I recently decided I wanted to do a red hot potato chip taste test. In particular, I wanted to compare my favorite red hot chips from my younger years, Gibble's, with my preferred red hot chips available where I currently live (DC area), Route 11's Mama Zuma's Revenge, plus include Utz, Herr's, and Martin's in the comparison. A recent trip to visit family and friends in my native eastern Pennsylvania provided an opportunity to purchase various brands, plus some other non-competing guest brands and flavors for the taste test.
Here's a quick summary of the brands, including their home location, starting in the front left of the photo and going left to right and front to back:
*Utz (Hanover, PA): a widely available and much liked brand that is popular in not only most of Pennsylvania but also the Mid-Atlantic states, Utz's red hots have been unimpressive to me when I've had them previously, lacking both heat and good flavor. Their red hots ranked 4th out of 4 when I compared them to Herr's, Martin's, and Gibble's a few years ago.
*Martin's (Thomasville, PA): popular throughout central Pennsylvania and available in various states from western New York in the north to eastern North Carolina in the south, Martin's red hots are not overly hot and can be inconsistent heat-wise but the chips themselves taste very good. They ranked 2nd out of 4 in the aforementioned previous taste comparison, ranking behind Gibble's but ahead of Herr's and Utz.
*Herr's (Nottingham, PA): one of three Pennsylvania-based brands to be distributed in parts of the U.S. outside the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast along with Utz and Wise (the latter of which is unfortunately not represented in this test because I couldn't find their red hot Ridgies during my Pennsylvania visit), Herr's is particularly popular in and near the Philadelphia area, where they are the dominant regional brand. When I've had their red hots previously, Herr's had good heat but the flavor was only OK, ranking behind Gibble's and Martin's but ahead of Utz in my previous test.
*Route 11 Mama Zuma's Revenge (Mount Jackson, VA): a regional, small batch brand based in the Shenandoah Valley in northern Virginia, Route 11's kettle style chips are well regarded by many and their hot Mama Zuma's Revenge chips are highly rated by most red hot potato chip fans who have had them, including me.
*Gibble's (Chambersburg, PA): quite popular in central Pennsylvania and some areas nearby outside the Keystone State, "Nibble with Gibble's", the company's long-time slogan, is something the brand's fans have done many times. Gibble's red hots are highly regarded by many people, have long been a favorite of mine, and ranked 1st when I compared them a few years ago to Martin's, Herr's, and Utz.
*Zerbe's (Adamstown, PA): by far the smallest competitor company size-wise in this comparison, despite growing up only about 60 miles from their headquarters I had not heard of Zerbe's prior to buying them a couple weeks ago. They exclusively produce kettle style potato chips. I purchased them at Weaver Markets in Adamstown, an independent, family-owned grocery store that sells a wide variety of eastern and central Pennsylvania-based snack foods and drinks.
*Lay's (Plano, TX): in contrast to tiny Zerbe's, just about everyone has heard of Lay's, a namesake brand of the giant Frito-Lay conglomerate, the largest savory snack manufacturer in the U.S. I don't believe I've ever had Lay's red hots before, which will sound strange to most of you but totally normal to those of you from the eastern half of Pennsylvania like myself. Many people from eastern and central Pennsylvania tend to view the snack brands based in/near the region to be superior to Frito-Lay, so with potato chips Keystone State natives often only eat in-state brands like Utz, Herr's, Wise, Martin's, Gibble's, Middleswarth, Snyder of Berlin, and a few other even smaller brands.
*Ruffles (Plano, TX): like Lay's, Ruffles is part of the Frito-Lay conglomerate and is Lay's ridged potato chip counterpart. I probably have had Ruffles red hots at some point but not for many, many years.
*7-Select (Irving, TX?): this is 7-Eleven's private label brand of snacks, available only at 7-Eleven and Speedway convenience stores and gas stations. The bag says it is a product of Canada, so I'm unsure where they are made. I haven't had these before.
*Uncle Ray's (Detroit, MI): one of two participants in this test from the Motor City, Uncle Ray's are known for unusual personal stories printed on the back of the bags. I bought these at Ocean State Job Lot store, a closeout store mostly based in New England that is similar to Ollie's Bargain Outlet (which is also based in Pennsylvania BTW). These are new to me.
*Better Made (Detroit, MI): also from Detroit, from what I've read Better Made is a much-loved brand in the Detroit area and Michigan in general. I was fortunate to get these; I was talking with a couple co-workers about my planned taste test, and my colleague originally from Detroit mentioned how much she liked Better Made chips when she was young. It just so happened her mother was flying in from Detroit the next day to visit, so she called her mom while we were talking and asked to bring a bag of Better Made red hot chips. They became a late addition to the test.
*Second photo – Rap Snacks All in Hot (Boca Raton, FL): this brand ties together rap music and snacks, an interesting combination to say the least. The various flavors feature a designated rapper on the bag (Lil Baby in the case of All in Hot). Though the brand is produced in Florida, like various other brands above it does have a Pennsylvania tie; its founder was from Philadelphia and had a passion for snacks – a common occurrence in the Keystone State! I was able to find and buy a small bag of these this past Thursday (July 2nd).
*Second photo – Zapp's Voodoo Heat (originally Gramercy, LA): like the Rap Snacks chips mentioned above, I only found and bought a small bag of these on July 2nd. Zapp's was founded in Louisiana and makes unusually named flavors of kettle chips. The Voodoo Heat variant ramps up the heat compared to their "regular" Voodoo chips. I'll be interested to compare these to fellow hot kettle chip Mama Zuma's Revenge.
Non-participating guests (i.e., red hot chip adjacent):
*Zapp's Voodoo (originally Gramercy, LA): now made by Utz after the company acquired Zapp's in the early 2010s, the Voodoo flavor was created by accident as a combination of all of Zapp's other flavors that existed at the time. These are available in some grocery stores where Utz are sold, but I bought this bag at Ocean State Job Lot (see also Uncle Ray's above).
*Herr's Baby Back Ribs (Nottingham, PA): I had a surprisingly hard time finding Herr's red hots in the store, actually buying the red hots at a Royal Farms convenience store in northern Maryland by chance when I was returning from my Pennsylvania visit, so I originally bought these to allow Herr's to be represented in my "collection". (I probably should have done the same thing with Wise.) I haven't had these before.
*Middleswarth Bar-B-Q (Middleburg, PA): a long-time favorite in central Pennsylvania, Middleswarth have been renowned for their barbecue chips for many years. They were a favorite in my father's family; my relatives who live in the western U.S. always wanted visiting family members to bring some Middleswarth with them during their trips. IMO they are a little too salty but they are good and I do like eating them from time to time.
by FormerCollegeDJ
1 Comment
I recently conducted a preliminary taste test with my favorite three red hot potato chips, all of which are also included in this broader test – Route 11 Mama Zuma’s Revenge, Gibble’s, and Martin’s. My thoughts after that pretest are as follows:
*It is a VERY close comparison between Mama Zuma’s Revenge and Gibble’s. Going into the pretest, I thought the Route 11 brand entrant would have a slight advantage. But after eating them back to back, I can’t say one of them is clearly better than the other. Mama Zuma’s Revenge has the advantage of being kettle cooked, which I generally prefer, but Gibble’s uses a somewhat thicker, conventionally cooked chip that is somewhere between regular cooked chips and kettle cooked chips on the potato chip style continuum. The Virginia manufacturer’s chips probably also have a somewhat longer lasting heat aftertaste, though Gibble’s is solid in that regard too. Where Gibble’s excels is with its flavor, which is more distinct and likeable to my tastebuds, not relying solely on cooking style or habanero spices like Mama Zuma’s. Regardless of their relative strengths and weaknesses, the two Great Appalachian Valley-based brands are both top tier red hot potato chips, being both genuinely hot and good tasting. It will be hard for any of the entrants in the broader taste test to top them.
*Martin’s has stepped up its game by putting more seasoning/red coating on its chips, or at least it did in the bag I used for the preliminary test. Though it still ranks behind the other two brands in the pretest because Martin’s chips are not as hot, they are now more like a half step behind Gibble’s and Route 11 rather than a full step. Martin’s red hots still have the excellent flavor I remember. For red hot potato chip fans who value overall taste more than heat level, these are a very good option, especially if neither Gibble’s nor Mama Zuma’s Revenge are available.