Tostitos Tortilla Chips - Mexican Street Corn

I like [street corn] as a noun, but apparently, not as an adjective. The hint of lime on these is way too heavy to be felicitously considered a hint, which as always has the effect of making them taste like Trix cereal. They are a little spicy which is nice, there's a minor cheese taste as well as a minor "bean paste" vibe (scary), and a serving is 6 chips (although they are very big chips). IDK, man, it's not my vibe. My parents both liked them, although my analysis there is that my dad just likes that weird lime flavor and my mom just likes anything new. At least the bag didn't go to waste!

 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10  

Ruffles Original

More 'o them free school snacks. As it happens, most free things aren't that good (possible exceptions: love, Eagles Win You Win Dunkin' Promo). One thing I can say for Ruffles: they have ridges. Actually, I'm being far too harsh here -- as plain potato chips go, these are among the best. Good texture, extremely oily (yom), no cat litter flavor as in Lays/Pringle. I just will never be stimulated by a plain potato chip. If I were still in the land of French Onion Dip, these could have a place in my life. But I am not.

Overall
Cost: 10/10
Taste: 6/10 

Munchies Snack Mix - Cheese Fix Flavored

Yeah, I've got the munchies. Munchies snack mix from my job that I absolutely pounced on because they don't treat me well and eating my weight in free snacks is what I deserve!!! Unfortunately it's a bit of a "stop hitting yourself" scenario because these are tragic. The ingredos are like War and Peace. Despite student claims to the contrary, the contents of Cheeto, Pretzel, and Cheddar Sun Chip taste just the same as the non-Munchies Mix versions. But the Doritos are tiny little triangles, which is more delicious (less Dorito)! All together it's a cute scene, so why do I scorn it so? Because I don't LIKE Doritos, Cheetos, or Cheddar Sun Chip. Also the pretzels are made of corn (weird). Also, Munchies is the FritoLay brand name used for their peanut butter (et al) cracker packs (scary). Otherwise, this is a fun nut free snack. 

Overall
Cost: FREE/10
Taste: 5/10 

Cheetos Cheddar Jalepeño

I got these from the school vending machine after getting a soda from a different school vending machine. It was a sad, bad day for many reasons. These weren't one of the reasons, though. They were pretty good for a vending snack. Not as buttery or spicy as the tasty jalepeño cheese curls I like, but similar in spirit, just more cheeto-y (thinner, crunchier). Pleasant and filling.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10
Depression that isn't cheeto-related: 9/10

Doritos Tangy Pickle

Ah, safe in the land of Frito-Lay. These make my lips tingle, but not 'cause I'm dying (at least, I'm pretty sure), just 'cause they're so sour. Very strong sour vibe. Seriously, move over salt & vinegar chips, this is time for dill & vinegar chips. They are better than plain, maybe, but I don't like pickles! But they do really taste like pickle, just like the pickle sweet valley ranch. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Lay's Salt & Vinegar Chips

Do I like Lay's chips? Not really. Do I like salt and vinegar? Not really. But somehow the badnesses cancel out, making this basically a fine snack. I got it from a vending machine, so it was also expired (lol) but that didn't seem to have a negative effect. For all I know, it had a positive effect. These are pretty thin, you can't really taste the cat litter vibe, and it's more vinegary than salty. It's not terrible.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 
Taste: 6/10

Doritos Spicy Nacho Dip

Blerugh. Unlike the Cool Ranch dip, which was much better than I expected, this was worse than I expected and the worse flavor of the two. I thought it'd be like a cheesy dip, like Tostitos Queso, but instead it was very gloopy and artificial, like Tostitos "Nacho Cheese Dip". I saw no real comparison to Doritos here, which is no sweat, but on its own it was very chemical and not food-like. Better after heating, for sure, enough to where I was able to consume it, but not enough to truly enjoy it. There is a good level of heat/spice to this, but nothing else of note. Truly mid.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Lay's Doritos Cool Ranch Flavored Potato Chips

The existence of this product is kinda fucked up, but I guess I did like the Dunkin' flavored goldfish. Anyway, unlike the cool ranch dorito dip, these guys actually taste like ranch. Luckily they don't also taste like dorito. Just salty ranch powder, kind of like the ranch chicken in a biscuit crackers. I don't love ranch, as discussed previously, but I do like that there is a lot of strong seasoning which covers the Lays flavor completely (which I more than don't love....I dislike). No corn chip flavor either, just oily, butter, salt, chip. Cute speckles on there too: black, red, AND green? It's like a christmas cookie! Better in dip though.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Doritos dip - Cool Ranch Jalepeño

Doritos.....dip? I mean, yikes was my first reaction. And a cool ranch dip? Sounds horrible. But I'm into trying all the new (nut free) foods I can, so I gave it a shot. I was very pleasantly surprised! It doesn't taste like doritos or ranch at all, which is a massive relief. Instead it tastes like a mix of tostitos queso dip (which is good) and helluva good sour cream type dip (which is also good). It's spicy, cheesy, and not too ranchy. I put it on a bagel because I didn't have any chips, and it was solid, but I think tortilla chips or plain chips or pretzels would all go well. Solid stuff!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Cheetos Flamin' Hot Smoky Ghost Pepper Puffs

These are a fun a new shape -- like puffed scoopy bits. I guess they are the shape of a pepper? A chunky lil pepper. It's cute. They are indeed pretty spicy, for a chip type snack. Certainly not as hot as some actual peppers I've had, but that's a good thing, since I don't actually want to be in pain after eating. The taste is like a spicy BBQ flavor, with a little bit of tomato/smoke notes. It's OK, but I would prefer a plain cheesy (or spicy cheesy) vibe instead. 

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 6/10

Cheetos Flamin' Hot Sweet Carolina Reaper

I guess I was in a spicy mood when I tried this, as they impressed me quite a bit. (Less so now that my tongue is sore from pounding too many sour patch kids the other day). Anyway, these actually are quite hot! And, unlike the other flamin' hot cheetos, there's no odd limey citrus taste here. Mine were a bit stale, even though they weren't expired or open, but after a few hot ones I no longer noticed. Quite intense, but once I knew I wasn't allergic and/or dying, I do really enjoy a spicy food.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

Jack Link's Flamin' Hot Jerky

I didn't realise Frito Lay owned Jack Links! No wonder they have these weird Doritos flavors. Anyway, this IS hot, it's got a tingly afterburn but otherwise tastes like normal jerky. I'd rather have normal or teriyaki (or sweet and hot) flavors, I think, since the heat kind of hides the meat. Luckily it's just "hot" and not "dorito" or "cheese" or "corn chip" or anything gross like that. As always, this is crazy expensive for what you get, but it is a nice snack (for rich kids!!!). 

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 7/10

Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ

At first chomp, these taste a lot like BBQ fritos, which I sure don't love. The powder here is indeed very BBQ-y, like a BBQ sauce, and I like that aspect. It smells pretty good and has a strong flavor, but of course isn't cheesy at all which is what Doritos usually are. Kinda weird vibes, although ultimately, I think I do like it, although I'm not sure how much.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Doritos Roulette - Flamin' Hot Limon

These are super weird! The taste is not like a dorito at all, and honestly, not flamin' hot, either! They taste like Trix-lime but with a weirdly sour aftertaste. I love the idea of roulette chips, but I wasn't even sure which ones were the sour ones here -- they just had more powder on them, it seemed. I don't know. I just don't know.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Cheetos Flamin' Hot Tangy Chili Fusion

What a mouthful, and I'm not talking about the Cheeto. So look, these are pretty good. The seasoning tastes a bit like East Asian Food to me -- vegetable savory tomatoey vibes -- so it doesn't really go with "cheetos"! They're just a little bit spicy (hardly flamin'). I do like the flavor, but honestly, it makes me crave ramen instead of weird savory cheetos. Maybe I prefer plain cheetos -- stay in your flavor line, Cheeto! 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Doritos minis - Nacho Cheese

Are mini doritos any better than normal doritos? Actually, I think they are. Small things are cute. Of course, these arrived crumbled into teeny tiny pieces, so maybe there's a limit to the ideal smallness, but if they were triangles, they'd be ideal. They taste like regular dorito. The can is fun although actually impossible to eat out of with my giant hands, so I should probably pour them into a bowl like a soup. They remind me of the little dorito bits you'd get in the fun mix(?) and I do like a fun mix.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Cheetos - Flamin' Hot Popcorn

I started out thinking this was super gross on first smell/chomp (and the bright red powder doesn't help it here) but it definitely grew on me as I ate it. Definitely a little flamin'-tingle to it. Unfortunately, no cheese flavor, which is what I really wanted especially after the cheddar version of this. Hot popcorn < cheese popcorn, but it is accurately portrayed I guess.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Cheetos Popcorn - Cheddar

Ah, I'm pleased to report that this is much better than Cheetos, because it's not Cheetos, it's popcorn. Cheddar popcorn that, as far as I can tell, bears very little resemblance to Cheeto. Yes, there is an orange cheese-flavored powder on it, but I would not connect the two things gustatorily. It's a fine cheddar popcorn, good soft texture, plenty of cheese flavor. Happy holidays indeed!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Cheetos Flamin' Hot minis

These are essentially flamin' hot cheetos in a less fun shape (ball) but in a more fun package (can). They're also little, so a serving is 63 pieces (good), but the ingredients list is very long (bad) and contains nothing beneficial to your body, that's for sure. They're a decent snack, and they do have a nice kick to them, but I don't know that I've ever yearn for these. And if I'm not yearning, why buy it?!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Doritos minis - Cool Ranch

Oh, blog. I'm still sick, but now I'm also on antibiotics that are making me sick in a different way (stomach-wise). I see now why some people don't take their full course because 9 more days of this is horrifying (although of course I will finish it, I am a good human). Anyway, hopefully I'll get better soon! Before that, I had these doritos in a can. The can is cute. I like pringles mainly for the style points, so this is the same way. I don't like Doritos when big, and I sure don't like "cool ranch" (what a horrible flavor). But actually these are fine. I don't really "get it", since they're mostly broken into tiny pieces in the can and very hard to reach in there and pull out some chip bits, but they taste like a salty snack and are cute little things. So I like it but I wouldn't ever buy it again. But it's cute. I want more food in tall cans! 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10