Tag: Frito-Lay

Potato Chip Review – Doritos – Mr. Dragon’s FireChips

Posted on by AuSable

OK, so talk about a random bag of chips.
When I was down visiting my sister and her husband a while back. My sister ended up picking me up a bag of Mr. Dragon’s FireChips from Doritos. Personally I didn’t know what to expect, since the name really didn’t lead you down the road to what the chips should taste like. But the description on the back of the bag ended up being a subtle clue with the statement:

From the base of Mt. Fuji, this dragon, a symbol of luck, had brought DORITOS one of Japan’s most intense flavors.

And with only one bite the enigma was solved, and all the clues then made sense. So what do you think the flavor is? Give up?
Continue reading →

Potato Chip Review – Lay’s – Garden Tomato & Basil

Posted on by AuSable

All I can say is: BORING. I will give Frito Lay the benefit of the doubt, in that they didn’t recycle one of their other flavors to make these chips. But their really wasn’t anything exciting about this flavor. More or less it tasted like tomato soup with a hint of basil, with the ironic part being that on the back of the bag is a recipe for making tomato basil soup.

For some reason I thought that these chips were going to taste more like a caprese salad, which is usually what I think of when I see tomatoes and basil put together. But instead I got a mouthful of crunchy tomato basil soup. Overall I’m indifferent to this favor. Would I get them again, maybe. But I can tell you that I won’t be going out of my way to get a bag of these chips.

Potato Chip Review – Sabritas – Ruffles – Queso Cheese

Posted on by AuSable

This Ruffles flavor is suppose to be Queso Cheese, and when you open the bag it totally smells like a bowl of queso. But the problem is that is really doesn’t taste like queso. Instead you get a triad of flavors on your tongue: buttery, citric acid(yeah I know, again!),and cheesy. But the the cheesy flavor isn’t a queso cheesy flavor but instead its more of a blue cheese/cheddar flavor.

And then it hit me, these Queso Ruffles are more or less Cheddar & Sour Cream Ruffles that had some blue cheese flavoring added in to make in more “queso” like, heck they even look like Cheddar & Sour Cream Ruffles. Come on Frito-Lay, how dumb do you think I am? If they would have labeled these chips as Blue Cheese Ruffles, it would have been a more accurate description than queso. Once again another let down courtesy of the men and women of Frito-Lay.

Potato Chip Review – Sabritas – Doritos – Toro Habanero

Posted on by AuSable

What do you get when you take Nacho Cheese Doritos, and add in a mixture of sour (courtesy of citric acid) and habanero flavor. You get Sabritas (Frito-Lay’s) Toro Habanero flavored chips! So on to the critical questions, that being were these chips hot, as in picante and not calinete? Oh yes they were, but it wasn’t an in your face kind of heat with the first bite, it was more of a smoldering heat that almost turns into an inferno of fire in your mouth with almost a hint of a fruity aftertaste while the heat is dying down in your mouth.

Would I get these again, right now I’m 50/50 on the flavor. I kind of wish that they wouldn’t have used so much of the citric acid, even though I understand the reasoning why they did it in the first place (for the acid to enhance the flavor of the habanero, kind of like lime in guacamole) but that is asking a lot out of Frito-Lay. But if you are looking to get your heat fix on, then these are the ticket for you.

Potato Chip Review – Lay’s Salt and Vinegar

Posted on by AuSable

This is another one of those flavors that I picked up at the Meijer in Kalamazoo. Call them the staid big brother verse his skater punk little bro in the Lay’s Dill Pickle chips.

Once upon a time, I might have had a fun size bag of Lay’s Salt and Vinegar chips in high school, because I remember not liking the tart vinegar flavor in high school. So I basically avoided salt and vinegar flavored chips until this current purchase. So lets reload an oldie but a goodie into the flavor mill. Continue reading →

Potato Chip Review – Doritos – Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ

Posted on by AuSable

Since I don’t remember ever seeing this flavor of Doritos before, I had to get a bag. And the flavor listed on the bag is the actual order that you get the flavor when eating these Doritos. First you get the smoky flavor, and as you chew you get the cheddar flavor, with a finishing flavor of BBQ sauce. The only downside was the BBQ flavor, in that it is more of a sweet BBQ sauce flavor, almost like the BBQ flavor on Lay’s Honey BBQ flavored chips. Personally if they would have used the BBQ flavor from the old KC Masterpiece Ruffles, it would have paired up better with the smokiness and the cheddar. I guess we can all dream.

Potato Chip Review – Old Dutch – Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips

Posted on by AuSable

I guess that everything old is new again, because the first thing that I thought of when I tired these chips was Lay’s Dill Pickle flavored chips. But when you think about it, talk about a brilliant piece of marketing on the part of potato chip companies. Salt and Vinegar chips are a down in the dumps flavor, almost a throwback flavor in these current times. But guess what, you add a little dash of dill flavoring and presto! You were able to recycle a flavor that no one was buying into something cutting edge.

As a side note, for some strange reason Salt & Vinegar flavored chips always make me think of the UK and fish and chips. Maybe it was because of the baby blue color on both the Lay’s Salt & Vinegar chips as well as these Old Dutch chips. Did I somehow miss the memo that baby blue = salt & vinegar?

But in any case, I thought that these Kettle Cooked Old Dutch chips were pretty good, and judging by my consumption of half a 8.5 oz bag in one sitting, that means a pretty solid thumbs up from me. Maybe I’m currently experiencing a salt & malt vinegar deficiency that needed to be quenched. But these salt & vinegar really hit the spot. And mixed with a little bit of beer from a free keg of BL (15.5 gallons isn’t going to drink itself away) in the kegerator it made for a nice, though unhealthy late night snack.

Potato Chip Review – Funyuns Flaming Hot

Posted on by AuSable

As usual with the packaging, you see all those flames and think, “These might be pretty hot.” Well yes they brought the heat, but in an unexpected kind of way. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but somehow the folks at Frito-Lay figured out how to add heat to the Funyuns so that it tickling the back of your throat instead of your tongue. It is such a strange sensation, that I want to try these again. The ingredient list on the packaging doesn’t list what peppers are used for the heat. But whatever they are using, its gotten me interested.

Potato Chip Review – Sabritas – Doritos – Diablo Enchilado

Posted on by AuSable

When I opened the bag, there was almost no smell. Just a faint hint of cumin and paprika. And the first bite was like a hot flash in your mouth, almost like an explosion of heat. As quick as it hits you, then it’s gone. Only to be replaced with a boot to the face of citric acid. At first I thought that it was lime, but it really didn’t taste like lime until I checked the package, and saw that it was citric acid. All I can say is holy citric acid!! These chips have so much citric acid flavor in the finish that they are almost inedible. I had to stop eating them for 10 minutes, just so that my taste buds could somewhat recover. Another strange thing I noticed is that the longer you keep the chips in your mouth, the more citric acid flavor you get. So if you love the sour of citric acid, then these are for you. But for me, I’m glad I just had a ~2 oz. bag, because anymore would have been too much for me.