FRANK – Party Mix
Party Mix can go by many names. Ultimately, when we see the packaging, we know what exactly it is. At least, over in the arctic North that is. For those not in the know, Party Mix in this case refers to a bag of assorted chips. The composition is typically the same, and varying only slightly across flavours, be it original, BBQ, or cheese etc. The standard mix is comprised of a corn chip, a tortilla chip, a crunchy cheese stick, Ringolos (potato chips in the shape of a small ring) and pretzels. Some bigger brands like Frito have their own take on the mix, but they’re take on it has Sun Chips instead of the Ringolos, which is kind of a deal breaker for me. Ringolos are truly awesome. They’re really just a ring shaped chip made from reconstituted mashed potatoes. But their so fun to eat! Fortunately Canadian Tire got it right and their mix includes those bad boys.
Like any good bag of assorted snacks or treats, there’s always clear advantages and disadvantages over getting a bag of just one type of chip instead. In terms of pros, the mix is ideal for parties, as is implied by its name. There’s a different chip for everyone, so you’ll cover all your bases with it. You’ll also give your mouth a variety of flavours and textures, which is always nice so that you don’t get bored of it too quickly. The cons are that if everyone likes the same item (aka Ringolos), you end up with people cherry picking and a bowl with very few Ringolos left (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE). Another con is that depending on the company, you may end up with an uneven distribution of one snack over the others. In my experience, this tends to be the pretzel, that they put way too many of in each bag. This may also be confirmation bias, as most of the people I know dislike pretzels, so we notice it more when we see them. Much like eating veggies, I tend to pick them out and eat them first to get them over with.
Like many other party mixes, the smell of cheese and fry oil greets you when opening it up. The smell on this isn’t quite as strong, but it remains to be seen if that’s a good or bad thing. Maybe I’m getting old, but I don’t always find stronger taste to necessarily be a good thing. Sometimes a slightly more muted, subtle flavour is the way to go.
One thing that people who have had party mix will realize is that they usually come in smaller pieces. What I mean is, the chips and pretzels you get are usually a smaller version of themselves. This seems to only be half true, for this variety, as the pretzels and cheese sticks look to be a mini version, but the corn chips, Ringolos and tortilla chip look to be your typical size.
Something that I observed was that the first few handfuls I had did not have very many pretzels. For the sake of science, I decided I needed a bigger sample size and decided to get some coworkers to take a few handfuls to see if they had more pretzel. Alas, it appears that this mix has fewer pretzels than ones I’ve had in the past. I can’t speak to whether that’s just my bag, or a deliberate move on the manufacturer’s part. What I can say is that I love it, since it means more weight is allocated to all the other pieces, which I incidentally like all of.
Much like the smell, the flavour of these isn’t quite as salty or strong as the other mixes I’ve had. But you know what? I think that’s a good thing. I’m not always going to have a drink or glass of water on hand to quench that thirst I am left with after eating a handful of party mix. The big downside of that though, is that it is much easier to keep eating these without realizing you’ve had most of the bag. Incidentally that’s what happened to me and my accomplices. We polished off 3/4 of the bag in one sitting. This one sneaks up on you.
All in all, I like this mix. It doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but at the same time, would you want it to? The big plus is that it has fewer pretzels (I think) and it has a milder flavour profile. Just be careful to be disciplined with portion control, or you’ll easily go over the “suggested” serving size.
