Which tortilla chips deserve a spot next to your favorite dips? You get to decide!
Today, you and your friends or family are going to practice being professional tasters. You’ll taste different kinds of tortilla chips and determine which one is your winner by rating them based on their flavor, their texture, and how well they work to scoop up a dip (their function).
Before you start tasting, take a minute to think about the tortilla chips you’ve eaten in the past.
Ask an adult—or a friend or family member—to be the “Tasting Organizer.” This is an important job! They will be in charge of setting up the tasting. The Tasting Organizer should:
Meanwhile, each taster needs 1 sheet of blank paper. Using a marker or pen, divide the paper into the same number of sections as tortilla chip samples you’ll be tasting. Label the sections “Sample 1,” “Sample 2,” “Sample 3,” and so on, depending on how many samples you have.
Next, the Tasting Organizer should lay out the tortilla chips on each taster’s sheet of paper, placing 3 chips of the first brand in Section 1, 3 chips of the second brand in Section 2, 3 chips of the third brand is Section 3, and so on.
Make sure each person has a glass of water and 2 crackers or a slice of sandwich bread—these are to help cleanse your palate in between tastes.
Give each person a copy of the Tasting Tortilla Chips scoring sheet to keep track of tasting notes.
__Time to taste! __
Next, test the function of each tortilla chip. Give each taster a small bowl of guacamole, salsa, or hummus. Starting with Sample 1, use a tortilla chip to scoop some dip, the same way you would if you were having a snack. Pay attention to these things:
Eat your chip! Then, give Sample 1 a Scoop Score based on your observations.
Time to pick a winner! Which of your samples had the highest overall score? That’s your winning tortilla chip. Look at the key (made by the Tasting Organizer) to see which brand matches your winning sample.
Remember, the Tasting Organizer assigned each sample a number before you started the tasting—use that sheet here.
Have each person who did the tasting share their winning brand and say a little bit about why they picked it as their winner. Have each person who did the tasting share their winning brand and say a little bit about why they picked it as their winner.
Now, eat the rest of your hummus, salsa, or guacamole (or make some nachos!) with your winning tortilla chips!