On the twenty-second day of Chips to Christmas our true love gave to us……
#4
Fritos – Chorizo & Chipotle (Mexico)
If you are a fan of the funk, then you are very likely going to love these Fritos from Mexico. We stumbled upon them at a local gas station oasis, and it is probably fair to say, that we then stumbled back upon them at least another dozen times after that as well!
Rating: ©©-3/4 chips (tolerable)
Oh no, another case of the the mistaken translation…..
What you aren’t seeing is that prior to taking the picture to the left we removed a large, white, hand-printed label from the front of this bag that was 1) just plain old ugly, and 2) stated that these Fritos were salt and LEMON flavored.
It would seem fairly apparent to us that the green piece of citrus fruit, next to the salt shaker, on the front of the bag is in fact what we call a lime… But, in the translator’s defense limón does accurately translate to both lemon and lime geographically speaking (in fact, this is a very widely discussed topic in Latin America). However, in this case, we feel like it should be pretty darn apparent that limón is referring to lime. We’re talking about Fritos from Mexico where they use limes predominantly over lemons, especially when paired with corn.
Once again we found these particular Fritos on a small end cap at a local 7eleven that just so happens to offer a variety of Frito Lay Mexico snacks. These salt & lime mark the third new Fritos’ flavor that we have found on this end cap, along with being our least favorite of the trio. Fritos Chorizo y Chipotle are far and away the best from the brand that we have ever tasted, and their Chile y Limón version was simple and así así. But, these Sal y Limón are just unenthusiastic. They pretty much taste like plain old original Fritos, except without the usually delicious amount of salt! In other words, they should really just be called Fritos without salt & lime. The only reason we didn’t rate them lower was because even unseasoned Fritos corn chips are still pretty great to crunch on. So full of greasy corn flavor.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at 7-eleven; Hwy. 294, Hinsdale Oasis, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©© chips (lip-smacking)
And yet another pretty great Frito Lay Mexico find from our favorite Illinois Tollway Oasis!
We had to dig deep into the archives to make sure that these Pake-Taxo were not just another reboot Sabrita Mix of sorts, but as much as they may be similar to Sabritas Fiesta Mix, they are also slightly different.
In fact, if we were being really picky, these Pake-Taxo are just another Frito Lay’s / Sabritas snack mix reboot that simply combines preexisting snacks. Similar to the likes of Cheetos Mix-Ups, Frito Lay’s Munchies, and Doritos Mixes.
And just like with all of those other mixes, the sum of those parts are not quite as delicious as the individual items themselves.
Sabritas Pake-Taxo Mezcladito are a fun mix consisting of a sort of weird combination of three different flavors of Fritos (chile y limón, sal y limon, chorizo chipotle), some Rancheritos (aka Sabritas “Doritos” Ranchero flavor), and Cheetos Spicy/Chili-Cheese Bolitas (aka cheese balls!). Many of these different items we have tasted and reviewed individually.
For the most part the overall flavor theme sprinkled throughout this mixed bag is most definitely chile and lime, aka chile y limón.
It is blatantly apparent that the vastly abundant mix ingredient here are the Sabritones. Seriously, easily half of the bag is made up of Sabritones’ puffed wheat based, chicharrones inspired, crunchy snacks.
The rest of the mix consists of a fairly even combination of the remaining components. That being said, it was fairly difficult to distinguish the differences in flavor between the three Fritos.
We really can’t stand it when a mix cannot be enjoyed in a single harmonious handful. And yet, the individual components themselves are still lip-smacking enough on their own that we did not have any problem crunching our way through this Pake-Taxo Mezcladito!
Discovered at 7-eleven; Hwy. 294, Hinsdale Oasis, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©-1/2 chips (notable)
Sorry Fritos, but compared to your fantastically delicious, and plain old amazing brethren, that we just recently reviewed, these Chile y Limón flavored corn chips are just sort of así así.
Really, it just comes down to these chile and limón not having nearly the depth of flavor, or the originality, or the funk of the delectable chorizo and chipotle.
Short funny story about finding these Fritos at our local tollway oasis 7-eleven. This particular gas station likes to relabel their Frito Lay Mexico snacks with the English flavor translation. Most of the time they are usually accurate with these translations, but with this particular bag they had labeled them with Chili and Lemon…..WRONG! Now, in their defense limón does accurately translate to both lemon and lime geographically speaking (in fact, this is a very widely discussed topic in Latin America). However, in this case, we feel like it should be pretty darn apparent that limón is referring to lime. We’re talking about Fritos from Mexico where they use limes predominantly, and we’re talking about a practically classic chip flavor combination used throughout the United States. Not to mention that there is a green piece of citrus fruit in the bottom right hand corner of the bag……
Getting back to the corn chips themselves, they were, again, just so so. We did get a pretty decent splash of citrus-y lime sour, but only the slightest dash chile pepper flavor. Even less impressive was their complete lack of any chile heat.
All that being said, the corn chips are perfectly edible and crunchable, but we will be sticking with the impeccable chorizo and chipotles.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at 7-eleven; Hwy. 294, Hinsdale Oasis, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©©-3/4 chips (lip-smacking)
These are, far and away, without a shred of a doubt, the best Fritos we have ever, ever-ever-ever, tried! Where have you suckers been all of our life?!?
THANK YOU – Hinsdale Tollway Oasis 7-eleven gas station! If it was not for you and your little rack of Frito Lay Mexico snacks then we may have never found these fantastic corn chips! Which brings us to ask one simple question – why is this flavor not made or produced in the U.S.? Why?!? Here’s a suggestion – make these available everywhere in the U.S. And heck, while you are at it, bring back Frito Bandito – he would pair perfectly with these!
Wow, these have some real Mexican chorizo bite – an unmistakable funk, a tang, a rich & zesty sausage flavor! It’s almost as if these Fritos have been sprinkled with actual Mexican chorizo in seasoning form!
Right from the get go you can tell that these dark Fritos are bringing another level to their corn chip game. Besides the spicy aroma that permeates from the bag, grab a handful of these corn chips and they are heavy, and almost wet, or sort of greasy….kind of like chorizo.
Fritos hearty corn chips go very, very, very well with this chorizo and chipotle seasoning blend! And, come to think of it, why wouldn’t they? Corn is a major staple in Mexican cuisine, and of course it pairs perfectly with other staples like chorizo sausage and chipotle chilies!
Speaking of that other flavor component – chipotle, we don’t really taste any of this chili’s usual smokey notes. Sure there is plenty of zesty heat present, but we can neither confirm, nor deny, that it is coming from the addition of chipotles. What we can confirm is that we DO NOT CARE, because whatever this seasoning is made up of is delicious just the way it is!
Come’on Fritos! Do us a solid and put these on our U.S. shelves everywhere regular Fritos already are. And to you Fritos lovers out there, if you cross paths with these delicious chips, do not hesitate to buy every bag you see on the shelf!!
Junk Food Guy reviewed these about three years ago, and his opinion is quite different than our own. Our best guess is that his taste buds were off from too many delicious vacation margaritas!
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at 7-eleven; Hwy. 294, Hinsdale Oasis, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©-1/2 chips (tolerable)
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips (notable)
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
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