REVIEW: Lay’s Sweet & Spicy Honey Potato Chips

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Hot honey is taking over.

We’ve got hot honey chicken, hot honey pizza, hot honey pretzels, and hot honey buns. Actually, I don’t know about that one. Do hot honey buns exist? Has Little Debbie ventured into the world of hot honey buns yet? I wanna Google, “Little Debbie’s Hot Honey Buns,” but I’m afraid I’ll get put on a list.

Ya know what? I’m just gonna drop this train of thought and … oh hot honey chips! Those exist too. Herr’s makes ’em. Utz makes ’em. Pringles had some delicious hot honey crisps, so it’s no shocker that Lay’s has joined the fray with Sweet & Spicy Honey Chips.

The bag boasts, “Sweet. Spicy. Golden. Crunch,” and I’m not one to argue with a bag.

I’ll get to the first three words, but first, I wanna highlight the fourth word because the crunch might be the standout. By all accounts, they’re standard Lay’s chips, but I swear they’re crunchier. They’re not kettle, but if a chip could exist somewhere between regular and kettle, that’s these, and I love it. I don’t think it was a freshness issue. These felt like Lay’s tweaked its iconic recipe.

As for the flavor – I say this as a culinary inept American dude – I think it leans into a Chinese-inspired territory. Something about the combination of the spicy pepper and vague sweetness instantly made me think of Chinese flavors.

Even the red, scaly bag design made me think along those lines. If you told me these chips were limited edition “Year of the Dragon: Spicy Szechwan” flavored Lay’s, I wouldn’t argue.

The chips hit you with a mildly sweet honey flavor on the nose, then quickly chase that with a tolerable heat ideal for sustained snacking. I always rate spicy snacks on the “Flamin’ Hot” scale, and these probably reach about 80% of that.

I’ll say this, while they don’t exactly taste the same, all I thought about were Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. In fact, I was bummed I wasn’t eating said Doritos, the G.D.O.A.T. Purple bag supremacy, no other flavor stacks up. Don’t @ me.

Using my confusing percentages again, I’d say the flavor here lands at about 63.7% on the Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili scale I just made up that will now be used to rate all food from now on.

Lay’s Sweet & Spicy Honey Potato Chips are solid but should’ve been sweeter. I’d actually probably like a bit more heat as well. They taste like a “lite” version of what the flavors should’ve been.

The ingredients list Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Swiss Cheese, but they aren’t cheesy. I tried to force a cheese flavor to manifest but to no avail. I still remain a little stumped by the ingredients.

So yeah, these aren’t bad. I got a little indigestion, but I loved the texture and liked the flavor. For all I know, I just had a weird bag, but they’re good overall. They’d probably go great crunched up inside a sandwich.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m… I’m gonna Google it. Curiosity killed the fat.

Purchased Price: $4.29
Size: 7 3/4 oz bag
Purchased at: Shop Rite
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (15 Chips) 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s IHOP Rooty Tooty Fresh’ N Fruity Potato Chips

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If you’re in Camp Savory Potato Chips Only and think potato chips with sweetness are an abomination, and you feel sorry for the potatoes that were used to make them, um, I’d avoid these Lay’s IHOP Rooty Tooty Fresh’ N Fruity Potato Chips. The Walmart-exclusive flavor features a seasoning that tastes like strawberry-topped pancakes with syrup and bacon.

These have a strong pancake syrup aroma that reminds me of many maple-flavored products I’ve smelled, but no fruitiness or bacon-ness wafts from these. Their pink hue makes them look like they’re coated with what I imagine Flamin’ Warm seasoning would look like. If Lay’s decides to offer cotton candy-flavored potato chips, it has the blue, um, pinkprint to make those the appropriate color.

Its flavor is surprisingly delightful and is as fun as saying, “Rooty Tooty Fresh’ N Fruity.” The strawberry flavoring, which comes from strawberry powder, stands out the most, and it also gives these a slight tanginess. Then, there’s the pancake syrup taste that provides each bite with a burst of sweetness. There’s no butteriness or anything that tastes like an actual pancake, but the syrup flavor does a great job of getting your tongue and head to think of flapjacks.

Finally, there’s the bacon. Having tried Lay’s Bacon Potato Chips, I’m familiar with the brand’s approach to the porky slices, but I don’t taste it here. However, the chips have an underlying greasiness that could be a stand-in for the breakfast meat. These also have some stevia on them, but I don’t notice any of the off flavors I’ve tasted from drinking stevia-sweetened stuff.

I really love these, but they’re a one-night snack stand. Now that I’ve tried them, if given a choice between these and Original Lay’s Potato Chips (or any other standard Lay’s flavor), I’d pick the savory one because they’re more versatile. Like with regular potato chips, we can eat them as a snack or as a side with a turkey sandwich, burger, or hot dog for a meal. But with these, I can’t imagine eating them with any of those. Maybe Lay’s wants us to eat them with breakfast sandwiches. Breakfast chips?!

Lay’s IHOP Rooty Tooty Fresh’ N Fruity Potato Chips were fun to try and a fascinating Frito-Lay food scientist flavor flex. But I wouldn’t repurchase a bag if they were a permanent flavor, as tasty as they are. However, if you’re not in Camp Savory Potato Chips Only and haven’t tried them, they are worth a try.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay*
Size: 7 3/4 oz bag
Purchased at: eBay (Exclusive to Walmart stores)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 15 chips) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar (including 1 gram of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Takis Buckin’ Ranch

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Last year, Takis did the unthinkable. It made a non-spicy flavor — Intense Nacho. For a brand known for fiery product names like Fuego, Blue Heat, and Nitro, it seemed that Takis either ran out of ideas and/or names for spicy products or lost a bet. But coming out with a heat-free flavor was a good bet because it’s a good product. Now, Takis is following it up with Buckin’ Ranch.

Oh, come on, autocorrect! Are you going to swap the B with an F every time I type buckin’? Well, you also turned that one into an F, so I guess that’s the case. Do I type that word often enough that it’s the default if I try to spell something close to it, or does Siri swear like a sailor? What about ducking? Seriously? That changed, too. How about tucking? Maji? I guess it’s rare that I type tucking, and T is close to F, so it makes sense. Ugh!

While my autocorrect inflames me, this flame-less Takis doesn’t. It influences me to buy more.

Let’s rewind a bit to the issue I had with the Takis Intense Nacho rolled tortilla chips. While good, I was disappointed by how the cheesiness wasn’t as intense as I would’ve liked, and the seasoning faded too quickly*. But that’s not the case with Buckin’ Ranch. It’s bold and perhaps has a more potent flavor than Cool Ranch Doritos, and it sticks around. Also, after eating a few of them, they leave a satisfying thick layer of ranch seasoning on my fingers that serve as a nice after snack snack.

These crunchy rolled tortilla chips are as addictive as Cool Ranch Doritos. Yeah, I said it! I inhaled a 9.9-ounce bag in one sitting while watching an episode of some TV show and felt guilty about it for a second because I forgot to take photos for this review. Thankfully, Takis sent two bags. However, I like this so much that I wish it came in the large adult pillow-sized bags you’d find at Costco or Sam’s Club so that I can inhale one while watching a movie at home. Also, I wonder what it would taste like if this ranch seasoning was combined with Takis’ spicier varieties.

Takis Buckin’ Ranch is bucking great. Oh, now you decide to change the F with a B, autocorrect! Thanks.

*Takis did eventually add more cheesiness to them.

DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples from Takis. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 9.9 oz bag
Purchased at: Received from Takis
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 oz/about 10 pieces) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Dirt Cake Oreo Cookies

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Sigh.

These Limited Edition Dirt Cake Oreo Cookies are good for a chocolate chocolate sandwich cookie. It combines a brownie-flavored creme with a chocolate creme with Oreo crumbs in it, and both are between two chocolate Oreo wafers with gummy worm-inspired sprinkles.

Sigh.

Let’s start with those gummy worm-inspired sprinkles. They’re flavorless rainbow shavings or unicorn eye crust. I get it; they’re “inspired” by gummy worms, but it would’ve been nice if these cookies had something else that brings gummy worms to mind other than color. These sprinkles aren’t gummy, fruity, or very noticeable without the right light angle. Look, I know an added fruitiness might’ve given some taste buds bad Swedish Fish Oreo Cookie flashbacks, but it would’ve also given these cookies some uniqueness. It’s as if the sprinkles were specifically added to look dazzling for social media.

As for the cookie as a whole, again, it’s a perfectly fine chocolate chocolate sandwich cookie, and I’ll enjoy the sugar rush I’ll get from it. I do get a Snack Pack vibe from the creme combination, and the addition of Oreo crumbs in the chocolate creme was a nice touch since those are the “dirt” in Dirt Cake, but it’s all a chocoreorgy that seems like a derivative of a cookie that the brand offered last year — Blackout Cake.

Sigh.

I just want to taste some magic with Oreo flavors again. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced those OMG moments. I remember the smiles on my face when I tasted Cotton Candy, Fruity Crisp, Fruit Punch, and Blueberry Pie Oreo cookies. I was amazed by how well the Oreologists recreated those foods in cookie form. But there’s no magic coming out of Oreo anymore. I hope the folks working on new varieties put the previous sentence on a bulletin board or something because, after a year or so of uninspired flavors, it appears the magic is gone.

If you want a good Oreo with chocolate cremes, then these Limited Edition Dirt Cake Oreo Cookies will satisfy the chocoholic in you. But if you’re looking for an innovative new Oreo flavor…

Sigh.

Purchased Price: $4.50
Size: 10.68 oz (When did it shrink?)
Purchased at: Times Supermarket
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ SPARKD’ Energy Drink

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Dunkin’ is introducing some fruity new ways to get your caffeine (and your apostrophe) fix this spring with its new SPARKD’ Energy drinks. The jewel-toned beverages look like they belong alongside the Refreshers drinks Dunkin’ already serves, but SPARKD’ swaps the green tea for sparkling water and the syrups have a caffeine boost from guarana along with some vitamins and minerals. Available in Berry Burst and Peach Sunshine, these drinks are kind of interesting, if not totally successful.

Served over ice and pleasantly effervescent, both are visually appealing and feature a blend of two fruit flavors. Berry Burst is a mix of raspberry and strawberry, and Peach Sunshine mixes peach, obviously, with lychee. While I’d normally gravitate towards a berry flavor over peach any day, I was intrigued by the lychee and had high hopes for its inclusion.

Trying the berry first, I enjoyed its bubbly nature and had no real complaints about the flavor, but it didn’t wow me either. It’s somewhat generic in its berry-ness, which isn’t a bad thing, but I expected it to be more interesting. The longer it sat and the ice melted, the more I started getting a Kool-Aid vibe from it. Again, not exactly a complaint, but it also wasn’t what I was looking for.

The Peach Sunshine variety left me similarly disappointed. It’s predominantly peach and if I didn’t know it included lychee, I wouldn’t have guessed it. The orange color had me hoping for more citrusy notes, but it’s very peach-forward. And in a medium size, it ended up just too peachy for me. Dunkin’ has had some really good flavor combos in its Refreshers line so I had higher expectations for these that just weren’t met. I have a preferred brand of energy drink (Red Bull), and both of these flavors reminded me of something I might get from a Celsius or other canned energy beverage that I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy but will pick up when my grocery store offers them as a “free item of the week” thing.

One might assume these are packed with caffeine with a name like SPARKD’, but they actually fall kind of in the middle of that spectrum. A medium of either flavor contains 144 milligrams of caffeine, which is more than a Refresher but less than a Dunkin’ iced coffee and considerably less than a Panera Charged Lemonade.

I don’t have anything truly negative to say about Dunkin’s foray into the energy drink market, but the initial offerings didn’t spark any desire in me to purchase them again. The fizz is fun and the overall drink is fine but not memorable. I’m going to root for these to stick around in the hopes that future flavors will be more exciting.

Purchased Price: $3.32
Size: Medium
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Berry Burst), 6 out of 10 (Peach Sunshine)
Nutrition Facts: Berry Burst – 130 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 27 grams of total sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 144 milligrams of caffeine. Peach Sunshine – 120 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 27 grams of total sugar, 0 grams of protein, and 144 milligrams of caffeine.

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