Flamin' Hot Nacho Doritos - Chip Review

As you probably know I love spicy food. Wings, obviously, but all sorts of foods. Snack foods especially. When I saw that Dorito's had a new spicy chip, not the Roulette, not their Spicy, but Flamin' Hot Nacho, I had to try them.

That happened, and we all let that happen ...

Funny enough, I didn't know about this commercial until recently. I've seen a shorter version (that almost completely cuts out the Backstreet Boys) but never even absorbed that it had anything to do with Doritos, let alone the Flamin' Hot. While I don't mind the mash up or the music, both, in my opinion, are terrible pop choices for this product. Terrible. With chips this spicy, I want a commercial that plays up the danger, and nothing about this commercial says danger, or crazy hot, or watch out.

I'm going to do a little spoiler - I bought a bag with the intention of reviewing it, and then I ate it before taking any photos. I liked them that much. Doritos are an awesome chip in my general opinion. Flavour wise my ranking of the flavours goes something like this:

1. Nacho
2. Roulette
3. Sweet Chili Heat
4. Cool Ranch
5. Spicy
6. Dill
7. Zesty
8. Jalapeno & Cheddar
9. BBQ Bold

It changes depending on my mood, but my top two are the Nacho cheese and the Roulette (because it incorporates the nacho and spicy). So the fact that these new chips are a spicy nacho made them sound perfect.

I was surprised looking at the ingredients that there wasn't much listed as heat spice, other than 'spices'  and 'red and green bell pepper powder' which isn't spicy at all. I was also surprised that the US ingredients list is different than the Canadian ingredients list. Huh. I wonder if they taste that different or if one is spicier than the other?

Doritos feel like they are becoming more of a luxury chip, where the average 230g bag ranging from $3-$5 a bag, occasionally going on sale for 2 for $6 or 2 for $5. I only buy them on sale, and fortunately for me, they were on sale. The bags feel so small nowadays.

The chips are the same size as classic Doritos.

If you are not familiar with Doritos, that's a little surprising, but each tortilla chip is triangular and are all uniform in size. The chips are fried, then coated in seasoning. They are crunchy, but not as hard as other flavoured tortilla chips as other brands. Just the right texture in my opinion.

The seasoning on these chips is quite generous. Each chip has a very good dusting on it with most chips being completely covered, or at least mostly covered. You are definitely going to get your fingers stained and covered in nacho dust - both cheesy and spicy.

The flavour on these are pretty intense. These are a bold bold chip - you get that cheesy blast from the Nacho cheese, but then you get that vicious bite from the spices. The heat on these leaves a nice sting on the lips, and I think is as hot if not hotter than their Spicy or the heat chip in the Roulette. Like many things, a chili-head is not going to find this spicy, but for the average person these are going to be hot. They sit in a perfect heat/taste range for me. What makes these great is that combo of the heat, but you really still get that flavour of the nacho cheese.

Would I try it again?

Hell yes. They are now my favourite Dorito by far. I'm going to be bummed if this is only a limited time offer. Crispy chips, lots of seasoning, bold cheese and heat. Way to go Doritos, Flamin' Hot Nacho is aces in my books.

1. Nacho Flamin' Hot Nacho
2. Roulette
3. Sweet Chili Heat
4. Cool Ranch
5. Spicy
6. Dill
7. Zesty
8. Jalapeno & Cheddar
9. BBQ Bold

Doritos Flamin' Hot Nacho Flavoured Tortilla Chips

www.doritos.ca/products/doritos%C2%AE-flamin%E2%80%99-hot%C2%AE-nacho-flavoured-tortilla-chips

Dunn's Dill Pickle Chips - Chip Review

Earlier this summer LJ and I were stocking up on some snacks at Costco for a gathering with kids and adults. We were in the chip aisle when a bag stood out because I had never seen it before, and it was black (unlike most bags of chips). It was Dunn's Dill Pickle chips, and I was a bit excited.

See I love dill pickles, and dill pickle potato chips. I also like Dunn's Famous Deli. I was going to link this to my review of Dunn's, and to my surprise, I have never reviewed Dunn's. If you are unfamiliar, Dunn's is a Montreal based deli that has expanded greatly in Ottawa, but also across the country. 

photo from https://www.mtlblog.com/best-of-mtl/best-montreal-pickles

 It was founded by Myer Dunn in 1927 and eventually specializing in Montreal smoked meat.  I love a good Montreal smoked meat sandwich, which should come with crispy fries, a Cott's Black Cherry soda, and of course, kosher dill pickles. Now I know the next time I go I need to do a review.

So this was a product I was not expecting. The only commercially sold item I had seen sold from Dunn's was their pre-packaged smoked meat. Being at Costco, the bag was huge; 750g! To get an idea, an average bag of say Ruffles Creamy Dill chips are 245g. That's 3+ bags of a regular chips, and at $5.99, it's not a bad deal.

We picked up a bag, and the Costco reciept checker at the door asked me how they were because he was curious. "I don't know yet, I'll let you know" I said, never seeing the man again. Also funny, we didn't use it for our event. We were going to take it home with us, but my wife's dad said he would try them. LJ tried to tell him he wouldn't like them, but he said he would. So we didn't get to try them right away, then we bought another bag. Then her dad did try them and said he did not like them and he thought they were a different kind of chip altogether. We collected that bag the last time we visited as well. Also, at the time of this post, they are no longer sold in Ottawa, and only available in the GTA it seems.

The bag is huge, but like all chip bags, is half filled with air. That makes the above photo very deceptive in how much is in the bag. You cannot deny the dill pickle smell when you open that bag. Some people like that sour pickle smell, others hate it. I love it, personally.

The chips are simulated in flavour - a quick scan on the ingredients doesn't even list pickle, dill, or anything else similar, most closely 'spices'.

The chips are ruffled in nature - making them pick up lots of flavour seasoning. They are also very crunchy and you would think sturdy, but in both bags I found that a large portion of the bag is broken. Dunn's isn't usually in the chip game, but I find the quality of their chip in between brand name chips that are higher in quality and no-name store brand chips that I find kinda crap.

The flavour is there - these are sour, salty, and dilly. They will make you pucker your lips, for sure. As sour and salty as say Salt & Vinegar chips, but with a creamy, dilly note in there. They aren't drenched in seasoning, but you are going to need to lick your fingers when you are done. LJ liked them well enough, but she's not a big dill pickle chip person. I also found these went really well with dip (especially Frank's Hot Wing chip dip, review to come).

Would I get these again? Yes, but these bags take a LONG time to go through when it's only two people. I think it's too bad that the bags are so big, and as well that they are only available at Costco. The chips have the crunch and they have the flavour you want in a dill chip. I wouldn't say they were my favourite, but they were good in my opinion.

Dunn's Dill Pickle Chips
dunnsfamous.com

#tbt & LOST REVIEW: Blair's Death Rain BUFFALO WING Kettle Cooked Potato Chips 2011

Back with another Lost Review on #tbt and this one goes back to 2011. It was a chip review and I was sampling some Blair's Death Rain Buffalo Wing Kettle Cooked Potato Chips. Wow what a title!

Somethings to note; I took the photos in September of 2011, and looking at the photos now I see the expiry was December 2011 (just under the wire!). These wings were also a Medium in heat (pretty weak for anything Blair's does). If I remember correctly, these were good, but I haven't had them since. Below are the few notes I took - they were cheap (probably liquidating for the expiry date). Enjoy the photos!

two for a dollar
medium
-very crunchy (kettle)
-salty burn - lingers in mouth, peppery, vinegary
-small to medium chips

#tbt = Ruffles Sweet & Spicy Chip Review

I love chicken wings, and I like potato chips, so it's a pretty safe bet I love me some chicken wing flavoured potato chips and Ruffles is probably my favourite chip brand (love the ridges and usually the bold flavours). Normally they are Hot or Buffalo flavoured, but this past spring Ruffles came out with a Sweet & Spicy chip.

Now just going on the name, you would not connect sweet and spicy to chicken wing. Sweet and spicy isn't a usual flavour of wing, I mean it exists, but when you hear sweet and spicy, wings are not the first thing I think of. But you have those chicken wings on the cover ... so I guess its a wing flavour on these chips.

Even in their description they don't mention chicken wings. It's like they came up with the flavour concept, and at the last moment they needed an image for the bag, so some dude thought to use chicken wings.

That being said, I was still ready to try them.

I just got a small bag, the king under 220g and run about $1.50. Of course, chips make up less than half the bag.

On first inspection, they look like All Dressed Ruffles; that golden, slightly orange look.  Nothing bold or anything that stands out from their other flavoured chips. But what about the flavour?

It's not like any of the other chip flavours. It's sweet, not really spicy but more like a BBQ? More like a sweet mustard? But doesn't taste like BBQ, All Dressed, or Hot wing ... because of the weird sweet flavour. Upon looking at the ingredients, the sweet seems to come from molasses. But there is still a sour tang in there.

Would I get it again? Not really but not because they are bad, but because I prefer their other flavours. It doesn't taste like a chicken wing, its not really spicy (more sour) but it is sweet. It's nice that it's something different, but the uniqueness that is presented here is not something that excites me. All Dressed excites me. Hot Wing excites me. Sweet and Spicy, meh.

Rufles Sweet & Spicy
ruffles.ca/products/ruffles%C2%AE-sweet-spicy

Pop Chips "Crazy Hot"

What does the term "Crazy Hot" mean to you? I mean in a snacking sense. Like, ridiculously spicy right? 

These were not "crazy hot". These were not hot.

My wife and I were in Bulk Barn and she pointed out these Pop Chips - they stood out because they said "Crazy Hot". They were pretty expensive at $4+ for a small bag, but its a novelty product right? They looked very promising.

We had the bag for like a month, and finally cracked them open on a trip. There were not many in the bag but they looked good.

So these were not hot. Even LJ didn't find these hot. At all. They had the zesty flavour maybe a notch above an All Dressed Ruffles chip. They kind of tasted like an All Dressed chip in flavour. I checked the ingredients and it wasn't until the 6th ingredient I got "spice" and I don't know what that is. Cayenne spice? Habanero? Probably red pepper. Also contains milk . . . why?

Don't get me wrong, the flavour wasn't bad, just no level of heat. The texture was crispy and airy. Like a mix between popcorn and a chip. That's what they were going for so good. For a non-fried snack, these were not bad.

I did look them up on the internet and this is how they are described on the Popchips website:

"wondering what it’s like to eat crazy hot popchips? it’s kind of like kissing a fire-breathing dragon. take one bite and your taste buds will be hit by a wave of red chili pepper flavor, but with delectable hints of cheddar cheese to complement the heat. if you like your snacking crazy hot, this sizzling spice will keep you coming back for more."

So a few things:

1. "like kissing a fire-breathing dragon" - no, its more like kissing a gecko.
2. red chili pepper - not listed in the ingredients, not listed in my mouth
3. delectable hints of cheddar cheese - ok that's where the milk comes in

So would I buy it again? Probably not. The pop chip is decent itself. The flavour is ok. But when something is advertised as "Crazy Hot" - it better be HOT. It was not. Also way too expensive. 

Have you had these? Did you find them hot.

Ruffles Buffalo Wing Chips

One thing that is great about potato chips is the endless possibilities of flavours. And I love that the chip companies have been jumping on the wing wagon.


Ruffles have been making Hot Wing chips for a while. And to admit to some unprofessionalism on my part, this was a review from 2010 that I found recently. Actually my good friend Julianna was the first to tell me about these.

First off, I'm glad they called them Hot Wing. Buffalo wings are very specific in smell and taste. But Hot Wings . . . a hot wing sauce is just hot and tasty.

I have to say I prefer a ridged chip, and in my opinion Ruffles chips are crunchy and flavourful.

Those wings on the package look not too bad.

That's ah, that some ingredient list. At least hot sauce is in there. Before salt even.

This was a regular sized bag. As usual, half full of air.

Some things about the chips to point out. First you can notice the size. That's a big chip. Good ridges, however you can see the browning and/or burning. For 'specially selected potatoes' I wonder what their selection process is.

Let's look close up. Reeeallly close. Lots of flavour powder on that chip. Its the kind that helps tingle the lips and tongue. There was a little bit of a burn, but nothing crazy. The flavour is a mix of all dressed, salt and vinegar and bbq. Did it really taste like hot wing? Not in a blind tasting. But I think this is a tasty chip with a minor kick.

In the States I've seen "Molten Hot Wing" chips, and the next time I go, I'm gonna buy some and see how they compare. For now, these are a decent 'wing' chip.

Uncle Ray's HOT chips

Many, many months ago, my parents gave me another food gift. And for months it sat on our shelves. Not because I didn't want to consume it, but because I was saving it. A special occasion? Well, last week the better part of the munchies came on and it was time to crack open the bag.



My parents were introduced to Uncle Rays, somewhat ironically through my uncle Rick (get it? Uncle Ray/Uncle Rick? Eh? Get it?). Visiting family-in-law in Detroit, he got a potato chip that, according to my parental units, was so hot he couldn't eat them. My parents were given some to try, and they said they were quite spicy. Well, they found the brand at a surplus store in Southwestern Ontario and they picked up two kinds for me. One was the Hot, the other Jalapeno (still haven't opened that bag yet). On a quick side note, Uncle Ray's has been invading Ontario in a number of stores these days.



Uncle Ray's is a brand out of Detroit Michigan. I like Detroit because it also gave us the brand of cola Faygo, a favourite of my high school crew back in the day.



From Uncle Ray's Website:

"Uncle Ray started in business in 1965 out of the back seat of his 1961 Dodge Dart. A self made man who never went to college, Ray made and sold chip dips, popcorn and shrimp cocktail sauce to local bars and store in the Detroit area. In the early hours of the morning, Ray would be busy making his concoctions in his small apartment kitchen - and during the day, he would be out on the road selling his product."

But Ray wasn't just out founding potato chip companies. He had some skeleton's in his closet he had to confess to:

Interesting that a potato chip maker would encourage self-control. Lay's potato chips slogan is "Bet you can't eat just one!" - what a difference.

I looked at the ingredients to see what kind of heat I might be dealing with. It's not until the middle that we come across 'paprika', which is not spicy. Then we get to 'spices' and 'spice extractives' - what the heck are they? What spices are we talking about? At least the natural smoke flavour is real . . .

I opened the bag, and half way down laid the red speckled chips. The smell was . . . red peppery. So how hot were these going to be?

They look pretty spicy sitting in that bowl, in front of that bag with flames on them, don't they? All 150g of them all.

The size of chip overall was average to your big brand names. The above chip is one of the big ones. The spicy seasoning is pretty evenly distributed across both sides of the chip. Some brands will have just a faint sprinkling, but Ray's seems to believe in going bold.

The chips themselves are not of what I would consider a high quality. Like that of a no name brand. Yes they are crisp when you bite into them, but too light, like they skimped on the potato.

The heat of the wings does hit you pretty quick. Bold spicy is a fairly accurate description. The sting is there for a moment, and there is a bit of a heat after taste. It is a peppery heat, so if you are a chili head, you might get a cough in the back of the throat, but that's about it. But the more chips you eat at once will increase the heat level in one's mouth.

Now when describing the flavour, think of your average BBQ chip. That's what these chips are, intense BBQ chips.

FINAL VERDICT: Well, they are not the hottest chips out there, but for the average person, they will pack a punch. The chip itself isn't the best, and I think I would only eat them for the burn. More novelty than delicious, I dare those of you who order mild wings to try these out.



Uncle Ray's HOT potato chips

unclerays.com