Review (x2): Biena Sea Salt Chickpea Snacks, Barbeque Chickpea Snacks, & World Chase Tag: Thumbs Up or Down?
JFG Nation, American Ninja Warrior is SUPER popular right now, but I just stumbled upon something which seems to be ridiculous. It’s called World Chase Tag, or Parkour Tag. And this is what it looks like:
I have to say, it’s looks ridiculously dumb, but I was INTO IT. I mean, we’ve ALL played tag before, right? And this is the same game, but with people doing flips and running on rails and diving through holes. I LOVE IT. I say, bring this to a big stage, make the “field” much larger, add MORE obstacles like fire and water pits, and let’s REALLY TAKE THIS UP A NOTCH. I want to see Freeze Tag on actual glaciers. I want to see Octopus Tag in the actual sea. I WANT TO SEE PARKOUR TAG ACROSS AN ENTIRE CITY! Let’s do this, WWE, Dana White, Jeff Bezos, whoever wants to sponsor this ish.
What do you think? Thumbs up or down? Let me know in the comments below.
Today’s junk food: Biena Sea Salt Chickpea Snacks, Barbeque Chickpea Snacks!!
I first learned about Biena Foods Chickpea Snacks from Darren Rovell, the ESPN business reporter, because he tweeted about it. I’ve had plenty of “healthy snacks” over the years, especially at the Summer Fancy Food Show, so I was skeptical. I’ve tried to like quinoa chips, hummus chips, etc. etc. – I cannot get into them. Bean chips? Get out of here. And I feel like I’ve had dried chickpeas before, but I was just “meh” with them.
Then, I got to try some of this snack at the Fancy Food Show:
It wasn’t bad – not bad at all! In fact, I actually LOVED the ranch flavor. These Biena Chickpea Snacks reminded me a LOT of Corn Nuts – which I love. Small, medium density, and very crunchy. The Ranch flavor was bold, so it really stood out to me – the other flavors, at the time, did not.
After the show, Biena Foods kindly reached out to me, and I received a shipment of flavors. I must tell you – I was REALLY REALLY surprised at how much I liked these. At the Summer Fancy Food Show, my tastebuds get overloaded – normally flavorful things taste bland because your senses are assaulted by the tidal wave of sugars, salts, spice, etc. I finally had a chance to sit down and really process the individual flavors of these Chickpea Snacks. AND I WAS INTO THEM.
First up: Classic Sea Salt!
DO THESE TASTE GOOD? OMG, yes. And that, honestly, is said with a bit of shock.
WHY OR WHY NOT? Let’s get right to it: I’ve said over and over that when a snack is fried or cooked in sunflower oil, I KNOW it’s going to taste amazing. There is something about sunflower oil that is BAZILLY. I don’t know what it is, but chips in sunflower oil > chips cooked in vegetable oil.
These Chickpea Snacks are no exception. They don’t look like much, but the flavor was incredible. They were crunchy, light, buttery, and so so flavorful with just sea salt. They honestly reminded me a LOT of Stacy’s Pita Chips, weirdly – you know how a nice plain salted Stacy’s Pita Chip tastes? How your mouth fills with this savory butteriness as you chew them? That existed here. These were DELICIOUS.
(footnote: Surprise Surprise, Stacy’s uses Sunflower Oil. I KNEW IT.)
The chickpeas crunch a little different than Corn Nuts – they tend to fall apart into a more granular texture faster. But the initial crunch was so so close. I can’t stop gushing enough. These were super tasty.
DO THESE TASTE GOOD? I’m not even a barbeque chip fan, and I have to say YES.
WHY OR WHY NOT? They basically took the flavor you get on barbeque Baked Lay’s and added it to these Chickpeas. These were a slightly different texture than the normal Sea Salt ones. While the Sea Salt ones popped more, these were a bit more…glazed? I guess that’s the word. As a result, these crunched a little harder – think of the way Honey Roasted Peanuts crunch. That’s how these were.
But the flavor? OH THE FLAVOR. Sweet. Smoky. Good garlic and tomato-ey savoriness. Just a well balanced barbeque flavor. I didn’t think I would like these, but the more I ate, the more addicted I became to the super-easy-to-enjoy BBQ flavor. These were also dangerously good.
I am stunned by how much I liked both of these. STUNNED. I will buy these both again, NO. DOUBT.
ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW? Look, I get it – you’re thinking, “chickpea snacks? Get out of here, JFG!” I know. And I am not trying to compare these to Doritos, etc. All I know is that as a “healthy” snack, I get a bit more protein than in Corn Nuts for less calories, and it’s been an awesome snack to tear into when I get home from a long day at work. I haven’t felt guilty about eating them once! Seriously. These were good.
PURCHASED AT: Sent to me, but you can find them with a store locator here.
WHERE FOUND IN STORE? n/a.
COST? n/a.
Sincerely,
The JFG
Discuss - 5 Comments
I fell in love with the dark chocolate flavor. It really does work!!!!
First, I will admit that I got sucked into that video clip, and they need to up the stakes a bit with the bigger field and obstacles.
Second, Crunchy Chickpea snacks are awesome. I haven’t had this brand, but have tried a few others. They are a bit expensive, so I have made my own starting with dried chickpeas. I had the best results with the simple olive oil and sea salt combo. But I did do some with maple syrup that weren’t too bad. May have to try a new version with chocolate, maybe some kind of chickpea muddy buddy-type flavor?
Bienna is in process to launch chocolate covered chickpeas! I tried it and I loved it. It really does work
Darn. Im in a Biena Snacks dry zone. Among lots of stuff, lol.
I may have to order to give these a try. They look good.
I have only had the Honey Roasted flavor of these and love eating them with an apple for lunch.