The back of the bag reads: “Experience a FLAMING rush of TASTES and TEXTUES like never before. Chex Mix brings you the more interesting Jalapeño Cheddar snack EXPERIENCE. CHEX MIX IS A BAG OF INTERESTING!” I would venture to say this is stretching truth about the overall experience of eating the contents of the bag a bit too far. I definitely did not consume the product and immediately want to write how interesting and amazing my experience was in all capital letters. I did however enjoy my snack. I enjoyed the processed powdered cheese flavor, I mean who wouldn’t? It more than met my need for salty goodness with its 280mg of sodium per serving (the small bag has 3.5 servings). The salt flavor was not overwhelming but it is a prominent flavor. Just about midway into the bite I think, “Hey, these are a bit tangy…and spicy.” If you are looking for real jalapeño flavor this is not the product for you. I would venture to say no one buys a product like this for its natural or fresh jalapeño flavor. They could have easily be called it a spicy, tangy, hot sauce flavoring. I would have not known the difference. It is what it is. It is good at being what it is. The heat is a nice change from your basic cheesy Chex Mix.
As for the “Mix” part of the snack, I could have lived without the little breadstick things and the pretzels. Do not get me wrong, I love pretzels. Unfortunately they are lost in this bag. When popping the breadstick or the pretzel in my mouth I found they did not hold the flavor like the other pieces did. Like the bag suggests, they did add texture. What I would have liked was more crackers. My bag had only a few, perhaps other bags were luckier. The crackers added a nice softer and smoother texture to the mix. You may look at the picture I took ask “Hey, where are the cheese crackers?” The answer is simple. I ate them. I could not resist. My favorites were the Chex. I love how they are the perfect little vessel for flavor. I would have been just as happy if it was just Jalapeño Cheddar Chex and the “Mix” was dropped.
I would definitely consider buying these again and would probably choose these over the other Chex Mix flavors because it is just that much more complex in flavor and in turn that much more enjoyable to eat. Natural flavors? Absolutely not. Good flavors? Yes as long as you are not looking for natural flavors.
