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Salt and vinegar chip rankings spark intense debate among Aussies
One Aussie Redditor has caused a firestorm by ranking salt and vinegar chips from strongest to weakest.
The original poster, who goes by reapingsulls123, called the post: 'Strongest Salt and Vinegar Chips Brand' and included a visual of the results.
Knowing that his choices would cause disagreements, he also included his methodology in the comments to back up his rankings.
Methodology explained
"We were looking for which chip had the strongest flavour initially and the strongest aftertaste.
"French Fries being so little were judged on a handful instead of a singular chip.
"All these chips were bought on the same day and were eaten by myself and two others.
"A chart was made, Low, Medium and High of which we ranked which chip belonged where, changing what needed to be changed after all chips were eaten.
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"We then analysed our results seeing which ones had the most highs and worked our way to the one that had the most lows.
"If anyone is wondering as well, Sprinters and Blackstone are Aldi brands," he added elsewhere in the comments.
People were onboard for the experiment at first, with one commenter saying, "My tongue is splitting just thinking about this."
However then team behind the study's academic credentials were called into question for not including Samboy crisps.
Where is Samboy?
"What? No Samboy chips?" one person asked.
The study authors responded they'd "really wanted to include Samboys as they seemed awesome, but as they seem to be very difficult to get where I live they could not be included.
"Put them at the top of the list in your heart if you wish," he concluded.
Other users jumped to the study author's defence pointing out Samboy's aren't quite as consistent as they used to be.
"Samboys are definitely top tier IF you get a good bag," said one user.
"I find that often the flavouring is piss poor these days.
"I think Kettle or Smiths are much more consistent.
"Bring back the good old days when Samboys had an extra flavour sachet in them to really burn your tongue off," someone else agreed.
"They once did a limited run which included an extra 'flavour packet' in each bag sometime in the late nineties.
"Pretty sure my tongue never recovered from that. Ahhh, those were the days," said another user lost in salty nostalgia.
Results questioned
Others shared their competing rankings and higher standing.
"As a salt and vinegar aficionado, Kettle is the best, followed by Red Rock Deli.
"Samboy is 3rd for nostalgia reasons. All flavours besides S & V are inferior in my opinion," one Redditor commented.
The study's authors then got some more backup from a surprising source – someone with inside knowledge of one of Australia's chip factories.
"I worked for Smith's which make the Aldi brand too and I can confirm Aldi version have a higher flavour specification on all their chips," they revealed.
"Same with Aldi brand Shapes if you've ever tried them they simply have more flavouring per shape.
"I once took home a packed latex glove full of vintage cheese and mustard flavour powder - on potato bakes it was like crack."
All praise salt and vinegar chips
Other users weren't too concerned about brand rankings and just wanted to profess their love for salt and vinegar chips in general.
"When I lost my taste during Covid, S&V chips were a godsend. I could hear the distant whine of vinegar through the static," another person wrote.
"I'll save this chart for next time," they added.
In one final witty exchange one person asked:
"I wonder how pink was the chosen flavour for salt and vinegar in Australia," to which another user replied: "Pink like the bloody flesh peeling from your insides after the vinegar melts your s**t off!"
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