Doritos Cup Style – Smoked Cheese

Another entry into the weird Doritos flavour is the cup style. I wonder if this is one of those chicken and egg scenarios where the Japanese team decided, should we use a cup and make chips that fit into that, or do we make chips in a weird shape and then require a cup to protect them? Another one of life’s many mysteries I guess.

I’ll be quite honest and say I’m not sure which cheese they are smoking here, but if I had to guess I’d would be either a Gouda or a cheddar, since those seem to be the more commonly smoked cheeses. Realistically though it tastes like there were a few cheeses blended in to the point where it could be multiple and I wouldn’t be able to tell you. What I can say is that the flavour reminds me of the more commonly found zesty cheese flavour, where there’s strong hints of cheddar and Parmesan, and a slightly smoky flavour added to the mix. It’s not super noticeable but you do notice it has a bit of an earthy quality to it that sets it apart from the zesty flavour. It is missing the sharpness of a lot of cheese flavoured things, and the zesty or tangy flavours are dialed down to be more subtle here. The smokiness seems to mellow out the flavours to something less punch and more subtle.

For some reason I am imagine a chip taking a drag to calm his nerves before being put into this cup for consumption by me. The flavour has that sort of energy to it. The flavour has a more mature feel to it, like those aged cheddar snacks. I wouldn’t say this flavour is calm or chill, but it does have a smooth, relaxed vibe to it. Can flavours have vibes?

The texture is half way between a rolled tortilla chip like Takis, and the standard flat tortilla chip. These are rolled into what I can only describe as an S shape, but they aren’t folded in on itself so it’s still somewhat of an open concept. The texture reminds me of Fritos Lays corn chips where it has a nice crunch without feeling heavy or thick. It’s not super crunchy, but enough that it’s not just airy or crispy. Still square in the realm of crunch.

I finished the entire cup quite handily, which I guess doesn’t say much given that it’s only 60g. But if this was made bigger, and in a bag without the gimmicky nature of a cup, I could see myself polishing off quite a bit in one sitting. Similar to my prior review, it’s important to keep in mind these are not the best value, but if you want to try something different and an interesting flavour, this one is a good one to try.