Salt and vinegar crisps should make you feel something. A scrunch of the face. A tingle of the lips. Some acknowledgment that you’ve chosen a flavour with attitude.
Sainsbury’s Salt & Vinegar prompts none of these reactions.
The vinegar is present like a polite guest at a party, making minimal conversation before leaving early. It registers. You’re aware these are salt and vinegar flavoured. But the experience lacks commitment, lacks intensity, lacks any sense that someone making these actually loves salt and vinegar.
This is vinegar for people who find other salt and vinegar too much. Which raises the question: why choose salt and vinegar at all? If you want mild flavouring, ready salted exists. Choosing salt and vinegar and then making it timid is a kind of flavour cowardice.
The thin crisp texture doesn’t help. Good salt and vinegar needs structure to handle acidic seasoning. These collapse before the vinegar has finished introducing itself.
Disappointing from a supermarket that positions itself as quality-focused.
