow french mustard is available in packets on the side.  I was curious about their signature spread.

The “Jimmy mustard” is just a grainy dijon, nice for a little flavor, but I ended up adding a lot more mustard, mayo, and sriracha to mine (sriracha packets I had with me in my bag, of course).

So overall?  Um, yeah, it was a basic roast beef sandwich, with fresh enough ingredients.  No more, no less.  For $3 (or, ok, free), not a bad little thing,  but I don't see any particular reason to have one again.

***.