REVIEW: Cheetos Sweetos Limited Edition! – Cinnamon Sugar Puffs

Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips  (lip-smacking)

Anytime we see a new sweet variation from one of our typically savory snack companies, we are hesitant to give them a shot.  Which is why last year around this time, when Cheetos first released these Sweetos, we simply refrained from trying them…  Now that we have gone and bitten the bullet….

WHAT WERE WE THINKING!?!?!

Seriously, these are really quite delicious!

That’s right, every once in a while the chip companies can completely surprise us here at Chip Review, and create a fantastically sweet, and in this case, ever so slightly savory snack.  We would place Cheetos Sweetos smack dab along side other notable savory-gone-sweet successful snacks such as: Pretzel Crisps Cinnamon Toast, Snyder’s of Hanover’s S’mores Pretzel Pieces, and Pringles Tortillas Cinnamon Sugar (which in our books is some fine company to be included among).

Cheetos Sweetos Cinnamon Sugar Puffs are shaped like, we’re going to go with, sledding inner tubes – despite the fact that Chester has opted for the more classical racer sled.  The puffs are approximately half the size of a Funyun ring, but their texture is eerily similar.  The Cheetos do not exhibit their usual melt-y cheese puff texture, but more of a light and crispy, layered ring puff.

The ultra classic Cinnamon and Sugar combination works wonders with the puffs.  Delivering all at once an aromatically sweet treat, as well as, a savory richness.  A quick glance at the ingredients list shows that this savory layer has to come from the inclusion of buttermilk.  Everyone who was chomping on these agreed – they are delicious, and hard to stop eating.

Probably the best way that we can describe them to you is that they are like savory Cheetos ring puffs that have been crossed with the greatest of all sweet cereals – Waffle Crisp.  A marriage of rich, savory, butter notes dancing with sweet maple like syrup, and spicy, aromatic cinnamon.  Beautiful.

If you are fans of Cheetos (and we’re guessing that you are – who isn’t?), and you also like some sweet treats every now and again, then we suggest you give these a try.

Cheetos discovered at Walmart, Pontiac, Illinois

Cheetos Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: T.G.I. Friday’s – Buffalo Ranch Party Bites

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

PARTY!!!

TGI Friday’s is back again with another restaurant themed line (if two flavors can constitute a line) of crunchy RTE snacks, that should be available in a snack aisle near you this month.

These Party Bites, if you haven’t already read for yourself, are “Premium Puffed Corn Snacks”; or, as we like to call them – PUFFS.

The Party Bites are roughly a third of the size of a standard cheese puff, and maybe 3/4’s of an inch long.

In other words, perfect for popping handfuls of bites all party long.

TGIF’s Buffalo Ranch seasoning is a tasty combination.  Nice, sharp, tangy and slightly spicy buffalo flavor, supported by a sour, herbal, garlic-onion background flavor.  Seasoning wise, these are very solid.

That being said, the puffs – wait, sorry, the Party Bites – are lacking the typical, rich, mouth-melting texture of the best puffs.

We’re guessing that there are two reasons for these Party Bites not bringing the delicious  thunder.  1) they are baked (are the usually fatty puffs baked?), and 2) they are lacking the usual presence of rich and smooth cheese powder.

Despite their texture lacking a bit, TGIF’s new Party Bites are a solid new snack item.

Bites provided to Chip Review by T.G.I. Friday’s for review

TGI Friday’s Snacks Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Cheetos – Avocado Cheese (Japan)

Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips  (lip-smacking)

We sometimes wonder here at Chip Review if the Japanese population looks at our snack flavors – our Doritos Cool Ranch, our Cheetos Flamin’ Hot, and our Pringles Sour Cream & Onion – and thinks to themselves, wow, now those are those some REALLY WEIRD flavors….!?

Well, we’re betting that the same will be thought of these Avocado & Cheese flavored Cheetos here in our country!

Okay, we know what you are thinking “has Chip Review lost their minds?!? How could avocado cheese flavored Cheetos possibly be good??”  And, for many of you out there, these may in fact not taste very good.  But! There would be no denying that they are unique, and in a weird sorta way, we really dug them.

First of all, are avocados naturally sweet…?  No?  Are certain cheese?!?  We didn’t think so.  Which make us wonder where all of the sweetness is coming from because it is far and away the most predominant flavor on these Cheetos.  What the heck is that about?  Anyhoo, some of the tasters weren’t thrilled with the sweetness, but for those of us who did enjoy it, we really liked it.

Next came the salty-sort of funky-layer that may in fact be cheese, or at least some seasoning meant to represent a cheese flavor.  The seasoning also seems to encompass some sort of Worcestershire-Umami flavor layer.  Avocado? Who knows. There is a rich fatty smooth layer, but can’t quite say that we hit that vegetable layer.

At this point, some tasters began to declare these THE WORST CHEETOS EVER!

In other words, again, we repeat, these are not for everyone, but if you like your Cheetos flavored with sugar, Worcestershire, and tangy salt, well then, these may be for you!

Sorry everyone, hate us if you must (like the way some of our tasters hated these), but to some of us, these really are uniquely delicious!

Well, there you have it.  Anyone else out there tried them yet?  Thoughts?  As always we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree.  Let us know.

Chips purchased from market_tokyo on ebay.

Frito Lay – Doritos Japan Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Cheetos – Bag of Bones Flamin’ Hot

Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

It’s that time of year again!

The time of year when all of the stores begin to market for holidays that are still roughly two months away!  It seems like it is getting so bad these days that we’re not sure if we are supposed to put up the Christmas lights for the trick-or-treaters or not!

But, we really do love this time of year, especially for the kiddos.  They get excited about dressing up as their favorite movie characters, or sports heroes, and of course those spooky creatures who typically scare them in the night.  And then they are let loose in the neighborhood in search of bags full of teeth rotting sugar loaded treats!

That being said, they are in for a surprise when they come knocking on Chip Review’s doors this year.  This year we will not be delving out any sweets, instead we will be delivering them some spicy and spooky bone shaped puffed corn!  Isn’t that what every kid really wants anyways?

Chester’s Flamin’ Hot Bag of Bones is this Halloween’s addition to last year’s release of Cheetos White Cheddar flavored Bones.  We are nearly certain that we tasted the white cheddar bones last year, but for whatever reason we did not actually review or rate them.  All we can assume is that they must not have been that tasty…

The Flamin’ Hot Bag of Bones basically just consists of Cheetos Puffs, in cute (we mean spooky) skeleton bone shapes.  They deliver the same, classic, unmistakably delicious, spicy, bright red Flamin’ Hot seasoning!  We don’t love them nearly as much as Cheetos Original Crunchy Flamin’ Hots, but they are just as fantastic as the Puffs variation of the Flamin’ Hot powerhouse flavor; probably better in fact because they are delivered in fun shapes.

For another positive review of these tasty bones check out Junk Food Guy.

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Cheetos discovered at Walmart; Countryside, Illinois

Cheetos Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: Mr. Krisps Rings – Jalapeño Flavor Potato Crunches

Rating: ©-1/2 chips  (return to sender)

We were pretty excited for these jalapeño flavored rings; well, that is at least until we actually tasted them and realized that the rings were potato based, and not the usual corn based puffed products that we are used to here in the U.S.

Mr. Krisps Rings are another unusual snack brought back from our good friends S&A’s trip to the United Emirates.  In other words, you’re not going to find these on your local grocery store shelves.

We don’t really have much to say about these.

They are obviously puffed rings.  They are light as air.  No body or chew to them at all.  They give you one crispy crunch and then POOF, they are gone.

Where we didn’t really care for them at all was in their seasoning, or should we say, lack there of??  Seriously, these were completely devoid of said jalapeño flavor.  To top it off, they needed a visit from the salt fairy as well.

Not impressed with these at all.

Anyone out there ever tried these?  If so, please let us know.

Chips provided to Chip Review by S&A, acquired in Dubai, United Emirates

Mr. Krisps / NFI Dubai Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: De-lish-us – Cheese flavored Crunchy Curls

Rating: ©©-3/4 chips  (tolerable)

Prior to stumbling upon these Cheese flavored Crunchy Curls, as well as, these Baked Cheese Curls, we had only known Wisconsin’s De-lish-us Company for their lip-smacking potato chips.

De-lish-us’ Crunchy Curls delivered that same dense, sort of stale, crunchy bite that their Baked Cheese Curls.  Only this time it seemed more warranted with a crunchy curl, then a puff.

Good mouth coating of rich and creamy cheese powder, but the cheese lacked seasoning, aka salt.  Which is surprising based on their Baked Cheese Curls being overly salty.

All in all, we weren’t very impressed with these De-lish-us Cheese flavored Crunchy Curls.  We really wish we had gone with some of their delicious potato chips instead!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Discovered at Pick’n Save; Madison, Wisconsin

De-lish-us Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: De-lish-us – Baked Cheese Curls

Rating: ©©-1/2 chips  (tolerable)

Prior to stumbling upon these Baked Cheese Curls (along with a couple of their other corn based snacks), we had only known Wisconsin’s De-lish-us Company for their lip-smacking potato chips.

As it turns out, De-lish-us Co. is probably more widely recognized for their corn based products.  In fact, their history page tells us that the company started everything with popcorn nearly 85 years ago.

All that being said, the entire time we were tasting these baked cheese curls we were unfortunately wishing we had stumbled on more delicious potato chips, and not these curls.

Initial bite, each and everyone of us thought that the curls had gone stale, and who knows, maybe they had…..but there was no indication that would make us think that they had.

Very dense, very crunchy, very stale-y.

After the initial, unpleasantly toothsome, bite, the curls did begin to do the usual cheese puff thing and melt on our tongues.  A touch too little, too late.

The curls’ flavoring is pretty cheesy, but also barring on being too salty.  Wait, nope, not barring on being, they are in fact too salty.

All in all, we weren’t very impressed with these De-lish-us Baked Cheese Curls.

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Discovered at Pick’n Save; Madison, Wisconsin

De-lish-us Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list