Snack #100 - Poore Brothers Molé

First order of business: the Hot Chicks have turned 100! It's been a long, spicy road, but this marks the 100th spicy (or not so spicy) snack we have eaten in just over a year.

Secondly, this molé flavored chip finally lives up the Poore Brothers' tag line of "intensely different." It is weird!! For those of you who don't know, molé is a Mexican sauce that involves tons of ingredients, everything from peanuts to chocolate to chili peppers. When we opened the bag a strong scent of cinnamon came wafting out, not something you expect when getting ready to eat chips...and that's what these tasted like. If a Red Hot and a potato chip had a baby, it would be these molé chips. They were hot! And after a few, a kind of got into them, but the weirdness prevailed. And despite the bag advertising them as chocolate and chili flavor, there was no chocolate to be found.

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

Bottom Line: weird snack foods love child

Snack #99 - Poore Brothers Sweet Chii & Red Pepper

In the second of the Poore Brothers' tasting, we have these Kettle Chips Spicy Thai knock offs. And unfortunately, as with most knock offs, they were good, but not as good as the real thing. I got flavors of onion, TONS of garlic, a little sweetness, and a pretty solid punch of heat at the end. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed these, but the whole time I found myself wishing they were crunch Kettle brand chips instead.

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

Bottom Line: Poore Brothers isn't a common brand, so just go for the Kettle chips

Snack #98 - Poore Brothers Three Cheese Jalapeño

This is the first of a trio of Poore Brothers' brand chips. The tag line is "intensely different," but these unfortunately were neither different nor all that spicy. They were however, pretty good, assuming you aren't looking for any heat. After eating quite a few, I vaguely felt a tickle of heat on the back of my throat, but that was it. Someone described their flavor as a Funyon in a chip, and that's really exactly what they tasted like. I happen to enjoy a Funyon now and again, but when something is called three cheese jalapeño, I expect to taste cheese and jalapeño, and I didn't get either in this intensely average chip.

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

Bottom Line: a potato Funyon

Snack #97- 7 Select Kettle Style Potato Chips Fiery Habanero

7 Select Kettle Style Potato Chips Fiery Habanero

First point of business: yes, these are 7-Eleven brand spicy chips- a true gourmet purchase. But, apparently I spoke too soon, because these are SPICY. I took a tiny nibble of these and it was seriously an explosion of heat in my mouth. These are the classic one-two punch of mouth and throat burn. They even have a slight lip burn and are mildly sweat-inducing. They are nice and crispy, and little thinner than a typical kettle chip, more like a hybrid of a regular chip and a kettle chip. The ingredients list chile peppers including habanero and it is difficult to distinguish any specific pepper flavor but it doesn’t matter because they are so spicy. They are a cornucopia of spicy flavors.

(as a side note: the photo of these chips was somehow lost in the mix...but you'll just have to trust us that these looked like regular kettle chips)

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 8.5/10
Bottom Line: SO FIERY.

Snack #96 - FoodShouldTasteGood Jalapeño Tortilla Chips

FoodShouldTasteGood Jalapeño Tortilla Chips

Moonlighting as crackers and made with diced jalapeño peppers and crushed red peppers. And colored bright red with beet powder, which is an interesting natural color choice. But apparently not intended as a flavor, for I tried very hard to taste the beets but unfortunately could not. The flavors that are advertised are very present, however, and contribute to a very yummy tortilla chip. I usually find that tortilla chips are too plain not to eat without any cheese or tomato-based condiments, i.e. salsa or melted cheese. These are almost chip-like enough to stand alone though, which is appealing. They are light and crispy and fun to look at and have good jalapeño flavors. The little chunks of jalapeño are actually visible in the chip so you KNOW they are natural. Not the spiciest chip out there but with a good kick, and salty like a normal tortilla chip but not overwhelmingly so.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 4/10
Bottom Line: A very tasty tortilla chip variation.

Snack #95 - Inka Corn Roasted Corn Chile Picante

Inka Corn Roasted Corn Chile Picante

Despite having bought these at a gourmet food store, I still didn’t have very high expectations for these. And I was…not disappointed? They are weak in flavor, overly crunchy, and don’t taste anything like roasted corn. I don’t know why the package claims ‘light crunch’…a better tagline would be ‘extreme crunch’. Sometimes they have a faint flavor of popcorn kernels, like when you don’t have any real popcorn left and are forced to chew on the leftover bits to satisfy some remaining snack cravings. They have a hint of peppery flavor but it’s nothing unique or distinct. The only positive is the novelty factor because as stated on the package, this snack is made of Giant Corn! I’ve never seen corn kernels this big without being popped and I marvel at the genetics feat that created such huge corn. In all probability they are not exactly natural or sustainable treats but they are funny looking.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 1/10
Bottom Line: Funny shapes…lame flavor.

Snack #94 - Michael Season’s Baked Cheese Curls Hot Chili Pepper

Michael Season’s Baked Cheese Curls Hot Chili Pepper

Wow…these are a flavor EXPLOSION. I am so incredibly surprised at how much flavor is packed into these wheat/gluten-free, reduced fat, all-natural cheese curls. The first thing that hits when biting into these is an intense, remarkably artificial tasting- despite claims of ‘nothing artificial’- cheese flavor. It might be the classic cheese curl combo of blue cheese and cheddar cheese flavors, but it just doesn’t strike me as a particularly natural taste. And while you are contemplating this overwhelming cheese flavor you will be blindsided by the intense hot chili pepper flavors, which clearly are a select combination of highly spicy peppers. The ingredients have a funny way of describing this pepper flavor; they state that ‘chile peppers (including habanero)’ are the source of the heat, and it definitely tastes like it. Any other savory flavors, such as onion, garlic, and parsley, are completely overshadowed by the cheesy peppery flavor blast. But overall, these are crunchy and crispy and everything a tasty cheese curl snack should be. Although I would probably be tempted to call them more of a cheese crunchie than really a curl…but that’s just my opinion.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 8/10
Bottom Line: Extremely cheesy and spicy crunchie.