Doritos Cup Style – Grilled Taco

I sometimes wonder if big established North American brands like Doritos have to get more creative and novel to appeal to the Japanese audience, or if they are just relatively unknown over there and have to find ways to build that brand cache. It should come as no surprise that just because a brand performs well in one region, doesn’t translate to success in another. It’s for those reasons I wonder how we end up with creative and dare I say, interesting products like this.

As you could probably tell from the name, the gimmick here is that instead of a bag, these Doritos come in a cup. Obviously that means the shape is different as well – these are what I can only describe as a weird S shaped straw that is somewhat reminiscent of Frito Lays corn chips in size. The main reason I wanted to try these though, is the flavour. I still think back fondly to the Taco Supreme flavour from my childhood when Doritos did a brief collaboration with Taco Bell to release a very limited flavour. While I don’t expect these to be the same, if it reached even a fraction of it, I would be happy.

The texture is pretty much that of a Fritos Lay corn chip where it’s crunchy, somewhat light and airy and has an interesting shape. The almost but not quite folded S shape that they come in makes it feel thicker and crunchier than it actually is, which I think works quite well here given their size. The overall experience is quite pleasing, and I could easily find myself shoveling these into my mouth.

The flavour is very distinct, and I would definitely be able to tell that it was supposed to be a taco. It has a very distinct ground or minced beef flavour, with strong notes of salsa and ever so slight hints of lime and cheese. Really though, the flavour is very savoury and meaty but is accompanied by a very distinct and strong tomato based flavour that is also sweet so it does a good emulating a classic taco. As I eat these I can definitely imagine myself eating a hard shell taco, as the flavours in a taco tend to come together in a very similar way.

These are quite expensive for what you get, but I enjoyed them quite a bit and I would get them again if they were on sale. Ironic then that I could probably get an actual taco for cheaper than this. Of course it would be a lot messier, but that’s neither here nor there. Bottom line is, these are worth a try.