Hot Chicks Eatin' Spicy Chips

Snack #219- Appalachian Jerky Company Wicked Hot Thermonuclear Beef Jerky

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:58:00 +0000

Appalachian Jerky Company Wicked Hot Thermonuclear Beef Jerky

The texture of this beef jerky was unpleasant. It was super dry and it required some really strong jaw muscles to gnash up and get the flavor out. So the beef flavor was pretty minimal but the thermonuclear seasoning was very strong and overpowered everything else. This is very spicy beef jerky that burns the mouth and causes the eyes to water. It's not a particularly flavorful heat but definitely a palate wiper.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 8/10

Bottom Line: Spicy but not tasty or tender.

Snack #218- Jack Link's Cholula Hot Sauce Beef Jerky

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:38:00 +0000

Jack Link's Cholula Hot Sauce Beef Jerky

This beef jerky is a pretty standard dry, chewy jerky that has a strong beef flavor. The Cholula flavor is true to the bottled hot sauce and combined with the chewiness of the beef jerky it packs a real punch of hot sauce flavor. It does battle some of the natural beef flavors but if you're looking for a spicy kick in a meaty snack then this a is a good snack choice.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 5/10
Bottom Line: Cholula-infused beef jerky.

Snack #217- Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Habanero BBQ

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:29:00 +0000

Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Habanero BBQ

These are standard roasted almonds with a spicy barbeque coating. The smooth and creamy texture of the almonds contrasts well with the sharp, spicy seasoning. The heat definitely builds and has a strong barbeque flavor. Definitely a good snack alternative to chips and not lacking in habanero heat.

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

Bottom Line: Spicy nuts!

Snack #216- Chester’s Puffcorn Flamin’ Hot Puffed Corn Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:43:00 +0000

Chester’s Puffcorn Flamin’ Hot Puffed Corn Snacks

So we can’t really give this snack a fair assessment because these were sitting around too long and were incredibly stale (meaning mushy). The texture at peak freshness would probably be crispier but at least the flavor was still there. The Flamin’ Hot line of Cheetos products tends to be on the spicier end of convenience store snack options and these are no exception. We only ate a few each because of the textural problems but we could feel the fiery red powder heat. The heat doesn’t last too long but it is pretty sharp so these live up the their name.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 6/10

Bottom Line: Another Flamin’ Hot snack.

Snack #215- Cheetos Cheddar Jalapeño Crunchy Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:03:00 +0000

These Cheetos are the classic cheddar flavor crunchy corn snack but kicked up a notch with the addition of some jalapeño flavor. While the combination isn’t anything new, Cheetos balances the flavors well and the heat is present but not overwhelming so the whole bag can be enjoyed without the spice level building too much. A decent snack to grab when you’re feeling like nacho cheese and jalapeño in crunchy stick form.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10

Bottom Line: Basic Cheetos amped up a bit.

Snack #214 Lundberg Spicy Black Bean Organic Rice Chips

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:16:00 +0000

These crunchy rice chips had a nice toasty flavor from the rice. And while I didn't taste any black bean (or maybe I did, I'm pretty sure black beans have almost zero flavor...), I picked up on some garlic and onion. It actually tasted like the chips somehow already had guacamole infused into them, which was kind of amazing. The heat was there, but not overwhelming. No need to go running for the milk because the heat didn't build, but there was a definite tingle.

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

Bottom Line: pretty darn tasty

Snack #213 - Jalapeño Jack Pretzel Crisps

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:59:00 +0000

I really like Pretzel Crisps. You get the great baked, almost burned, flavor of a hard pretzel without breaking your teeth. Unfortunately, the jalapeño jack flavor was so unbelievably salty that I couldn't taste anything else. These pretzels definitely packed some heat, but as for flavor, salt overwhelmed. Out of curiosity I checked the sodium content of the other spicy snacks I had on hand, and the pretzel crisps had on average 4-5 times more sodium than anything else. That's a whole lotta salt.

Bottom Line: spicy salt lick

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

Snack #212- Eldorado Chilinøtter Innbakte Peanøtter (Chili flavored coated peanuts)

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Eldorado Chilinøtter Innbakte Peanøtter (Chili flavored coated peanuts)

While traveling to

Norway

for a friend’s wedding we stumbled upon this unique spicy snack which is basically a whole peanut surrounded by a crispy, savory coating and dusted with paprika. In form they are similar to the Asian peanuts tried in Costa Rica but in flavor they are the standard European paprika seasoning which tastes like pepper but is not spicy. The peanut center is tasty and the coating adds a well-seasoned paprika taste so they are an enjoyable snack but not spicy at all.

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

Bottom Line: Paprika coated crunchy peanuts.

Snack #211- Perri Hot Lips Nice ‘N’ Spicy Flavour

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Perri Hot Lips Nice ‘N’ Spicy Flavour

These baked corn puffs were brought to us by a Hot Chick associate who traveled to Ireland. They are low-calorie and baked instead of fried but the positives pretty much end there. They are packing peanut consistency and melt in your mouth with no crispiness. The flavor is extremely mild and there is only the barest hint of tomato and paprika seasonings. The corn flavor is also dull so this snack basically takes like nothing. We always enjoy trying international spicy snacks but this one certainly fell flat!

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

Bottom Line: Lip-shaped packing peanuts.

Snack #210 - Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili Tortilla Chips

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:53:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:15:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:13:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:12:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:37:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:36:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:52:00 +0000

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.

Snack #203- Ass Kickin’ Chipotle Premium Microwave Popcorn

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:51:00 +0000

Ass Kickin’ Chipotle Premium Microwave Popcorn

I found this spicy microwave popcorn in the Canyon Village Marketplace at the Grand Canyon South Rim and brought it back to the East Coast to pop in my microwave. It popped thoroughly and evenly but it smelled like burning chemicals while it was cooking. The first flavor that hits your mouth with this popcorn is a weird sweetness that tasted somewhat like kettle corn but more artificial. The ingredients include sucralose which is Splenda and Splenda is gross so that is probably where the weird sweet taste came from. Behind the sweet flavors there is a pretty big kick of heat but it doesn’t taste as much like chipotle as it should- mostly it just tastes like generic ‘spice’ flavor. The bag smelled a lot like chipotle before we popped it but that flavor got lost somewhere in the artificial flavors. The heat builds quickly in the mouth and after eating a handful of the popcorn my mouth was feeling the burn. The heat also subsides quickly though so you would be able to eat the whole bag while watching a movie or something.

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

Bottom Line: Fake sweet kettle corn with a fairly spicy kick.

Heat Sweets

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:41:00 +0000

Also at the Grub Street Food fair where I picked up the McClure's Spicy Pickle chips was something much spicier. The lovely ladies at Heat Sweets make jams, jellys, and fruit leathers spiked with jalapeño and habanero peppers. We tried a few samples and they were really delicious! A nice heat without overpowering the fruit flavors. Check them out here: www.heatsweets.com

Snack #202 - McClure's Spicy Pickle Potato Chips

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:40:00 +0000

At an amazing street fair in the Lower East Side last weekend, I picked up a bag of spicy pickle flavored chips. McClure's is a small-batch pickle maker based out of Brooklyn and Detroit, and if you haven't tried their pickles yet, you should! Especially their spicy pickle relish - it's insane! Unfortunately, their chips were not. The chips were a nice crinkle cut that managed to not get all crunched up in the bag. The chips could have been crunchier, but that wasn't my biggest problem. My real problem was that these were pickle chips, but they were definitely not spicy pickle chips. The minute I opened the bag, the smell of dill came wafting out. The chips tasted very dill-y too, but that was it, there was no other flavor besides dill and maybe some garlic. But no spice to speak of. It was like they accidentally put the regular pickle-flavored chips in the spicy chip bag.

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

Bottom line: stick to the spicy pickle relish

Snack #201 - Inka Chile Picante Plantain Chips

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:54:00 +0000

These fried plaintain chips were just ok. Unfortunately, plantain chips tend not to be very crunchy, which is sort of a dealbreaker for me when it comes to chips. These were actually some of the crunchier ones I've ever had though. They tasted of onion and garlic, like they'd been dipped in the mojo sauce at a Cuban restaurant. And if I really strained I could taste some chili powder, but not heat, just a smokey flavor.

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

Bottom line: A not so spicy, sort of crunchy chip

Snack # 200 - Unique Jalapeño Splits Pretzels

noreply@blogger.com (zesty lexie) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:56:00 +0000

Our 200th spicy snack!! And to celebrate: a jalapeño-infused pretzel. These pretzels didn't just have spicy dust sprayed on them like most spicy snacks, there was actually ground jalapeño in the flour, and you could really tell! The first few bites just tasted like regular pretzels - good pretzels though. After a few more bites, some garlic started to come through. And then, the heat. It was a very weird tingle that started on the outside of our tongues and moved inward. The heat definitely built up from there, but never overpowered the pretzel flavor.

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

Bottom line: a truly jalapeño pretzel

Snack #199- Jack ‘n Jill Vcut Potato Chips Sweet Chili Flavor

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 20:01:00 +0000

Jack ‘n Jill Vcut Potato Chips Sweet Chili Flavor

These snacks taste just like really sweet ketchup. They are light and flaky and have the texture of a great ruffle potato chip but the flavor is lacking. When you swallow you can taste the chili heat in your throat but it never hits your mouth during chewing. They taste like the flavor should be tomato but the ingredients don’t have any tomato listed. The sweetness of the tomato and the delay of the chili heat in the throat doesn’t help these Filipino snacks.

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

Bottom Line: Tomato flavored chips with a chili aftertaste.

Snack #198- Globite Authentic Gourmet Asian Potato Chips Oriental Hot & Spicy

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:58:00 +0000

Globite Authentic Gourmet Asian Potato Chips Oriental Hot & Spicy

Finally! A snack that is actually Mongolian in production. These taste like a poor knockoff of Pringles and suffer because they are cut thicker than Pringles. Pringles are mashed, dried potatoes smushed back into potato chip shape so you can imagine what happens when they are too thick to fry well. Some reviewers thought they tasted like paper or fish sauce and the texture definitely hindered positive taste reviews. They are spicier than the previous two that were rated in Mongolia and the heat hits you more in the lips and mouth than tongue. They still weren’t very spicy though and the flavor was also pretty sweet without much other distinguishing flavor. They tasted somewhat like a spicy oyster sauce or fish sauce which must be what makes them ‘oriental’ hot and spicy.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10

Bottom Line: Too thick, fish sauce Pringles.

Snack #197- Cosmos Spicy Corn Chips

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Cosmos Spicy Corn Chips

These snacks look like pork rinds but they are square and made out of corn. They are pretty crispy and they have fairly sweet flavor but they do have a little kick of heat at the end. They are Korean, not Mongolian, and they are actually relatively decent for an Asian snack. They definitely taste like corn and are pretty sweet for a spicy snack but the slight heat helps them out a lot.

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

Bottom Line: Sweet corn puffs with a slight kick.

Snack #196- Lorenz Crunchips Paprika Potato Chips

noreply@blogger.com (sarah da spicemaster) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:56:00 +0000

Lorenz Crunchips Paprika Potato Chips

This is the first snack I found while I was traveling in

Mongolia

. These chips have a faint hint of barbeque and little bit of sweetness but no heat. The flavor itself is not very good and they taste stale but that could be due to being imported from Europe to Mongolia. They taste fairly nutty because they were probably fried in peanut oil and they are crispy like a standard potato chip.

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

Bottom Line: Mildly BBQ but not very good.

Buy them here:Lorenz Crunchips Paprika -175 g