SPICE 2.0

8.5/10

So I went to Montreal a little less than two weeks ago and scored a few unique bags of Doritos to review back in my homeland. One of those, the second of three that I tried, was SPICE 2.0, and I must admit, these are very good. I guess the concept behind this flavor was that Doritos created a new flavor and had a contest wherein a (Canadian) person had to give the flavo(u)r a name and make a video promoting Doritos, with the person with the best video winning the contest and $100,000. You may have seen the commercial:



The bags that people "tasted" looked like this:



I wish I'd gotten my hands on that bag, but I didn't visit Canada at that time; oh well. My job here isn't to review the concept behind the name, which I think is sort of dumb anyway, so I'll just say that a guy named JEFF CHAN won. He is a professional video-maker and did a pretty good job, and hopes to start a business doing this. I guess he's going down the right path.

As for the flavor itself, it's very good. It's flavors like this that make it a decent bet that a new Dorito will be pretty solid- they tend to stick with what works. In this case, SPICE 2.0 reminds me of SPICY SWEET CHILI (a flavor not really available in Canada) to an extent, although minus most of the "sweet" and with more spice, emphasizing what was good about that flavor. The spice, however, is limited so that these don't turn into the SPICY NACHO wall of "spice"- they warm your mouth a little and that's it. My mouth feels nice eating these, and the aftertaste is somewhat mild for Doritos, which can only be described as a "good thing." They may have put a little more "BBQ" powder on these too, which I'm all for. Good good.

JALAPEÑO & CHEDDAR

9.5/10

Jalapeño & Cheddar is a flavor not to be found in New York; I had to go abroad for this one. With that said, it's not really a huge leap from Late Night Jalapeño Popper, which is also available here in Montreal. I was excited to eat these even before I opened the bag because Doritos does a good job with its jalapeño flavor, and, indeed, this was no exception.

The arm on the left side of the picture belongs to Julia, and she, an impartial "participant," agreed that these were very tasty. They're slightly less spicy/jalapeño-y and slightly more cheesy than Jalapeño Popper, but apart from that they are a minimal variation on two classics (the other being Nacho Cheese), which puts them in good stead. To say the least I am a fan. You can taste a hint of the jalapeño in what otherwise would probably taste like Nacho Cheese, and, like putting pepper or parmesan cheese on a slice of pizza, adds a little something which I rather enjoy. I have enjoyed sharing a big bag of these very much, and would buy again (in Montreal) if I don't feel like the "bold" awesomeness of Jalapeño Popper, which I maintain is the best flavor of Dorito.

With that noted, Julia and I have noticed that Quebec is devoid of both Blazin' Buffalo Ranch and Cool Ranch. Is "ranch" not something Canadians are familiar with/in love with? Does ranch occupy the same heart-area that those up north save for poutine? "Probably not."

Anyway, stay tuned, I have small bags of "Bold BBQ," which comes in the same color bag as Spicy Sweet Chili (US) and "Spice 2.0," which might be somewhat unpleasant. Oh well, sacrifice!