Snyders of Hanover Pretzel Pieces - Jalapeno product reviews

Browsing KIWIreviews I noticed Snyder's Pretzel Pieces up for review - and immediately requested them - especially these Jalapeno ones - for my spice loving husband. When I opened our KIWIreviews box I was rapt to see three flavours to sample - and especially these ones!

I am always on the lookout for different snacks to try - with three children, date nights are a bit more scarce than pre-kids - so a nice bottle of wine and some nibbles is what we like to do now. Snyder's have a great range, and having tried some of their flavours - but not this one, was understandably excited.

The packaging is great - bright and cheery, depicts the product really well, and has good information if you are so inclined. Opening the packet is really easy - tear, and go. It is foil on the inside - helping to keep the freshness and flavour locked in. A suggestion would be to have a snap lock type closure, for people like myself that try and not eat the whole packet in one go.

Looking at the pretzels - they are similar to what is depicted on the front, however, there is a significant amount of small bits. This could be down to handling, rather than the product though. The jalapeno flavour was clear to see on the pieces - little flecks of green spicy goodness!

Knowing that my husband was likely to scoff the bag once he realised that they were open - I thought I would try them first, and being cautious - popped a couple of smaller pieces into my mouth. You could taste the flavour straight away, but did not get a full sense of the kick of it for a few seconds, then bam, it hit you! Not too strong that I was deterred from more - but definitely a kick in them! That have a lot of flavour which is great - and a very moreish! I think for some they may be classed as hot - I found them on the hotter side of medium - and had to have a few more! Hubby found these after dinner, and devoured the rest of the packet - so whilst I could have happily had more - I was beaten to it!

I absolutely will buy these again - in fact I did already - to go with the Father's Day present for my husband!

I've not had too much exposure to pretzels. Usually, the ones I have tried were small generic mass produced heavily salted varieties. I'm used to very solid shells, with a very salty, but still bland flavour. The concept of flavoured sourdough hard pretzels is therefore intriguing, as it represents something completely different to what I have tried before.

The packet itself is satisfying to hold. While similar in volume to that of a 50g potato chip packet, these pretzel packages hold 125g of pieces, which gives the product a satisfyingly dense and heavy feel to it. This is by no means a packet half full of air; this is all pretzels pieces.

You can see in the photo attached, that the pieces themselves have a brown exterior and white interior, and once broken into pieces, were coated in flavouring with a dark orange colouration (you can see the white patches where the flavouring hasn't completely covered the pieces. The colouring alone would give sufficient warning to the strength of flavour that you will receive from the product, but when you open the packet you cannot miss the aroma of jalapenos.

The pretzel pieces vary in size, from those smaller than a pea to those bigger than a segment of my finger, the variation is size is mirrored by variation in the flavour; the flavouring only coats the outside, so the smaller the piece, the higher the flavouring to pretzel ratio becomes. The texture of the sourdough is quite solid almost like that of a biscuit; solid on the outside, but once you break through the surface, it crumbles easily enough.

The intense aroma is matched by the flavour, which reminds me of my childhood, eating Aztec branded salsa corn chips with a hot salsa dip. The jalapenos are there in heat as well, not just in flavour, and is a welcome change from many products that have only the flavour. The heat, while not too hot, provides a hit of warmth that lingers, and actually slows down the pace at which I consume them as I pause to enjoy the burst of flavour and heat.

With 14% jalapenos, you certainly cannot forget what flavour this product is; the flavour, the aroma, and the heat, all work together to make this a rather unforgettable product.

My family love hot and spicy food and are also partial to pretzels so we were all looking forward to trying these. In fact, there was a fight between my husband and my 2 daughters as to who could open and try them first! Needless to say, hubby won and grabbed a small handful and then turned around so no-one else could try them. It was pretty obvious from this moment on they were going to be a big hit. After I finally managed to wrestle the pack away from my husband, I let me 2 daughters (7 and 9 years old) try them. The youngest absolutely loved them and was wanting more whilst my eldest had a water bottle in one hand and was eating them and then gulping the water down........ she kept going back for more though!

After the initial rush and me moaning that I had to 'quality control' them I managed to get my hands on some. I found these pretzels came in many different shapes and sizes but were coated with flavour. The biggest pieces were about half the size of my little finger and the smallest had to be eaten in a small handful. They were nice and crunchy and to say these were a hit in our family was an understatement! They were hot and spicy and you could fully taste (and see) the jalapeno's. My only whinge is that they contain Palm Oil and my husband's only complaint was the bag was too small!

I love hot and spicy food and we love to entertain - Snyders of Hanover Pretzel Pieces - Jalapeno sounded like a perfect match for our tastes! I loved that the package was sealed, bright and clearly defined what I was going to get inside! Upon opening the package there were great chunks of pretzels covered in a spicy jalapeno flavor and certainly delivering on crunch, spicy and satisfying flavours! A great addition to any platter or lunch box. A great favourite with all of the humans in this house - surprising me that the children didn't find them too spicy!

One item of attention was the addition of preservatives and flavours that were on the ingredients list on the back of the package. We love lots of fully naturally flavoured treats in our home but try to shy away from MGS.
I would buy this product for parties and platters and be happy to pop it into gift parcels and the office shared lunches/morning teas. I have served them on platters along with crackers/cheeses and condiments and they disappear very quickly! Easy to pop into a picnic basket to take along to the lake or beach and certainly one to have on hand in the pantry when the unexpected family or guests arrive!

I really like a lot of the flavours in the Snyders range and will ensure these are in our pantry as a staple going forward!

Ohhhh, these are so yummy! I'm not a big fan of pretzels themselves - my teeth no longer appreciate hard baked goods - but these were so tasty, and surprisingly easy to eat. While pretty much every piece had a bit of the hard "crust" on it, the bulk of each morsel was quite aerated and easy to chew through... and coated with amazing flavour!

The pieces ranged quite wildly in size - from tiny bits too small to be eaten in any way other than from the palm of your hand, to chunks that were about half the size of my index finger. This meant that there was plenty of variety should you want to use these as anything other than a basic snack. On that score, my one bit of advise would be NOT to take these to a cinema with you, unless you have a desire to be ejected for disrupting the show - they are not quiet to eat.

As for the flavour - sharp with a bit of heat, but well within acceptable limits for anyone who appreciates a bit of piquancy in their food. I managed to get through the first half of the pack before I had to stop due to the spiciness of them, and I like some spice in my meals. However, for those who can only tolerate a small amount of bite, this will be a snack that helps you self-moderate because it will sneak up on you quietly until you suddenly realise one more is going to tip you over into a world of mouth-hurt.

Overall, a snack to be wary of, but to enjoy. Well worth it for spice lovers, who will tolerate it quite easily. Only a dedicated chilli fan will find these in any way dull. I plan to buy more as soon as I can find room in the budget for a bulk-buy!

I tried this variety after I had tried three other review varieties, and what really impressed me was the way that each had quite a distinctive flavour so there is something for every preference. I expected them to be quite spicy, but the heat was a little unevenly distributed through the packaging: some pieces were hotter than others. None was so hot, however, as to be dangerously so, although personally I think they would appeal more to the adult market.

I brought the pack in to share with a friend; I had already opened the packet and tasted a couple of pieces so I was able to warn her that they were quite spicy. However, she enjoys highly spiced food, so there was no problem: she said they were at just the right level for her. She thought the flavour was authentic and the pretzel pieces themselves were nice and crunchy without being too hard.

Both of us thought we detected an aftertaste of lemon in the piece but on checking the ingredients list we found it was vinegar powder - possibly cider vinegar, although the variety was not actually identified on the packet. Whatever it was, there was a hint of Oriental spices in the combination of flavours. And the pretzels go well with fresh fruit, especially citrus. We found that if you find an extra hot piece (hot enough to make your tongue tingle) and then eat a piece of orange or mandarin immediately afterwards the heat is zapped instantly. And the combination is delicious.

I like the appearance of the pretzel pieces. They come in a fancy pack with a shiny gold surround and the legend "bursting with flavour". The manufacturers are not kidding: the flavour literally explodes out of the packet to meet you. I thought the smell was a combination of lemon, cardamon and turmeric whereas my friend thought it just smelled strongly of a good curry. The pieces inside are mostly of a reasonable size although there were a few crumbs in the bottom which we shook out to eat anyway!

Finally, I appreciate the fact that the product is baked, not fried, which makes it a healthy alternative to packet potato chips which are usually cooked in oil. Even without the extra oil, these do not taste dry, and that means that they are easy to chew. I often buy crisps for a party offering or when I have visitors around, and I think these are much better value - more filling, lower in unnecessary added fats, and definitely tastier. There is still some fat in the product, but nowhere near as much as there would be if the cooking process had been different. I look forward to trying them again.

When I saw the Pretzel Pieces up for review I was really hoping to try them and luckily for me I got given 1 of each of the 4 flavours to review. Pretzels are a wonderful snack food that is often in out kitchen pantry, I love the crunch when you bite into them and the versatility as they are great on there own, with a dip and i've even been known to add them to baking as weird as that may sound! I was excited to see that pretzels now are available in a range of different flavours and as I am getting a lot more used to eating spicy foods these days I decided that it was worth trying out the Jalapeno variety.

The packaging I love, beautiful gold plastic with hints of green,white and black which really complement each other and look great with the image of the pretzels on the front, which I must add do resemble what you are getting in the package almost spot on. Opening the packet up the first thing that caught my attention was the way the Jalapeno pretzels looked which was different to the previous flavours I had tried as they were appeared to have more coating than the other flavours and also green flecks over them which was obviously Jalapenos. They looked appetizing enough and I couldn't wait to try them, nor could Miss 4.

With Miss 4 begging for a taste I handed her a small piece which quickly went into her mouth, but not for long after she took her first bite, out it came with a "quick I need a drink of water, hot, hot, hot". I decided to try one for myself and I must admit even I was not prepared for the intense jalapeno flavour that these had they were very HOT and VERY spicy, I ate a couple more to see if I could get a bit more used to the flavour but sadly in this instance that didn't happen. I didn't want to waste the packaging so I continued to try to eat the pretzels and found that if I would first suck the flavour off I was able to eat them without crazy amounts of heat to my mouth.

I had friends coming over for dinner and so served these up on a platter with some other nibbly bits like cheese, crackers, gherkin and dips for everyone to try. With the pre warning that these were a bit hot everyone began to dig in and unlike me and Miss 4 were not put off by the heat, infact they loved the flavours, I must admit that they were pretty good with a sour cream based dip. So while these wouldn't be my pick of the range or a flavour I would buy myself I can see many people who enjoy hot and spicy foods enjoying these. If your a fan of heat in your food go on and give them a go, I'm sure you will love them!