Archer Farms Balsamic Vinegar & Herb Baked Potato Crisps

I'm kinda weird when it comes to vinegar on my food. I hate salt and vinegar potato chips. HATE them. The mere idea of them kind of triggers my gag reflex. But strangely, there have been exactly 2 times in my life when I discerned a distinct craving for them deep in my gut. Both times I had been working for a long time and had sweated a lot. No doubt I had lost a lot of salt, but I craved both salt and vinegar. Each time, I found some salt and vinegar chips nearby, devoured the entire single-serving bag in a matter of seconds, and the craving passed. And I mean it was GONE, never to return. The most recent of these cravings occurred about 5 years ago. Haven't had one since.

But balsamic vinegar, on the other hand, makes a great salad dressing. If there's a balsamic vinegar option for my salad at a restaurant, that's usually the one I'll pick these days. I often get a raised eyebrow or two when I ask for the balsamic dressing. I think people expect men not to order salads, and in the rare case that they do, they're expected to ask for ranch or some other more masculine dressing. Plus, they usually mix the balsamic with some kind of fruitiness: raspberry, apple cider, pear, or something along those lines. It usually works really well, and on the inside I'm like "Oooh! How delightful! Delicious raspberries with my balsamic!" But I just mutter gruffly, "Yeah I'll have the balsamic." The waitress repeats back, "You'd like the raspberry truffle balsamic dressing with your apple pecan salad, sir?" "Yep," I grunt coolly.

Thankfully, these chips offer simple herbs with their balsamic vinegar. A great combo. And of course they're salty, so there's an easy comparison between these and traditional salt and vinegar chips. But for me, the salt and vinegar chip hater, these Simply Balanced chips are head and shoulders above other salt and vinegar chips. I can't put my finger on why. They do taste like balsamic, not just regular vinegar. And there are a few other herbs to help round out the taste—particularly garlic, which I also love. Have some breath mints on stand-by.

Texture-wise, they're similar to all other baked potato crisps I've had. I really like those things. I'm not sure how fried potato chips are still so popular. I think the crisps are just as tasty, and of course there's less fat.

Curiously, my wife who loves regular salt and vinegar chips, was not as enthusiastic about these as I was. And she likes balsamic vinegar, too. She thought they were good, but wouldn't go out of her way to purchase them again. I disagree. I think they're the bomb. I considered giving these 9 stars, but I think I'll settle on a still-impressive 8.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Sea Salt Caramel & Almond Granola Bites

If you're putting the word "indulgent" on your product, it's probably because you're trying to attract the dessert crowd. If you're putting the word "granola" on your product, it's probably because you're trying to attract the health-conscious crowd. If you're printing both of those words on the packaging, there's a good chance you're just trying to confuse everyone enough so that they'll just go ahead and buy the product to find out for themselves what the dilly is.

And it worked on me. A member of both the health conscious crowd and a card-carrying member of Dessert Lovers Anonymous, I simply had to try this enigmatic snack I found hiding in the cereal bar aisle of my local Target. I was also intrigued by the use of the word "bites," rather than the traditional and expected "bars." Was that just a way to make us feel better about eating something "indulgent"?

If I had paid more attention to the box, I would have noticed that there were 15 "bites" inside. There's no way you'll get even half that many "bars" into a box this size. And "bites" is pretty close to what they are. Maybe 2 bites. But "15 count 2-bite granola snacks" is clunky and doesn't work for marketing purposes.

But just in case anyone is wondering about the product itself, I'll go ahead and say that these are among the best-tasting things I've ever had from Archer Farms. Similar to other salt and caramel products I've tried, the sea salt somehow enhances the creamy caramel goodness in an unexpected way. The chocolate works well, too. There's not too much of it. It's not too dark, not too light. Perfect. The texture of the granola bar is good, if maybe a tad too stiff. It's relatively moist and chewy. Pretty standard.

Really my only complaint is about the impracticality of the individual "bites." They're too small. However, this can easily be overcome by eating more than one. Or maybe I should just take Archer Farms' cue and exercise portion control for a change. I suppose a 70 calorie shot of chocolate and caramel is plenty to spike up my blood sugar for a spell while I'm hiking or exercising or doing any of those things that I should do a lot more often.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.