DORITOS JACKED SMOKY CHIPOTLE BBQ

6/10

Since my attention to The Chip Trip has lapsed, my love for Doritos has not waned; the intensity of my pursuit of new flavors, however, has. I've tried a variety of Doritos JACKED before, and although I don't remember if it was this flavor or another, I don't believe that JACKED in general is a good direction for these flavored chips to go in, especially in an age when EXTREME marketing is no longer novel or "cool" (I think). For one thing, in the history of Doritos, who has complained that they are too thin? Julia remarked that they feel "stale," and I think this is because these chips have suddenly just become huge, and there aren't the same little air bubbles in the chip to bite through. At first they don't look much bigger, but the crunch is a bit lower frequency-wise, and it's just not as satisfying.

Then there's the flavor. Obviously Doritos JACKED have to be up-front and in-your-face on the flavor front, and the lab geniuses over at Frito Lay are nothing if not adept at finding things that go well together. These things taste pretty good, until you realize that they taste like duller, much spicier Honey BBQ Fritos Flavor Twists (which are incredible, by the way) in chip form. That's a Frito-Lay product too. They're just trying to offload the same shit on fans of Doritos.

Past blog posts may have wistfully looked to the Doritos lab as a prime example of American creativity, but Doritos JACKED Smoky Chipotle BBQ have brought me back to Earth. These are just guys on salary mathematically combining chemicals and conducting focus groups. Anyway, I'm sure they can do better.

BONUS JULIA RATING: 4/10

SALSA RIO

8.5/10

Since I started THE CHIP TRIP, I've conditioned myself to become excited at the sight of a new Dorito variety. The introduction of a new flavor happens often enough that I routinely stop and imagine what something tastes like, whether the flavor seems to be shooting fish in a barrel (see: Spicy Nacho), or whether it's really pushing it (see Late Night All-Nighter Cheeseburger). Up until about a year ago, I always acted on the urge to try a new thing, with mostly excellent results, but as you can see from the state of this blog, I usually just push my cart onwards, failing to find the motivation to try "Pizza Supreme." I had observed that Frito-Lay resurrected the "original" Dorito packaging for "Original Taco," but I was completely blindsided by the two new "Limited Edition" flavors that followed, "Salsa Rio" and "Sour Cream and Onion." I daresay I went with the safer of the two, as I'm really not sure what to expect from Sour Cream and Onion tortilla chips, but hey, here I am again.

And I have to say, wow. When they're on, they're on. An 8.5 may not seem like the highest praise I can give, but these probably aren't the kind of Dorito you'd want every day (not that you should want any Dorito every day). That being said, the flavors here really stand out: it's spicy, sweet, and citrus-y in equal measurements. The proportions are perfect, as the spice is more of a pleasantly warm feeling in the back of the mouth than anything overpowering, and if anything really stands out, it's the lime. Frito-Lay's lime-flavored Tostitos are really good, so to see that flavor successfully incorporated into a Dorito is really a thing of beauty. What I'm finding even better, though, is that as I go through the bag, the chip's flavor morphs: the first five chips or so taste (and smell) just like Tostitos salsa, but as more are eaten, it just becomes warm and pleasantly salty (with perhaps a hint of cheese), while the lime's presence is never forgotten. Anyway, these were really solid, so get 'em while you can.