Tag: Potato Chips

REVIEW: Ruffles Korean-Style Sweet & Spicy Chili Potato Chips

Vin 4 Comments

I’m not an envious person by nature. I don’t “yearn” for much. I try my best to be satisfied with what I have… but that all changes whenever I see the chip flavors they get over in Asia.

Before my Impulsive Buy days, I wanted to start a blog called, “Lay’s for Days,” where I’d seek out and try every crazy chip flavor from around the globe. In my delusional brain, I’d start by dropping a small fortune eBaying crazy flavors, and I’d get so popular that people would willingly send me bags to try.

Once I realized I no write no good and couldn’t even figure out Blogspot, the short-lived dream died.

Thankfully, the Frito-Lay corporation has slowly let some interesting flavors trickle out over the years, and it’s not impossible to find international releases if you know where to look.

Enter Korean-Style Sweet & Spicy Chili Ruffles, a chip with all the hallmarks I’ve been looking for. Asian-inspired flavors? Check. A super long, intriguing name? Check. RRRidges? Check! These have to be good, right?

Right. They’re pretty damn good.

Sweet chili is elite. It never fails. It should be a standard flavor across all snacks. If you like sweet chili, these are for you.

These have a heat level I’d put a tick below “Flamin’ Hot.” Props to them for ignoring the siren call and not slapping those two words on this bag like Frito-Lay seemingly does with everything else. Like an annoying guy describing Vegas, it’s a “dry heat” and tolerable, leaving a slight afterburn on the back of the tongue.

As I was eating and enjoying myself, I started to get nervous because I didn’t really know how to articulate the flavor. I don’t think my initial thought of, “This tastes like Asian food,” would’ve been kosher, literally or figuratively. I can’t condense an entire continent into one chip, but I sometimes have difficulty distinguishing international flavor.

These instantly tasted more Chinese-inspired. I’ve had more Chinese food than Korean food in my life, so maybe that played a role, but the spice profile just reminded me of a vague Chow Mein-style sauce you’d get slathered on some protein and vegetables. As I chomped on, I started to convince myself I might be tasting some kimchi and settled on what they ultimately reminded me of – Korean BBQ. Yeah, wow, very descriptive, huh? I actually thought of Korean Chicken Tacos more than anything.

The ingredient list is basically all the usual suspect spices you get in a chip like this with nothing distinct standing out. That, mixed with the pronounced chili flavor and “dryness,” just made me think of Asian-inspired BBQ chicken.

Either way, these are pretty complex and taste really good. The sweetness is there, but it’s not distinguishable from anything beyond, I guess, a pinch of brown sugar?

I won’t say these are as good as purple bag Doritos or the G.O.A.T. Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles, but they’re not far behind either. Grab ’em if you see ’em. Hopefully, you find a sale because I might as well have eBay’d these at the price I paid.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 8 oz
Purchased at: Acme
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (About 13 Chips) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 140 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Honey Butter Potato Chips

Marvo 7 Comments

Finally!

So here we are with Lay’s offering honey butter-flavored potato chips in the US, almost a decade after the flavor’s height of popularity in South Korea. Ugh. Has it really been THAT long? This is the first time a potato chip flavor made me feel old. However, before you run out to find this, you should know it is/was only available at some Costco locations in Northern California. Yup, an exclusive AND regional Lay’s flavor.

How popular were honey butter-flavored potato chips? Well, when it first came out in South Korea in 2014, it sold out in stores. But you could purchase bags from online sellers for several times more than their original price. When I tried to acquire a bag back then, they were going for $50 on eBay. I guess you could say it’s the most viral potato chip ever. Sorry, Lay’s Wavy Milk Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips.

So, is it worth flying to Northern California to buy a bag or buying one on eBay for three times the original price, like I did? Of course not. But I think it’s good enough that I’m using this review to convince Lay’s to make this flavor available to everyone throughout the country, but with a slight tweak.

If you’re in Camp No Sweet Chips and have raised your eyebrows at those holiday Pringles that came out years ago or the Lay’s IHOP chips that were on Walmart shelves earlier this year, Lay’s Honey Butter won’t be for you.

The chips looked like original Lay’s, but after handling a few, a layer of white seasoning accumulated on my fingertips. Their flavor hit all the right sweet and savory notes that make me think of all the honey butter-flavored chips I’ve had over the decade from Korean and Japanese brands.

It starts off with a nondescript sugariness, but then the honey flavoring comes around. The underlying butteriness hits about the same time as the honey, and it’s somewhat reminiscent of what you’d taste with buttered popcorn. But the taste leans more towards sweet than savory. Honey and butter are listed as ingredients, but above those two is sugar, which might explain the initial sugar burst.

However, there needs to be more consistency in the application of the seasoning. A notable number of them lacked the sweet and savory punch that others had, which makes me think these might need more seasoning.

Despite the minor issue, Lay’s Honey Butter Potato Chips are quite tasty and I hope Frito Lay decides to roll out the flavor nationwide and not exclusively.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 23 oz bag
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 15 chips/28 grams) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar (including 1 gram of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Salsa Fresca Potato Chips

Julie 15 Comments

Every time I see a bag of Lay’s potato chips, I am reminded of the brand’s famous slogan, a testament to the enduring brilliance of advertising: “Betcha can’t eat just one!”

While it’s a bet most of us would lose, I have always found tortilla chips and salsa to be the more addictive snack: the salt, the crunch, the heat, the sweet and juicy tomatoes, the urge to eat an entire bowl as your meal at the Mexican restaurant while the waiter casts judgmental glares in your direction!

Merging two snack food kings into one limited edition summer flavor, Lay’s Salsa Fresca potato chips promise a rich, zesty crunch inspired by fresh summer tomato salsa. Betcha can’t eat just half the bag?

Well, there are always loopholes in self-control, and here’s one for this product: it takes somewhere between one and twenty crunches to experience this flavor fully. Deliciously light and crispy, each chip is coated with savory red tomato powder, which is the dominant flavor throughout the bag. The taste reminds me so much of SpaghettiOs—concentrated and a little sweet without being ketchup-like—but I’m not mad about it.

In the first few bites, a faint tickle of spice rises near the back of the throat. Although jalapeños are featured on the packaging, the chip seasoning captures the pepper’s spice without its earthy flavor. The result is a salty, zesty heat that builds, but very slowly. Like a clumsy person navigating an icy sidewalk, it takes its time and risks no fancy footwork. The tickle evolves to broad warmth across the mouth but never gets too intense.

In the aftertaste, I detect some garlic, as well as a little tang. I attribute the tanginess to the sour cream listed in the ingredients, a delicious side in its own right but a curious addition to salsa fresca. Every few chips, the tang turns sharp and vaguely reminds me of lime. Other flavors associated with salsa fresca—like cilantro and onion—are not present.

While the chips represent several key salsa ingredients, the flavors are simple and unfold in stages rather than as one cohesive bite. Overall, the chip is tasty, salty, and snackable, but its flavor is predominantly tomato powder with a building kick.

As a limited edition summer product, Lay’s Salsa Fresca potato chips scratch that salty, snacky itch that plagues me as I wait for my tomato plants to bloom. It’s a fun flavor, but replaceable in my snacking repertoire. I’ll gladly eat more than one (chip), but not more than one (bag).

Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 7 3/4 oz (219.7 g) bag
Purchased at: Wegmans
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per serving, about 15 chips) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Takis Waves Dragon Sweet Chili and Blue Heat Potato Chips

Marvo 4 Comments

Blue 1 Lake food dye needs to be in more potato chips beyond these new Takis Waves Blue Heat. Yes, Takis Blue Heat and its color have been around for years, but despite eating all kinds of snacks for decades, this is the first time my eyeballs and mouth have experienced it. And after seeing the color in person, it makes me want to see it with more chips. Did I mention blue is my favorite color?

If you’re also unfamiliar with Blue Heat, which would be an excellent name for a Smurf fan fiction cop drama, they have an unassuming aroma, but that’s the only restrained attribute. They look like what I imagine would happen if Gargamel finally got his hands on a Smurf and used his recipe for Smurf jerky. It starts with a strong peppery flavor with a hint of lime hitting taste buds a bit later. Also, I swear there’s some soy sauce hiding among the chili peppers. It’s a tasty combo, and I understand why it’s a standard Takis variety. The packaging says these have “Extreme” heat, and while they are spicy, they’re not so hot that the flavor gets lost. My eyes are fascinated with Takis Waves Blue Heat Potato Chips, and my mouth needs something cool after trying them.

My eyes are less impressed with the new Takis Waves Dragon Sweet Chili, which come in a color we’ve often seen on cheesy or hot chips. The flavor debuted with the standard rolled Takis last year, which I enjoyed. They’re noticeably less spicy than the Blue Heat ones but are as flavorful. Here’s how I described the seasoning when I tried the rolled tortilla chip version:

Their initial flavor reminded me of Fritos Honey BBQ Flavor Twists, which is my favorite Fritos variety and not at all spicy. However, by the third chip, the taste morphed into something a bit more unique, with the garlic powder and cayenne peppers making themselves more noticeable. Throughout it all, the sweetness remained and helped cut through the spiciness.

With these potato chips, I didn’t get that initial taste that reminded me of my favorite Fritos flavor, which is understandable since these have a potato base. Instead, I immediately tasted the garlic powder, cayenne, and the seasoning’s sweetness. It too was a tasty combo.

Dragon Sweet Chili and Blue Heat are fantastic additions to the Takis Waves Potato Chip line. If you’re a fan of either or both flavors, they’re worth picking up.

DISCLOSURE: I received complimentary product samples from Takis. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 0.59 oz bags
Purchased at: Received from Takis
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Dragon Sweet Chili), 8 out of 10 (Blue Heat)
Nutrition Facts: (1 package) Dragon Sweet Chili – 90 calories, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Blue Heat – 90 calories, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 8 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Sweet & Spicy Honey Potato Chips

Vin 4 Comments

Hot honey is taking over.

We’ve got hot honey chicken, hot honey pizza, hot honey pretzels, and hot honey buns. Actually, I don’t know about that one. Do hot honey buns exist? Has Little Debbie ventured into the world of hot honey buns yet? I wanna Google, “Little Debbie’s Hot Honey Buns,” but I’m afraid I’ll get put on a list.

Ya know what? I’m just gonna drop this train of thought and … oh hot honey chips! Those exist too. Herr’s makes ’em. Utz makes ’em. Pringles had some delicious hot honey crisps, so it’s no shocker that Lay’s has joined the fray with Sweet & Spicy Honey Chips.

The bag boasts, “Sweet. Spicy. Golden. Crunch,” and I’m not one to argue with a bag.

I’ll get to the first three words, but first, I wanna highlight the fourth word because the crunch might be the standout. By all accounts, they’re standard Lay’s chips, but I swear they’re crunchier. They’re not kettle, but if a chip could exist somewhere between regular and kettle, that’s these, and I love it. I don’t think it was a freshness issue. These felt like Lay’s tweaked its iconic recipe.

As for the flavor – I say this as a culinary inept American dude – I think it leans into a Chinese-inspired territory. Something about the combination of the spicy pepper and vague sweetness instantly made me think of Chinese flavors.

Even the red, scaly bag design made me think along those lines. If you told me these chips were limited edition “Year of the Dragon: Spicy Szechwan” flavored Lay’s, I wouldn’t argue.

The chips hit you with a mildly sweet honey flavor on the nose, then quickly chase that with a tolerable heat ideal for sustained snacking. I always rate spicy snacks on the “Flamin’ Hot” scale, and these probably reach about 80% of that.

I’ll say this, while they don’t exactly taste the same, all I thought about were Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. In fact, I was bummed I wasn’t eating said Doritos, the G.D.O.A.T. Purple bag supremacy, no other flavor stacks up. Don’t @ me.

Using my confusing percentages again, I’d say the flavor here lands at about 63.7% on the Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili scale I just made up that will now be used to rate all food from now on.

Lay’s Sweet & Spicy Honey Potato Chips are solid but should’ve been sweeter. I’d actually probably like a bit more heat as well. They taste like a “lite” version of what the flavors should’ve been.

The ingredients list Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Swiss Cheese, but they aren’t cheesy. I tried to force a cheese flavor to manifest but to no avail. I still remain a little stumped by the ingredients.

So yeah, these aren’t bad. I got a little indigestion, but I loved the texture and liked the flavor. For all I know, I just had a weird bag, but they’re good overall. They’d probably go great crunched up inside a sandwich.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m… I’m gonna Google it. Curiosity killed the fat.

Purchased Price: $4.29
Size: 7 3/4 oz bag
Purchased at: Shop Rite
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (15 Chips) 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.