REVIEW: Lay’s Wavy Do Us a Flavor Korean-Style Fried Chicken Potato Chips

/ / Reviews / 6 Comments

After far too long an absence from the innovative and fun snacking world, Lay’s Do Us A Flavor is back, baby! The contest that originated in 2012 and birthed interesting standout flavors like Southern Style Biscuits & Gravy has revealed three new finalists for fans to vote on. The most compelling, new, and promising of the three (subjectively, of course) is Wavy Korean-Style Fried Chicken.

The aroma of the chips carries a distinct funk that I immediately pick up as kimchi-adjacent. I get more of a smell that I associate with the often pickled banchan side dishes served at Korean restaurants than the chicken itself, which is usually sticky sweet and full of layers of deep and spicy intrigue.

A strong fermented flavor reveals itself when crunching into the wavy chips, and while I am impressed, I don’t particularly love it. Following the funky pickled cabbage note is the distinct taste of chicken, a dash of garlic-y spice, and merely a whisper of sweetness. Unlike most meaty chips with a smoke flavor to bring a meat-like presence, these actually use chicken broth, chicken powder, and chicken fat in the ingredients to bring that depth of flavor, which works. Whether or not you find it enjoyable is a different story (I don’t love it).

While these chips are impressive in their dedication to the more nuanced and divisive flavors of Korean cooking, I don’t find them particularly enjoyable, and I generally really like Korean fried chicken. The balance feels off, lacking the sweet and spicy punch I want in the front in favor of a heavy-handed amount of pickled banchan that should serve as the complimentary note, not the leading profile. The wavy form-factor does well to pay homage to crispy fried chicken skin, but these are missing out on the elements that make this style of chicken so special and delicious.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 7 1/2 oz bag
Purchased at: Nob Hill
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (13 chips, 28g) 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 140 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of total sugars, 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Guacamole Doritos (2025)

/ / Reviews / 7 Comments

Chips and dip: a tale as old as time.

Chips flavored like dip: a tale nearly as old as time.

People clamoring about bringing back discontinued chips that taste like dip from the glory days of pre-iPhone America: a tale as old as two decades.

Yes, for the first time in nearly 20 years, since this website’s inception, Guacamole Doritos are back on shelves. Originally running from 2003-06, this green-clad bag of vibrantly green tortilla chips has been the source of constant internet buzz and early aughts nostalgia. I am sure I had these at some point, but I have no recollection of, or specific love for, the original, so I’m going into this with an open mind and fresh tastebuds.

Biting into my first well-seasoned chip (always gotta pick a properly dusted one to start), there is no doubt these taste like guacamole. I immediately get that distinct, fatty, earthy avocado taste, rounded out by garlic, onion, and a touch of citrus. It truly tastes like I dunked a crispy chip into squishy dip. Quite marvelous.

Interestingly, the more I eat, the more the flavor moves away from avocado and into cheesy corn territory. This isn’t bad; it’s just different and not avocado. Some chips have a flavor that stacks, especially spicy ones, where the profile is initially subtle and then builds into a crescendo of flavor. These are different. They start boldly guac-y and then taper down to a spiced (not spicy) creamy cheesy taste with a hefty dose of corn chip. Still good, but that big-bowl-o-guac party vibe is drastically toned down.

Taking a look at the ingredients list, I’m not surprised to find sour cream, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, whey, AND butter all in the mix. Yet there is no powdered avocado or other science-adjacent ‘cado in sight. I am still remarkably impressed by how on-the-nose the guacamole presence is on the first couple of chips, and how this myriad of other components, combined with “natural and artificial flavors,” created such a perfect impersonation.

The good news is that even if the flavor does dwindle a bit, what’s left is still very good and worth the purchase of at least one bag for Doritos lovers. However, something tells me that the nostalgia chasers may not enjoy them as much as I do, or at least as much as they did in 2004, since our new, matured experiences can rarely live up to the memories we hold dearly in our minds.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Size: 2 5/8 ounces
Purchased at: Circle K
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (11 chips, 28g) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 170 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Funyuns Sour Cream & Funyuns

/ / Reviews / Leave a Comment

Initially released in 1969, Funyuns remained entirely unchanged from its cornmeal and onion powder origins for over thirty years until several short limited runs like Wasabi and Chili & Limon surfaced during the 2000s. Now, the circular snack can be found with the original ’69 flavor profile, as well as Flamin’ Hot, Spicy Queso, and my favorite: Steakhouse Onion. Yet, over 50 years since the chips’ inception, we get possibly the most on-the-nose and least outside-the-box limited release in recent memory — Sour Cream & Funyuns.

While it may not be the most creative of concepts, I enjoy the simplicity of this idea. Oftentimes, new flavor twists, especially from other Frito Lay brands like Doritos, are meant to wallop you over the head with flavor, and this one aims to combine the onion with the onion in perfect seasoning-meets-form-factor harmony — and it works!

Sour cream and onion is one of the most popular potato chip seasoning choices, so it’s no surprise that it works really well on an onion-shaped circle of corn meal. Looking at the rings, you can tell immediately that these aren’t your grandma’s summer of love Funyuns. These have little green specs and an even more prominent funky flavor aroma than the original, and the simple mashup delivers delicious results.

The airy crunch is the same as always, starting with a sweet onion that then evolves into a bit of garlic and finishes with a legitimate sour cream tang. That tangy flavor absolutely stacks when eating more rings, and the sour bite lingers for a couple of minutes afterward. This is essentially 75% of the Funyuns you already love (or hate) with a touch more bite and a creamy finish, which, for me, is a subtle but effective improvement on the original.

While I may never love Funyuns in the way that I do Fritos, Doritos, Cheetos, or any other fried corn delight, Sour Cream & Funyuns constructs the ideal seasoning setup for this spherical snack to contend with the big boys of the Frito Lay brand.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Size: 2 oz bag
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (13 pieces, 28g) 130 calories, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 150 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Skinny Pop Harry Potter Butterbeer Popcorn

/ / Reviews / 2 Comments

Butterbeer, the fictional beverage from the world of Harry Potter, is having quite a comeback. I’m not sure if it’s in early preparation for the new HBO series (coming 2027) or if the snack-powers-that-be simply wanted the wizarding world to remain in the social zeitgeist, but Harry is back in the snack, big time. Mr. Potter’s Butterbeer has already had collaborative releases this year with Hershey’s Kisses, Keebler Fudge Stripes, and Goldfish, so if next in line isn’t going to be a new bizarro sweet and salty Lay’s, why not some Skinny Pop Popcorn?

I am not a wizard and have never been to the Wizarding World at Universal Studios to try the Butterbeer. However, I am a popcorn connoisseur and lover of butterscotch, so I went into this new fantasy-flavored kettle corn quite excitedly.

The aroma is distinctly that of sugary popped kettle corn with an extra rich burnt sugar flourish that mostly translates to the flavor as well. The taste of the popcorn is 70% that of the standard Skinny Pop “Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn” — corn-forward with a nice little boost of sweetness — but the other 30% is something magical. There’s a deep, toasty, brown-sugar-meets-browned-butter flavor that lands somewhere in between kettle corn and caramel corn. Occasionally, a kernel pops up that’s more coated and crunchy than the others, with an extra dose of buttery sweetness.

Speaking of crunchy, the texture is excellent. Every piece has a firm crunch, but a perfectly soft, airy crumble underneath makes the experience really pleasant. In the finish, there’s a touch of spice. The ingredients say cinnamon but I get a little more of a mild nutmeg. In any case that spiced quality helps contribute to the excellent burnt caramel profile. This is, without a doubt, my favorite unadorned bagged kettle corn I’ve had (not including drizzled varieties), and one that is very snackable without feeling cloying in the slightest.

Initially, despite how much I love the flavor, I thought this popcorn wasn’t quite sweet enough to be a proper butterscotch. But after a touch of proper research, I learned that in the Harry Potter books, Butterbeer is “a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch,” and you know what? I think they nailed it.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 8.4 ounces
Purchased at: Amazon
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2.5 cups, 28g) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 8 grams of total sugars, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Red Bull Spring Edition Grapefruit & Blossom Energy Drink

/ / Reviews / Leave a Comment

With daylight saving time just settling in and the equinox approaching, do you know what time it is? It’s new Red Bull time. For the first time ever, the oldest energy drink in the game, has brought a Spring Edition to the United States — Grapefruit & Blossom. As with the usual Red Bull products, boasts 80 milligrams of caffeine in an 8.4-ounce can, along with some B vitamins, niacin, and a little smooch of taurine.

Full disclosure: I haven’t had a full-sugar Red Bull in a long time (although I had the Cinnamon Pear Winter Edition a couple years back, and it was awesome). As a rule of thumb, I try to stick with sugar-free energy drinks and soda, but purple is my favorite color, and the store didn’t have sugar-free, so I said, “screw it,” and took a chance. That chance paid off because the first annual US Red Bull Spring Edition is quite delicious.

The unexpectedly vibrant green color of the drink gives way to a nice, sweet, and zesty grapefruit flavor that reminds me of the ruby red variety, and then it rounds out with a gentle floral note. The floral quality isn’t bold or in your face like rose water or hibiscus; it just coasts on the backend in a very complementary role. I mostly detect the “blossom” in a way that smooths the usually top-heavy and sharp grapefruit flavor into something very palatable and truly tasty.

As someone who usually leans into sugar-free options, I was surprised this didn’t come across as more aggressively over the top and sweet. But then I had to remind myself that sucralose, the sweetener most commonly used in energy drinks these days, is said to be up to 600 times sweeter than table sugar. While it is definitely sweet, the drink is refreshing and seamlessly sip-able.

Grapefruit & Blossom Red Bull is perfectly balanced and a worthy introduction of the Spring Edition to the States with a flavor profile that delightfully honors the changing of seasons. It’s good enough that I will try to track down the sugar-free iteration to see if it can hold up to its sugar-laden counterpart to toss more regularly into the pick-me-up rotation.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 8.4 ounces
Purchased at: Nob Hill
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (One Can) 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 90 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 26 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of protein.

Scroll to Top