Snack #210 - Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili Tortilla Chips

These way better snacks are way better for you than your average chip.  In fact, each serving of chips has the same nutrients as one and a half servings of fresh broccoli.  So actually, these chips are way better for you than your average salad.  Or something like that.  These chips pack such a nutrient-rich punch because of all of the sprouted grains, including quinoa, radish and broccoli seeds.  Seriously.  Plus, they tasted good!  They were a little sweet for my taste, but there was a nice heat that didn't build to an uncomfortable level.  Weirdly, there was also a creamy flavor, but with no dairy products in the ingredients, I'm blaming the radish seeds.  And true to the rule that the fancier the chips, the less you get in the bag, the extra fancy chips only filled the bag about a quarter of the way.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 5/10

Bottom Line: way better than a bowl of broccoli.

Snack #209- Pretzel Pete’s Spicy-hot! Sour Cream & Habanero Seasoned Gourmet Pretzel Nuggets

Pretzel Pete’s Spicy-hot! Sour Cream & Habanero Seasoned Gourmet Pretzel Nuggets

I picked these sourdough nuggets up at Christmas Tree Shops and didn’t expect much despite claims of eye-watering habanero seasoning.  Habanero is a very hot pepper though and these snacks do actually manage to live up to the name.  The initial flavor is a milky, sweet sour cream flavor but once the nuggets are chewed for a few seconds a searing pepper heat takes over.  The burn is a strong tongue and throat burn and had me taking deep breaths to cool my mouth.  The pretzels themselves are not very crunchy or salty but they have some serious added seasoning.  The creamy initial flavor is a bold contrast from the following heat and makes these enjoyable in addition to being spicy. 

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 7/10

Bottom Line: Creamy and super spicy pretzel nuggets.

Snack #208- Herr’s Jalapeño Poppers Flavored Cheese Curls

Herr’s Jalapeño Poppers Flavored Cheese Curls

These cheese curls taste overwhelmingly like dusty, old cardboard.  Once that taste melts into your mouth there is a moderate flavor of fake cheese and jalapeño and they are definitely a little hot.  It’s just so hard to get past the sensation that you are eating cardboard flavored Styrofoam that these are not an appealing snack.  They definitely take the standard cheese curl and kick it up though so for a cheese curl fan these are a good spicy option.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 4/10

Bottom Line: Spicy cardboard flavored Styrofoam.

Snack #207-Munchies Jalapeño Cheddar Flavored Snack Mix

Munchies Jalapeño Cheddar Flavored Snack Mix

This mix includes Cheetos, Doritos, Sunchips and pretzels.  The Cheetos are jalapeño cheddar flavor but are very mild.  The Doritos are Poppin’ Jalapeño flavor and also very mildly jalapeño flavored.  The Garden Salsa flavored Sunchips and very sweet with a strong flavor of tomato and not spicy. And the pretzels are just plain pretzels.  Overall this is a mildly cheesy and pepper-flavored snack mix but it is a far cry from spicy.

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

Bottom Line:  Savory snack mix but no heat.  

Snack #206- Zapp’s Voodoo Potato Chips

Zapp’s Voodoo Potato Chips

These chips are Zapp’s ‘mystery flavor’ that is a limited edition flavor combination created when a bunch of spices were spilled in the warehouse and someone tasted the combination.  They taste like a lot of things all at once and it is hard to discern the mystery flavors!  They taste like salt and vinegar but there is also a sweet note.  These chips also don’t have much going on in the spicy department but the flavor is savory and they are a tasty chip.  And of course they are standard crunchy Zapp’s kettle chips.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 0/10

Bottom Line: Uniquely sweet and salty kettle chips.

Snack #205- Zapp’s Cajun Dill Gator-Tators Potato Chips

Zapp’s Cajun Dill Gator-Tators Potato Chips

We weren’t really expecting these to be spicy, and they aren’t really, but they looked really yummy and in general Zapp’s chips are very tasty so we decided to rate them anyway.  The flavor is exactly what you would expect- they have the sweet hint of Cajun seasoning but also a strong tangy dill flavor that makes them taste a little like they were dunked in a jar of pickle juice.  I am a fan of dill flavoring and these are well flavored; the dill doesn’t overpower the chip flavor but is strong enough to really taste.  The chip itself is a classic crunchy kettle chip and very good.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 0.5/10

Bottom Line: The perfect dill flavored kettle chip.

Snack #204- Jack ‘n Jill Vcut Potato Chips Spicy Barbecue Flavor

Jack ‘n Jill Vcut Potato Chips Spicy Barbecue Flavor

These are the final spicy snack I found on my trip to Mongolia.  The flavor is called ‘spicy barbecue’ but they don’t really taste like any BBQ sauce I’ve ever had.  The flavor is pretty mild and the flavor of the oil that the chips were fried in comes through pretty strong.  They are slightly sweet and have a little bit of heat but the light flavoring actually works pretty well for them.  They also have the benefit of being well cut and fried chips that are nicely crunchy.  So although they don’t really have much barbecue or spicy flavor going on they are pretty tasty and make a good snack.

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

Bottom Line: Lightly sweet and spicy ‘BBQ’-style chips.