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: ©©©-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: ©©© chips (notable)
In our opinion, nothing says scary colmillo/fang puffs better than an extremely shiny purple bag! Nice choice Chester!!
We do not have very much to say about these….
The puffs are shaped just like the pic on the front of the bag. Basically a circle, with four little arms, or teeth – fangs, sticking out of it.
The puffs themselves are very soft, practically no crunch to them at all. They did however have the stereotypical rich, fatty, mouth melting texture that we have come to expect from quality puff corned.
Chili cheese seasoning was practically unrecognizable. Really, we tasted cheese with some sort of background tang.
We had no problem eating these, but we would never go out of our way to buy them again.
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 (lip-smacking)
Have you ever tried something that is familiar to you in your everyday surroundings only to discover that the same thing elsewhere, in a different country for instance, is different? A good example of this would be McDonalds. We all know and recognize the mega fast food chain from those glowing golden arches, whether we are driving down our hometown street or thousands of miles away in some foreign land; the only thing is although we may recognize it by sight, our taste buds tell us that something is different. Not necessarily off, or less delicious (although sometimes this is true as well), but simply that this seemingly always recognizable thing is not what we are accustomed to.
Welcome to Cheetos Flamin’ Hot from Mexico.
Even prior to tasting these Cheetos we could have told you that they are not the standard U.S. version of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
The two bags are obviously visually different, despite sporting the same overall color scheme. Our everyday bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is broken up into three different color partitions, one orange, one red, one yellow – sort of like it is an official Flamin’ Hot flag. Mexico’s version is predominantly yellow, Chester is sporting his devil look, and there are red and orange flames of fire along the very top edge. Despite their visual differences, we also found this very yellow bag of Cheetos in among a shelf filled with other Mexican Frito Lay products, so we knew from the get go that we weren’t trying our same old every day Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
As for the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos themselves, well, they are pretty darn frackin’ tasty!! Really, really similar to our flawless iconic U.S. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos only, slightly………..yes, there’s that word again, DIFFERENT. Luckily that this different does not equal bad in this case. Mexico’s Flamin’ Hot Cheetos have a much more cheesy seasoning, that also delivers more of a lip puckering sour tang than the bold and powerful acidic burn that we are used to with our every day Flamin’ Hots. They still deliver just enough heat to warrant a Midwestern sort of Flamin’ Hot, but not enough to really scare anyone, from anywhere, away. The Mexican Cheetos also have a slightly softer, or lighter crunch – just not quite as crispy. They still melt with the slightest touch of the tongue, and provide plenty of that mouth loving, rich and fatty texture.
For the most part, these are close enough to the originals that most anyone who tries them wouldn’t really think twice that they are trying anything other than the usual Flamin’ Hot Cheetos that they are used to. But, if you are like us, you pay attention to you crunchy, salty and spicy snacks, and in that respect, there are a few differences But, in the end, they are still lip-smackingly delicious! In fact, we have no concerns about that unplanned future Mexico trip, and our ability to find some type of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on the local store shelf.
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)
Pretty sure that we have pointed this out before but just in case we haven’t, or in case you didn’t read that particular review; have you ever noticed how the ‘T’s and ‘I’ in Tostitos appear to be two people dipping a triangular tortilla chip (one could assume a Tostitos’ chip) into a red dot most likely meant to represent a bowl of salsa. Clever, and at the same time subtle enough that we don’t typically notice this.
We surprisingly discovered these Salsa Verde flavored Tostitos at the Hinsdale Tollway Oasis 7-eleven gas station, just off of 294 south. We say surprisingly not because we don’t typically find chips at a 7-eleven gas station (heck, they even have their own line of sometimes impressive 7 Select chips), but surprisingly because we never expected to see a small rack of chips, all of which were Frito Lay, but more importantly, all of which were from Mexico! That’s right, these Tostitos Salsa Verde are not a Tostitos flavor offered here in the U.S. To obtain these chips one would have to either travel to Mexico, or find some unique gas station that has decided to stock a small selection of Mexican Fritos Lay chips.
As some of you may know, Doritos Salsa Verde chips are easily in our Top 5 chips of all-time. For the longest time they were THE TOP CHIP of all time, but as we continue to taste more and more delicious chips each year, we find ourselves unable to pick a single best chip, or more accurately, that – single best chip – changes from day to day depending upon our moods, the weather, pretty much anything. So, after spotting these Tostitos we immediately thought two things 1) since these are made by Frito Lay, could they possibly be as good as Frito Lay’s other salsa verde flavored corn tortilla chips? 2) sorry, but there is no way these could possibly be as good as Doritos version of the flavor, and thus these chips will most likely be reviewed unjustly in comparison to them….oh well, that’s just how the corn chip crumbles.
So, all that being said the seasoning for these chips tastes very, very similar to that of Doritos. And since we have already described that seasoning previously in written form we are simply going to copy and paste those words: “To start, they are all at once spicy, earthy, salty, vegetal, fresh, tangy, complex, and powerful, yet subtle, and simple! They ignite each of our senses, and all of our taste buds! Honestly, they really do taste like they have been sprinkled with a deliciously fresh and spicy, green tomatillo and jalapeno, salsa powder.” In other words, Tostitos Salsa Verde seasoning is really delicious. That being said, their tortilla chips, although tasty in their own right, do not compare to Doritos classically light, airy and crispy tortilla chips.
We happily accept Tostitos’ nomination for their variation of salsa verde flavored tortilla chips into the Salsa Verde collection, but they are at the same time too much like the Doritos, but also no where close to being in their league!
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
Chip Review 