Well, well, well, Tostitos. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? That’s probably my fault, to an extent; my salsa intake has been probably at an all time low. It’s a shameful admittance, I’ll admit. Then again, I think perhaps the last actually different variation Tostitos has come out with was probably those Bite Size Gold chips, the ones that were hyper thick and made from yellow corn and fantastic for dipping in things, both because of the yellow corn flavor and the increased thickness/crunch of the chip. While those may be particularly awesome, they’re starting to get gray hair at this point. Furthermore, Tostitos isn’t really known for venturing very deep into the haunted forest of flavors. They seem to have a sort of puritan philosophy toward the chip: the inherent flavor of the flour tortilla or the corn should be enough, they seem to say. Especially when in the presence of one of their flavors of dip.

The one attempt at additional flavor they’ve had throughout the years is my beloved Hint of Lime chips. They’re just normal Tostitos corn chips, lightly plastered with a powdery Lime flavor, but there is such a perfect amount of Lime flavoring per chip. They’re exceedingly delicious, and great for dipping, especially in salsa. But finally, Tostitos has decided bring another flavor into the equation: Jalapeño. A hint of it, to be exact. And once again, they’ve so perfectly nailed the definition of “hint”.

First of all, the Jalapeño flavor itself is glorious. It’s very realistic, and almost feels like they just tossed a jalapeño ring onto each chip. The intensity of the flavor is also more than adequate, and is probably equally as strong as Hint of Lime chips. There’s even a decent hint of spice. Not only that, but the jalapeño flavor blends fantastically with the natural corn flavor of the chip. So really, the fellas and ladies at Tostitos have given you, the consumer, a choice. You can either rock out with these chips by themselves, enjoying them for their hint of jalapeño, or you can dip them in an array of awesomeness, and have a perfect dipping chip with an extra little kick. Very kind of them to endow us with multi-faceted chips. Sorry, Hint of Lime, but I’m probably gonna have to kick your bag to the curb in favor of these. The strange part is, I think they only have Hint of Jalapeño Scoops, rather than normal shaped chips. So if you just can’t stand eating certain shapes, I guess you’ll have to find a different destination for Jalapeño greatness. But if your mouth is adaptable and not OCD, you should definitely check these out.