Cheetos GIANT Blue Color Changers!

This snack specimen was procured through a rare trip to a far off Wal-Mart, and though at first glance it appears to be a regular bag of Cheetos chips, closer inspection reveals that this is something a little different.

What makes these Cheetos special? As the package claims, not only are they GIANT, but they are also engineered to turn your tongue blue upon consumption. Looking over the package more, you will also learn these are available only for a limited time, and this snack appears to tied into Halloween, as there are bats flying into the picture on the front, as well as what appears to be a fence similar to what you would find around a graveyard or perhaps a haunted mansion at the bottom. There is also a sign in the bottom left proclaiming the curious and slightly baffling phrase “Saturday Night Come Alive”.  Chester Cheetah is seen in the middle, over-excitedly licking a GIANT Cheeto ball.

So, how about the snack inside? Well, upon tearing into the bag, you are greeted with unassuming, albeit large (think big marshmallow sized) Cheeto balls. Popping one between my mighty jaws, I found the texture to be a little coarse, almost threatening to scrape my mouth as I ate…The taste is about what you would expect from a puffy type Cheeto snack, though I found the flavor to be a little subdued, and the texture is what I would notice the most while eating these. As for the color changing properties, they do indeed change your tongue blue, though more of a pale hue, rather then the deep dark blue as modeled by Chester on the front of the package.

Overall, well, these are cheetos. Of all the cheeto brand snacks, these are probably my least favorite. The rough texture, weaker taste, and tongue tinting additives did little to win my favor. I would suggest sticking with the superior Natural Cheetos, or any of the other cheeto branded snacks for that matter.  Still, if you want something novel, these are to my knowledge the only cheese flavored, cheetah endorsed snacks that can turn your tongue blue available.

-John AKA 'Mystery Snacker'

These are limited edition, so look for them in your grocery store!

Gamer Grub: PB&J!

Biosilo Foods was kind enough to send along a couple of their products to us, part of a line called “Gamer Grub”. These are trail mix like snacks that come in resealable pouches, intended to alleviate greasy fingers, as well as keep the snack fresh.  The snacks came in two different flavors; here I am reviewing the PB&J.

First, I will just start by saying one thing: this snack is delicious! It is a mix of peanut butter chips, peanuts, strawberries, jelly nuggets and “sweet bread” chips. The combination is very pleasing, and really does taste like eating a PB&J sandwich, albeit a little sweeter (but not too sweet). The mix of textures is also great, providing a good combination of crunchy and chewy.

The package works well, allowing you to pour the snack into your mouth, and thus, as is claimed, helps avoid greasy fingers and thus greasy game controllers.  I found myself constantly eating this snack, and was worried I would run out before I had a chance to test it out whilst gaming, as this seems to be its recommended use. I went ahead and consumed the final tasty morsels while finishing up Halo 3: ODST. The snack performed well, and certainly kept my taste buds happy while the covenant aliens felt my wrath. Everything went well; and I like to think the yummy snack contributed to my reaching the end credits. Sadly, I received no achievement for finishing the game under the influence of Gamer Grub.

Don’t resist, try this snack out now!

John T. aka Mystery Snacker

Buy this snack! :)

Gamer Grub: Pizza Flavor!

I first ran into these snacks at E3 and was quite intrigued by the concept, a yummy snack specifically formulated for Gamers.  What exactly are these supposed to offer that make these appealing to gamers?  The addition of vitamins, 'neurotransmitters' and easy to serve, non greasy nature.  The slogans on the packaging are "Boost your game, no keyboard crumbs!"  If you take the time to read the near infinite ingredient list you'll realize that a lot of work was put into making these a one stop snack for gamers.

The current ones we're reviewing is the pizza flavor(One out of 4 flavors offered).  The mix includes a zesty blend of Cheese Curls, Tomato Almonds, Sesame Sticks, Pita Chips, Fried Onions and Pizza Cashews.  The packaging is colorful and eye catching, featuring a foil style packaging.

From what I could tell you pour a handful of these in your hand and eat them all at once, combining all the elements of the mix in your mouth to form a pizza flavor.  You could also pour them directly into your mouth as the package recommends.  Taste wise it was very good and tangy, and the mix of different flavors and textures were pleasant.  They were a little messier due to the sheer amount of seasoning but had a decent pizza flavor.  The only thing I can say is kind of lost in translation is the individual seasoning of each snack element in the mix, all the different seasonings kind of mix together.  Overall a really tasty snack to try, whether you're a gamer or not.  Nice packaging, portable, and real easy to eat.

-Sirio

Buy this snack :)

Dorito's Late Night: Tacos at Midnight!

So, we were browsing the grocery store the other day, and this caught our attention right away.  Dorito's Late Night: Tacos at Midnight.  What?  Late Night?  How does that work?  What does that mean?  Totally intrigued, we picked this up.  These special edition Dorito's come in a matte black bag, with neon signs as it's text, just to drive home the fact that these are "late night". 

The familiar corn tortilla chip is coated in a dark colored seasoning, which makes it look like it's going to be kind of spicy.  As I took a bite, I noticed that while not super spicy at all, it has a fairly small kick to it.  It tasted a bit like cumin, and also had a peppery, tangy quality to it.  It definitely had taco seasoning.  I found it to be quite yummy.  The texture was crunchy like the traditional Dorito's tortilla chips.  Though I can't seem to figure out the point of dubbing these "Tacos at Midnight".  Tacos: Yes.  Midnight: I guess?  Tacos are tacos, no matter the time of day.   Maybe it was more of a reference to night clubbers, as an attempt to appeal to a different demographic. Labeling these as "late night" is simply a clever marketing move.  Hey, it obviously worked on us!   

Another interesting marketing feature is on the back of the bag.  A white outlined square icon with a white triangle inside the square, and some instructions above the icon.  The instructions say to go to their website, activate our webcam, and place the icon in front of the webcam.  We had a bit of difficulty getting this to work.  Webcam and chip bag difficulties aside, I'd recommend this Special edition snack!  Can be enjoyed anytime. :)

~Rachael


Buy this snack :)

Chex Mix: Jalapeno Cheddar Flavor!

I don't recall ever seeing this variety of Chex.  I stumbled into it recently while doing our weekly grocery run, and being a fan of spicy snacks decided to give this a try.  The packaging screamed spicy with its flames and green stripes, reminiscent of that typical burning sensation from biting into a nice Jalapeno! 

The recipe for this mix?: Chex cereal, cheese crackers, mini breadsticks and salty pretzels all imbued with a nice kick.  All the elements were well coated with a spicy, cheesy powder that provided a decent kick with very distinct cheddar flavor.  If you have a handful of these the spice kicks in towards the end every time, providing you with a nice mix of salty and spicy.  As a note, the spicy element of this mix genuinely conveys a jalapeno like flavor.  Only thing is that these snacks will stain your fingers pretty easily, so keep the napkins nearby if you're playing a videogame.  

Overall a nice new offering to the Chex Mix line, they're definitely solid and offer everything they set out to:  A nice variety in the mix, a good cheddar flavor and a really solid jalapeno finish!  If you liked the Chex Mix Hot & Spicy variant, you'll definitely want to check these out.  Reccomended!

-Sirio

Buy this snack! :)

Calbee Snapea Crisps: Caesar Flavor!

Though this particular snack was originally intended to be a salad topping, we decided to pick this up after being informed by "That Girl" from The Something Awful forums. Baked snap peas? What's that like? Having no preconception of what this might possibly be like, we decided to give it a go.

I ripped open the white and pea-green aluminum bag, and took a peek inside. What I found kind of surprised me: the naturally green snap peas were so light, so fluffy. In terms of texture, they kind of reminded me of a much fluffier Cheeto. Since they're baked, there is no greasy residue. The snap pea flavor is very, very mild. What stands out is the Caesar dressing flavor. It's a bit salty, a bit savory, and a bit tangy. And all tasty!

Snap peas in general are a yummy, and of course healthy snack. With Calbee Snapea Crisps Caesar Flavor, you can still munch on a tasty snack, without the high calorie and fat content. This is a recommended, guilt-free pleasure!

-Rachael

 Buy this snack :)

Pringles: Loaded Baked Potato!

After our last review of the Pringles brand Mozzarella Stick & Marinara chips I felt a little uneasy trying a new flavor, the Loaded Baked Potato Pringle. However I'm happy to say this flavor, both in concept and execution worked much better.

The packaging was the usual, classic and tubular Pringles shape with a more brown, spud like color reminiscent of the outside of a fresh baked potato. :) The Super Stack feature was still there, with a nice stack of 100 chips. Upon opening this I was treated with the same potato smell, but no surprise there! Flavor wise I set out to see how many ingredients of an actual loaded baked potato I could detect: Butter, sour cream, bacon bits, chives, and possibly cheese. I tried the first one and was met with a nice smoky flavor with a very bacon-y finish, followed by a tinge of sour cream. I still haven't been disappointed by any bacon flavored snack, and this is no exception.

It definitely succeeded in delivering a baked potato like flavor, but not so much every component of a completely loaded spud. Its pretty good, and worth a try. If you liked the Sour Cream and Onion flavor this is pretty reminiscent, but with a bacon twist. Maybe one of you guys will find that elusive chive flavor in your tube! Recommended.

Buy this snack :)

Baked Ruffles: Cheddar and Sour Cream!

The baked line by Frito-Lay has made me a much happier camper in general. The flavor on every Baked snack they have offered has been consistently solid, and this one is no different. Actually, this one might be my new favorite. I always preferred Ruffles over Lays in the original line thanks to the ridged nature of the chip that made it a great textural pairing with say, a turkey sandwich. This version of Ruffles maintains the same texture while still delivering bold flavor and a much crunchier bite. There's something I enjoy about matte finished bags in general and the packaging on this one delivers as well with appealing colors and layout.

Flavor wise it has a nice and tangy sour bite followed by a nearly buttery, cheddar flavor. The baked nature makes these great to snack on while multitasking thanks to literally no form of greasy residue. These are really a great example of making a product healthier without sacrificing flavor. My mind was blown after looking at the nutritional label, yours will be too! (In a good way). These are fantastic by themselves or with a sandwich and I really loved the textural quality, flavor and crunch of this solid offering. Its been great to see this line expand and introduce even more delicious baked varieties of the classics. A must have!

Buy this snack :)

Kettle Brand Potato Chips: Yogurt & Green Onion!

We are all familiar with potato chips. A lot of us had them packed in our lunch boxes, or served at parties and BBQ's. The standard potato chip is one of the most common snack foods around. Now kick that up a notch, and add a twist. Make 'em gourmet! That's where Kettle Brand Potato Chips come in. First made in 1982, the Kettle Brand has sought out to produce a natural, tasty snack. There is no trans fat, no preservatives, nothing artificial. Only pure, savory flavor. For our first review of the Kettle Brand Potato Chips, I decided to start with the Yogurt & Green Onion flavor.

The chips are packaged in a eye-catching jade green, matte finished bag. After grabbing a chip, one of the first things I notice is how homemade they appear. Unlike standard potato chips, I can easily tell that what I'm looking at is a slice of a real potato. Not something overly processed. They are deliciously crunchy, with varying levels of texture and toast. I felt like it indicated that the makers took great care and pride in producing a quality product.

The taste was basically a stronger version of the sour cream & onion flavor. It was the sour cream, or in this case the yogurt, flavor that really stood out to me. I initially felt it to be perhaps a little too strong, but I can happily say it quickly grew on me. This is one delicious chip! We can't wait to try all of the varieties offered by the Kettle Brand. Very highly recommended!

Buy this snack :)

Umaiwa Puffed Wheat Cheese Rings!

We were unsure what to think of these snacks when they arrived to us, yet were nonetheless intrigued by the bizarre packaging. The chips featured what appeared to be a ‘Doraemon’ like character singing his heart out about these chips, and an odd tube spitting out more cheese rings onto a pile. The bag also featured an ad on the bottom left boasting about the size of some of their other products, which really made us fear that this rather large bag of chips might be an exercise in quantity over quality.

I cautiously opened the bag only to be treated by a very strange aroma. It definitely smelled cheesy but had a tang of something else to it. It took us a few minutes to determine what the smell reminded us of...Mushrooms. To be precise, it had the smell of Porcini mushrooms which really caught us off guard. An odd combination, but after tasting these wheat rings covered in tangy goodness, I can consider myself sold. The texture of these golden rings was nice too, featuring a nice crunchy bite.

We don’t think the bag was labeled with anything resembling a mushroom, but after we spent a few minutes trying out these tasty snacks we all agreed that it had a cheesy mushroom flavor. Definitely out there, but quite pleasant! Wacky packaging aside, these were solid cheese snacks with an interesting twist to their flavor. Worth a try for sure! Find these at your local Asian mart!

Buy this snack :)

Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips!

I found these chips in various smoothie/health stores and decided to finally pick them up. I've always been a big fan of simple snacks, so these really called out to me.

They're a humble, yet flavorful snack. These chips involve cut pita strips which are baked with a dash of sea salt. These chips offered a simple, but bold flavor that was very memorable. They're crunchy with specks of sea salt on each chip, and I found myself wondering how many different things these would go amazing with. At the same time, they stood amazingly well on their own.

I tried these chips with tuna salad, hummus, smoked salmon and various dips and was pleased every single time. These chips will make you appreciate how good a snack with so few ingredients can be. :) I found that what their website said is quite true, "perfect with anything, perfect without anything." Two thumbs up!

Buy this snack :)

Nongshim Chicken Snack! (Korean!)

These were contributed by a local asian market and were quite curious. Never had the chance to try Korean snack foods, so this is a first on Snack Overload! Our first non drink foreign snack review. What got me about these is the packaging, featuring a pretty angry looking stylized chicken. The way the box opened puzzled me for a few minutes until I realized what it was trying to do, resemble a fried chicken take out box.

When you open the box flap it featured a small comic about a chicken involved in some hijinks with a chef and some sort of explorer(You can guess who won at the end). I'm guessing this was a snack designed for kids. The idea is that you open the small bag inside and dump it into the faux takeout box. Its a pretty fun idea and makes it easier to snack on these drumstick shaped snacks, rather than picking them out of a bag one by one.


The flavor and texture of these chicken snacks was a little unusual, the only thing I could relate them to are mild Funyuns, with a really mild chicken flavor. These snacks are small and hollow with a nice golden brown color, each one resembling a yummy drumstick. They were crunchy, mild and kept reminding me of Funyuns! Its the first thing you'll taste after biting into these, followed by that chicken-y flavor. I enjoyed them but was expecting a much stronger, spicy chicken flavor from judging the box(it featured flaming drumsticks..LIES!). Worth a try nonetheless. Find them at your local Asian mart!

Flat Earth Tangy Tomato Ranch Chips!

I first had a chance to try the Flat Earth offerings at a friends house when they were first released in stores a few years back. I have to say that these are my current favorite chips to mix with a box lunch, just thanks to the really good flavor. If you're a fan of tomato and the mild tang of ranch in your chips, these will really surprise you. They have a pleasant ridged texture and the flavor doesn't overwhelm. I remember being skeptical about these chips until I tried my first one and experienced an explosively pleasant tomato flavor. They're pretty easy to find as most grocery stores now carry them, compared to a few years back where they were most available at higher end stores.

Another awesome thing about these chips is that eating them is supposed to translate nutritionally to eating a serving of veggies. These chips have a nice perky serving of Vitamin C and are baked as well, which I wouldn't have guessed from when I tried them. The only thing I'd say is that these pair better with water rather than soda. Thumbs up to Flat Earth for making these awesome veggie crisps. I look forward to trying their other flavors.

Cheetos White Cheddar All Natural Puffs!

When you think of Cheetos the first thing that pops into your head is the whole notion of 'Dangerously Cheesy.' Cheetos has set out to reach to a new crowd with the slightly more guilt free White Cheddar flavored Cheetos, preservative free and artificial color free among other things.

In terms of look and flavor they definitely have a different shape and texture, more airy and puffy than a typical cheeto. Upon opening the nicely designed bag(kudos to keeping Chester in there) they emit a really pleasant, natural cheddar aroma thats not too strong. Flavor wise its a real winner, after having a few of these tangy puffs I kept coming back for more. The flavor never grew overpowering as with some other cheese flavored chips I've tried. I had my doubts after picking these up for around $3.90 as to whether the difference would be noticeable.

However, I'm really happy to say that these Cheetos seriously kick butt. They're the perfect accompaniment with a good soda or sandwich while kicking back watching a movie or even some Xbox. Have to say that the amount of cheeto dust on these is significantly reduced, which really keeps the old habit of pant wiping out of the equation. Definitely a good substitute for standard Cheetos if you're looking for a healthier option while maintaining the trademark dangerously cheesy flavor.