Sabritas Mexico Intercambio de Sabor Promotion

Sabritas Mexico is running a promotion right now, very similar to the "Flavor Swap" one Lay's USA launched in the first half of the year... the "Intercambio de Sabor" (aka Change of Flavor) promo pits 2 classic Sabritas Flavors against 2 new Flavors to see which chip fans prefer. The first face-off is between classic "Flamin' Hot" and the new "Ali Chili" which is flavored with Chile Manzano and inspired by Egypt. The second battle is between classic "Adobadas" and the new "Aci Thai" which is flavored with Chile Acidulce and inspired by Thailand. I'm guessing "Acidulce" means "Thai Sweet Chili"; which is a pretty popular chip flavor everywhere except here in the States. The Manzano or Apple Chili is a pepper that is similar to a Serrano in terms of heat. The new flavors did not fair well against the classics here in the US, and I doubt they will beat the classics in Mexico either... so consider these 2 new limited edition flavors and pick them up while you can!

PS. I can't understand how I almost missed this... CHECK OUT THE PACKAGING! The Egyptian inspired one bares the Chipsy Egypt logo, while the Thai one bares the Lay's Thailand logo. This is how the bags are being sold in Mexico. They are worth hunting down just for that novelty. Happy Hunting!!

Cheetos Mexico Horneados Bolitas Queso y Chile and Fritos Mexico Sal y Limon

 Every once in a while I like to mix it up and not eat Lay's, lol. This time while visiting a Mexican swap meet my friend and I decided to grab some Cheetos and Fritos. I'm always suspicious about what the "plain" flavor of Cheetos is because it varies from country to country. Here in the US it's "Cheese" but in Mexico it happens to be a "Chili and Cheese" flavor and that's what you have in this bag. Cheetos Horneados are baked Cheetos and Bolitas are the cheeseball shape, but the only mention of a flavor is down in the fine print where it says "Queso y Chile".
The flavor immediately reminded me of the classic Lay's Mexican Adobada flavor, a spice mix of mostly Chipotle and Lime. But here on the Cheetos it is mixed with the classic Cheetos Cheese flavor. It is suprisingly epic!
So much is happening flavor-wise; the corn flavor from the puff is very rich. PLUS the cheese, then spice with some smokiness, and lastly some lime tang. It sounds like nonsense, but it is really yummy!! I highly recommend these. They are just weirdly good!

The other pickup that day was Fritos "Sal y Limon" aka "Salt and Lime". These were interesting. The texture is a fail. Compared to the US Fritos, the texture is much thinner and flakier. Thats pretty weird for a corn chip. The flavor however is awesome. While US Fritos are VERY Salty (but it works), the salt in this bag was way more tame. That, combined with the bright Lime flavor, was pretty delicious.
I think ultimately, what is good about these two bags is what I have cheered before in regards to Mexico's Lay's Chips: that's to say that the chip texture is weird but the seasoning always makes their chips addictive.

I think if you have the chance to pick these up, do it. They are a nice change of pace, without being full on CRAZY flavors. They are typical flavors used in Mexican cuisine, so they are being executed well.

Sabritas USA Adobadas

My friend was so sweet... she was visiting from Mexico, and while here she heard I had this blog so she asked me to try these "Adobadas" chips with her. I was thinking they were gonna be from our southern neighbors, but as soon as I saw these I knew they were from the wonderful US of A. I've reviewed the Mexican version in the past so I noticed the logo is different... but also, this US version says it comes from Plano, Texas on the back. That is a pretty good giveaway if you are ever confused.
I assume these are made for communities in the United States that have a substantial percentage of Hispanic people in them. I used to see them in the Hispanic markets in my neighborhood before they all converted to Asian markets lol. #butreallytho

So, lets talk review. When you open the bag you catch a huge whiff of Body Odor... yup... body odor. At least, to me, that's what cumin smells like. Because Cumin is straight up nasty. Cumin is one of the many spices that make up the Adobo seasoning that is popular in Spanish cooking. Adobo can be used dry as a spice rub or it can be made into a sauce and it is comprised of Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Cumin, Garlic Powder, and Chili Powder. Just from the smell, the bag may seem overwhelming, but if you can hold your breath, it is a great bag of chips. Just like it's Mexican counterpart that I reviewed back in 2012, these chips are seasoned deliciously. You don't get the taste of Cumin once you start snacking, however the Paprika and Onion Powder do shine through. Along with the spice mix comes hearty tomato flavor and sour lime. The adobo is rich and flavorful, and the lime cuts that spice perfectly. The chip itself is light-years ahead of Mexico's version (theirs has a weird gritty texture), the chips all look nice and have a mild flavor (As with regular US Lay's, the chips just don't have the rich potato-y taste you find in other nations). But, as the seasoning is the star on these chips, you don't miss the robust potato flavor. The combination is really tasty and I could see fans of BBQ chips and fans of spicy chips both liking these a lot (and no, i'm not calling these spicy). If you are a fan of Mexico's "Adobadas" chips, then I def think these are an upgrade, and they are much easier to get a hold of.
If you haven't tried these before I highly recommend you hunting them down next time you are near a Hispanic market or a convenience store in Hispanic neighborhoods. Happy Hunting ya'll.

OK Here's Some Late News: Sabritas Receta Cruijiente

With the wealth of Chip-info (or Chipfo, if you will) out in the Universe, sometimes I miss things. I could make excuses (like that I broke my computer last Christmas and it had all my bookmarks and quote "research" on it)... but I won't ;p
Instead, I have created a new Post heading; "OK Here's Some Late News"! "OK Here's Some Late News" will basically be all the chip lines that I haven't talked about because they've been around for a while and haven't added new chips, or in the case of today's article, the new chips came out around Christmas (coincidence??) and I just flat out missed it. I want to always be able to share the most up to date, recent news... but if something gets past me, I still want you guys to know about it, even if it is late. So, hopefully, "OK Here's Some Late News" won't be too common of an article here at The Chip Report, but it's something I think we will need from time to time.

So now that you two have met....
let's get to the show.

 

I was checking out Sabritas' website today and stumbled upon these "Nuevo" treasures... "Receta Crujiente". They are allegedly NEW according to the site, but these have been flashed on instagram and twitter since at least the beginning of the year. The "Crunchy Recipe" chips are listed to come in 3 flavors,  "Chille Rojo" ("Red Chili"), "Original", and "Jalapeno". But, I have also discovered 2 bags that are not listed on the website that appear to be later additions to the line. 

 

Check out A and C... That's "Chille Habanero" and "Chille con Queso" ("Habanero Pepper" and "Chili's with Cheese"). So, it looks to me like while the line isn't New-new, it's still relatively new and is doing well, because they've already expanded. Cool.

So what is "Receta Crujiente"? Well, it's billed as "Mas Gruesas y Mas Crujiente" which just means thicker and crunchier. And while the packaging may evoke the "Kettle Cooked" line here in the US... it is actually still not as crunchy as the Kettle line. This line would fall somewhere between the standard Lay's and Kettle Cooked on a fictional crunch scale. If you've ever had "Extra Crunchy" these are basically the same style. And check out the packaging carefully, it is a dead ringer for the Margarita "Receta Classica" packaging; which happens to be the same thick cut, extra crunchy style chips.

Considering Sabritas are not only just across the border, but also available at Mexican markets here in the States (not to be confused with the non-Mexican Sabritas that are sold here for the US consumer)... these should be a breeze to find if you wanna give them a try. If you are a spice fiend this may be the line for you.

What do you think? Are you gonna make the drive South to track these down?

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Guatemala Original with Tajin

Right now in Guatemala, Original flavor Lay's come with a packet of Tajin seasoning. Tajin is a seasoning from Mexico, it's made up of dried Chile peppers, dehydrated lime, and salt. It has a tangy flavor, and here in California people love to eat it on fruit (I often find it packaged inside my pre-sliced Mango containers with a fresh slice of lime).
The cool thing about this is that we can replicate it here in US, so if you are up for it, grab a bag of plain "Original" Lay's, and you can find Tajin at most shops that carry Mexican food. Just open the bag, season, and shake!

Have you already had this combo? Did you just now try it? Let us know how you like it in the comments below!

Sabritas Mexico Limon

Well, well, well. Here's another bag of Limon chips... my arch nemesis. If you haven't read my review of the puke-worthy Lay's Limon bags then feel free to track it down and read it to catch my reference.
I've put off eating this bag of Limon chips from Mexico just because of how unfortunate the other bag was. Luckily, I am now once again a believer that a Lime flavored chip can work; but these are by NO means perfect. If given a choice between the two I would pick these. To begin, I realized with this bag that Sabritas have a weird "mealier" taste/texture when compared to Lay's. The Adobada flavor chips I had tried from them had the same problem, but I didn't think much of it (I called it Baked Lays and Regular Lay's had a baby). I can clearly say now that I think the quality of chips produced by Sabritas is the poorest quality chip I have tasted among countries because of this weird texture. (Not to mention it's pretty low on Potato flavor.) However, if you can get passed that, it tastes close to US Lays and is a hair less greasy. Now, the seasoning seems to me VERY similar, if not the same, as the US Limon seasoning. But, in my opinion, there is WAY less of it on the chips. Now, for all my nitpicking, I ate half of the bag and I kind of enjoyed it. I would say the chip is lacking, but if you like Lime; the seasoning is spot on! And for that reason I consider them to be the more preferable chip. If Lay's could take their chip (Or better yet, Walkers) and applied this seasoning, in this manner, we could build the perfect Lime chip. (or just eat Lime Tortilla chips... mmmm).  If you must have a Lime flavored chip, try to get these, but I wouldn't consider these worthy of a trip across the border.

Sabritas Mexico Adobadas

Here's my first bag of Mexican Sabritas chips. Totally had no idea what to expect from these but I was VERY pleasantly surprised. When I opened this bag I was SMACKED in the face with the smell of cumin. I FUGGIN HATE CUMIN. Do you hear me spice producers?? Cumin is disgusting!! So I kinda threw the bag at my mom and told her to try them first. When I looked back at her, half of the bag was gone. I wrestled it back at that point. Getting past the smell; I tried one. Note: I still do not know what "Adobadas" is but I think it's a Mexican dish or sauce or marinade.
Not sure, but these chips had everything. The seasoning was hearty tasting and tomato-y, but then it was sour. Unlike every other potato chip I've tasted so far, which are usually either savory or acidic; this seasoning has managed to capture both. It was like that perfect bite of Mexican food where you've managed to get tortilla and meat and sauce and lime all onto the same bite. I couldn't believe it. The cumin on these is not subtle though, so it loses points with me for that. Now we'll talk about the chip. It definitely has more Potato flavor than the US counterpart, and they aren't overfried to the point that they are bubbled and flakey. The strange part was they had the texture almost like baked Lay's and regular Lay's had a baby. They were all kind of flat and way crunchier. But, still, it was closer to the fried Lay's that we know. I will say that aesthetically, I didn't like that the chips had a lot of dark marks on them. I don't know where those spots came from, but they looked like burns or poor quality potatoes... looks wise, but the taste was killer, and that is really the key.
So I recommend these. At least try them once... but get the authentic ones from across the border, because they do make this flavor for Latin communities under the US smiley face Sabritas brand. (Authentic ones will say "Hecho en Mexico" on the back.)