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

Walkers Worcester Sauce

I'm a bit nervous about these Walkers Worcester Sauce chips, as I don't particularly like Worcester sauce.  But I am willing to give these a shot for chip tasting science!

The bag is purple, the chips are from the UK chip shop I sometimes go to.  They also smell a bit like ketchup.  Kinda tangy ketchup maybe?

But what do they taste like?
Salty and tangy and... not that bad!  I'm honestly kinda shocked.  They won't be my favorite chips, but I actually... like these.  Not a lot, mind you, but enough that I'll keep eating them.  Though... the more I eat them... the more I like them.  I know!  I'm as surprised as you are!  I forget what Worcester sauce tastes like, as I don't eat it often, but these... are... a little like BBQ sauce maybe?  But they're not!  It's like tangier BBQ sauce.  Maybe... it's a bit like salt and vinegar chips and also BBQ sauce?

Let the record show that I've happily polished off the whole bag.  I opened these up figuring I'd eat a few and give up on them, but no!  I'm still trying to properly define the flavor.  Okay - here's what it comes down to.  The flavor isn't super overpowering, but it's subtly delicious.  I don't know if it tastes like Worcester sauce (it might!), but I like it.  If anything, I'd almost prefer it to be a bit stronger. 

Does this mean I need to try Worcester sauce again?  Maybe!  Does it mean that I want to find and eat these chips again?  Absolutely.

Rating

Doritos Blazin' Buffalo & Ranch

If you know me you may know that I think ranch is awesome.  On salad?  Sweet - best salad ever.  Dipping things in it?  Sup, buffalo wings, you're looking delicious.  Blue cheese?  No thanks - that's gross.  Check plus ranch dressing.  So, needless to say, when I saw these I decided I should buy them.  I would've preferred  a smaller bag in case these are awful, but they didn't have a smaller bag!  Of course, I ended up finding a smaller bag at a different store later in the week, but that's not the point.  I have these now.

Let's hope they're good because I have a ton of them.  First off - they look like regular cheese Doritos and kinda smell like them.  Not getting much of a buffalo or ranch smell.  The orange flavor dust is so orange it's nearly radioactive.  Exciting!

But what do they taste like?
Spicy.  But not buffalo wing spicy, like the Pringles Blastin' Buffalo Wing - it's more of a generic spice.  Maybe it's just me, but I'm not really tasting the buffalo or the ranch taste.  To be fair, it probably isn't easy to make one chip taste like two flavors, but I don't think they've quite done it.  The actual taste isn't obvious.  My mouth mostly just burns a little right now.  It really doesn't taste like much, weirdly.  Or, at least, not of buffalo wings or ranch.

They don't taste bad - Doritos rarely do, but they're also very much not buffalo wings and ranch which is kinda strange since some of them are nearly neon with flavor.  They're a bit spicy and mouth burn-y, but not really anything more than that.

As far as wanting something that tastes like buffalo wings or ranch these definitely miss the mark.  That being said, they don't taste bad necessarily... they're pretty much just mildly spicy nacho Doritos that don't quite taste like cheese.  Weird.

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

 

Good Health Natural Foods Barcelona Barbecue

This name is certainly a mouthful!  I can't actually tell which brand they are.  Avocado Oil chips?  Good Health?  I don't know.  But I'm intrigued!  My dad saw these at a natural type supermarket and picked up a bag for me.  Excellent!

First things first.  These were weirdly hard to open since the top bit is so thick.  Other than that, seems pretty standard.  Mild barbecue smell when you first open it, but that's about it.

But what do they taste like?
Pretty mild actually.  I can't really taste the barbecue flavor - maybe Barcelona doesn't have strong bbq?  I also don't know how the avocado oil factors in.  They don't taste all that different from regular kettle cooked chips.  They are a bit saltier than I'd expect - somehow I feel like the avocado oil would be less salty.

Even though they're mild... I do like 'em.  They're just not exactly what it says on the tin, as it were.  I'm not getting any sense of Barcelona (which is fine since I have no idea what that would mean), but there's really not much barbecue to speak of either.  There's something kinda smooth in the flavor... maybe that's the avocado oil?  They do seem to get saltier as I eat them, which is odd.

Would I get them again?  Yeah, probably, since they grew on me, but I wouldn't get them if I was hankerin for some barbecue chips.  You do get a BBQ flavor, but it's pretty mild - not as mild as the Lay's Honey BBQ, but I wouldn't necessarily eat these and think 'ah yes, barbecue'.

Rating