Flavor Philosophy

Is Original flavor boring or bold?

Everyone has a favorite flavor of something.  Some people prefer the taste of a Sprite over water, while others enjoy chocolate over vanilla ice cream.  It almost seems that most people tend to choose a specific flavor over the often considered “boring” or “ bland” flavor. 

Many people focus on the flashy flavors and it seems as if the plain flavor is overlooked, and often times seen as bland.  This seems to be the case with things such as beverages, ice cream, and especially chips, and it seems like often times original flavored chips are overlooked.  However, I believe that despite being overlooked, original flavored chips have potential to be some of the best chips of all time.

Okay And?

Now I know what you’re thinking.  “Jake, what could possibly make original chips that great?” and well, let me tell you.  From where I’m standing I would make the argument that Original chips are underrated and are very versatile when it comes to foods they taste good with. (I still personally prefer cheddar and sour cream, but that’s beside the point) To clarify, I’m not here to tell you that you are wrong for having a favorite chip, I’m just saying that original flavor doesn’t get the love it should.  And that goes for many things, however I’m only focusing on how it is affecting potato chips. 

Like I previously said, original isn’t my favorite, but I do think its one of the better chip flavors if not the best, objectively speaking. 

Original flavored chips are the most diverse chips when it comes to things you can pair them with.  There are so many foods, drinks, and dips that compliment original, making it hard to find something that does not work well with it.  For example, they taste great with any kind of sandwich.  Peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, even tuna fish, just to name a few, are all complimented by the “bland” and “boring” taste of original flavored potato chips. 

Data Time

Now, in order to decide whether or not my Flavor Philosophy worked or not, I needed data.  I hypothesized that few people would pick original as their favorite flavor, but a lot of people would agree that original is a pretty good flavor.

And so, on my Instagram page this week, I decided to put up a poll to test my theory.  I thought that of the people who answered, very few people would say that original was their favorite flavor, but they would say that it is a good flavor.  So, I asked two questions. 

The first was: “What is your favorite chip?” with four options for cheese, original, barbecue, and other.  The second: “Would you say original flavored chips are overrated or underrated?”  With this poll, my own opinion, and talking to friends and family members, I was able to compile responses from exactly 100 people.  (Which is only about half of the people who saw it, but oh well, their loss, they don’t get to be a part of my cool theory) 🤷‍♂️

So… I used this information to do what any normal 20 year old college student would do… I looked at it and said “I’ll deal with that later.”

Then, later came and I decided to make a graph to try and better show if my guess was correct.  And, well, here it is.

I found that of the 100 people surveyed, only 15 people said that they considered original flavored chips as their favorite over all other kinds.  This fits well with my theory, but the important thing is if the results for the other questions match up as well.

The answers to this question were a lot more surprising to me, and don’t seem as conclusive as the other. (I wonder if I should have worded the question differently…) Alas, I do think my point still stands.  Almost twice as many people thought original chips don’t get the praise they deserve.  So, with that, I think that maybe original and plain flavors are truly overlooked.

And well if you’re interested in trying some here are a few

I’m curious to see how this would work in other areas as well.  Is it possible that vanilla isn’t the “plain and boring” flavor and is actually considered underrated as well?

I still have more to cover, so, in the wise words of Atlanta Braves player Chipper Jones

“Some guys live for Crunch Time, I’m one of them.”