Doritos – Sweet Chili Heat

I haven’t kept Doritos in my roster of snacks that I keep close by, but every once in a while I get an inkling to give it a go. The only downside of this approach is I realize there are so many flavours or types that are either new or forgotten to the times that I go a bit crazy. If you see a bunch of other Doritos reviews in the next while, it’s likely all to have come from the same haul or two. Anything to get hit those shipping thresholds, you know?

Being a mass market brand with wide audience, I imagine the spiciness of this isn’t going to be super hot and will mostly have a mild kick to it so that even spice wimps like me can claim I like a spicy flavour. It’s a confidence thing sometimes. Sweet and spicy is an interesting flavour combo and for some reason the first thing I think of is stir fry and peanuts…

The flavour has a sweet, sour and spicy aspect to it. It also has a strong vinegar quality to it. I know this because of my strong disdain for vinegar, and the sensation it gives your sinuses when you breath it in. I know that feeling anywhere….Anyways the flavour would be best described as a more Asian style spicy – it has a sweet and savoury soy sauce flavour to it, and a bit of spicy heat that builds up along with the slightly tangy, vinegary flavour. This sort of flavour is not uncommon in more westernized Asian food, so if you are familiar with that flavour profile you would know what these taste like.

Texture is again, not much to mention here. If you haven’t had a Dorito you can probably get a good idea of what it tastes like by going out and grabbing a bag. It’s what you expect from a general mass market tortilla chip. It’s been perfected over the years though, so while it might not particularly stand out to you, it’s still addictive and hard to put down once you have one. Thus is the price they pay in research and development to get you hooked. It’s a good balance between being too crunchy or hard, and being too airy and delicate. Science is a beautiful thing people.

These are not bad – they are definitely a different type of flavour profile than what I expect from Doritos but that’s a good thing in this case. I could see myself getting it again and enjoying it. It also doesn’t hurt that this leans in more heavily to the sweet aspect than the spicy one. Great for wimps like me.