Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Tortilla Chip Rounds

I recently discovered that the Trader Joe's website occasionally publishes something called "The Product Gangway," a list of items that will soon be arriving, and items that will soon be discontinued. The latter is the more useful, as it gives fans of a product an opportunity to stock up on it for the last time. It also affords shoppers one last chance to try something they hadn't noticed before or had been putting off buying.

That last category describes me for these chips. I had noticed them many times, but always chose some other kind of chip instead. Frankly, I thought I would not like the taste of sweet potato in corn tortilla chips. But when I saw that they were going bye-bye, I thought I had better give them a shot while I still could. Y'know--for my legions of readers.

I'm glad I did. They are most excellent. In fact, they're among the very best tortilla chips I've ever had. The ratio of corn to sweet potato taste is just right, surprisingly harmonious and delicious. They are thick and solid enough to stand up to dipping in dense hummus without breaking, but not tough to bite into.

Now the problem, of course, is that I have fallen in love with something just in time to see it disappear--like Kate Winslet watching Leonardo DiCaprio slip off of their flotsam in "Titanic."

TJ's says that these chips are being replaced with a similar but improved version--angular rather than round, and with even more sweet potato flavor. I'm not convinced that either change would be an improvement, but I'll certainly give the new product a chance when it arrives.

If you've never tried these chips, don't waste any more time about it. TJ's estimates that their supply will be gone by mid-May. I'm going to grab a few more bags on my next grocery run. And I'm adding them to my Top Ten list--not quite posthumously, but pretty close, like the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars being given to a director or star that everybody can see is on death's door.

Will I buy it again? 

At least once more. After that, who knows?