Sun Chips Sweet & Spicy BBQ

Let's be honest here.  French Onion Sun Chips are freaking delicious.  So delicious, in fact, that I kinda of forget there are other kinds of Sun Chips available for purchase.  Why would I ever purchase them when French Onion is RIGHT THERE?  No reason - that's why.  Well... unless it's a NEW flavor!  Exciting!  Will this trump the ever delicious french onion flavor?

I don't know, but I'm willing to find out.  For science!  For chips!  For glory!

But what do they taste like?
They're pretty good, but not really anything super special.  The thing that works well about the french onion flavor, I feel, is that it really compliments the multigrain taste of the Sun Chips.  The BBQ flavor, though?  Well - it's just not strong enough.  There's a hint of vinegar, and the tiniest bit of mouth burn, which, one supposes, is the 'spicy' half of sweet and spicy, but the I really mostly taste the base chip.

For BBQ flavor these really don't stand out from the pack for me.  They taste BBQ-y, sure, but it's not really what I expect from a BBQ chip.  What I'd like to see is a BBQ punch of deliciousness, not a multgrain flavor and oh also some BBQ I guess if you have time.  It's a pity, because the tiny hints of BBQ sauce flavor I get are pretty good.  Bit vinegar-y, tomato-y and spicy - it would taste pretty good... if I could TASTE it.  Where is it?  It's also kinda strange have BBQ and multigrain flavor - BBQ sauce isn't something I generally associate with many grains.  The pairing works, but it could be better.

If you really like plain Sun Chips, but feel they could use the tiniest of kicks then perhaps give these a try.  But if you're looking for a really solid BBQ chip, then you'd be better off elsewhere I think.

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Lay's Sriracha

At long last!  I finally try the third new Lay's flavor!  The other two were fine (Chicken & Waffles | Cheesy Garlic Bread), but I have high hopes for these.  Oh indeed.  My friend Steven found these in a grocery store and was nice enough to snag these for me.  Thank you, kind sir!

I haven't had much Sriracha (treason?), but I do enjoy it when I have it.  That's not why I'm super excited about these chips, though.  It's one flavor instead of several (as with the other two new flavors), and the most likely to stick around, given its strong fanbase.  Let us see how they do!  Also it's one of the giant bags so if they're awful... well... I have a lot of them.

But what do they taste like?
Spicy!  Hoo.  At first I didn't think they were that spicy and was kinda disappointed, but now my throat is still burning.  Delayed kick on the spice there.  So... that's neat!  These certainly get the kick of Srirach which is good, but I'm not sure if they quite got the flavor.  Many things can cause mouth burn, but is it truly Sriracha flavored?

Wow, though - it certainly makes my mouth burn.  Ow.  Right - back on track.  I think the flavor of Sriracha is more complex.  Where these I taste mostly spicy and some hints of Sriracha-ness it's just not the same.  It's not bad, but it's certainly spicier and more painful than I generally like my chips.  If I eat a bunch I taste some of the vinegar, but the chili flavor appears to be missing.  The chips are a more general 'spicy!', while the sauce has more of a chili flavor?

Overall?  I think these are the best of the bunch, though you'd do well to steer clear if you can't handle spicy flavors.  It's not as spicy as Sriracha, but there's definitely some mouth burn.  They taste good and I like them, but they miss the mark on flavoring - they don't really taste like Sriracha.  Still - the other flavors are strange - these seem like something that could be a chip and people would buy.  Honestly... I've been kinda unimpressed with the three Lay's flavors or just their execution of them.  Ah well!

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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

Bamba

Today I'm trying 'Bamba' which are, as described by Wikipedia: "...made from peanut butter-flavored puffed corn. ... Some describe it as "Cheez Doodles without the cheese.""  These were bough in Israel by my friend Maggie (thanks!), who knows my quest to try strange new chips.  I don't even think there's English on the bag!  Excitement!  But... there is a strange, blue diapered baby... I'm not sure what that means.

After opening the bag, I certainly smell the peanut butter.  And they do look like Cheez Doodles!  Perhaps this will be exactly what it says on the tin?

But what do they taste like?
Peanut butter-y, but also kinda dry?  It's also not very salty, which was unexpected.  I think they'd actually benefit from a bit of salt.  It kinda tastes like eating a spoonful of creamy no salt added peanut butter, with rice puff powder in it?  I mean - I like em, though they, like saltines, make your mouth feel super dry.  Actually, come to think of it, peanut butter does that too.

I guess my biggest confusion with these comes from them tasting creamy, like you'd expect peanut butter to, but then tasting dry and puffy?  I don't know if there's a way to make a creamy chip necessarily, but peanut butter flavor doesn't need puff.  I don't think so at least.

But still!  If you're into peanut butter, and like the texture of Cheez Doodles, but hate the cheese... I'd give these a shot.  Or, if you just like peanut butter flavored things (as I do).  They're yummy, but it's disconcerting to taste peanut butter with the texture of a Cheez Doodle.  For me, at least!  Perhaps you'll have a different experience?

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Annie Chun's Cracked Pepper & Herbs

More seaweed!  This time found at Fairway and hopefully equally delicious.  These, however, are pepper and herb flavored which is strange.  Sesame made sense, as it's a sushi flavor, but cracked pepper?  Herb?  I'm not so sure.

I am going to try them anyway!  Even if the flavors will possibly be, dare I say it, strange?

But what do they taste like?
As feared - the herb/cracked pepper flavor kinda overpowers the natural seaweed flavor.  There's also a strange kind of sweetness that wasn't in the sesame brand.  It's also possibly saltier, which is weird, since you'd think herb and pepper would be less salty, no?

Also much saltier than the sesame, which is strange since I thought the sesame was pretty salty to begin with.  These, however, have a pepper-y aftertaste that's kinda nice, but also strange, because it's totally out of place with seaweed.  I mean, they're still pretty good, but they're definitely not normal seaweed.

If you, for whatever reason, want seaweed that also doesn't taste like seaweed, then give these a shot.  Otherwise, perhaps try the sesame.

Next week we'll be back to actual chips - I even have some international ones to try, courtesy of my friend who just came back from Israel!

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