Haitai Calbee – Honey Butter Wedding Cake Chips

Whoever started the trend of turning birthday cake and wedding cake into a flavour in everything from cookies to chips is a genius. It’s really just an excuse to make something super sugary and taste like frosting. Obviously it has to work, because companies are actually selling that. I’m honestly not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, I like trying new things. But on the other, I don’t like generic birthday cake. It’s just frosting…

Haitai Calbee is known to make honey butter chips, and they are apparently a very popular snack in South Korea. From what I remember they are an interestingly sweet and savoury chip with a very rich taste that contrasts the lightness of the texture. It’s not for everyone, but it’s certainly an experience.

Gosh. There’s so much going on here. Just the name of this alone is a mouthful. Honey butter flavoured potato chips, but they’re wedding cake edition! I’ve had the classic honey butter flavour before. I know it’s not for everyone, but I personally enjoy it. I’m not sure how I feel when wedding cake is thrown in though. When it comes to snacks, wedding cake, birthday cake and anything like that typically all tastes the same. Personally I think they should rename it to frosting flavour, because that’s really what they’re going for. They aren’t like cheesecake, which as an actual, noticeable texture or taste. But I’m too deep into it now, and there’s no turning back.

How do I begin to describe how this smells…It’s like taking a birthday cake or frosted brownie, and smashing a fried potato beside it on a table. Not just that, but the table is a rotating one that has smeared the fried potato across the surface, and the brownie is now on top of it. A chef comes over, and throws a bit more sugar and butter on top. With the flat side of the spatula, he continues to flatten all the components on the table as it continues to rotate, creating this strange dark grey smear of a paste. That’s how it smells, if that makes any sense to you.

I’ll start with the texture, since that’s less confusing. The chip is a fairly standard one. It’s a simple sliced potato that is cut into thin pieces before being fried up. They are fairly thin, and come in fairly large pieces. They are slightly thicker than a Lays chip, but not by very much. I wouldn’t imagine that texture is what you’re buying this bag of chips for. Which brings me to the flavour….

I like to think of myself as an open minded snacker, but this is weird even for me. Even as an idea, this is odd isn’t it? A potato chip is usually based on a savoury or salty flavour, so having something that is basically pure sugar and frosting as the basis is definitely strange. This flavour is actually kind of complex, so I’ll try to walk through what’s going through my head as I eat this. When the chip first touches your tongue, you’re immediately met with a very noticeable frosting taste. As you chew and the flavour melts on your tongue, the cake flavour slowly dissolves and leaves that distinct, smooth flavour of honey butter. The honey butter flavour stays with you until that too dissolves, and you’re left with the slightly salty taste of the fried potato of the chip.

For those are unclear on what honey butter tastes like, it’s mostly a mix of salted butter with honey, to give it a distinctly sweet yet smooth flavour. The taste is a bit rich for some people, and this chip is no exception. I don’t know that there’s ever a way to make frosting or cake taste “natural” in a flavour, so I can’t really benchmark. That being said, these chips are weird. Not bad per se, but a little weird even for me. After a handful or two, your mouth starts to taste like birthday cake too, if that’s your thing.

This is a limited edition flavour, and maybe that’s for the best. I can’t imagine people clamoring for these to be a staple flavour. But then again, that’s just me. Birthday cake Oreos are a thing, for example. Why that is, truly is beyond me. It’s not for me, but if your an avid birthday cake fan, this might just be the snack for you.