Blair's Death Rain Buffalo Wing Chips

There's not much of a story here: I wanted a snack, I got a snack. Traveling to my local Mac's Convenience store, my search for some nibbles did not take long. Blair's, makers of some of the hottest sauces out there, are also in the snacking business as well with their Death Rain chips. They had 2 types of chips I could choose from: Buffalo Wings & Habenero.




Mr Patel had sent me a photo of the above chips a long time ago, which are smaller bags. The Rayzor had introduced me to the Habenero kind the last time I was over for dinner - they were good and had a great bite. So I decided to try the Buffalo Wing flavour.





I loved the line "Feel Alive" to entice people to buy these chips. That's what people don't understand about hot wings or spicy food in general - the pain of the heat reminds you that you are alive!






The NEW SCORE (modified for chips)

STYLE: kettle cooked chips
SAUCES(flavours): Buffalo Wing (Medium), Habenero (xxx hot)
SIZE: small chips, 142g bag
HEAT: 4/10
CRISPINESS: strong crunch
PRICE: just under $4 for a small bag

Here is my first question to all chip producers: Is it a requirement that a bag of chips must be filled only half way or less than half with chips and that air must take up the rest of the space? Blair's was no different - if you can see in the photo above, the bag was mostly empty.

The chips themselves were also pretty small. That's fine; a chip doesn't have to be big like a wing. Because these are kettle cooked, they are particularly crunchy. Now personally, I am not a fan of kettle chips in general. Miss Vickies and all the rest produce a 'rough', abrupt crunch, not the pleasing, crisp bite of a traditional chip. Blair's was not as abrasive as Miss Vickies.


The flavour of the chip was quite nice. Each chip was sufficiently coated and had a nice, smooth burn to it. The heat hit the back of the throat, requiring lots of liquid to sooth the throat. It wasn't a strong burn, it is medium heat after all, but your average heat wimp would find it strong enough.

Much like the Humpty Dumpty wing chips, the Buffalo seasoning seems to be a mix of Salt & Vinegar and BBQ to create the zing. Not like a real Buffalo wing, but I think as close as modern science can bring it. However, Chicken flavour is actually added in the backside ingredients. Crazy.

Blair's Death Rain Buffalo Wing Medium Chips (longest name ever) have a heavy crunch, tangy flavour, and dash of heat. I liked them, but the expensive cost for a small bag definitely would prevent me from making this a regular snack. The burn of Habenero makes it more worth while, but I know I enjoyed the Humpty Dumpty Buffalo Wing chips more.

FINAL SCORE: meh.