Blair's Death Rain Habanero Pepper Cauldron Cooked Potato Chips

OMG! is the heat rating on this hot hot hot packet of chilli crisps from Blair's Death Rain from New Jersey.

And, er, OMG just about tells you everything you need to know.

I am not mad for chilli as a flavour.

In limited quantities it adds a certain something. In a slightly higher ratio of chilli to the rest of the recipe it can make a great difference between ordinary and very tasty. In huge great enormous piles of heat I really don't get it.

So I put out a bowl at work and waited to see what the reluctant taste testers had to say.

Mostly they didn't seem to be big fans. One of them came out in a slight sweat like a comedy character from the 1960s trying curry for the first time. Several told me they wished they hadn't tried a crisp at all. The Chairman came into the office and told me he thought today's crisps were horrible. Or did he say dreadful? I'm really sorry, but I thought he was right.

However, the Dutch taste tester seemed fairly taken, and the tall taste tester too. I think it was them. At any rate, a fair number got eaten. Just not the whole bowlful.

At home the family vegetarian found them rather hot, and the Chef's son-in-law who happens to be a chef (as opposed to the Chef who isn't) agreed. We didn't finish the packet so this flavour was not a general favourite. I guess the OMG rating on the heat-o-meter was too much for us.

The family vegetarian even went so far as to email me to say she would not recommend these crisps. Oh dear.

But I should remind readers that we have previously tried Ancho Chilli Cheeseburger and Buffalo Wing flavours from Blair's Death Rain with considerable success.

I particularly liked the Chilli Cheeseburger flavour crisps. Excellent cheeseburgeriness. But then, you know, I think perhaps I have a thing for Cheeseburger crisps.

Blair's Death Rain Buffalo Wing Cauldron Cooked Potato Chips

Noble friend and I decided that these are crisps for blokes. Tall Taste Tester disagreed; he reckons these are crisps for gentlemen. But basically, it seemed that the gents in our office liked these crisps better than the ladies. And we're not really quite sure why.

Here we have another 1.5oz packet (43g) of the amazingly chillified crisps from Blair's Death Rain. Actually, according to the packet these crisps are only medium hot, but they seemed pretty hot to me.

However, while the chilli spiciness is great, the buffalo wing part of this crispy snack is not at all obvious. We really couldn't detect it.

And in case you didn't know (I'm sure you do - but just in case) buffalo wings are of course not the wings of buffaloes at all, but chicken wings. Which for some reason used always to come from Buffalo NY. Hence the name.

I really have no idea why anyone eats a chicken wing unless they don't have access to any other food. It's bone, skin, sinew and other unsavoury stuff. Where's the meat? I even have friends who like the wing best. Really? I guess it takes all sorts. But anyway, we couldn't detect any chicken here.

The packet doesn't say suitable for vegetarians so there may be chicken included but the best clue I can offer from the list of ingredients is natural flavour (several times).

The crisps got eaten very quickly.

Blair's Death Rain Ancho Chili Cheeseburger Cauldron Cooked Potato Chips

Wow! You weren't expecting a brand of crisps called Blair's Death Rain® were you? It sounds a little bit heavy metal and not what you were expecting from me.

Well, I have to tell you I was browsing the very dangerous Amazon.co.uk (you never know what you'll find yourself buying next...) and I came across these crisps from New Jersey. What to do? Obviously I had to order some and this is the first packet the reluctant taste testers and I tried.

Feel Alive! says the packet; and I think we kind of did.

These are Cauldron™Cooked Potato Chips containing no MSG and no trans fats. However, yes to kosher, and yes to heat and flavour. The creator, who signs himself Your ChiliPal is obviously mad about flavour and describes himself as a Passionate ChiliHead. He's determined that anyone who opens one of his bags of crisps is going to enjoy the contents. Open the bag already!!! Fun and passion await you!!!

Possibly too many exclamation marks going on here but I have to admit these crisps are rather fabulous. And there is a whole lot of taste.

Blair's American made spuds are the most flavorful and without question the hottest, most furious chips ever created on planet earth. So now you know.

Quite a hot chilli aroma from the packet; smallish, rather dark crisps, very nice crunch and a hand cooked look to the crisps; and a great taste. The more you eat, the hotter they get - even though these are only described as medium hot. And a fabulous taste of cheeseburger too.

Most of the reluctant taste testers liked these a lot although noble friend wasn't mad keen. I have to say they were a bit hot for my delicate taste buds (which obviously I have insured for a vast sum) but I still thought this a great crisp.

Check out Blair's Death Rain snacks and sauces here. They've got a heat meter and everything.