Joe Chips Sour Cream and Toasted Onion

Who is Joe?  I don't know, but he makes chips.  They're not even Joe's Chips - they are simply Joe Chips.  My dad happened to see these at the store and grabbed me a bag.  Thanks!  I'm intrigued to see how toasted onions stack up against regular onions!

The chips have an odd smell; I'm not sure if it's the toasted onions, or something mysterious and sinister.  The smell a little bit like Ramen instant soup powder.  Not the soup itself, but just the powder.  I'm also used to more seasoning nibblies on my sour cream and onion chips - these don't seem to have very many.  What does it all mean!?

But what do they taste like?
They taste a little bit like the Ramen packet smells, but also with a hint of sour cream and onion.  There's a lot a bit of a flavor which I have to assume is the toasted part of the onion.  It's strange - they both have flavor and don't have much flavor at the same time.

 

There's also a big kick of salt in that first bite before the other flavors make themselves known - and of grease since these seem to be your standard kettle cooked chips.  I also feel like part of the flavor I'm getting is the chip grease taste?  Tough to say.  If I tried these without knowing the flavor I think it'd take me a minute to figure out they're sour cream and onion.

They taste good, but they're not as sour cream and onion-y as most sour cream and onion chips.  Since I rather like that taste, I'll probably stick to other brands, but these aren't bad.  Still not sure why the onion is 'toasted', though.

Rating:

 

Skips Tingly Prawn Cocktail

I've heard things about Skips, but now I have them!  My friend Maggie picked these up for me a store that sells UK chips (and oh I shall be going there again) because she's awesome!  Also... tingly prawn cocktail?  I wonder how the tingly factors in...

Having tried Walker's Prawn Cocktail, I wasn't surprised to find that these smell much more like prawn cocktail sauce than actual prawns.  The flavor kinda worked with the Walker's, though so perhaps it will again!  They're strangely shaped, too... almost like little bowls or something.  The bag tells me that I should balance a Skip on my tongue and let it melt in my mouth.  Also, they make a big deal about 25% extra, but this doesn't seem like a ton of chips - I'd hate to see the regular bags.  Weirdly... the back of the bag suggests making Prawn Cocktail Flavour Tapioca Snack which just sounds awful.  I'll pass on that, thanks.

But what does it taste like?
Strange!  More salty than prawn-y and it does kinda tingle the tongue in a strange way.  They practically disintegrate the minute you close your mouth.  There's really no point in chewing them since they just sort of melt away like a chip ninja.  I'm so caught up in the strangeness of the chip itself that the flavor sort of gets lost.  They're saltier than the Walker's chips, but there's also the sweetness of the cocktail sauce.  I don't understand why they even bother putting 'prawns' on the bag since you could easily call it cocktail sauce and pin the flavor better.  I'm not sure why, but the flavor is kinda growing on me.  It's not quite cocktail sauce... it's tangier?  I'm not sure, but it's kinda nice.

These disintegrate so easily I almost wouldn't even call them chips - chips have more substance I think.  The Skips are kinda thick, thicker than normal chips, but that doesn't give them much substance.  It's definitely a unique experience eating these.  I hear they're good in sandwiches, but alas I have no sandwich handy.  They also make a bit of a mess - the seasoning doesn't stick very well to the chips so the little salt nibbles go all over when you eat them.  Not ideal.  For me, I prefer my chips to have a little more substance so I don't think I'll be going out of my way to eat these, but I certainly would happily eat them if someone offered them to me.

Rating

Lay's Dill Pickle

In my continuing quest to find pickle chips that are as good as Intense Pickle Doritos, I picked up a bag of these Lay's Dill Pickle chips from 7/11.  To be honest, I don't have high hopes.  I expect they'll taste a lot like the Pringles Screamin' Dill Pickle and hopefully nothing like the Deep River Snacks New York Spicy Dill Pickle.  Let us begin!

First off, it's a green bag.  Kind of a ... sickly green bag.  I get that it's pickle colored and pickles are a pale green-ish color, but let's at least try to make the bag look appealing!  They don't smell super pickle-y, but they do smell like pickles.  It's also a 'new bigger bag' which is weird since I can't imagine dill pickle is a super popular flavor that justifies a gigantic bag.  But who knows!

But what do they taste like?
Pretty good actually!  They're definitely not super pickle-y, though.  It's more just salty than anything else.  The first bite is pretty salty with the tiniest hint of pickle and then there's a mild pickle taste, but other than that it's really mostly salt.  And that's not a bad thing!  But it's also not what I'm looking for unfortunately.  You know, if I didn't know to begin with that they were supposed to taste like dill pickle, I'm not sure I'd know that these were supposed to be pickle flavored, unless I smelled them.

I think that's the strangest part for me.  They smell much stronger than they taste.  Also, if I eat a bunch at once I definitely get a much stronger pickle flavor, but it still doesn't last very long.  I'm not sure if this is just the new bigger bag, but some of the chips are huge.  It's kinda excessive if the chip is too big to eat in one bite.  There's also no reason for it, especially with Lay's.  Since they kinda crumble when you bite them, it just creates more mess.

Look, if you hate pickles with a the fiery passion of a thousand suns then you probably won't like these much.  But, if you like pickles, or don't have strong feelings for them one way or the other... you might like these.  These won't be my favorite pickle chips (the honor still goes to Intense Pickle Doritos), but they'll do.  They're pretty good, all things considered.

Rating:

Doritos Dinamita Chile Limon

I found these at 7/11 and decided to give them a shot!  It's confusing because the bag is small, but really heavy and it's more calories than most bags this size.  I'm not really sure what to expect from these, but hopefully they won't be too spicy.

When I open the bag everything is just redish purple.  Everything.  I have never seen this color found in nature.  What... why are these tubular?  I don't understand why someone shaped these like this! Doritos should be triangular!  And not violent purpleish!

But what do they taste like?
There's a strong spicy lemony/limey flavor that takes a minute to hit, but then burns your mouth for a bit.  It stays pretty strong actually.  I'm mostly just confused... why are these so purple?!  These should be chile limon flavored, no?  Where does purple factor in?  I'm also really not feeling the rolled chip.  When I eat Doritos I want to eat Doritos, not weirdly rolled Doritos type things.  It's a pity that the flavor is so painful because it's actually kind of good for a few seconds.  Had they been more mild I think I could have enjoyed them.  As is, the spice level isn't worth it for me.

It's really a very strong limon-y flavor, too.  It keeps burning my mouth and the back of my throat.  Water doesn't help it go away and it's a bit painful.  I can see people liking this if they're fans of spicy and chile limon flavored things, but the rolled shape and purple color might be off-putting for some.  They definitely taste like what I'd expect spicy chile limon would taste like and if you like that, I'd give these a shot.  Ignore the bright purple rolled weirdness.

Even after I've stopped eating the chips, had some water, and finished writing this my mouth is still burning.  The fact that I do like the flavor for the split second before the spiciness sets in gets these a star, but otherwise... not for me, Doritos.

Rating: