Back in early August, Lay's announced it was bringing back some fan favorites for its annual summer tradition of introducing new flavors. Those new flavors typically include brand mash-ups, international-influenced cuisines or, most commonly, contest-submitted recipes. These are usually in batches of three to five, all for limited time only and are sometimes very good. Sometimes.
This year, Lay's brought back a previous flavor in the Ruffles All Dressed potato chip — from 2015 — as well as some flavor swaps from previous summers: Doritos Cool Ranch, Wavy Funyuns Onion and Cheetos Cheese.
Do I remember any of these ever coming out? No I do not. Did I buy all four bags this week when I saw them being promoted at my local bodega across the street? Yes, yes I did. Here's what they were like.
That is me, the author. No I am not that deranged looking most of the time.
4. The Cheetos One
All of these tasted exactly like the thing they were based on, so, at the end of the day, none of these four new flavors are bad. With that being said, I think the biggest appeal of having cheetos is that it's in a doodle form. And maybe the powder that gets everywhere — if you're a total slob who loves to lick your fingers constantly. And while this does taste like a cheese potato chip doused in Cheetos dust, you should just eat the Cheetos themselves. There are other better, cheesier flavors of Lay's on the market already.
3. Doritos Cool Ranch
This one comes with the exact same problems/benefits as the Cheetos one above, except that Doritos are already somewhat potato chip sized/shaped and are a better vehicle for that taste to be delivered into your mouth. The consistency and style of a Doritos chip is better suited to this wacky-ass flavor than a delicate Lay's chip, but it is novel they got this to translate so well. Now, with that being said, I'm not the biggest fan of Cool Ranch compared to regular Doritos, but at least you can't get this flavor with another Lay's (unlike Cheetos and cheddar cheese Lay's, which directly compete with each other).
2. Wavy Funyun Onion
Funyuns are awesome, but the fake onion ring itself is not — that's what prevents me from having Funyuns on a daily basis. Since it's crunchy, but somehow super light, it makes me feel like I'm eating through thin styrofoam. These Lay's surpass Funyuns, and are excellent. Sweet onion and sour cream are both fantastic flavors for potato chips, and this settles into that excellence quite well. I would recommend these over the previous two entries.
1. Ruffles All Dressed
I have no idea what these are. I didn't know why Canada loved this flavor, because I've never heard of it before, but now I totally get it. I had to Google what the hell "All Dressed" was, and as it turns out, it's a combination of barbecue, ketchup, salt and vinegar, and sour cream and onion. I think. It's hard to pin down, but it's a fun mixture of different things that makes you happily question what you're eating as you're eating it. It's savory and salty and sweet and tangy. I highly recommend everyone try this to help me better understand this, because I might need America to introduce this as a condiment so I can dip fries and stuff into "All Dressing."
