SMORGASBORD: English chips ... Bean chips ... Foam on the range

• Tyrrell's Hand Cooked English Potato Chips

Tyrrell's Hand Cooked English Potato Chips in seven flavors, including the sweet-salty Beetroot, Parsnip & Carrots With Sea Salt, as well as the tangy Worcestershire Sauce & Sundried Tomato. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
• Beanitos

Not all chips begin with potatoes, especially in the case of Beanitos, bean-based chips from Austin, Texas. Some favorites include Pinto Bean & Flax Chips Cheddar Cheese and Black Bean Chips. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

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English chips

Up your snack game with crisps from across the pond: Tyrrell’s Hand Cooked English Potato Chips in seven flavors, including Mature Cheddar & Chives and Sweet Chili & Red Pepper, made with Herefordshire-grown veggies. Tasters enjoyed sweet-salty Beetroot, Parsnip & Carrots With Sea Salt, as well as the tangy Worcestershire Sauce & Sundried Tomato. Whimsical images adorn each 5.3-ounce bag.

The suggested retail price: $3.99. For a store locater or to buy online, go to tyrrellschips.com.

Bean chips

Not all chips begin with potatoes, especially in the case of Beanitos, bean-based chips from Austin, Texas. “PurposeFULL Snacking For Human Beans,” boast the 1.25-ounce packages that also note that, among other things, they’re “Corn Free,” “Gluten Free” and “Non GMO Verified.” Each weighs in with 6 grams of protein. Favorites among the four flavors: Pinto Bean & Flax Chips Cheddar Cheese and Black Bean Chips.

The suggested retail price: $1.29. For a store locater or to buy, go to beanitos.com.

Foam on the range

A new instant-coffee entry from Nestle is Nescafe Memento — cappuccino, caramel latte or mocha — in single-serve packets you mix with very hot water. When you prepare any of the varieties, a layer of foam forms atop the coffee. You can’t miss it in the illustrations on the boxes and in the advertisements — it’s half an inch thick (which isn’t an exaggeration).

FYI, the instructions call for adding “very hot (not boiling) water,” i.e. you need to heat the water on the range or in the microwave.

At one discount supermarket, the box of eight Memento packets was $4.29 — 54 cents a cup. At the same store the tins of the many flavors of similar (but non-foamy) Maxwell House International Cafe (what used to be General Foods International Coffees) were $2.09. Each produces about 17 cups of coffee, so they cost about 12 cents a cup.

If it’s the single-serve packets that you want (not the foam), a few varieties of Maxwell House International Cafe are available that way: A box of five single-serve packets at the discount store was $2.39 — 48 cents a cup.

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