Walkers Hot Honey Crisps, 6 x 25g

Hot honey, honey given a chilli warmth, is often drizzled over pizza, fried chicken and cheese, and Walkers Hot Honey brings the same sweet and warm idea to a bag of crisps. This multipack holds six 25g bags, 150g in total, and the pack describes the flavour as inspired by flavours of the world.

What is in the seasoning

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are potatoes and sunflower and rapeseed oils in varying proportions, with a hot honey seasoning and antioxidants (rosemary extract, ascorbic acid, a tocopherol rich extract and citric acid). The seasoning lists sugar, dextrose, salt, potassium chloride, flavouring, the colours annatto bixin and plain caramel, and citric acid.

Two things stand out. First, honey itself does not appear in the published ingredients; the honey character comes from the sugar, the dextrose and the flavouring. Second, no chilli is listed, so the warmth comes from the flavouring too. That is worth knowing if you expect a fiery crisp. Read as a list, it describes a sweet crisp with some warmth rather than a hot one.

Sugar, dextrose and colour

Sugar and dextrose sit at the top of the seasoning, above salt. Dextrose is a simple sugar made from starch and is less sweet than ordinary sugar, which is why it turns up in seasonings as a softer sweetener. Even so, the crisps carry 2.9g of sugars per 100g, which is low on the UK front of pack scale, because the seasoning is only a small part of each crisp's weight.

Plain caramel is the simplest caramel colour, made by heating sugar, and it gives the seasoning a deeper golden tone alongside the orange of annatto, which comes from the seeds of the achiote shrub.

The salt figure

Per 100g the label gives 512 kcal (2136 kJ), 29g of fat, 2.2g of saturates, 55g of carbohydrate, 2.9g of sugars and 0.56g of salt. Worked out for one 25g bag, that is about 128 kcal, 7.2g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 0.7g of sugars and 0.14g of salt, around 2% of an adult's daily salt reference intake. On the UK front of pack scale, fat is high, saturates and salt are medium, and sugars are low.

The salt is the interesting number. At 0.56g per 100g it is under half the 1.2g of the Walkers Cheese and Onion bags we stock. Part of the reason is on the ingredients list: potassium chloride, which tastes salty but contains no sodium, sits alongside ordinary salt in the seasoning, and the sweetness from the sugar and dextrose carries more of the flavour.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients do not highlight any of the 14 major allergens. The allergy advice says the crisps may contain cereals containing gluten, milk, mustard and soya. The pack states they are suitable for vegetarians. No vegan or gluten free claim is made, so we would not describe them as either. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

How the crisp is made

Under the seasoning this is the same thin Walkers slice as the classic flavours: whole potatoes washed and sliced, rinsed of loose starch, and fried in the sunflower and rapeseed blend until the water has gone and the starch has set. The sweet seasoning is dusted on while the crisps are warm, and the pack says each bag is packaged in a protective atmosphere to keep oxygen away from the oil.

Where it fits

Hot honey suits people who find salt and vinegar too sharp and cheese and onion too familiar. The sweet warmth works next to salty cold meats, a strong cheese, or a fried chicken sandwich, echoing the way hot honey is used in the kitchen.

For a crisp with chilli on the ingredients list, Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli includes dried red chilli flakes, and for a bolder paprika seasoning there is Walkers Max Punchy Paprika. For the classics in the same six bag format, there are Walkers Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar, Prawn Cocktail, Roast Chicken and Smoky Bacon.

Keeping them at their best

Store the pack in a cool, dry place, as the label advises. Each bag is a single serving and is best finished once opened. Give the bag a gentle shake first, because a fine seasoning settles to the bottom on the way to you.

Other 6 x 25g packs of Walkers we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin and names Walkers Snack Foods Ltd as the maker. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.