Quick Bite: Lay’s Canada “Do Us A Flavor” Finalists.

A few months back, Lay’s U.S. launched their wildly popular “Do Us A Flavor” contest, allowing anyone with internet access and a dream the ability to submit a new flavor idea, regardless how crazy, in hopes of  it reigning supreme.  When the chip dust had cleared, it was “Cheesy Garlic Bread” claiming victory over fellow finalists, “Chicken & Waffles” and “Sriracha”.

Now chip chomping  Canucks  get to play snack Gods by picking the Great White North’s newest Lay’s bag. You can vote for one of these  four contenders; “Creamy Garlic Cesar”, “Grilled Cheese & Ketchup”, “Perogy Platter” and the enigmatic and frightening “Maple Moose” by voting daily at www.lays.ca/flavour or texting “VOTE” to 101010 by October 16.

The prize? $50,000 and 1% of all future sales on said flavor while also securing a footnote in junk food history or at the very least, a tidbit on the  Lay’s Canada Wikipedia page.

I’ve provided you with the Corporate synopsis provided by Lay’s, a quick pic of the chip, then a brief review of each. This time around, I sequestered 5 fellow snackers (aka Co-workers) in the lunch room, placed each chip out for sampling and had at it.

Creamy Garlic Caesar

British Columbia’s Jill Munro was thinking of Caesar – the king of salads, topped with tasty parmesan and croutons while dreaming up her flavor. For Canadians who like their salad with a crunch, Creamy Garlic Caesar is your candidate

Look, smell and taste immediately makes you think someone at Lays mixed the bag up with Sour Cream & Onion. Fortunately, after the first few chips, garlic notes slowly make their much needed appearance. Once that signature Caesar salad taste is in play, you have a somewhat decent chip.  Lo and behold, upon ingredient inspection, sour cream is listed. If only it haD been scaled back ever so slightly, letting garlic and cheese flavors shine through. Not a horrible flavor but nothing overly remarkable. It did rank #2 out of the four contenders.  RATING: 3.5/5

Grilled Cheese & Ketchup

Who doesn’t cherish the memory of coming home from school for lunch and enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich with ketchup for dipping, made by mom? Ontario’s own Angela Batley used this as her inspiration for what she hopes will be the next great Lay’s flavor. For everyone who believes in creamy cheddar grilled cheese and tangy ketchup – vote Grilled Cheese & Ketchup today.

Being a Latch-Key kid, I can attest that even my most feeble attempts at making a grilled cheese sandwich would’ve tasted superior to this flavor. Off putting on first smell, the enjoyment factor never elevated beyond a “meh” via first bite and steadily declined after additional chips  made their way into a testers mouth. In fact, some test subjects had to request water to rid their palette of this monstrosity. Pairing a strong flavor like ketchup against cheese and throwing in an assortment of  additional spices that really have no reason being there (garlic), results in an unsavory savory bastardization of the beloved after school special. This bag placed #4 out of 4. RATING: D-

Maple Moose 

Newfoundlander Tyler LeFrense only needed to look around his hometown of Isle Aux Morts to draw his iconic inspiration. For Canadians who agree that maple syrup makes everything taste better, Maple Moose is the flavor to rally behind.

Wasn’t really looking forward to testing this chip. Its flavor profile description is tres vague and the name comes off as being a throw away flavor OK’d just to troll for mass social medial WTFery. While that worked of course, the chip itself works too. The  initial smell of these chips, with the combo of  dehydrated tomato, paprika and maple is a tad offsetting.  Think Roast Chicken chips lightly doused in Aunt Jemima. I actually preferred these over the American “Chicken and Waffles” which saw its chances for victory tragically maimed thanks to heavy  handed syrup flavoring.  Personally, I  would’ve  named them “Maple Moose Jerky”. In small handfuls, this flavor was tolerable, but in the end, these place #3 out of 4 bags. RATING C+

Perogy Platter

Alberta’s Lucas Crawford can’t get enough of the perogy platter served at his favorite hometown diner. This was the spark for a brilliant chip flavor idea – one that would allow Lucas to enjoy this delight, with sweet onions and smoky bacon anytime, anywhere in chip format. For those who believe in hometown deliciousness, get behind the Perogy Platter candidate!

Winner, winner, Perogy dinner! Overall, this flavor was the most enjoyed, most revisited bag of the batch. Very similar to “Loaded Baked Potato” or “Sour Cream and Bacon” flavored chips, they pooled the most flavor talents  including mustard, brown sugar, paprika and sour cream. Of all the flavors sampled, Perogy Platter provided an abundance of flavor depth. At the end of  this chip critique session, it was the only empty bag on the table.  We crown it undisputed King of the “Do Us A Flavor” quadrilogy.   #1 out of 4. RATING: A-