Walkers Doritos Spicy Salsa

The Dutch taste tester discovered this packet of Spicy Salsa Doritos at her local Tesco and donated them to the cause which was very generous of her.

This is of course the opposing crisp flavour to Doritos Ultimate Cheeseburger flavour which the reluctant taste testers and I tried the other day. You are supposed to vote for one or the other flavour, and one will disappear forever.

And what did we think? Well, it seemed to the reluctant taste testers that Spicy Salsa is a much better flavour for Doritos than Ultimate Cheeseburger flavour. We loved the Ultimate Cheeseburger flavour but felt it would be better used on a crisp. I took the remains of the Cheeseburger Doritos home with me and tried again. And really loved the Cheeseburger flavour. But I cannot deny I think the flavour would work better on a crisp, maybe a crinkle cut crisp, than on a corn chip.

And Spicy Salsa? Rather tomatoey. In fact these corn chips taste rather as though they have already been dipped in a spicy tomatoey.... dip. Built in dip said the Tall taste tester. Yup, we felt that these Doritos definitely tasted as though they were flavoured with a spicy tomatoey dip.

A lovely corn chip crunch, a wonderful deep orange colour and lots of flavour dust.... but.

I had a bit of a row with the Chef about this flavour and the Ultimate Cheeseburger flavour version. He really preferred the Ultimate Cheeseburger flavour and said he didn't care what sort of crisp that flavour came on - it wouldn't effect his view of the flavour. OK. That's his opinion.

And you know what? I agree. The Cheeseburger is a great flavour. The Spicy Salsa is not.

But I suspect the Spicy Salsa flavour will win. Because it works really well on a corn chip. But you can build yourself a Spicy Salsa dip really easily. Why would you want your dip flavour dictated to you by your crisp manufacturer?

Hey! maybe I fancy a banana dip (not really) or a haggis dip (probably not) and I'd far rather dip the regular Dorito into my banana/haggis dip than a Spicy Salsa Dorito.

Come on Doritos. What's this about?

Unfortunately I have to report that Dutch taste tester did not win a trip to either Mexico or New York.

Walkers Doritos Ultimate Cheeseburger

This was the very last packet of Doritos Ultimate Cheeseburger left in my local Tesco. But obviously I had to buy them. I mean, cheeseburger flavour....

And what we have here is a pretty damn good crispy snack. Now normally I'm not crazy for Doritos. They're OK, but I find that the flavour of corn chips can over take the flavour you thought you bought them for.

Not here. Tall taste tester said they tasted heavenly. A bit strong he said, a very strong flavour, and then he said "but you can't get too much of heaven, can you?" which is a pretty good accolade don't you think?

Good crunch, lovely golden colour and lots of tasty flavour dust. Very nice.

Dutch taste tester liked them a lot although she thought she'd like the flavour better in a crinkle cut crisp, I liked them too and I know what she means, as did Noble Friend but she is on a sensible diet as she has a grand wedding to attend next month. Amazingly she confined herself to one. The reluctant taste testers have plans to lay in another packet for after the wedding as a treat for her (if we can find one). I know she would have more than one otherwise.

Now the thing about this packet of Doritos is the competition. You are supposed to try these in opposition to a packet (white, and labelled A) of Spicy Salsa Doritos and then vote to destroy the flavour you like less. One must be destroyed and never seen again. Choose which one you'd destroy and tell us your bold idea of how to do it.... says the packet. And here's how. But hurry because the completion ends on 4th September and there's £20,000.00 to be won.

This packet also has a handsome little guy throwing away his rubbish responsibly. I don't think I have noticed him before. Why is he standing on the bin?

Walkers Mixups Snacks Mix Spicy

Tech taste tester found this packet of Walkers MixUps in Tescos. He admits he had meant to pick up the Cheese flavour selection but accidentally bought the Spicy flavour instead.

And I must say the reluctant taste testers and I were a little... reluctant to try this mix of crispy snacks. The bag was sitting in the kitchen at work for several days while we worked our way through several other offerings and I certainly wasn't at all sure. But we opened the packet and poured out a bowlful anyway.

Oh wow. It looks like the bottom of a school kid's lunch box. What a weird mixture.

However, once we tried we found this is rather a fabulous mix. Or some of it is, anyway. The spicy Wotsits are very good, and the Monster Munch too (much nicer than the quite tough to like Pickled Onion Monster Munch for example). But we didn't think the Doritos worked so well, and frankly the French Fries could have been much more flavoursome.

But here's a fascinating fact: History Graduate Taste Tester had never tried Monster Munch before. Amazing. I don't think Tech taste tester could quite believe it. But then it seems his childhood diet was mostly Monster Munch. Although it could be that he exaggerates.

Anyway, despite being deeply sceptical about the whole concept of MixUps, we really rather enjoyed this spicy selection. And quite to our surprise the main complaint was that there were not nearly enough Monster Munch.

4 different snacks = 4 x the fun! Maybe that's true.

Oh, and look at that. There's a little guy throwing his rubbish away responsibly. I think think this is a fresh design and I haven't seen one in ages.