Bluebird Cheezels

“When your buds are crying out for a cheezy fix, only Cheezels the seriously cheezy cheeze snack will do!” Is this buds as in taste buds, or buds as in your (probably male) friends? Who can say.

Well, this cheese flavoured corn snack isn’t actually all that seriously cheezy. Sorry, cheesy.  I’m not criticising them for tasting very similar to every other extruded corn crispy snack from all around the world, because all these very similar snacks taste pretty good to me. They just don’t really taste of cheese, whatever the advertising tells us. Hardly any of them do. 

And yes, in case you were wondering, just like all the other extruded corn crispy snacks, they gum themselves to your teeth and are remarkably difficult to dislodge.

Unfortunately I ate this entire packet before I remembered I hadn’t taken a photograph of these rather large crispy rings. The picture on the packet gives a fairly accurate idea of what they look like. Except they definitely aren’t big enough for that mystery penguin to jump through the hoop.

I can report that it is possible to absent mindedly eat the entire packet at one sitting. So, you know, quite moreish.

Bluebird Rashuns Cheesy Bacon Attack

So I have a great big 190g bag of Cheesy Bacon Attack (interesting name for a flavour) Rashuns. Rashuns is also a strange name for a kind of crispy snack. Unless you’re used to it of course. I really didn’t want a party bag but beggars can’t be choosers.

This is another product from beloved New Zealand brand Bluebird. Who oddly decorate their packaging with penguins not bluebirds.

This extruded corn snack is a very odd shape. I thought at first it might be penguin footprints, but now I’m not so sure. So let’s class this as an unidentified shape. And I bet you already guessed it’s one of those snacks that aggressively gums itself to your teeth, and there’s apparently nothing you can do about it.

And what does it taste of? It’s a smokey bacon flavour but I don’t really detect any cheesiness. 

Not bad. I ate most of the packet by myself. But that’s because I live on my own.

Cheetos Ketchup Flavoured

Here’s yet another example of a maize based crispy snack. These ones are shaped like quite chunky chips. But whatever the shape, this style of snack will always gum itself to the roof of your mouth and the sides of your teeth. It’s not an elegant snack, not recommended for a first date.

Now the flavour here is supposed to be ketchup which can be a brilliant flavour, but honestly it’s a little too fugitive in this case.

So it’s a pleasant crispy snack that doesn’t taste of very much. In a good way.

Walkers Wotsits Crunchy R-R-Really Cheesy

I’m not really sure what to say about this r-r-really cheesy flavour from Wotsits Crunchy. Strangely, if you ask me or the Chef, we think this crispy snack tastes less cheesy than a regular Cheesy Wotsit. 

I suspect the basic Wostsit Crunchy recipe tastes different to the basic Wotsit recipe, and the cheesy tasting flavour dust doesn’t have the same effect on these crunchy snacks. It might be the exact same cheesy flavour, it might be extra r-r-really cheesy but there we are.

Here’s what we thought about another flavour of Wotsits Crunchy.

Honestly I really don’t know why Walkers thought it would be a good plan to mess with the fabulous traditional Wotsit recipe. Yes, of course, this newer crispy snack may appeal to some… but I think I will stick with the original. 

And if you really want to know, yes they are cheesy, but I am not convinced they are r-r-really cheesy.

I don’t know why anyone thought to put this crispy snack in a Hallowe’en themed packet. Who knows? No bat or ghost shaped snacks here. And as so often these days, quite half the packet was filled with nothing but air. 

Walkers Wotsits Crunchy Sweet & Spicy Flamin’ Hot

Hmmn…. If you ask me, calling this crispy corn based snack a Wotsit is somewhat disingenuous. Honestly, these are not corn puffs and they aren’t at all like the fabulous corn based puff that is a Wotsit. I feel a bit cheated.

Yes, I know, I shouldn’t take taste testing crispy snacks so seriously, but Wotsits are wonderful and this snack isn’t.

It reminds me a little of the Italian Fonzies the Chef and I tried once, or if you are a fan of Australian snacks, think Twisties. But tasting rather different and quite orange.

But not to worry, at least not too much, because they are crunchy. And they are covered in lots of tasty orange flavour dust. And they are quite spicy, but unless my taste buds have had a major personality transplant, I really don’t think they can be described as flamin’ hot. Except, wait, wait, it appears that flamin’ hot is not a description but rather a flavour. Which includes all manner of ultra processed ingredients such as acidity regulators, disodium 5’-ribonuceotide, hydrolysed vegetable protein and sulphite amonia caramel. Yes, I imagine your guess is as good as mine.

I can’t put my finger on what this crispy corn (maize) based snack actually tastes of. A bit sweet and sour. A bit of a kick. Sort of paprika.

However, do you genuinely want flamin’ hot? Let me introduce you to the impossibly volcanic Takis Fuego snack I found in Switzerland earlier this year. That’s what we in the taste testing trade call much too hot.

Kettle Tortilla Chips Nacho Cheese

Here we have a handsome cheese flavoured isosceles-triangle-shaped nacho crispy crunchy snack. Pretty good and very very cheesy. I really can't remember the last time I tried a crisp that claimed to taste of cheese and actually did taste of cheese. (You'd think they would because it sounds like an easy flavour but mostly they don't taste of cheese at all.)

This is a big triangle with loads of tasty flavour dust. Quite a dark orange so there's lots of paprika colouring; very corny because tortilla chips always do have a big corn taste; lots of crunch and a great taste of nacho cheese and cheddar and double gloucester cheese. Amazingly cheesy.

Quite a lot of ingredients including buttermilk, cream, butter (all dried obvs), red peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cayenne pepper, and "natural flavouring" (what?).

The whole triangles are fabulous but sadly my packet had all too many breakages which was disappointing. I'd be sorry if every packet is so full of broken chips but I don't remember treating my packet particularly roughly. What a shame. Because, as I say, the whole triangles are wonderful. And big.

The beautiful red packaging is wonderful too. A lovely plain design. Plain and uncluttered. I really approve. On the back we have exciting and important news about the Flavour Fiesta. And an apology because the packaging is not currently recyclable.

I tried these on the reluctant taste testers at work who seemed to approve. And at home? They went down well here too. Not bad.

Crispy texture where you can taste the corn (says the packaging), seasoned with great tasting ingredients. As ever there's no artificial colours, artificial flavours or added MSG. Perhaps that's something to do with the mystery "natural flavouring".

Suitable for vegetarians (but best avoided I imagine if you have an allergy to milk products), and here's another crispy snack you need to keep away from bright light. I still think this is weird. Perhaps I will get to the bottom of that one day. And made in Spain. Spain? I know.

I haven't tried them with dips but I am certain they would work just fine.