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!

Rating

Lay's Chicken & Waffles

In the same grouping as Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread, we have these... Lay's Chicken & Waffles.  I don't want to speak poorly of them before trying them, as I do enjoy chicken and waffles... sometimes even chicken and waffles combined, but... in a chip?  What?  But... why?  Do people really enjoy them so much that this was a top three front-runner for the new flavor?

 Also, given my experience with multi-flavor chips only really having one main flavor, I'm unsure if I'll taste chicken or waffle or some magical combination of the two.  Who can say?  I can because I'm about to try them.

But what do they taste like?
They taste a lot like how they smell which is 'syrup-y'.  Not much chicken or waffle in fact.  It's mostly syrup that I'm tasting.  And... I guess, to be fair, if you're eating chicken and waffles and you put maple syrup on them then that's pretty much all you're going to taste.  But... if you advertise chicken and waffles then I kinda expect to at least taste some chicken or waffles and not just the topping.  I think the big problem is that they're thinking too big.  Make one flavor really good - not this weird mix of two flavors that completely fails at tasting like either.

There's something little bit... smokey... about them, which I guess could be argued as the 'chicken' flavor, but I don't think it really qualifies.  I had chicken chips in Australia and those often tasted like chicken - with this I don't get much chicken flavor at all.  These really mostly taste like syrup and it's a little disappointing.  I was promised several flavors, and I'm just not seeing it.

There's something weird about eating syrup flavored potato chips that I don't think requires a repeat.  These are a novelty, sure, but nothing more.  I certainly hope they don't win the flavor war, or, if they do, are branded just as syrup chips because that's what they are.  The hunt continues for the Sriracha flavored chips, but until then, the Cheesy Garlic Bread is the winner, even though they weren't all that great either.  Still... these aren't awful, they're just very syrup-y.

Rating

Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread

So Lay's is doing this promotion I guess where they have three new chip flavors: Chicken and Waffles, Cheesy Garlic Bread and Sriracha.  We, the American people, get to decide which is chosen!  These are Cheesy Garlic Bread and I'm excited.  I love a good garlic bread, especially the cheesy sort.

But... the smell isn't particularly cheesy or garlic bread-y.  They smell more like plain chips than anything, and there are no seasoning nibblies on it.  This isn't super promising.

But what do they taste like?
Garlic-y.  Actually... these are pretty good.  They don't do the cheesy part well, but they do the base garlic bread part well I think.  I'm actually pretty impressed that they taste like garlic bread, and not just garlic.  But, the problem is that they rarely taste like garlic bread.  Maybe it's the lack of seasonings that keeps these from having a stronger flavor, which is disappointing because the flavor that's there is tasty.  This tastes a bit butter-y, too.  Yummy!  There's now a stronger flavor of buttery bread than garlic and cheese.

Buuuut, the big problem is that the flavor just isn't that strong.  I'd imagine that with the Chicken and Waffles chips I'll appreciate a lack of flavor, but cheesy garlic bread is delicious!  Why hide this flavor with potato chip flavor?

Bottom line?  These are pretty good, but they just don't pack much of a punch for me.  What I'd like to see is actual, powerful garlic bread flavor.  That sounds delicious!  I want this chip flavor times three or four.  And maybe some actual cheese taste, too.  That'd be nice.

Rating

Lays Garden Tomato & Basil

I've seen these around enough that I'm not sure they're 'strange' anymore, but I can only find them at a few places (Duane Reade being one of them) and I've never tried them so I pronounce them: 'strange chips'.  And now I shall eat them!  I'm not sure how the 'garden' bit factors in... perhaps these are certified organic?

But what do they taste like?
Tastes tomato-y and basil-y, but not super strongly of either.  There's a satisfying tomato taste at the first bite, and then the basil follows, but it disappears pretty quickly after that.  Where do you go, flavor?  Has someone stolen you?  For the most part these taste a bit like they have tomato paste on them... not quite tomatoes, but something a bit chemically.  This works well for me as I love the taste of tomato paste, but it's perhaps misleading from the bag.  I am not tasting garden fresh tomatoes, Lay's!

Are they bad?  No, certainly not.  Are they good?  Yeah, they're pretty good.  Would I seek them out again?  Ehhhh - if it was the choice between that and plain Lay's then sure.  If I had other options?  Probably not.  They taste kinda like a tomato-y BBQ chip almost, but the regular Lay's BBQ chips are better... stronger.  These are pretty mild, and if you like tomato or basil I suspect you'll like these.  If you're looking for something that will punch you in the face with flavors then you'll probably do better elsewhere.

Rating

Lay's Spicy Ketchup

I bought these right before seeing Dark Knight Rises and I'm fairly certain they got a bit crumpled in my bag, but oh well.  I bought 'em because I hadn't seen them before and of course I suddenly saw them all over the place after.  If they're good that just means I'll be able to find them again!  Sweet.

The bag is bright red and the chips are bright red.  They clearly understand that ketchup is red.  The only thing that isn't red (minus parts of the Lay's logo) are the bowl the ketchup is in, and the jalapeno.  Everything else is red as all get out.

But what do they taste like?
They taste ketchup-y and spicy.  It's the kind of spice that burns my throat, rather than my mouth, which is kinda weird.  There's also a little bit of saltiness in there too - these are Lay's after all.  The flavor isn't actually all that strong after a minute - I tasted more of the chip than the ketchup.  I kinda like these, but the extra spiciness isn't really needed I don't think.

Eating these is a lot like eating plain Lay's chips that got some ketchup on them.  You taste the ketchup from time to time, but you also taste the plain Lay's.  Also, the 'spicy' gets stronger than the actual flavor quite quickly so I really didn't find myself tasting much ketchup.

There's also a very uneven seasoning distribution.  Some of the chips are practically red with flavoring, and others look like they barely got any.  These chips did make me want to try regular ketchup chips, though.  I think without the extra spice these could be pretty good, but as is they leave my mouth burning a bit too long.  If you've tried the ketchup chips and felt that they didn't make your mouth burn enough, you could do worse than picking up a bag of these.

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:

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:

Lay's Classic BLT

I was drawn to these Lay's Classic BLT chips because the bag was slightly larger than usual and it was a weird brown color.  Also, it had a sandwich on the front.  I love bacon so I was hoping that these would mostly just be 'bacon' flavored rather than 'sandwich' flavored which the Classic BLT name implies.

 

For such a large bag it wasn't particularly full which was disappointing.  I also was not hit in the face with a bacon smell which was a sign of things to come.  The chips themselves look like they're covered in all sorts of flavors and were remarkably intact considering they spent a lot of time in my bag.

But what do they taste like?
Not like a BLT - classic or otherwise.  They don't even taste like bacon, or lettuce, or tomato.  I think the downfall of these chips is that they actually tried to make them taste like the sandwich with the bread included and sometimes a hint of mayo.  They're pretty salty and whatever the flavor is, it gets stronger as you chew.  It's sort of a generic, but mild, 'salty meat' flavor.  Maybe it was the green seasoning on the chips, but they tasted sort of like sour cream and onion chips (though these were slightly meatier).  Eating a single chip doesn't really taste like much and eating a handful is mostly just salt.  Not too much grease at first, but it gets greasier as you go somehow.

Overall they were pretty disappointing.  I never expected them to taste like a BLT, but I did expect them to at least try to get it to taste like a BLT or bacon, lettuce and tomato.   They're not bad chips.  The flavor wasn't unappealing, but it definitely wasn't BLT flavored.  If you're looking for BLT flavored chips then unfortunately your search continues.  If you're looking for generic and kind of weird tasting chips then you could probably pick up a bag of these.

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