Lorenz Snacks

Lorenz is a German snack food manufacturer.  As a lover of snacks, particularly ones I've never tried before, I of course snatched up a few assorted bags when in a convenience store in Poland when I was visiting.  Girl needs her evening hotel snacks after all!

Curly

"Curly are a truly irresistible treat to munch on. Whether in a quiet moment or together with family and friends … they are so wonderfully crispy on the outside and yet melt in your mouth. And just between you and me: that great peanut taste will charm a smile onto everyone´s face!"

Curly come in two flavors, Peanut Classic or Mexican Style.  I tried both.

Both flavors were the same form factor: very similar shape to, but smaller than, Osem Bamba, both in length, but more meaningfully in girth.  They were considerably more crunchy as a result, and far more greasy.  I was surprised how greasy feeling my fingers quickly got.  

Peanut Classic.

"Lorenz Peanut Curls Classic: The classic with the unique nutty taste. Crispy to the bite, but tenderly melting in the mouth, the corn snack is simply delicious. Only selected peanuts of the best quality are used for Peanut Curls. Freshly ground, they provide the unmistakable, natural taste. So they taste especially crunchy, light and delicious."

Once I got past the smaller size and texture, next up, was the taste.  I did taste the peanut I desired, and ... salt!  They really were quite salty.  I felt like the peanut flavor was stronger than bamba, and the salt level was definitely higher.  But otherwise, yes, a crunchy slightly airy corn snack with peanut coating.  I liked them slightly less than bamba mostly because they had the greasy thing going on, but I appreciated the stronger peanut taste and even the salt once I adjusted to it.  ***+.

Interestingly, the makeup of Curly vs bamba is different not in the direction I expected.  Osem bamba have peanuts as the first ingredient (49%), followed by corn, palm oil, and salt.  Just 4 ingredients.  Curly on the other hand have peanuts as the second ingredient (33%), behind corn semolina, and also have vegetable oils, salt, tomato powder, detrose, yeast extract, and "flavouring".  Given that I tasted more peanut, I was surprised to see Curly actually had the lower peanut content.  I also will admit I did not tase the tomato powder at all, and that boggled my mind a bit.

Mexican Style.

"Spicy curls. The crispy Mexican-style peanut curls will put you in a fiery mood. The fluffy peanut flips made from golden yellow corn flour and freshly ground peanuts have been refined with spicy chilli notes, giving them a particularly spicy taste. Enjoy this crispy snack at your next “fiesta” or while watching TV and get that Mexican feeling."

The Mexican style loses the tomato powder, and adds paprika, onion, chilli and ... sweet whey powder to mix, and drops the peanut content even lower to only 28%.  They looked slightly more red than the classic, but otherwise were the same form factor.  Again more greasy than bamba.

They too tasted more strongly of peanut than bamba, an even bigger surprise as they are only 28% peanut, to bamba's 49%.  They weren't nearly as salt forward as the classic, but otherwise were pretty similar, more savory than bamba, again a surprise as bamba do not have added sugar, and these do.  

Now, as for the "Mexican style" ... if you are looking for a spicy snack, these are definitely not it.  The chili was really, really, really minimal.  The faintest hit of something on the finish, but definitely not spicy in any way, and you could easily eat the entire bag and never have the heat build (gee, how could I know that fact?).

Interesting, but again I do prefer bamba.  ***+.

Side by Side Comparison.

In case you are curious, here's my (literally) side by side taste test of a bunch of peanut puffs:

Osem Bamba

Trader Joe's Bamba

My first introduction to this sort of snack.  Medium size, strong peanut, great salt, good crispy exterior but soft inside.  I really can't tell any difference between Osem and Trader Joe's branded ones.

Lorenz Curly Peanut Classic

Lorenz Curly Mexican Style

Much smaller, particularly in girth.  Way crispier.  Very greasy.  Classic have stronger peanut flavor than bamba, although actually lower peanut percentage (49% in bamba, only 33% here).  I like them less than bamba, slightly. Mexican style also have stronger peanut flavor than bamba, even more surprising here since these are only 28% peanut.  Very faint spice to them, but certainly not spicy in any way.  Fun to try something different, but the greasiness is a deterrant.

Przysnacki Chrupki Orzechowe.

Another different form factor! These are like two pieces fused together.  Overall bigger, crunchier than bamba (about on par with Lorenz Curly), and less airy.  I actually thought they were a bit *too* crunchy.  Really great peanut flavor, good salt level.  Probably the best in terms of taste. Somewhere inbetween Lorenz and Osem/TJ in greasiness. My full review.