Product Review: Doritos Late Night - Tacos at Midnight

I don't get a lot of requests for things to post on my blog, but if I did, #1 to review more products on here.

So, because I love you readers, I am honoring your hypothetical request and reviewing the new Late Night Doritos.

Let me begin by showing you the commercial for them. I actually really love this commercial; the FX used are really neat and I like the colors. The song not so much but it estabishes this new subgenre of Doritos as classy and trendy.




There are two flavors of Late Night Doritos: Tacos at Midnight and Jalapeno Poppers. I will be reviewing the former.

Packaging

Packaging is the #1 determinant of what food products I buy. I am a person who is inexorably and compulsively obsessed with the aesthetic. I need things to look cool. Doritos Late Night have a very nice colored bag, and the Late Night logo style is very nice. It's simplistic, but on a chip bag that's quite fine. I would be happy to be seen walking around town with this bag.

The chips themselves look good. The darker spices make them look more exotic than your average Dorito which is in line with expectations.

Flavor

Doritos are a very divisive chip. The divide between Cooler Ranch and Nacho Cheesier has long destroyed friendships and made enemies of lovers, but personally I've always liked the fringe flavors more.

As was previously alluded to, the marketing for this product sets it up as something trendy and almost futuristic, a sleek slick snack that will take you from a mundane afternoon into a futuristic flashing wonderland. However, I have to say the taco flavor is way too strong, way too savory.

I am a person who enjoys tacos, and at that almost exclusively after midnight. In fact, the post-midnight mexican food run is something of a hobby for me. This is not, however, a chip I would eat that late at night. The taco spices are too heavy and overpowering, and rather than being a sleek midnight snack it's more like dinner.

I'm actually kind of conflicted here, because while I wasn't entirely enamored with the taco flavor I actually ate the whole bag pretty happily. I did it, however, the day after I'd bought them, right before I wrote this. I ate the first few last night but decided they were too heavy for the time.

Atmosphere

I may be getting obtuse here, but I always look at atmosphere when I'm doing anything. I was, as I said, initially attracted to the commercial, and the flavor of the chip didn't quite match up. This is not an out-on-the-town, look how trendy I am will all my rings and bracelets chip, but a I've-been-home-for-hours-and-don't-plan-on-leaving-tonight chip. I think some people will love the heavy flavor but for me it was just too much for a snack.


In the end, I would say this did not live up to my expectations, but I think there is definitely an audience for it.

More importantly, I think that my actual favorite Doritos flavor beats this out in every category, including how well it would fit the theme. Doritos Spicy Sweet are incredibly delicious, while being light and easy to snack on. The bag also looks amazing and honestly I think everything about it screams what I would have wanted Late Night Doritos to be like.

All in all I would say that you should try this flavor if you're into really intense chips, but don't take it clubbing because that will probably not end well.