Chips Redux

Since the end of Lent, I’ve been consuming chips like crazy. There have been so many new varieties and campaigns going on. Lay’s Sriracha chips, Doritos Locos Tacos flavored Doritos, Doritos Jacked, Cheetos Mix-Up, and Pringles Honey Mustard are just a few of the massive amount of chips I’ve consumed recently.

Here’s a round-up of some of the new chips I’ve tried.

Doritos Locos Tacos Doritos

After the massive success of Doritos Tacos at Taco Bell (I’ll admit it. I love the Cool Ranch one. I’ve been eating them whenever we pass by a Taco Bell.), Doritos recently announced that they were taking that taco flavor and turning it back into a chip. It all sounds very confusing. From chip to taco back to chip. Also since the new chips bear the same name as the Taco Bell tacos, it gets confusing when you’re discussing it.

Like the tacos, there are two flavors: Nacho cheese and Cool Ranch. Each bag contains two types of chips. There is the chip (lighter colored) that is supposed to taste like the outside taco shell and there is the chip (darker colored) that is supposed to taste like the seasoned ground beef filling. The idea is to eat them together or at least one after another to get the full effect.

I read really positive reviews before purchasing these chips. Reviewers claimed to taste the lettuce and other fixings normally present in the tacos. I didn’t think they were that brilliant, but they tasted pretty good. The darker chip did taste like the ground beef mixture in Taco Bell tacos and when eaten with the outside chip, you do get the sensation of eating a Doritos Locos Taco.

Having to constantly search for matching pairs was a little annoying. I usually am not looking at the bag when I’m munching on chips. And if you in blindly, the flavor gets a little weird if you end up with too many of the ground beef ones in a row.

While I thought Doritos did a decent job at recreating the taco taste, I still would rather just eat the taco instead of the chips flavored to taste like the tacos.

Lay’s Sriracha

Lay’s started a popular campaign a few months ago, letting the consumer choose the next chip flavor. The chip flavor contest was narrowed down to three entries: sriracha, cheesy garlic bread and chicken and waffles and you are supposed to vote for your favorite after sampling the chips.

Unfortunately, the chips are hard to find. They are available nationwide, but it seems most stores have very few quantity so they are never on display for long. After months of ducking in every convenience and grocery store, I finally snagged a bag of sriracha after receiving a text from a friend that she had just gotten some at Ralph’s near UCSD. There were only four bags left when I got there.

I had mixed feelings about the sriracha chips. The chip does taste like sriracha sauce but you get hit with all the elements at different times. Sweet, sour and spicy notes are detected at different intervals, coming together only at the very end. The sweet and sour flavors take a little time to get used to and those notes are more present than when eating the sauce. I’m still on the fence about this one and I’m waiting to try the other options before making up my mind.

Doritos Jacked

I feel like these new Doritos got lost between the Lay’s campaign and Doritos Locos Tacos Doritos campaign. I saw them at the grocery store and wasn’t going to bother until I read the description. My initial thought had been that these are just chips that have extra flavoring, a popular practice with all these snack items. But it’s not just that.

These Doritos are like ones that have been popped out of the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs machine. They are almost twice as big as regular Doritos, and noticeable thicker. As a result, they produce an even more satisfying crunch. If you’re a fan of Kettle chips, you will likely enjoy these thicker and crunchier Doritos better.

The one con I found is that because they are so big, most of the ones in my bag were broken. Only a few were completely intact.

Cheetos Mix-Up (Cheezy Salsa and Xtra Cheezy)

I normally prefer the regular crunchy cheetos and don’t care so much for the puffy ones, but I really dig these mix-ups. The Xtra Cheezy one was just okay for me. It is just different cheese flavored Cheetos products mixed together but it was a little overpowering with cheese for my personal preference.

However, I loved the Salsa mix. First, they add these green Japaleno poppers and I love the color green. I also like the addition of salsa flavors to the cheese mix.  It helps you from experiencing cheese overload and having different shapes and flavors offered is a fun bonus.

Doritos Dinamita Rolled Flavored Tortilla Chips

Think rolled tacos but without the filling and with Doritos instead. I like how they look and they are extra crunchy since you they are rolled up.

Pringles Honey Mustard

I’ve started to really like honey mustard sauce lately so I really enjoyed these chips. Not too salty, not too sweet. They taste just like they have been lightly coated in honey mustard.

Well that’s it for now. If you have some chip suggestions I should try, please feel free to share. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!