We Tried 25 Brands of Corn Chips. Here’s the Best One
Results from My Family’s Annual Summer Food Taste-Off
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Looking for a fun and easy family tradition? How about a slurp-off!
My extended family has gathered for nearly a century on Tybee Island, off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. My father began coming here in the 1930s, when the trip required a train ride from downtown Savannah; a telephone call was long distance; and air conditioning was still a fantasy. Today the car ride takes 20 minutes; air conditioning is nearly universal; and the long-distance telephone call has been replaced by too many people trying to log onto the wifi.
But one thing hasn’t changed at all: summer foods—from fresh peaches to ripe tomatoes to homemade ice cream.
And these days, in my family, a competitive taste-off.
The idea began about a dozen years ago with a debate about the best way to boil an egg—wait for the water to boil, then put in the egg or put the egg into cool water, then have them boil together; boil the egg for 10 minutes or 15 minutes; add salt or don’t add salt? Given all the differences, we decided to test the alternatives.
A tradition was born. In the years since we’ve held competitive, blind taste-offs for maple syrup, barbecue sauce, jelly, popcorn, potato chips, olive oil, ice cream, chocolate bars, apples, honey, seltzer, applesauce, and, this year, corn chips. We chose corn chips because they satisfy different generations of palettes; plus, one of us is gluten-free.
This year's slurpoff corn chips
The rules are simple. Different family members submit entries (and, as the commissioner, I usually head to a few stores to round out the choices). This year, I actually made several trips to specialty markets to increase variety and authenticity. Each taster receives a ballot with three different measures, which they evaluate on a scale of 1-10; this year, the measures were appearance, texture (i.e., structure, feel, and “dippability”), and flavor. The entries themselves are divided into categories: this year: white/yellow corn; colored corn (blue, red, purple); and flavored (lime, chili, salsa verde, nacho cheese, etc.).
Entries are served blind; comments commence (Ooh, that’s good! Yuck, that’s too hot! OMG, that’s so gross!), and ballots are tallied. This year, as in the past, I announced the vote tally for each entry, along with the overall top three point getters and the bottom three point-getters.
Here are the 25 brands we sampled this year, followed by this year’s winners and losers:
Photo credit stolensun from Getty Images via Canva
1. White/Yellow Corn
365 brand Salted Restaurant-style Tortilla Chips
Mi Niña White Corn Tortilla Chips Organic “Sea Salt”
Trader Joe’s Organic White Corn Tortilla Chips
Green Mountain Gringo All-Natural Tortilla Strips Yellow Corn
Zack’s Mighty Organic Tortilla Chips Sea Salt
Xochitl Totopos de Maiz White Corn Chips Organic Sea Salt
Tito’s A Taste of Old Mexico Yellow Corn Sea Salt
Tortilleria Chinantla All-Natural Tortilla Chips
Vista Hermosa Totopos Sea Salted
Photo credit kerem kurul from Getty Images via Canva
2. Colored
Trader Joe’s Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Vista Hermosa Totopos Blue Corn with a Flash of Lime
Late July Snacks Blue Corn
Private Selection Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Garden of Eatin’ Blue Chips
Simple Truth Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Tostitos Simply Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Garden Fresh Gourmet Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Photo credit bulentumut from Getty Images Signature via Canva
3. Flavored
Late July Snacks Garden Ranch
Tortilleria Mi Niña Pico de Gallo
Paqui Zesty Salsa Verde
Garden of Eatin’ Red Hot Blues
Trader Joe’s Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips Chili & Lime
Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde Corn Tortilla Chips
Late July Snacks Sea Salt & Lime
Dorito’s Nacho Cheese
And now to the winners and losers! The top three vote-getters were:
3. Garden Fresh Gourmet Blues
2. Dorito’s Nacho Cheese
1. Tostito’s Simply Organic Blues
As a rule, the crowd found the white and yellow options too bland, while two of the top three highest scorers, including the overall winner, were blues; the second members of the top three was, well, orange.
As for the bottom three vote-getters, they were, from least worst to most worst:
3. Garden of Eatin’ Red Hot Blues
2. Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde
1. Trader Joe’s Organic Blues
Eleven tasters took part in this competition, from 17 to 85. Given this range, perhaps it’s not surprising that commercial brands did well, while Trader Joe’s did especially poorly. Corn chips were deemed one of the best slurp-off foods we’ve done in years.
Now comes the hard part: What will we slurp next year?! Would love to hear your recommendations below.
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Or check out my books that inspired this newsletter: Life Is in the Transitions and The Secrets of Happy Families.
Or, you can contact me directly.
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