Snyder's of Hanover ~ CHIP REVIEW

More than a month ago we picked up a couple of snacks. One was a bag of honey mustard pretzel pieces from PC, the other, a bag of Snyder's of Hanover Hot Buffalo Wing Pretzel Pieces. The PC ones were not too shabby. But I didn't want to open the Snyder's bag until I could do a review. Well, time went by, we forgot we had the bag, then realized it was time to break it open!


I had never heard of Snyder's before, at least not this brand. Their brief history says:

"In 1909, Harry Warehime founded Snyder's of Hanover on the belief that everyone would love his fresh bakery pretzels. Nearly a hundred years later, the Snyders family of bakery pretzels has grown to include over 25 unique varieties. Take our distinctive selection of Flavoured Pretzel Pieces. Generous chunks of our Sourdough Hard Pretzels bursting with intense flavor combinations . . . like the spicy flavor of hot sauce seasoned with cayenne peppers and paprika. Because if you like the red-hot taste of real, five-alarm buffalo wings, you'll love our bite-size Hot Buffalo Wing Pieces!"

Ok, the history doesn't have a lot about which Hanover they are talking about, but I'm assuming the one in Europe.

The quote about 'intense flavor' (clearly this is an American product, flavour without a 'u', crazy Yankees!). I don't think 'five-alarm' is also appropriate - no generic product is 'five-alarm'.

I didn't really have high hopes for these. I mean, how often do 'Buffalo' flavoured things are really that good?

It's not a big bag, but it has a lot of ingredients. I was happy to see the dried cayenne pepper sauce in there - its not exactly Buffalo Wing sauce, but it sounded tasty. And the smell from the bag seemed right.

2008 CHIP SCORE 1.0: Snyder’s of Hanover ~ Hot Buffalo Wing
Pretzel Pieces

STYLE:	Sourdough hard pretzel pieces with hot sauce flavour
PRICE:	$2.99
HEAT:	mild
SIZE:	240 g bag – pieces are variety of sizes
CRISPINESS:	Very crunchy – but not rock hard
FLAVOUR:	Tastes like a very buttery hot sauce
VERDICT:	-Their claim is “Bursting with flavour!”, it may not be bursting, but its got a great flavour -great snack, love it -I wish I could try this before they are baked

These pretzel pieces were broken into all sorts of pieces - some with the sourdough pretzel shell, others just the 'meaty' inside. They are a hard snack, very crunchy, but exactly what you expect from a pretzel piece that was baked. The look on them was golden yellow and red. So far, these snacks were hitting all the right senses.



So were these going to be mouth pleasers or passers? A definite pass. Pass as in they made the grade, not pass as in pass on them. LJ's took a bite "oh - my - god - these are soo good!" She was definitely hooked. The sense of buttery hot wings was really captured but there was only a hint of heat.


FINAL VERDICT: Snyder's definitely make me think of a buttery chicken wing from a bar in pretzel form. They also come in Buttermilk Ranch, Cheddar Cheese, Honey Mustard & Onion, Jalapeno, Steakhouse Onion and Garlic Bread. Great smell, sight, crunch and taste - a near perfect chicken wing snack (if only they were hotter!). We have since bought 2 more bags - that's how good they are.


Snyder's of Hanover: Hot Buffalo Wing Pretzel Pieces
snydersofhanover.com