Smoked cheeses usually have a brownish exterior, but these Limited Edition Smoked Cheddar Cheetos Puffs don’t have any similar color characteristics of smoked cheese. Instead they’re just noticeably less radioactive orange than regular Cheetos.
Of course, because of the shape of Cheetos Puffs, if they did have a brownish exterior, they would look like poop.
It seems whenever Frito-Lay wants to get fancy with Cheetos Puffs, they break out different cheddar varieties, like white cheddar. And if they want to go the opposite of fancy, they create pizza-flavored Cheetos. There are dozens of cheeses they could’ve gone with, but they stuck with what they know (and can pronounce) — cheddar.
I mean, there are so many cheeses with butcherable names they could flavor their cornmeal puffs with.
Here’s a list. Say them out loud and give your mouth a workout. Then guess which one of them is completely made up…without help from the internet.
There’s Gruyère, Boerenkaas, Taleggio, Montcabrer, Scamorza, Robiola della Alta Langa, Courgherst, Fium’Orbu, Neufchatel, Rauchkase, Camembert de Normandie, Nevat de Oveja, and Époisses.
(The answer can be found in the Cons section of this review)
But the fine food scientists at Frito-Lay didn’t pick a cheese with a tongue twister for a name, they decided to combine the flavor of smoked cheddar with their iconic snack to create the Limited Edition Smoked Cheddar Cheetos Puffs.
Regular Cheetos Puffs have a strong cheesiness and it’s what makes them so great. But these Limited Edition Smoked Cheddar Cheetos lack that, even though they’re flavored with smoked cheddar, regular cheddar, blue cheese, and parmesan. Instead these crunchy puffs had a mild cheese and equally mild, slightly off-putting artificial smoke flavor.
The lack of cheesiness made me hesitate when it was time to decide whether or not to suck the Cheetos dust off my fingers. However, because I was too lazy to grab a napkin or to walk to a sink, I sucked my fingers clean. But I didn’t enjoy it.
The superimposed smoke that surrounds the Limited Edition Smoked Cheddar Cheetos on the front of the packaging makes each one look like it’s losing its soul. The image is fitting because the lack of cheesiness make these Cheetos taste like they’ve lost their souls.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 ounce/about 13 pieces – 150 calories, 90 calories from fat, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 13 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.)
Other Limited Edition Smoked Cheddar Cheetos Puffs reviews:
Junk Food Guy
Chip Review
Item: Limited Edition Smoked Cheddar Cheetos Puffs
Purchased Price: $4.39
Size: 9 ounces
Purchased at: Foodland
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Crunchy. Not colored like smoked cheddar. Less radioactive looking. How easy it was to come up with a fake cheese name.
Cons: Not cheesy enough. Artificial smokiness was a little off-putting. Cheddar being the default cheese flavor for snacks. Made me hesitant to suck my fingers clean. Courgherst.
I am glad to see that you guys agree that these are not that great. I love Cheetos puffs for the same reason you guys do, the sheer amount of Cheetos cheese dust on them. I felt like these were just smoke flavored corn puffs. Its also unfortunate that they decided to put these in THE BIGGEST BAG possible. I really wish companies would run limited edition in smaller bags in case they suck. Definite pass in my book.
“I sucked my fingers clean. But I didn’t enjoy it.”
Sounds dirty.
I lost the cheese name game, but you totally should have included casu marzu. Note to Cheetos: please do not make casu marzu Puffs.
I actually really enjoyed these; but I DON’T enjoy regular Cheetos puffs, so go figure.
Woot I guessed the fake cheese name. It struck me as if you were trying to make “cougar” into a cheese. That would make for some sexy old cheese though.
These were my favorite flavor cheese puffs. Ate at least a bag a week when they came out. New 2014 bag of bones great idea. But white cheese flavor no bueno. My 3 year old agreed. Too bland.