# Coffee and Potato Chips **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703 "2012-11-21T08:39:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/1 "2012-11-21T08:39:15Z")
I’ll drink and enjoy coffee with any traditional breakfast foods- including any salty preparation of breakfast potatos. Yet, a chomp on a couple of potato chips while drinking coffee and . . . yuck! The two just do not go together and each makes the other taste bad. How does this happen with salty potato chips but not with salty hash browns/ home fries/ potatoey breakfast whatever? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/2 "2012-11-21T10:52:44Z")
If you can find them (it may not be easy in the USA), try _salt and vinegar_ flavor chips with coffee. Way back when I worked in a civil service office, I did this once when there was no other snack available from the coffee trolley. I fully expected the combination to be appalling, but it was surprisingly good. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/3 "2012-11-21T14:00:13Z")
I came to it much the way you did, **njtt** : drinking coffee at work, wanting a snack, and the variety of snacks being limited. So, I’m never going to actually go out of my way to couple coffee and potato chips. Should the occasion arise however that snacks are limited to chips but salt and vinegar happen to be available, I may give it a try. Thanks for the info! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/4 "2012-11-21T18:01:07Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > If you can find them (it may not be easy in the USA), try _salt and vinegar_ flavor chips with coffee. Way back when I worked in a civil service office, I did this once when there was no other snack available from the coffee trolley. I fully expected the combination to be appalling, but it was surprisingly good. Salt and vinegar chips are ubiquitous in the U.S. Nearly every chip maker makes salt and vinegar chips. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/5 "2012-11-22T16:51:26Z")
I’m going to guess it’s because of the oil in which the chips were fried. I suspect the culprit is cottonseed oil. Great for frying, but perhaps the taste clashes with the essential oils in the coffee. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/6 "2012-11-22T16:58:09Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-potato-chips/641703/7 "2012-11-24T10:15:16Z")
I’m just the opposite - I love that combination. I always look for the chip that has a bubble with a broken surface in it, so when I dip the chip I get a little pocket of coffee. Yum!