Evil Snacks

I'm an avid snacker.  Particularly crunchy, munchable snacks.  And because snacks are such a considerable part of my diet, I do care to sometimes find ones that are relatively healthy.  Which lead me to Evil Snacks, a brand of snack food mushrooms.  

"Vegetable chips packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, mushrooms offer a nutritious boost to your diet, supporting overall health and well-being."

Yes, mushrooms.  Whole oyster mushrooms to be exact.  Snackable, crunchy, mushrooms.  They currently come in three flavors, all of which I tried. All flavors are gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO, etc, etc.

"NATURAL UMAMI EXPLOSION - All-natural mmm’s with no artificial flavors. Seriously Satisfying. ALL 'SHROOM, NO MUSH - Crunchy kettle-cooked whole caps. Crunch Crunch Crunch."

The form factor of these was kinda fun.  Super crispy.  Assorted size and shape pieces, all fairly large (as they are whole mushrooms after all).  They were almost like tempura fried, as they are batter coated (with rice flour, so still gluten-free), not just the mushrooms like other vegetable chips.  I found them really quite fun to snack on.

Shroom Original
(now branded Sea Salt Umami).

"Enjoy the rich, earthy umami crunch of our Sea Salt Umami flavor!"

The first flavor I tried was the simple "original" flavor, described as "natural umami".  The batter was seasoned only with salt and sugar, so basically, you really tasted the mushroom and batter clearly.  I found the taste ... not particularly enjoyable, and I'm not sure why.  I love oyster mushrooms, so this really was a let down.  They were nicely salty though, and indeed, umami as advertised.

Great form factor, fun, but really only 2/5 as I wasn't into the taste as much as I thought I'd be.

Sour Cream.
(Tangy, Tart Umami).

"Enjoy the tangy, tart, umami taste of our Sour Cream flavor with crunchy bursts of natural umami."

I opened the bag of sour cream and expected to be met with the same mediocrity.  But actually, these were considerably better!  I again liked the form factor, and appreciated the variety of shapes and sizes.  Great crunch, so much umami.  The base of these is exactly what I had wanted from the previous flavor.

And then, the sour cream.  While it wasn't necessarily identifiable as sour cream, there was definitely a savory dairy thing going on, and some nice spices.  Except, well, it wasn't dairy, as they are vegan, but it did have that kind of creaminess somehow.  

I devoured a bag of these in seconds flat, and was surprised by how much I loved such a savory snack.  They go great with mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash somehow too.  4/5.

Fiery Thai.
(Mildly Spicy, Tangy Umami).

"Enjoy the mildly spicy, tangy, Thai-inspired flavor!"

These were exactly the same form factor as the others that I have come to expect.  I loved how crunchy they were, and liked the assorted sizes.  They were well coated in seasoning too, and didn't have the odd taste of the originals.

The flavor was pretty generically Thai-inspired, as advertised.  I didn't find them spicy really, and definitely not Thai spicy, but, they were quite savory, and the flavor was complex, in the way Thai flavors are, although they sorta had a soapy taste on the finish. I finished these, but I preferred the sour cream flavor. 3/5.