Combos Buffalo Blue Cheese

Ah, Combos.  The official snack of Nascar.  I'd seen giant bags of buffalo combos at 7/11, but didn't quite feel like getting those.  But then, while home for Easter, we spotted this tiny bag!  The perfect trial size.  I actually really like Combos sometimes - their pizzeria flavor really does taste like pizzeria somehow... no pizza, but the whole dang pizzeria.  Who'da thunk it?

I somehow didn't realize these were pretzel until I looked more closely at the bag - buffalo blue cheese seems like a baked combo rather than a pretzel combo, but we shall see!

But what do they taste like?
Pretzel-y, which is what I expected.  I taste mostly strange blue cheese flavor and then a bit of random spicy flavor.  It's not... quite... buffalo blue cheese, though.  I think in part because 'pretzel' is a very strong flavor.  The buffalo blue cheese flavor, such that it is, is pretty creamy too - I guess that's what happens when it's a weird little nibble shoved inside a pretzel roll?

These almost taste like buffalo and blue cheese, but then don't at the same time.  There's something a bit odd about them.  I think it's the added pretzel, and bit chemically taste of the blue cheese?  I also feel like there's not a strong enough 'buffalo' flavor - buffalo is usually an easy flavor to taste, but I'm really not getting much of it here.  It's more a bit of spicy, which I suspect is standing in for the buffalo flavor, and then the strange chemically cheese taste.

On the whole?  I'm glad I didn't get a bigger bag.  While these don't taste bad necessarily, I don't think they're good enough to get again.  I'd rather have pizzeria flavored, thanks.

Rating

Barcel Mini Takis Fuego

Sorry for the delay on this!  Christmas had me all tied up, and I missed my usual Tuesday post.  So... here's a Wednesday post?  I bought these the same place I bought last week's Barcel Chipotles Chipotle & Cheese, as they seemed intriguing and were a small bag so if they're crap then hey - at least there aren't many.

At first glance these seem pretty much exactly like the Doritos Dinamita Chile Limon chips I tried a few months ago.  I've also, via the internet, discovered the Fuego means fire?  Apparently I'm in for some mouth burn-y ness.  Hooray?  I should've known when the bag said it was a 'hot chili pepper & lime flavored corn snack'.

But what do they taste like?
Not fiery pain at first - they're actually pretty good.  A very lime-y type thing going on.  But then the pain.  Ow - it was so strong I actually coughed, just because what else was there to go?!  Trying again.  A bit better this time, but then as soon as I try to actually eat the chip, rather than just chew it, it burns my throat something fierce.  Spike-y bits of ow that still make me cough.  There's kinda... no way around it which is a bummer, as I like how they taste.  Even the mouth burn I'm getting isn't unpleasant... it's just the fact that I can't actually eat them without my throat hurting.  It's a bit better with each subsequent chip, but it still hurts.

At first bite they actually taste a lot like Fritos and then there's a kinda nice chili-lime flavor, but then I try to swallow and pain.  I can't eat these in polite company, or in any company for that matter!  I'd just be sitting there coughing, with my eyes watering and my nose running.  That sounds super appealing, no?

The problem is... I actually kinda like the flavor.  Despite the pain... I keep eating them.  It helps a little to take a drink of water while eating, which kinda dilutes it, but defeats the purpose of a chip really.  So, while I like the flavor, I can't eat them without coughing and having mouth pain so I can't really rate these highly.  Still... I do like the flavor if only it didn't try to hurt me.

Rating

 

Kettle Buffalo Bleu

So here's the thing.  I loves me some buffalo wings.  But... and here's the critical bit... I love them dipped in ranch dressing.  None of this bleu cheese with its weird mold veins.  No thank you, sir.  BUT!  My friend said these were super good and even suggested I might enjoy them!  With a recommendation like that, how could I resist?

Kettle bags seem to be pretty small, I've noticed.  While other brands (Lays, for one) seem to be making even bigger 'regular' size bags, Kettle seems perfectly content to keep their little brown bag.  More power to you, Kettle!  They certainly don't smell like bleu cheese or buffalo wings.  They smell like... something, though.  What is it?  I'm not sure, but I don't feel positive about it.  Also... why are there green nibblies?  Green nibblies makes me think sour cream and onion!  Oh, chips... you're not off to a good start.

But what do they taste like?
Not like buffalo or bleu.  They're also pretty thick chips which makes them annoyingly hard and very loud to chew.  Kettle cooked chips should be thin, otherwise you run into this issue!  Right right, but the taste.  I've only had one chip and already the roof of my mouth is tingly burning.  It's not unpleasant, but it doesn't taste like anything either.  I really have no idea what Kettle was going for with these.  They don't taste like buffalo or bleu.  They taste more like grease and spicy.  I'm just sort of mindlessly eating them at this point.

If you like Kettle chips of mysterious flavors then perhaps you'll like these?  Otherwise... I'd stick with a different chip.

Rating

Nathan's Honey Mustard Crunchy Crinkle Fries

I don't eat Nathan's fries (or Nathan's at all for that matter) that often, but when I do I usually douse them in fake cheese because fake cheese improves 78% of foods (science fact!).  I don't think I've ever had Nathan's honey mustard fries.  I don't even know if they exist outside of this bag.  The bag also tells me that it's 'all about the crunch' which I feel is not the case with french fries.  Clearly these are some hybrid chip fries.

But what do they taste like?
Not like french fries, that's for sure.  And not like any good honey mustard.  The chips themselves are like... super dense Cheetos.  The problem is... when you get this dense it kinda feels a bit like what I'd expect eating styrofoam would feel like.  The flavor.  The flavor is that really crappy brand of honey mustard... the one that almost tastes more like mayo?  You know the one.  The chips themselves are well seasoned and strongly flavored... the problem is that I don't much care for the flavor.

I also don't see any reason for these to be crinkle cut fries.  Other than their shape they're nothing like fries!  I suppose Nathan's wanted to get into the lucrative chip market and decided to make chips of their products.  Hot dog chips... probably wouldn't work as well.  The problem with such a think 'chip' (fry?) is that the flavoring, while strong on the outside, is nonexistent on the inside of the chip which makes sense, but also makes for a blander flavor.

I see no need to ever eat these again, as their flavor isn't great and I certainly wouldn't want to dip them in anything.  If you like that weird honey mustard, though... you might like these?

Rating

Ruffles Max Loaded Bacon & Cheddar

I've heard good things about these Ruffles Loaded Bacon & Cheddar chips so I'm pretty excited.  Also, bacon.  So... you know... my hopes are pretty high.

 

I'm guessing that the baked potato part is the chip, while the rest of the flavors are the seasoning bits.  Somehow I thought these would be orange-r, but they look more like sour cream and onion.  They also don't smell great.  I'm not sure what they smell like, but... maybe a little tangy?

But what do they taste like?
They taste like sour cream and onion with a hint of bacon.  And, as with all Ruffles chips, they taste strongly of greasy potato chips and they feel like it too.  Overall I'm pretty unimpressed.  They don't taste bad, don't get me wrong.  I'd happily eat these, but they're not very bacon-y.  Each chip is actually less bacon-y than the last.  They taste more like sour cream and onion than anything else actually.  If these had more bacon flavor they'd be pretty awesome.

Maybe it's just me, but the flavor I taste most when I eat Ruffles is grease.  The flavor is nearly always either drowned out, or at least muted, but it's never as strong as I'd like.  I just can't get over the greasiness to want to eat more of them.  Maybe I got a bad bag?  I really thought these would have a stronger flavor.  All I'm left with right now is a lingering taste of sour cream and onion.

Rating

Wild Bill's Bacon Jerky

It's Thursday!  And on this particular Thursday you shall get another non-chip review!  Aw yeah!  Bacon.  I know.  Bacon.  I was at 7/11, a surprisingly good place to find strange chips and/or snack products, and saw these in the beef jerky section.  There was no way I was leaving the store without these.  And now they are mine!

Wild Bill himself looks a bit odd, but I have high hopes for his bacon jerky.  Also, it's 'bodacious' apparently.  And why wouldn't it be?  Bacon.  Aw yeah.  At first glace this is actually kinda promising.  It smells super bacon-y and it looks like thick cut bacon.  The color is a little off, but I'm assuming that's because it's jerky.

But what does it taste like?
Saltier than regular bacon (if that's possible).  Super salty.  That's actually what I taste more than anything.  The bacon taste is secondary to the extreme saltines.  And I like salt - don't get me wrong.  But this might actually be too salty, even for me.  You kinda have to look for the bacon taste under the salt.  Still, it must be said - it does taste like bacon.  They actually do a really solid job with the taste (under the salt).  It's also a little disconcerting how old it seems.

I know it's jerky and it can last, but I can't quite shake the feeling that I'm just eating old bacon.  You'll also never confuse this with actual bacon.  Something critical is missing - these just look kinda lonely and weird.  I don't think it's something that's fixable necessarily, but if you're expecting these to be exactly like bacon... well... they aren't.  These are so salty I actually think I won't be finishing them.  It's just too much.

Would I get these again?  No, I probably wouldn't.  I know, I'm shocked too.  But it's just too salty to really be appealing.  I like salt and I like bacon, but too much salt can ruin anything.  As long as you're prepared for how salty it is... if you want some bacon without actually doing any work you could do worse than this.  Also, they somehow gets less appealing as time goes by.

Rating

 

Deep River Snacks New York Spicy Dill Pickle

Now these Deep River chips I'm looking forward to trying.  I'm wary of the 'spicy' in the title, but I've been trying to find new pickle chips for ages (ever since the amazing Intense Pickle Doritos I tried in Montreal).  Could it be that I've finally found a replacement pickle chip?  These even have 'New York' in the title... will it also taste like NY somehow?  I'm intrigued.

These smell pretty pickle-y so I'm feeling pretty confident they'll actually taste like what they're supposed to.  I'm just not sure how the 'spicy' is going to factor in at this point.  It also looks like they're covered in little dill nibblies and a healthy coating of flavor.  We shall see.

But what do they taste like?
Kinda strange.  At first I tasted mostly salt, then a hint of pickle, and then spiciness.  Deep River snacks seem to enjoy making my mouth burn.  Another weird thing that I don't know quite how to describe is that the flavors are very strong, but don't necessarily seem like they're coming from the chip.  It's very odd.  I eat a chip and then the chip is sort of boring tasting, but there's all sorts of salt and pickle flavors and then the roof of my mouth is burning.  Looking at the chips, they seem to be covered in seasoning.  I guess it's possible that the minute I eat them, all the seasoning falls off, leaving a plain chip and all the other flavors everywhere else.  The 'dill' in the dill pickle is also pretty intense... I taste much more dill than pickle in that brief moment when I actually taste it, before the spice starts up.  And, a less than even flavor coating leaves some chips ridiculous salty which is unpleasant.

The problem I've had with the spicy Deep River flavors so far is that they focus too much on the spice.  Pickles shouldn't be this spicy.  I really only taste the dill pickle flavor for the first few seconds and then it's just spicy.  I would much rather taste the pickle flavor rather than the spice.  Also, where is the 'New York' in all of this??  It's like Deep River decided 'New Yorkers like pickles... we should name our pickle chips 'New York' so they buy them... genius plan!'  False.  There is nothing 'New York' about these chips.

These are better than the Aged Cheddar and Horseradish and the Zesty Jalapeno, but they're still not good is the problem.  The search continues for a pickle chip I can easily find in the US.

Rating

Lay's Honey Barbecue

I wanted to try Lay's Honey Barbeque because I love dipping things in honey barbeque sauce.  I wanted these to taste like they were made with honey barbecue sauce.

In classic Lay's fashion some of the chips were almost orange with seasoning and some of the chips looked like they weren't seasoned at all.  No even coating here!  They're also pretty greasy.

But what do they taste like?
They don't taste like much unfortunately.  It doesn't even taste like regular potato chips... they taste blander than that, but slightly sweet which is a weird combination.  And that's the chips that are covered in the seasoning - the ones without seasoning don't taste like much at all.  Sometimes you get a hint of the regular Barbecue flavor, but for the most part they're pretty bland.  There's also a chemical-y taste and a bit of an aftertaste too.

It seems to me that the Flavor Masters (or whoever they are) at Lay's decided that the only people who like honey barbecue are the ones who can't handle the super intensity of regular Barbecue chips.  This is not the case, Lay's!  If you give me chips then please make them taste like what you say you will!  Honey Barbecue is not a complicated flavor.  However, if you're the type of person who thinks regular Lay's Barbecue chips are too intense then you'll probably enjoy these.  Personally I'll stick the regular Barbecue rather than watered down weirdness.

Rating: