Snack #39- Andy Capp's Hot Fries

Andy Capp's Hot Fries

These chips are a light and crispy potato and corn snack. They don't taste spicy when first eaten, but they definitely have a cumulative heat that begins building after about 6 or 8 fries are eaten. Personally, I don't love these snacks because the flavors and colors are a little artificial, but other tasters enjoy them a lot and eat them quickly to build the heat in their throat. They don't have a strong flavor overall, after looking at the ingredients there are subtle hints of mustard and tomato, which appear to be some of the main spice components. They don't really taste like paprika, which is the spice listed on the back. They are slightly sweet but not really with any barbeque flavor.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10 (after eating a handful)

Bottom Line: Crispy sticks of subtle heat.

Snack #38- Eden Wasabi Chips

Eden Wasabi Chips

Well, these are technically potato chips but they are very light and crispy, almost like a rice snack instead of potato. The wasabi flavor hits your mouth right away, sending a little burny sensation up your nose and down your throat. Beyond the initial sting, however, they don’t maintain a lot of heat, which seems to be a characteristic of wasabi flavorings. By the time you have swallowed the chip the wasabi flavor is gone. They basically taste like wasabi and soy sauce in a salty crisp. The essence of the many vegetable flavors is present but no real vegetable flavor can be detected.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10 (strong initial spice but weak overall)
Bottom Line: All in all, very light and crispy with subtle flavor.

Snack #37- Mo’pleez Indian Snacks Aloo Lachha Potato Sticks

Mo’pleez Indian Snacks Aloo Lachha Potato Sticks

From our experiences with Indian spicy snacks, they tend to have very different flavors from most typical American spicy snacks. These spicy potato sticks were no exception. The ingredients show that the main spice in these is red chili, along with an unidentified spice mix. They smell like a sort of dry spice heat mix, and taste pretty much as such. They definitely taste like they are flavored with chili, though a little different than other chili flavored snacks. They are somewhat difficult to explain, but regardless they do pack in some heat. They are classic potato sticks, little sticks of greasy potato goodness. For a typical barbeque/jalapeno chip fan, however, they may be a surprising taste that may not be as pleasing to the palate, if you can even find these in a store.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 5/10
Bottom Line: Unusually flavored spicy potato sticks

Snack #36- Stacy's Texarkana Hot flavored Baked Pita Chips

Stacy’s Texarkana Hot Baked Pita Chips

So I have not seen spicy pita chips before, and I had no idea what flavors to expect from them. Usually pita chips make me think of something vaguely Middle Eastern, so I was surprised to see this variety, “Texarkana Hot”. The bag claims that they have flavors of tomato, garlic, and lemon…which are certainly what they smell like. They smell faintly spicy and definitely like tomato, in fact it seems like there are some herb seasonings like cilantro in them too, based on the smell. The ingredients do not reveal which spices are used, just that there are indeed spices in these chips. When eaten, however, they taste basically like hot chili powder with a faint tomato flavor. I think possibly the chili flavor overpowers the other, more subtle ingredients like the lemon. They taste like they could be chips covered with a hot barbeque spice mix, it is pretty easy to imagine a piece of chicken with the flavors from these chips. The pita chip itself is very crunchy but the spice overpowers the taste of the pita. They are fairly hot overall but the heat does not build up with consumption.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 6/10
Bottom Line: Hot chili powder flavored “healthy” baked pita chip

Snack #35- Herr’s Kettle Cooked Potato Chips Jalapeno Flavored

Herr’s Kettle Cooked Potato Chips Jalapeno Flavored

These chips immediately have a really strong flavor, sort of sweet and oniony but also definitely jalapeno. They are also very, very salty, which actually detracts from the other tasty spices on these chips. In fact the second ingredient after potatoes in these chips is salt. They are kettle cooked but they are not as thick as some kettle styles, just a little thicker than normal chips. They are very crunchy, though, as would be expected from a kettle chip. Overall the heat of these chips is seriously lacking though, I know there must be some sort of balance of flavors to make a good chip but if they had replaced some of the salt with more jalapeno seasoning I think they could have been spicier and more delicious. The heat is never really there, it doesn’t build up and it’s pretty much just a little tingle.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 2/10

Bottom Line: Salty and delicious but not hot.

Snack #34 - Pringles Spicy Guacamole

Dear sweet lord! These chips are GREEN! Once I got over the horrendous pea soup color of these chips I delved in, and was pretty unsurprised to find lots of guac flavor, not so much spice. Guacamole isn't supposed to be spicy and neither are these chips. That being said, they're pretty tasty. They really capture the onion and garlic flavor of guacamole nicely and I would actually kind of like them if it wasn't for that horrific color. If I wanted to eat something green, I would have a salad - chips should avoid vegetable-like colors at all costs.

Rating on the Spice-o-Meter: 1/10

Bottom Line: Tasty, but green?

Snack #33 - Pringles Extreme Blazin' Buffalo Wing

So "blazin'" must be the new adjective of choice for spicy snacks because while perusing the snack isle at the grocery store the other day I caught at least four new snacks all described as blazin'. These Pringles were definitely not blazin'. In fact, after forcing myself to eat more chips than anyone should have to, I had little more than a spicy tingle. They do however capture the taste of a buffalo wing, pretty vinegary right of the bat with a nice hot sauce aftertaste....none of the burn though.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 2.5/10

Bottom Line: If you want the taste of buffalo wings, eat some buffalo wings