COLLISIONS: CHEESY ENCHILADA & SOUR CREAM

9.0/10

I have a certain set of self-imposed "duties" on Wednesday evenings. I have a "radio" show, and a few hours after that, I go play four square. Today I dragged my housemate (and friend!) Lotte along, and she ended up having a good time. As we were driving home, she suggested the prospect of a Chip Trip. Me being me, I could not refuse such an offer, so we went to the Mobil and each got a 99-cent bag of Cheesy Enchilada & Sour Cream chips, something I'd never tried, and a variety I've never seen in a bigger bag.

I got home and opened the bag, and had the slight misfortune of starting with what I assume is "sour cream." The chip was lighter, and the fundamental flaw of a sour cream-flavored Dorito immediately became apparent: sour cream tastes good with lots and lots of things, but on its own it's a weird flavor to experience. I usually eat Doritos one at a time, so while eating a Sour Cream Dorito isn't exactly the same as licking some sour cream, it doesn't really have a strong enough flavor to stand on its own. Cheesy Enchilada Doritos, however, are actually bursting with a cheesiness of a sort not exactly found in Nacho Cheese Doritos or their clones. These things are delicious.

As I wrote this blog, it occurred to me that perhaps Sour Cream and Cheesy Enchilada Doritos are intended to be eaten two at a time. I promptly picked two out and ate them. Sure enough, there is actually a degree of complementation here. In a weird way, the Sour Cream Dorito actually does have a "creaminess," so the intensity of the Cheesy Enchilada is spread out over the palate to a slightly higher degree. There is also a hint of spice to the Enchilada, which sits well with what is, for Doritos, an exceptionally pleasant aftertaste. It's always nice to discover a new flavor in the upper echelon of Doritodom, and Doritos Collisions: Cheesy Enchilada & Sour Cream has truly earned its place.

SPICY NACHO

7.8/10

I picked up a "fun size" bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos from a Super Bowl event my college was holding because I had never seen them before. Either my memory is hazy or I really have not seen a larger bag of these anywhere else, so I stowed them in my bag, making a mental note to write this review. Well, it's after midnight, I've just finished a marathon homework session and I'm a bit peckish, so I'm chowing down.

Spicy Nacho is an oddity among Dorito flavors. Normally Doritos are not given overt links to one another, but the entire concept of "Spicy Nacho" screams, "Homage to Nacho Cheese!" The bag is slightly darker, I guess to indicate a "bolder" flavor, and I would have to guess that the fire symbolizes the spice.

The chips themselves look exactly like Nacho Cheese, which is to be expected. Mild, medium, and hot salsas made by Tostitos all look the same, and while I tend to prefer hotter salsa, my Spicy Nacho experience again adheres to my unofficial rule that the less-spicy Doritos tend to have more flavor and be a more pleasant chip to munch on. When these babies first hit the taste buds, they taste exactly like Nacho Cheese, but soon the spice sets in, washing away the cheese and replacing it with the ever-looming "spice." If memory serves, the Nacho Cheese taste in regular Nacho Cheese lingers longer, and it's a good taste. As such, I'm going to give Spicy Nacho a slightly lower score than Nacho Cheese. The spice, unlike that of Fiery Habanero, isn't overpowering, so this is not a bad Dorito at all, and I would not turn down an opportunity to eat another Fun Size bag of these, but the bottom line is that they are not the best out there. When you follow in the footsteps of greatness, you're just asking for it.

SUPER BOWL

I'm sitting in the Campus Center here at BARD COLLEGE and would just like to say that I am 100% behind the fact that Doritos is the main sponsor of this hallowed game. Most of the people here are Saints fans and I'm personally wanting the Colts to win, but whoever comes out on top, Doritos are forever.

I picked up a bag of Spicy Nacho that I'm going to review later. The Who are playing but they're not really the Who so whatever. Their light show is cool though. Anyway, this is about the Doritos, not football or music. VERY EXCITED.

SPICY SWEET CHILI

4/10

In all my years, I have experienced several flavors of chili, based mainly about the cut and type of meat being used. Mostly, though, chili is universally tomato-based, spicy, and, with any luck, delicious. One thing I have never, ever tasted in chili, though is distinctive sweet.

In my quest to review all flavors of Dorito, I knew that I would run up against Spicy Sweet Chili sooner or later. I've had it before today, from a big bag, and I remembered being somewhat displeased/unable to finish the bag. Knowing this, I purchased one of the single-serving bags and brought it home to try out in an "academic" environment, which was a good choice, because I was absolutely starving.

Anyway, back to the chili: sweet has never really been a part of what I would refer to as "conventional chili." Doritos, however, have never been known to follow the pack, and so it goes with "Spicy Sweet Chili," which is definitely a departure from the Nacho Cheese-based Dorito flavors that commonly flood the grocery store. It doesn't taste anything like Cool Ranch, either, making this an extreme oddity in the Dorito world. You could hand me one of these and I could taste it, without looking first, and easily point out its Spicy Sweet Chili-ness. You could too.

The problem is that, while original (and not tasting a bit like chili), Spicy Sweet Chili doesn't really deliver. It has some heat to it, but the fact of the matter is, you're eating a sweet corn chip. I've seen that work in salsa a few times, but with Doritos, Frito-Lay takes on the challenge of putting all the flavor in the bag with the chips, so the lack of freshness here takes away the pleasant sweetness you would get from, say, peach salsa and replaces it with a type of sweetness that's impossible to place a finger on. True, other flavors definitely have a cheesiness that's impossible to place a finger on, but that's cool, because cheese and starch will always, always go together, whereas when you get into the sweet zone, you have to tread carefully. I feel kind of gross when I'm eating these because it makes my mouth feel really dry and weird, and the aftertaste is nothing special either.

I applaud Frito-Lay for the effort clearly put into making Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos edible at all, but this seems to have been one project that was doomed from the start.