Herr's Special Hot Stromboli

Product circa: 2025

This flavor was the winner of a potato chip flavor contest.  As a big fan of Herr's and complex chip flavors, I went into this with high hopes.  While there are a ton of flavors going on, this largely tastes, to me, like pepperoncini and cheese.  That's it.

Chili Nut & Coffee Nut M&M's

 

Products circa: 2016

These were part of a poll product for consumers to choose the next permanent M&M's variety.  Not pictured here is the third contestant of the contest - Honey Nut M&M's.

The Chili Nut is better than I thought.  I was prepared to say that only capsaicin was added to the chocolate, but I don't think that's right.  After a few candies, I believe I taste the savoriness of chili, that's not unlike Tabasco sauce (without the fermented flavor).

The Coffee Nut is trying to do a lot more than I expected.  I think they might have added vanilla to it, and even milk powder.  It's got more of a latte vibe than just coffee.  It's not bad, but not something I'd reach for.  Then again, I don't reach for M&M's ever.

Ephemeral Crunchy M&M's

Products circa: summer 2018

M&M's have issued a poll product for no apparent reason.  Maybe they're trying to mimic some success had by Lay's as of recent?

These three flavors are new varieties of M&M's Crunchy version.  The rice-krispy part of these candies make them very pleasant and really easy to eat more and more.  Each flavor also comes with a corresponding change in the colors of the candy shells.  Fun!

The first is Crunchy Mint.  Nothing special here.  It's a refreshing peppermint flavor that you'd expect from any other mint-chocolate candy.  There's a cooling menthol in here as well, not unlike Junior Mint candies.

The second is Crunchy Raspberry.  The flavor here is actually quite good.  The raspberry is natural-tasting, and almost juicy.

The third is Crunchy Espresso.  Very nice.  The flavor is like instant coffee, and not in a bad way.  It could have been made a bit stronger though.

Overall, a very decent showing.

M&M's Crunchy Mint:- Good
M&M's Crunchy Raspberry:- Good
M&M's Crunch Espresso:- Good
Original M&M's Crunch(for comparison):- Good

Cherry Cola Oreo

Product circa: spring 2018

This product was part of a poll product series along with Kettle Corn Oreo and Pina Colada Oreo Thins.

I have to commend Oreo for really getting weird with their flavors this time around, and this one sits on top as one of the craziest yet.  I love just about anything that's flavored like cola, so I was excited.

On the first bite you might get a taste of cherry that reminds you of cough medicine, but it quickly subsides.  What's next is the pleasant commercial cola flavor, probably the same type that's used for the gummy cola candies that you can find.

Not bad, right?  But wait!  These Oreos contain popping candy in the creme, just like the Firework Oreos!  Oh no!!

But it's too late.  Your mouth and throat start crackling and vibrating, and it lasts long after the swallow.  I guess Oreo wants to simulate the cherry cola's carbonation?  Some might like it, but I do not.  The flavor's enjoyable, though.

Cherry Cola Oreo:- Passable
Original Oreo(for comparison):- Great

Lay's Beer 'n Brats

Product circa: autumn 2017

I love chips that attempt to taste like meat, and I've had some pleasant beer-flavored chips before as well, so I went in with high hopes.

I wasn't disappointed.  I was intrigued enough after the first few bites to examine the ingredients list.  Prominent on the list is yeast extract.  In some forms you might know the stuff as Vegemite, but in this form it's simply a pale powder used to simulate the flavor of beer.  It's delicious.  Not only does it give the yeastiness that's reminiscent of beer, but it's also packed with umami flavor.

A curious addition to the ingredients list is cheese.  What?  After spending too long thinking about it, I decided to keep eating.  After eating way more than I should have, I realized that the cheese serves to add a dairy-like creaminess to the chips without making them taste cheesy.  This creaminess is very akin to the creaminess of a good bratwurst sausage.

All in all, the two ingredients in question result in something that, if at the very least approaches what it's like to each bratwurst and drink beer, is completely delicious.  A very clever effort from the food scientists, and something that I'd buy regularly if I saw it regularly.


Lay's Beer n' Brats:- Great
Original Lay's(for comparison): - Great

Pina Colada Oreo Thins

Product circa: spring 2018

This is the third product in the spring 2018 Oreo poll product segment.

I don't think I've said it before, but I absolutely love Oreo Thins.  I've always been of the school that the less Oreo creme, the better.  Double Stuf Oreo was never great to me, and you can read about my thoughts on Mega Stuf Oreo here, where I fantasized about an "Half Stuf" Oreo.

Well, Oreo Thin is here for good, and thank god.  The wafers are cracker-thin, and the creme is a light spread.  The cookies crumble in your mouth without needing to use teeth.  In my opinion, the balance is better.

Anyway, the smell of these things is decided buttery.  This may simply result from the butteriness of the coconut, but it's also possible that there is a bit of added butter flavor to the cookies.  On the bite, the coconut becomes immediately apparent, and it will take you a few chews to notice the pineapple.  These are pretty tasty, but they're much too sweet.  They're lacking a tanginess that would really elevate them into something unstoppable.

In the end, Oreo Thins Coconut is now a permanent product, and I would rather have those.

Pina Colada Oreo Thins:- Good
Original Golden Oreo Thins:- Great 

Kettle Corn Oreo

Product circa: Spring 2018

Shout-out to my girl Shannon for hooking me up with this!

Oreo is proving that quality and quantity isn't already a zero-sum game.  They're doing another trio of flavors for which consumers can vote.

One of new three flavors out this season is Kettle Corn.  For some reason, Oreo has decided to use pieces of puffed millet to simulate the texture of popped corn.  Maybe it's cheaper, or it fares better maintaining crispiness than corn when inside the creme?

Anyway, Oreo nails it again.  Upon first chomp, you'll taste a caramel-toffee note that makes you feel like you have a handful of caramel popcorn.  It's uncanny.  It's like you're at a baseball game with a box of Cracker Jacks.  You'll swear that you can feel the texture of the popcorn just by the flavor; the texture of this snack isn't extremely characteristic.  It's not mind-blowingly tasty, but again Oreo chooses an unique idea and executes the flavor to perfection.

Kettle Corn Oreo:- Great

Original Golden Oreo(for comparison):- Great

Lays Cappuccino

Lays has another Do Us A Flavor contest, and this time the 4 contenders are selected from a hoard of submissions from the public, input via the Lays website about a year ago.  I love this kind of crowd-sourcing, especially because the outcome is a group of flavors that are a bit more wild than what the execs and R&D labs might have produced.

Of course, my hands went first and fastest to the strangest flavor of the lot: Cappuccino.  Most will probably grimace at having potato chips flavored like a treat that is most often paired with sugary desserts, and while I'm more intrigued than disgusted, I'm going in with a hefty amount of skepticism.  BTW, this isn't the first dessert-like potato chip on this site.

At opening the bag and taking the first bite, you'll encounter smells that transport you to the experience of walking into a coffee shop.  The seasoning on these chips is very simple: powdered instant coffee and cinnamon.  Cinnamon isn't exactly a traditional or common addition to cappuccino, but I understand that Lays needed to add a bit more dimension to these chips than just coffee.

How is it?  Intriguingly addictive, but not much more than that.  There is definitely sugar in the mix, but salt as well.  There's a bitter aftertaste from the cinnamon and coffee, which is a bit strange to experience while eating chips.  The flavor of the seasoning is pleasant, but not quite so when combined with potato.  You'll keep eating them out of interest more than pleasure.

"Sweet and salty" snacks are huge these days, but I'm not sure this one would satisfy either craving, let alone both.  The mere novelty and innovation here gives its score a bump, which is good, because the product needs it.


Lays Cappuccino:- Good
Original Lay's(for comparison): - Great

Doritos Jacked Test Flavor 855

We have another line of poll products out, and this time they're from Doritos.  It's much like other such products: there are three flavors out on the shelves, and folks can vote online for their favorite at boldflavorexperiment.com.  Doritos will supposedly further produce the winner as a semi-permanent product, but there's a catch: these possible flavors don't have names or descriptions.  It's a blind taste test which your tongue must lead.

Unfortunately, this contest involves Doritos Jacked, not the regular chips.  I earlier explained the disappointment here.

I got my hands on the red version of these test chips.  The smell doesn't offer too much past chili powder.  The flavor of them prove fairly complex, but not in a great way.  Firstly noticeable are small and equal amounts of seasoning like from Doritos Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch.  A strange combination, but pleasant.  Immediately afterward, however, these flavors are overwhelmed by what I would describe as dry and earthy powdered chile, which lingers and lingers.  The mouthful ends with a strong acidic tang, which might be vinegar, but tastes more like lime, and then a surprisingly hot spiciness, which can get a bit painful after a dozen or two chips in a row.

Bite after bite, chile and lime are the only thing I can taste.  Spice and acid.  The balance is way off.  In the end, they taste more like an experiment in extremes, not a sophisticated and interesting product.


Doritos Jacked Test Flavor 855:- Passable

Lay's Do Us a Flavor

 

 

Lays has pulled a DEWmocracy-like move and has issued three limited time wacky flavors so that consumers can vote one of them into permanence. 

I often denigrate brands for not embracing creativity enough when it comes to limited time offerings, which is a time when truly wild ideas can be tested; too often marketers attempt to strike a balance between creativity and profitability, in my opinion.

In the case of these three varieties, while they certainly didn't lack creativity, I think they might have lacked finesse.

Chicken and Waffles: Easily my favorite of the three, this attempts to recreate the real-yet-odd southern American dish chicken and waffles.  While I prefer my chicken and waffles with the savory gravy or butter option, Lays opted to go full-wierd and use the maple syrup-topped version as their inspiration.  Although I usually dislike maple syrup, and I admit that McDonald's McGriddles is one of the most disgusting things I've ever had, these chips are pretty good.  They claim to have chicken flavor on them, but I don't taste it.  Instead, it seems that Lays attempted to invoke a chicken broth flavor with onions, garlic, and thyme.  Over this savory mix are notes of maple syrup and, while strange, it works.  They really missed the chance to make this stuff taste like chicken, though.  Chicken in a Biskit has been flavoring their crackers with full-on chicken bullion for years, and they're really great.  Anyway, would I buy these chips regularly?  I'm not sure yet.

Cheesy Garlic Bread: Cheesy garlic bread sounds like a lovely potato chip idea until you open the bag and realize that the cheese they used here is in the orange American cheese style.  Yes, instead of using an asiago- or parmesan-inspired powder, like the kind that might go onto a Mediterranean flavor, Lays has gone with possibly the same powder that they use for their Cheddar and Sour Cream chips.  This seems like an odd choice, since I doubt many people have had orange cheese on their garlic bread.  In kind, the flavor also doesn't really work on the chip.  While not bad, the flavor combinations seem misplaced.  The only thing saving this snack is the garlic flavor, which not only is firstly reminiscent of a simple garlic powder, but they somehow managed to secondly invoke the sweet taste of roasted garlic, which adds a bit of intrigue that I can't ignore.

Sriracha: What the hell?  Nothing about these remind me of sriracha.  In brutal honesty, it seems like Lays took the Cheesy Garlic Bread chips above and sprinkled on hot sauce and vinegar.  Looking at the ingredient list, it uncannily proclaims that both cheese and sour cream powders are on these chips.  What's worse, instead of mimicking the not-too-vinegary, sweet, smooth flavor of sriracha, these chips contain a biting and pointed acidity, with a hot sauce note that's highly similar to the aged pepper sauce flavor of Tabasco.  While orange cheese and Tabasco don't exactly taste bad together, the combination is very unsettling, and in no way mimics what's on the front of the bag.

What's my vote for this contest?  Chicken and Waffles.


Lay's Chicken and Waffles:- Good
Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread:- Passable
Lay's Sriracha:- Passable
Original Lay's(for comparison):- Great

Acquired: Giant