Tyrrells Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar Crisps, 150g

Salt and vinegar is the sharpest of the everyday crisp flavours, and Tyrrells makes its version with cider vinegar, for a fruitier tang than plain malt vinegar. This is the 150g sharing bag, which the label suggests serves five. The full product name on the pack is sea salt and cider vinegar seasoned potato crisps.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower oil, sea salt, sugar, dried apple cider vinegar, dried spirit vinegar, natural flavouring, dried barley malt vinegar, potato starch, potato maltodextrin, apple juice powder and an antioxidant, extracts of rosemary.

Three vinegars

The seasoning uses three dried vinegars. Apple cider vinegar, made from fermented apple juice, brings a fruity, rounded sharpness. Spirit vinegar is the clean, sharp vinegar of pickling. Barley malt vinegar is the brown vinegar of the chip shop, with a malty depth. Apple juice powder backs up the cider note.

How dried vinegar works

Liquid vinegar would soften a crisp, so the vinegars are used in dried form, with potato starch and potato maltodextrin, mild powders made from potato, also on the list. Dried vinegar releases its sharpness and smell when it meets the moisture in your mouth, while the crisp stays dry in the bag.

Rosemary extract

The antioxidant is extracts of rosemary. Oils in a crisp slowly react with oxygen, which is what makes an old crisp taste stale, and rosemary extract slows that down. At the small amounts used as an antioxidant, it is there to protect the oil rather than for flavour.

Hand cooked

The pack describes these as hand cooked English crisps. Hand cooking means frying the slices in batches, which gives a harder, more uneven crunch than a crisp fried continuously on a conveyor. The label says the crisps are made in England from Red Tractor certified potatoes.

Numbers per serving

The label gives 151 kcal (629 kJ), 8.2g of fat, 0.7g of saturates, 16.3g of carbohydrate, 0.7g of sugars, 1.9g of fibre, 1.9g of protein and 0.54g of salt for each 30g serving. That is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake and 9% of the salt. Per 100g it is 502 kcal (2098 kJ), 27.2g of fat, 2.3g of saturates, 54.4g of carbohydrate, 2.3g of sugars, 6.3g of fibre, 6.4g of protein and 1.8g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 27.2g is red, as it is for fried crisps generally, and salt at 1.8g is red too, above the 1.5g line. Saturates at 2.3g are amber and sugars at 2.3g are green. It is the saltiest Tyrrells bag we stock; Lightly Sea Salted, at 0.65g per 100g, has a little over a third of the salt.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight a cereal containing gluten, in the dried barley malt vinegar, and the allergy advice says the crisps may contain milk. There is no gluten free claim on this pack; Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted, Smoked Paprika and Cheddar Cheese and Chive carry gluten free claims. The pack says the crisps are suitable for vegetarians. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

What the brand leaves out

The pack says Tyrrells never uses artificial ingredients such as artificial flavours, colours or MSG, and there is no colour on this list. The flavouring is described as natural.

The pack

The dark green bag uses a black and white vintage photograph, like the other Tyrrells packs we stock: a man in round glasses tasting from a glass in front of rows of bottles. Under the name it reads hand cooked English crisps and est. Herefordshire, England.

Serving the bag

A sharp crisp suits rich food. Serve it with a ploughman's lunch, a pork pie, a cheese and pickle sandwich or a plate of fish and chips, and with a glass of dry cider to match the vinegar.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the crisps make a sharp crumb for fish goujons, or a topping for mushy peas or a potato salad. Use a little, since the seasoning is salty.

Storage and packaging

The pack advises a cool, dry place and, once opened, an airtight container. The bag is packaged in a protective atmosphere, and the published recycling guidance says the whole packaging can be recycled with carrier bags at large supermarkets and should not go in home recycling.

Other Tyrrells flavours

In the same 150g bag we stock Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted, Sea Salt and Black Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Sweet Chilli and Red Pepper, Cheddar Cheese and Chive and Roasted Chicken and Sage. For a ridged salt and vinegar, we also stock Tyrrells Furrows Sea Salt and Vinegar.

Other 150g packs of Tyrrells we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.