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

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

Pringles Blastin' Buffalo Wing

Since I'm not the biggest fan of super spicy things I was a little hesitant to try these Blastin' Buffalo
Wing Pringles.  Will they just taste like spicy pain?  Maybe!  But you know what?  I'm going to give them a shot.

The can tells me they they are level 3 out of 4 on the Pringles Spiciness Scale.  Level 3 is apparently a fire raging out of control, while level 4 is a fire extinguisher.  Will I need to use one?  Doubtful, because these are potato chips and not actual flames.

But what do they taste like?
Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.  They taste like buffalo wings.  Well, to be fair, they taste like buffalo wing sauce because there's no chicken flavoring here.  They are kinda spicy, but they're helped by the fact that I love buffalo wings.  Buffalo wings are a place I expect spice and these chips deliver.  They leave my mouth burning, but it works.  My mouth burns after eating buffalo wings.  It goes with the territory.

I think the biggest difference between these chips, and other spicy chips I haven't liked, is that they they're spicy, but they've got flavor.  It's not just painful spice for the sake of having it be spicy.  The only downside is that it gets harder to taste them as I eat more of them.  I get sort of desensitized to the flavor and just taste the spiciness.  Still, even though I can't taste them as much... I can't... stop... eating them.  Mmmm.  Buffalo wing-y.

Also, you know what I like about Pringles?  If you buy a tube of Pringles you know how many you're going to get.  No matter the size of a bag of chips, the amounts you get always seems to be some random number, but at the end of the day, it's always way less than you think.  So props to you, Pringles, for actually giving the amount of chips the size of your packaging promises.

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