REVIEW: Ruffles Flamin’ Hot Queso Cheese Potato Chips

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Do you like a “Groundhog Day” movie premise as much as I do? You know, the movies centered around a character who relives the same day over and over again. You’d think once they’d done the Bill Murray classic, it would be ironic and un-original to make it again. Yet, we still have fantastic films like “Edge of Tomorrow” (the action version), “Happy Death Day” (the thriller version), “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” (the romcom version), and of course “Palm Springs” (the Andy Samberg version). All of these movies are pretty great in their own unique twist of a classic theme. In much the same way, I come to you today with a review of Flamin’ Hot Queso Cheese Ruffles. Sure, you’ve probably had a really similar chip, but now these also exist.

They have the same distinct color found on other Flamin’ Hot line extensions. The flavor is overwhelmingly cheesy and balanced very well with the heat from the pepper. In fact, I’d almost say these don’t quite live up to the spiciness of other Flamin’ Hot varieties launched recently, but I think that’s a good thing in this case. It makes them much more addictive.

I was curious how these differed from the Flamin’ Hot Cheddar Sour Cream Ruffles (the LeBron bag) currently on shelves and could only dig up one or two minor discrepancies. First, the ingredient lines between this and the LeBron version are nearly identical. Apart from a few items being in different sequential order, the Queso chips have a few extra spices (onion and garlic powder) and no sour cream or butter. If you’re thinking that difference doesn’t sound enormous, I agree with you. These chips taste A LOT like the standard Flamin’ Hot Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles, but these are much more cheese-forward and the heat packs less of a punch.

The second difference is that these have the lil’ smiley guy in the corner, designating them as a Sabritas item (also owned by Frito-Lay and largely distributed in Mexico). I don’t think this necessarily makes a difference except to possibly justify why such a similar chip could launch with a different balance of cheese and heat.

I also decided to try the original Queso Ruffles against the Flamin’ Hot Queso Ruffles. The OG lacks heat and red color but has the same strong savory cheese flavor. I think heat lovers might be slightly let down by the heat offered in the Flamin’ Hot Queso version, but I’ll double down and say again that I prefer this balance. It makes the chips far more enjoyable overall.

If I had to live one day repeatedly, I wouldn’t be upset if it included these chips. I’m docking a point for lack of originality since the formulas look to be nearly a replicate of a chip that already exists, but I can’t deny how tasty these are. Did I already say that? Oh well, déjà vu.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 8 oz bag
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (13 chips) 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Doritos Dinamita Sticks (Smoky Chile Queso, Tangy Fiery Lime, and Hot Honey Mustard)

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In 1971, Goodmark Foods introduced Andy Capp’s Fries, a “unique alternative to potato chips” that “look like French fries, but crunch like chips.” Named for the English comic strip character — and perhaps peculiarly so, given their namesake’s penchant for drinking, gambling, borrowing money, fighting with his wife, flirting with young barmaids, etc. — Capp’s Fries have gone through several iterations throughout the years including Hot, Salsa, White Cheddar Steak, and Ranch, to name but a few.

Fifty-two years later, and no longer satisfied with its lack of footing in the crunchy snack-stick arena, Doritos is throwing its hat in the ring with three new stick-takes on its Dinamita line -— Smoky Chili Queso, Tangy Fiery Lime, and Hot Honey Mustard. Did the wait pay off? It did.

First, a note about all three Dinamita Sticks — because these are corn instead of potato-based, they run a little denser than those from its alcoholic British comic-strip counterpart. A closer comparison texturally would be Chester’s Flamin’ Hot Fries, another Frito-Lay product. But these are a bit heavier still. Reading the ingredient list tells me that Chester’s employs dried potato in addition to enriched corn meal. The nice thing about the Dinamita Sticks’ density is that they give you a fuller feeling than Andy Capp’s or Chester’s.

Smoky Chili Queso

I don’t know that I detected any smoky, but man, were these ever chili queso, with a pronounced emphasis on the chili. The first second or two is delightfully cheesy, and then comes the heat. And it’s a big heat, like an Arizona sidewalk on the 4th of July. It’s fast and it lasts. While I found the heat level enjoyable, it might be too much if you’re even slightly heat-averse. You have been forewarned.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Tangy Fiery Lime

Full disclosure: I’m not a lime guy. Well, okay, unless it’s in pie form. In which case, sign me up. But I’ve never been big on spicy things with a lime infusion. These things, however? They may have made me a convert. The lime in the TFL Dinamita is strong, but serves as a great complement to a heat that comes across as a bit sweeter than the spicy punch of the SCQ. It takes longer to build, too and is extinguished with each limey pop of a new Dinamita. I was surprised by how much I ended up liking these things.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, <1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Hot Honey Mustard

Did you hear that crack? That was the sound of a home run leaving the bat. THESE THINGS. It’s like a sweeter McDonald’s Hot Mustard nugget sauce, only in crunch form. So. it’s THAT kind of mustard — the sinus-burning, Chinese kind that those of us in the know dip their egg rolls and Rangoons into. There’s a sweet, honey-esque undertone that adds a welcome complexity. While I really found things to enjoy about all three Dinamitas, this one was my favorite.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Purchased at: All were purchased at Walmart
Purchased Price: $3.88 each

REVIEW: Spicy Queso Funyuns

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I once played this video game… I don’t remember the exact name, but the object was to find as many golden rings as possible.

This furry blue dude ran around collecting them so that he could eventually buy his freedom from a mad scientist shaped like an egg. His name was “Static” or something. I think it was based on a true story.

Anyway, those golden rings always reminded me of Funyuns. Why? I don’t know. This is clearly a fake story, so just go with it. I mean, come on, who’s never heard of Sarnac the Muskrat?

I’ll say this: if ol’ Sarnac had to collect Spicy Queso Funyuns, he’d probably just end up keeping them all for himself and dealing with the consequences.

Yeah, those exist. In a rare move, Frito Lay has let Funyuns branch out with a new Spicy Queso flavor.

I needed a little ring redemption after my last review of Snyder’s Oktoberfest Rings, and while I liked these a lot, I gotta let you know the bad before the good – they don’t really taste like Funyuns.

I believe they set out to add a cheese flavor to the iconic flavor, but the onion essence basically gets spiced out. It’s a bit of a bummer, but I suggest approaching these as Funyuns in shape and texture form only. If you’re familiar with Frito Lay’s queso dip, I think these actually tasted like it in crisp form, so there’s some good brand synergy there.

As I crunched on, I started getting flavor vibes of two other snacks – Andy Capp’s Hot Fries and the recent Chili Cheese Doritos 3D’s. If you know Hot Fries, the heat level is slightly below those, but they have very similar textures. The lingering level of spice and cheesiness reminded me of 3Ds, although those leaned more towards a “beefy” chili flavor, so just imagine a Funyun ring that tastes like a spicy cheddar with a pinch of jalapeño. I’ve never tried Flamin’ Hot Funyuns, but I suspect those are slightly hotter overall.

As far as the crunch goes, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve compared Funyuns to Cap’n’ Crunch in the past because they usually tear my palate up. Thankfully, that didn’t happen here because the usual mouth shred paired with a spicy flavor probably would’ve destroyed my tastebuds.

Overall, these are very solid, but I was completely satisfied with a small bag. The flavor is nice, but I wish the typical Funyun flavor was ramped up. I’ve never dipped an onion ring in queso, so who knows, these could be 100% accurate. They’re not an improvement on the originals but a strong spinoff. As far as ring-based snack reviews go, I’m batting .500.

Maybe this will lead to further expansions of the Funyuns brand. Trader Joe’s used to make a Sweet Onion-flavored Funyun knockoff that was elite, and I’d love to see Frito-Lay try that next.

Here’s hoping my next review isn’t ring-based because I don’t feel like doing a bit about watching that one horror movie. It was about a ghost mime coming out of a videotape or something. I think it’s based on a true story.

Purchased Price: $2.49
Size: 2 1/8 oz bag
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 13 pieces) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 160 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of total sugars, less than 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Ghost Rainbow Sour Strips Energy Drink

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In recent years, Sour Strips, the social media-savvy candy company founded in 2019, has gone from relative gourmet obscurity to a sweet and sour force to be reckoned with. Popping up in big box stores like Target and gourmet sugar shops all across the United States, the brand has now officially aligned with another of the modern sweet and sour overlords — Ghost Energy. This didn’t come out of nowhere though, as Sour Strips founder Maxx Chewning is a longtime collaborator with Ghost, including last year’s fantastic Ghost Energy flavor Strawbango Margarita.

This year’s limited edition collab is a bit more on the nose, turning one of Sour Strips’ most popular flavors, Rainbow, into a drinkable sugar-free elixir chock-full of 200 milligrams of natural caffeine and focus ingredients, including L-Carnitine, Taurine, and Alpha-GPC.

Like many great candy companies that came before it, Sour Strips makes a type of typically tough, leathery gummy candy belts covered in sugar that come in a myriad of whimsical fruity flavors. The difference with Sour Strips is they feel like the softest, thinnest, and freshest version of candy belts I’ve ever had, with punchy flavors and a legitimate sour finish to go along with the crunchy sugar crystals. I know we’re not reviewing the candy here, but I wanted to show you my credentials that I do, in fact, know what this drink should taste like.

So what does a rainbow taste like? It tastes like many other rainbow-flavored Skittles-adjacent drinks with one huge difference — there’s no grape. Oftentimes, with Taste the Rainbow-type concoctions, whether from Alani Nu’s Cosmic Stardust or C4’s Skittles, the grape comes in with authority and can be a touch overpowering, but not here at all. This rainbow is a beautiful blend of cherry first, then blue raspberry, and a lemon-forward citrus that’s really refreshing. I think I even get a hint of strawberry, which helps differentiate it from a more typical Bomb Pop-type of profile.

The flavor is delicious and packs a pretty decent sour punch too. Again, much like the Sour Pink Lemonade, it’s not going to take the sourness to Warheads heights, and I wouldn’t want it to, but it has a sour bite that stacks as you drink it to back up the dense sweetness at the forefront. It’s nice and bubbly bright with zero thick syrupiness, and I think it’s safe to say Maxx should be very proud of his second excellent flavor with Ghost.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 16 oz can
Purchased at: Vitamin Shoppe
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 10 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Mystery Flavor Gatorade

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To be honest, I was really hoping Mystery Flavor Gatorade ended up being the company’s attempt at creating an actual Haterade. But it’s not because I imagine Haterade would be green in color and taste extremely sour and bitter, and that is not what this is.

Like many mystery flavor beverages, the liquid is a cloudy white with no chance for clues as to what it could be. But it’s also a color that many standard Gatorade varieties come in.

It has a strawberry scent, and its flavor leans towards strawberry with a slight sour kick. A part of me thinks it’s strawberry lemonade, but I’m leaning more towards strawberry kiwi. However, both are already in the Gatorade universe, and I don’t think it would be fun if the mystery flavor is one that currently exists. So I’m just going to combine the two and say my guess is strawberry kiwi lemonade.

There’s a QR code on the side of the bottle that led to a dead link when I scanned it with my phone. I’m sure it’ll be fixed someday. I don’t know if there are clues via that link, but the bottle does tell you to “Scan to Guess Mystery Flavor,” so maybe it’s just a website to enter your guess. As for mine, I will trust my taste buds and their experiences after having tried thousands of products over decades. I’m going to believe that they have the ability to determine what flavor this Gatorade variety is. I’m 90 percent confident they have the correct answer. Okay, 75 percent. A portion of me thinks it might be some other berry plus kiwi.

Whatever this flavor is, it’s tasty and as good as all the other dozen or so Gatorade options I’ve tried, but it doesn’t really stand out. If I was handed a cup of Mystery Flavor Gatorade during a 10k run, I’d drink it and think nothing of it because it’s such a normal tasting sports drink. If this was an attempt to think outside the box, like with a cotton candy or pumpkin spice Gatorade, it probably would’ve stopped me in my tracks.

In the end, it’s a perfectly fine tasting Gatorade. It’ll quench your thirst, give you electrolytes, and is suitable to dump on a coach who just won the big game. But I wish this ended up being a bit more exciting, like winning the big game.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 28 fl oz bottle
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 190 calories, 0 grams of fat, 380 milligrams of sodium, 50 grams of carbohydrates, 48. grams of sugar (including 48 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

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