One thing that’s not a matter of debate in 2023 is the ubiquity of Pringles. They’re everywhere. If there are no Pringles on display, wherever you’re shopping probably doesn’t count as a convenience store. It certainly doesn’t pass muster as a bodega. Pringles — their shape, their can, and the mysterious mustachioed logo guy — are globally iconic.
As for Prongles? They’re… less iconic.
At some point over the decades, Pringles expanded from three flavors (the OGs being plain, sour cream, and barbecue). Then at some later point, the saddle-shaped, uniformly packed stacks of potato crisps went global — with countries around the world imparting the style with local flavor combinations. Today, every country with packaged goods carries one or two of the standard American Pringles flavors as well its own regionalized staple flavors and even some limited flavors one can only purchase within that particular territory (unless you have wifi and a healthy balance in your account). The saddle shape remains globally, but in some countries (specifically Japan and China), the crisps are about two-thirds the size of the American full-sized crisps.
Since a plethora of flavors exist globally that many brick-and-mortar shoppers may never experience or witness IRL, we decided to scour the darkest crannies of international snack-based e-commerce sites to find the most interesting flavors not found in the United States. The shipping alone almost obliterated what I get paid for this and prices for single tall cans went up to around $20 a pop due to scarcity and demand.
Naturally, it was our duty to review and rank each flavor sampled, so you’re not going in completely cold if you decide to make your own purchases. Special shoutout to Napa Japan, a favorite online destination for all things Japanese candy and snacks, who kindly expedited their shipment to help meet the deadline for this sampling. Also… I’m bad at pics, my apologies [he’s not lying. — ed].
27. Prawn Cocktail (United Kingdom)
Price: $13.81
Prawn Cocktail is not “shrimp cocktail.” American buyer beware, it is a UK specialty — a sauce combining ketchup, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice and sometimes horseradish. Sounds like traditional cocktail sauce but with a few extra ingredients, right?
Maybe. But it doesn’t work as a chip.
You do get the ketchup and horseradish flavors. And you get the vinegary tang of the Worcestershire right away along with some shrimpy seafood umami. It’s a complex flavor for sure but also the worst I sampled — combining multiple disagreeable flavors in one amalgamation of grossness. Due to my overwhelming aversion to flavor profiles involved and mashed up, Prawn Cocktail falls all the way to the bottom of the Pringles seafood tower of international flavors.
Bottom Line:
There’s simply no relief or balance to these tangy-sweet flavors coming together into a gag-inducing crescendo. If you do try Prawn Cocktail Pringles, bring a mint or something to switch gears afterward — the aftertaste pervades your tastebuds.
26. Sour Cream Chili Multigrain (United Kingdom)
Price:$9.79
It’s too bad there’s no onion to balance out the sour cream in Pringles Sour Cream & Chilli flavor from the UK, because the combination tastes like flavored cream cheese or some sort of cheap salad dressing, two of the worst food items that exist on this earth. The best aspect of this Pringles variety is the chilli flavor, which creeps through the wave of sour cream washing over your mouth with a red heat that subsides all too quickly, leaving the multigrain sour note and the desire for a piece of gum.
Bottom Line:
UK Pringles went too far with the Sour Cream & Chilli Multigrain flavor. The Pringles themselves are passable as a multigrain chip, but the general Sour Cream & Chilli flavor here is an acquired one that this writer will probably never pick up — hence their low placement on this international Pringles snack scoreboard.
25. Hokkaido Scallop Butter Soy Sauce (Japan)
Price:$5.99
Hokkaido Scallop Butter Soy Sauce is a unique Japanese Pringles flavor that in theory could be transcendent but falters severely from the off-putting tuna-esque aftertaste that proceeds the somewhat pleasant introduction. The taste starts off scallopy, then gets a little umami-buttery before fading out into a tuna fish-riddled sunset.
It’s hard to interpret exactly how or why the taste veers off into overly fishy territory but I have to assume that many Japanese palates are better calibrated for this one than my American palate.
Bottom Line:
Let’s hope fishy snacks are not the next wave in this keto-obsessed society we reside in. Hokkaido Scallop Butter Soy Sauce is an interesting recreation of a seafood dish popular in Japanese cuisine and a love letter-like tribute to the Hokkaido region, where scallops thrive due to the plankton and nutrient-rich water.
Unfortunately, this Japan-exclusive flavor did not rate highly in our extensive Pringles sampling sessions due to the fishiness.
24. BBQ Steak (China)
Price:$5.79
If it’s not slathered in XO sauce or some soy-based marinade, do we want it?
The Pringles BBQ Steak starts with a tangy steak sauce-like taste and finishes with the meaty steak-like peppery oniony savory seasoning. Despite nothing controversial to report, the overall taste is a bit mild, which in some ways makes BBQ Steak Pringles more pleasurable to eat and mildly addictive and in other ways makes it an easy to dismiss flavor.
Bottom Line:
Not one of the best flavors but also not terrible, BBQ Steak Pringles from China can satisfy the urge for a meat-flavored chip if that’s what you dabble in.
23. Roast Chicken + Rosemary multigrain (United Kingdom)
Price $9.79
Ever try Progresso chicken soup?
That’s the first kiss of flavor you get with Pringles Roast Chicken & Rosemary Multgrain chip from the good ole U of K. It really only gets better from there (can you start worse than Progresso chicken soup flavor?), with the chicken soup note followed by some light herbaceousness that finishes with an almost soft-wheaty multigrain note, which helps fade some of the stronger umami punches from the chicken flavoring.
Roast Chicken & Rosemary Multigrain Pringles is analogous to if they made roast chicken-flavored Sun Chips in Pringle’s saddle mold, the rosemary being a present but thankfully not overpowering herbal element. The salt is hardly there but you barely notice its absence because of the inherent flavor in multigrain and the scratchier texture.
Bottom Line:
Though inoffensive, Roast Chicken & Rosemary Pringles could use some retooling — mainly the scrapping of the chicken seasoning all together. The rest of the elements actually meld quite well, creating a light and flavorful melange.
22. Texas BBQ (United Kingdom)
Price:$11.19
What do the British know about Texas BBQ?
According to this Pringles flavor, only a wee bit. Texas BBQ is known to be beef forward, mesquite smoked, either wet or dry and flavored with a vinegar or tomato-based sauce. Here there’s only a morsel of some of the traditional Texas BBQ flavor notes — with too much smokiness and not enough sweetness to carry the flavor into crave status, bruv.
Bottom Line:
Sadly blokes, there just isn’t proper flavor to even qualify these as BBQ Pringles — maybe Texas Light Rub Pringles As Interpreted By A Limey or British Under-Seasoned BBQ Pringles, but nothing you should fancy to waste a few quid on.
21. Meat Lover’s Pizza (Australia)
Price:$6.99
The thing about Meat Lover’s Pizza Pringles from Australia is that they actually taste like pizza. You taste pizza seasoning immediately, sweet tomato-ish, onion, green pepper and a mild cheese aftertaste. The first pizza chip memory is Keebler’s Pizzeria chips and these Meat Lover’s Pringles harken back to those flavors of yore — clearly pizza-flavored (the best pizza-flavored snack of all-time is no doubt Goldfish, not Combo’s, for the record).
Sadly, these Pringles do not reveal any hint of carnivorous mixed meat madness. Though somewhat tasty, they should really just be called Pizza Pringles.
Bottom Line:
Meat Lover’s Pizza Pringles may satisfy the craving for Pizza Pringles, whether domestically or abroad, but if the craving involves any meat toppings traditionally found on a pizza pie, please take heed before you proceed.
20. Buffalo Ranch (Canada)
Price:$10.00
Hypothetically Buffalo Ranch Pringles are a banger, straddling the line between tangy spice and creamy tang, combining the signature flavors that frequently appear on lettuce-adorned plates at sports bars and anywhere else serving bar food or wings across our fair land.
The only issue present is the proportions — since Buffalo is about 75%, while Ranch is about 7.5%, with the other 17.5% being the actual Pringles potato flavor.
Bottom Line:
Reducing ranch to a minor element is the miss here. There has to be a better-balanced Pringles riff on this flavor.
19. Dill Pickle (Canada)
Price:$20.17
Dill Pickle chips can be crave worthy but sometimes tough to find when it comes to the right brand or flavor that mimics the real-life dill pickle experience. Brands like Zapp’s, Deep River, and others of the kettle chip variety provide the perfect platform for the pickle flavors to shine. But can a basic Pringles crisp do the trick as well?
Some parts of Canada may call these Dill Pickle Pringles, others Saveur de Cornichon a L’aneth – either tongue, these Pringles fall flat into the ice pond when it comes to delivering on the complete dill pickle profile. The acidity of the vinegary seasoning hits you right away from the powder sprinkled on, covering the tongue in tanginess as the dill note provides some balance to round out the taste. Unlike many American dills, or maybe it’s the Kosher dill variety we’re accustomed to, there’s no garlic present and very little salt – leaving some longing for an actual literal dill pickle to satisfy the craving that now exists because the expected flavor profile was not fulfilled.
Bottom Line:
People who like the really green pickles that are quasi-cucumbers and hipsters who make their own pickles in mason jars in their basements will probably enjoy these Dill Pickle Pringles, possibly Canadians as well.
18 – Smokey Bacon (United Kingdom)
Price:$11.99
Bacon-flavored snacks are not a dime a dozen in the United States, they mostly come as a chip flavor or special edition, but it’s rare to venture to any gathering and encounter bacon-flavored munchies. Bacon itself is another situation, America’s favorite meat condiment (where can’t you add bacon to your sandwich, salad, baked potato, dessert, etc) is so common and crave-able, there are even other animals bacon’d beyond pigs and also non-animal bacon. The existence of Smokey Bacon Pringles is not one that properly shocked anyone, but the UK flavor tastes more Baco than bacon.
The bite is bacon-forward at first, then fades to the smokey-ness that bears a strong reminiscence to the BBQ Pringles aftertaste we’ve known for decades. Though not offensive in any regard, there is also not a strong depth to the Smokey Bacon flavor, it’s purely salty bacon succeeded by smokiness.
Bottom Line:
If the mere taste of bacon suits your taste, dig in, but personally “bacon flavored things that are not actually bacon” is not at the top of the cravings list on the regular.
17. Spicy Garlic Prawn (Thailand)
Price:$8.00
This Thai flavor brings the complex combination of shrimp, garlic and red chili peppers that stays a bit beyond its welcome (not just the pepper, the shrimp lingers too – a flavorful beverage is required if you want to keep your friends and family around). An acquired taste for many American palates, these layered chips pique the tastebuds enough to want to keep sampling, deliberating whether or not there is concrete evidence of brilliance within.
These crisps are all shrimp on the front end, garlic throughout, with the heat and red pepper popping up to wallop you on the tail end.
Bottom Line:
The Spicy Garlic Prawn flavor is great for anyone who digs spicy sea snacks.
16. Golden Fried Chicken (Thailand)
Price:$18.95
The Thai Golden Fried Chicken flavor strikingly nails a respectable and possibly delicious Pringles crisp with this limited edition offering. The front end of the Golden Fried Chicken taste is buoyed with the piquant seasoning that has a somewhat oniony flavor initially before segueing into a herbaceous Italian breadcrumb-esque (there’s an oregano note) middle note that ends with that chicken bouillon flavor that rounds out the Golden Fried chicken Pringles situation.
The aftertaste sort of short-circuits your brain into believing you just ate a poultry nibble when in reality you ate a Thai Pringle, and you have no choice but to keep eating more to process how exactly the geniuses figured this Rubik’s cube of a flavor out.
Bottom Line:
Golden Fried Chicken is an impressive addition to the Pringles international catalog, even if it’s a limited edition, and therefore a pretty deep cut in the Pringles annals and archives.
15. Super Hot Spicy Strips (China)
Price:$5.79
China’s Super Hot Spicy Strips Pringles are an umami bomb and register as a four pepper (out of five) on the heat scale when it comes to Pringles’ China spicy pepper barometer, a savory taste delight for the spice indulgent. Despite the caution taken with snacks on any country’s four pepper spice scale, these Super Strips are no spicier than Thailand’s Spicy Garlic Prawn Pringles (which also rank nearby on our countdown), which bear no pepper scale at all on their canister.
Despite the initial spice registering, the heat is the slow creeper variety and most of the flavor here derives from the sweet and peppery reddish seasoning sprinkled lightly on each crisp. Handicapped by an inability to read Chinese, along with a semi-pro palate, there are certainly other difficult-to-decipher spices and ingredients in the mix that I don’t know. Regardless, we’re now veering toward the “fully craveable” range of Pringles.
Bottom Line:
Bearing the depth of flavor of a long-simmering soup broth, Pringles Super Hot Spicy Strips are worth your time and won’t neutralize your tastebuds with their heat, even if you’re a grown baby when it comes to the spice department.
14. Nagoya Chicken Wing (Japan)
Price:$12.00
Japan’s Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles are superior to Thailand’s Golden Fried Chicken Pringles (which also rank near the middle of our countdown) because the seasonings here are more palatable and meet the expectations of the stout can art, which depicts a whole chicken wing, covered in sweet soy-based barbecue sauce and doused with sesame seeds.
The Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles start strong — sweet and chickeny, then transition to pronounced soy and sweet sesame on the backend, which is necessary to balance out the aggressiveness on the poultry-laden front end. The well-balanced flavoring enables the smaller size can to vanish quickly, even though the flavor intensity makes the Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles a special mood-only snack play. Not that this flavor is so easy to acquire that the can would just be sitting around your snack stash, they’re an online-only purchase, requiring full intention, and the mood would have to be looking for a snack adventure.
Bottom Line:
Nagoya Chicken Wing as a flavor is an aggressive concept; create an intensely-flavored chip, based on intensely-flavored chicken wings. Unsurprisingly, the Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles require a palate cleanser to relieve the savory intensity, but otherwise are pretty scrumptious and rate highly amongst other chicken-flavored snacks on the international poultry snack market.
13. Paprika (United Kingdom)
Price: $12.98
The problem and best element of Paprika Pringles is obviously Paprika. Besides possibly some slight onion sprinkle, there is only Paprika and paprika alone to be judged here. You either like it, you love it, or you don’t want anything of it. Paprika itself is complex — spicy sweet and piquant, it’s a great seasoning on meats, potatoes and a staple in most pantries (Paprika roasted chicken was a formative dish Mom made growing up, goulash a transformative reliable favorite with infinite versions, in Eastern European travels).
As a Pringles flavor, Paprika starts spicy, gets a little sweet and finishes with a savory piquant pepperiness that matches the potatoey Pringles chip kindly. A beverage is not optional here, anything acidic or citrusy pairs properly. Get yours in the UK or online.
Bottom Line:
Paprika is not an everyday ingredient in most home kitchens, even though it can be delightfully savory in all the right ways at all the right times, and the Paprika Pringles, though tasty, are a mood-based selection that cannot be relied on at all times, when the craving comes into play.
Paprika popularizers will find these Pringles to be pleasantly pleasing.
12. Cheeesy Garlic (Australia)
Price:$6.99
Oh Australia, if you could only title your snacks properly mates. The issue with Cheeesy Garlic Pringles is not their taste, they’re fairly delicious, buttery and garlicky like your neighborhood local Italian spot’s garlic bread. And yes, often that crunchy robust garlic bread may have some cheese melted or sprinkled on top but the cheese flavor on these Pringles isn’t full-bodied enough to claim “Cheeesy” — it’s sort of just a sweet tang that you taste at first and then mellows out sneakily, like an Irish goodbye. Except these Pringles are from Australia, and though they’re easy to snack on, they lack the cheesiness one would hope for from a “Cheeesy” snack.
Bottom Line:
Pringles Australia nails the garlic butter note, making a rich and appealing Pringles flavor that could find its way out of the snack stash late at night, even if you were really hankering for something cheesier.
11. Seaweed (Japan)
Price:$6.50
Seaweed Pringles, another Japanese convention, should really be called Seaweed feat. Wasabi — as the green, nasal clearing flavoring is as much the star of the story here as anything Seaweed-oriented. The wasabi spice hits like an uppercut straightaway, the briny seaweed anchors the middle then the wasabi hits again like a jab on the finish, coating the entire mouth and sending billowing fumes up the nasal passage.
But unlike the time your friend got you to eat a spoonful of wasabi before you knew its true power and it made you tear up, there is just enough wasabi punishment here to warrant repeated consumption and the seaweed element is present but completely innocuous. These smaller chip Seaweed Pringles are a surprisingly simple and tasty wrinkle in the wonderful world of Japanese Pringles flavors.
Bottom Line:
It’s no surprise that Japan is way ahead of the seaweed snack tsunami (as they’re probably the ones who lit the torch), adding the complementary and addictive wasabi seasoning to create a truly crave-able flavor (in relatively small doses) that ranks solidly in our Pringles panoply of pandemonium.
10. Umashio Light Salt (Japan)
Price:$3.99
Japan’s Umashio Light Salt Pringles are a pleasantly plain addition to the international Pringles canon, tasting very similar to the original beloved non-flavored Pringles that are the people’s choice, globally. This version claims to be lightly salted but boasts a bit of a sea salt minerality to the crisps that remain after you devour the chips. Nevertheless, polishing off a stout can would take very little snack stamina, plus Japanese Pringles are a slightly smaller size than some of their Western crisp cousins, making the task even tidier.
There is nothing bad or negative to say about this flavor, the simple saltiness and potato flavor are the only notes you taste.
Bottom Line:
Light Salt Pringles may be a slight improvement over the traditional original Pringles, as the saltiness is lighter and presents a more distinct salinity.
9. Yuzu Sour Cream (Japan)
Price:$9.00
Yuzu Sour Cream & Onion Pringles are one of the more interesting and unique flavors that exist around the globe and we were lucky enough to obtain a tall can for our sampling pleasure. The first note that hits the tongue upon tasting is a light citrus note, which carries on through to the finish; this is followed by an unexpectedly spicy peppery note and a sour cream and onion taste that blends with both the spice and citrusy yuzu to create a rounded flavor unlike any other.
Upon tasting several chips there is difficulty reconciling all of the levers being pulled in your mouth — the tanginess of the sour cream and citrus do a tango on the tip of your tongue, while the back of your mouth is enveloped in the heat of the unadvertised peppery spice, the entirety of the flavor experience is all rather strange but in a good way. The North American equivalent may be dipping lemon pepper wings in ranch dressing. The ingenuity here is enough to warrant many tastings to process what is happening on your tastebuds.
Bottom Line:
The fact that Yuzu Sour Cream & Onion Pringles exist is sufficient to warrant curiosity as to how they actually taste and whether Sour Cream & Onion should be permitted to be paired with any fruit at all. Whether or not there should be any spice involved, there is and you can’t fault the Japanese for taking things somewhere you never even contemplated, like they do with candy.
8. Tomato (China)
Price:$5.79
The most shockingly good Pringles flavor in this entire international Pringles flavor journey is based around the tomato — at least on a personal level. Tomato being a faux-allergenic like figure in the dietary history of this writer. Tomato Pringles are really good though and fully full-on tomato — starting off with an earthy-salty-sweet-ketchupy note. The sweetness prolongs and finishes with the earthy saltiness of the actual Pringle crisp. The combination of tomato and potato (there is a flavor portmanteau here somewhere… pomato?) is so simple.
Sure, there are other flavors hinted at on the can, but I didn’t taste them. Regardless, Pringles Tomato is a strangely addictive flavor that China can claim as its own and a unique addition to the international Pringles lore.
Bottom Line:
Who knew Tomato Pringles could be alluring and probably even better with the right dip and beverage? The Chinese, apparently.
7. Triple Sour Cream (Japan)
Price:$4.99
3x Sour Cream is a tough claim to back up with paperwork, but the Japanese are bold with their snack offerings. They say triple, but the taste seems more like double — no doubt there is a stronger concentration of seasoning than the typical Sour Cream & Onion, but triple?
Marketing aside, there is surely an extra application of the flavoring one would expect and if that makes your tastebuds content, then you’ll be copping extra mints and drinks to deal with the 2-3x bad breath from what is typical after eating Sour Cream-flavored anything.
Bottom Line:
If you’re fortunate enough to get your sour-cream-loving beefy mitts on these, you’ll relish the extra flavor you simply can’t find on any other Sour Cream & Onion chip around regardless of the true seasoning multiplier.
6. Cheeeeeese (Japan)
Price: $3.99
There are 7 E’s in Japan’s Cheeeeeese Pringles flavor and just like with the 3x Sour Cream flavor, the Japanese are having way too much fun with their snacks again. 4 E’s not enough? Well according to NapaJapan, a personal favorite digital destination for Japanese snacks and candy, there are 4 cheeses involved here — cream cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan — so maybe that explains the extra E’s?
The chips certainly taste more dynamically cheesy than just Italian parmesan — you can taste a bolder cheddar note, a creaminess that could be cream cheese and a funky more pizza-esque note too. If they don’t quench your craving for cheesy chips then just go back to your cheesy poofs. These Pringles have a lighter cheese taste, but still with sufficient cheesy richness for most of us fromage snack foragers.
Bottom Line:
It’s not unusual to find four cheese pizza or shredded cheese in the refrigerated aisle at markets. Here, Japan does one better with their Cheeeeese Pringles — a cheesy concoction only the cheeky Japanese Pringles contingency could execute with as many E’s as cheeses.
5. Takoyaki (Japan)
Price:$21.49
Though Takoyaki is not a beloved dish in this snack writer’s previous repertoire, bias must be ignored when it comes to giving new flavors a chance. Takoyaki is a popular street food in Japan, with a base of fried octopus balls that are drizzled and topped with other sauces and topping-like ingredients — essentially a Japanese version of hush puppies or mini croquettes or arancini.
The Takoyaki Japan-only Pringles are seasoned with a dash of green onion, seaweed, ginger and light soy; a craveable mix of savory, sea-forward flavors with the tentacle taste factoring into the well-balanced recipe.
Bottom Line:
It’s impressive when Pringles can translate the flavors of a complex or simple but multi-ingredient dish into the full-dish flavor of a chip. The Takoyaki Chips Pringles deliver all of the notes this novice Takoyaki eater can imagine existing in one bite, leaving a satisfying umami note on the palate and requiring further consumption and investigation.
4. Emmental (Belgium)
Price:$5.17
Emmental — not 4 cheese Japanese Pringles with the extra e’s in the spelling — is the best international cheese-flavored Pringles variety out there, thanks Pringles Belgium! Rich creamy Swiss cheese seasoning is the flavor du jour with the Emmental Pringles mimicking the mellow Emmental cheese in its powdery coating on each Pringle. The bite starts off tart and tangy cheesy, then morphs to a bit of funkiness and finishes with the mild creamy richness of a fresh slice of cheese on a baguette or cracker or here, a Pringle. Again, there is a high brow/low brow dynamic here and the real winner is the consumer and Pringles for taking crisps to the fromagerie and putting them in a can for us to nosh on.
Bottom Line:
It’s a real shame that tasty cheesy Emmental Pringles aren’t available commonly stateside, as they’re a flavor that would appeal to epicureans and less annoyingly picky consumers alike, and would fit well in any specialty food store alongside other artisanal snackery. Easily one of the best discoveries during this rigorous sample acquisition and eventual sampling, Emmental is one of Pringles best international forays and a flavor worthy of expansion into other territories, at least as a limited edition, if nothing more (wink).
3. Black Truffle (Japan)
Price: currently out of stock everywhere but google for yourself
Never thought the day would come when Black Truffle and Pringles would appear together in a search on a favorite snack website (everyone has a favorite snack website, right?). These Japan-only luxurious crisps do not taste like the unfortunately ubiquitous truffle oil you can find on too many menus in the US. Black Truffle Pringles kick off with the earthy, mushroomy umami note Black Truffles are known for and finish all buttery dreamy creamy (which Black Truffles are also known for).
Lightly salted, nothing diminishes the very natural tasting black truffle flavor, a simple yet decadent flavor for Pringles.
Bottom Line:
Black Truffle, Mentaiko, Nagoya Chicken Wing, Four Cheese, Triple Sour Cream, Takoyaki and the list goes on — the Japanese clearly have the most nuanced, inventive and interesting Pringles variations out.
2. Yamitsuki Garlic Butter (Japan)
Price:$4.99
If you’re not Japanese or fluent in the language, you may miss the inherent disclaimer with the Yamitsuki Garlic Butter Pringles — “Yamitsuki” translates to “addictive” and the flavor is essentially like eating a Scampi flavor of Pringles, but better. The strong garlic note smacks instantly, but it’s followed and anchored by the rich creamy buttery flavor, balancing out the garlic’s intensity and leaving the mouth and tongue enveloped in a delightful butter aftertaste with a slight hint of garlic.
Garlic butter is an ever reliable flavor combo, but it’s the richness here that takes this international bite from basic to transcendent. And it’s the butter flavor — reminiscent of that late Summer melted butter you let crab meat or lobster drown in, even though you know it’s no good for you — that really elevates this Pringles Japan offering to the pinnacle of Mount Yamitsuki.
Bottom Line:
This may be the best butter-flavored snack with exception to fresh movie theater popcorn, ever tasted. The garlic is a distinct note as well, but the butter is really the “Yamitsuki” part of this Pringle — the good folks at Pringles Japan aptly named this excellent flavor.
1 – Mentaiko (Japan)
Price: $18.49
If you’re not familiar with Mentaiko, which is probably most readers, you may not be prepared for the deliciousness of Pringles flavored with the quasi delicacy from Japan. Mentaiko is pollock roe, which means eggs from a member of the Cod family. While that may not get the salivary glands going, Mentaiko is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine and can be found in pasta dishes as a creamy, briny, umami component that adds a rich flavor.
In that regard, Mentaiko-flavored Pringles are beyond revelatory — they smell of the sea, but the first notes you get upon crunching are rich, creamy, salty and fairly light on the palate. The finish is umami-laden, but there is nothing offensive or fishy at play. In fact, if this was a blind tasting, there may be only a subtle hint that any sea creature was involved here.
Bottom Line:
Out of all the international flavors of Pringles sampled, Mentaiko was the tastiest and most dynamic flavor. And, considering the top 15 were all “pretty solid” or above, that’s really saying something.
