I Tried These 4 Hippeas Flavors & Now Have A New Fave

When you think of hippies, you probably picture a group of people without shoes, maybe some of them have dreadlocks, and they’re all singing songs about nature in a drum circle while wearing bright tie-dyed clothing. Well, this article isn’t about those kinds of hippies. This article is about Hippeas. There’s a big difference between the two. The biggest difference being one is edible and one isn’t (unless you’re Jeffrey Dahmer―which you aren’t). If you’ve never heard of Hippeas before, let us teach you a little something about this wave of healthier snack options. Hippies look just like your typical snacking chips and puffs, but instead of using cornmeal, Hippeas uses chickpeas for a huge nutritional boost. Hippeas are a tasty way to snack without adding a ton of saturated fat and salt into your diet, and we suggest you make some real estate in your pantry for a bag or two ASAP.

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Now, there are a lot of Hippeas flavors, but I managed to get my hands on four of them for a taste test. I tried Cheddar Vibrations and Pizza Party, both of which are part of the Protein Crunch lineup, as well as Jalapeño Cheddar Blaze and Groovy White Cheddar, two of the standard flavors. I was super excited to dig into each bag, so let’s see which flavors are actually worth your money and which ones you might want to give a hard pass to.

Cheddar Vibrations

With a name like this, I expected a wallop of cheddar as soon as this puff hit my palate. Well, the word “wallop” might be a little intense, but I definitely tasted a light punch of that cheddar cheese flavor that lasted through every chew until the penultimate swallow. The crunchy texture was fantastic, and the cheddar cheese flavor was more than noticeable, but, in the end, I would have liked a stronger cheddar taste.

Pizza Party

This flavor sounded the most fun seeing as the word “party” is literally in the name, but as soon as I crunched down on my first puff I was sorely mistaken. These puffs were barely reminiscent of pizza. There was a super subtle tomato sauce flavor, but it lingered somewhere underneath the dull seasoning that had a slightly burnt aftertaste. This was no party in my mouth whatsoever, and anyone who craves something pizza-flavored might want to steer clear of these altogether.

Jalapeño Cheddar Blaze

This was the first Hippeas flavor I was extra excited about because I absolutely adore the flavor combination of jalapeño and cheddar. I like my snacks to punch me in the mouth with a little bit of heat (but not too much), and jalapeño is always the perfect pepper to do it. I have to say I was genuinely impressed with the balance between the pepper and cheese. The jalapeño flavor was never overwhelming, but it absolutely lingered on my palate with a spicy warmth. The cheddar taste was prevalent and wasn’t overpowered by the heat. Great balance along with a fantastic crunchy texture. 

Groovy White Cheddar

I’m into anything and everything that’s considered “groovy,” so when I cracked open a bag of these Groovy White Cheddar Hippeas I expected to be impressed. I am happy to say that not only was I impressed, but this flavor surpassed my expectations completely. These things really kicked me in the mouth with the white cheddar flavor, and that’s all I wanted. I love the taste of white cheddar, so I feared these puffs wouldn’t give me the powerful dose my palate always craves. But, these things were terrific, and I will be buying them on my next trip to the supermarket.