Bottom Line: Flamin’ Hot Sweet Carolina Reaper Cheetos deliver on the heat and taste without the excessive sourness you get from standard Flamin’ Hot products.
I am not a fan of classic Cheetos as I much prefer the cheese puff version. And as I have mentioned many times on this site, I am not a fan of the Frito-Lay Flamin’ Hot flavor. It is more sour than hot, especially the Limon version, and I just don’t find the taste appealing. But recently while I was in CVS (a surprisingly good place to find spicy snacks), I saw a bag of Flamin’ Hot Sweet Carolina Reaper Cheetos that piqued my interest and decided to give them a try.
Those promise on the bag that “Sweet Meets Heat” and they deliver on that. The sweetness hits right away, but it is balanced well by the seasonings and heat. There is a tang there as expected along with a depth to the flavor, likely from the Ghost Pepper seasoning. But these avoid the extreme pucker of the usual Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and blend the various flavor profiles together quite well. That sourness drives me away after a few bites, but the combination of sweet and heat with this version keeps me reaching for more of these.
The heat hits right away and starts at beyond the Medium level. And as you keep chomping on these (which you will because they are addicting), it builds up to the Hot level and possibly beyond. These are among the hottest Lay’s products that I have had, and I would certainly buy them on a regular basis if I could find them more easily.
I found them in CVS one time in the 3 ¼ oz size bag. I have not seen them there since, and I have not seen them in other stores or in the larger bags (though Walmart does show the 8.5 oz bag on their website). I don’t know if these are limited time only, but I believe they would sell well if they were more readily available. Frito-Lay tends to shy away from keeping its really hot offerings on the shelves because they are definitely a bit much for the average consumer. But if they were to target these to people who really like spicy snacks, I believe they could sell a lot of them.
Tale of the Tape
Ingredients: Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, And Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola And/Or Sunflower Oil), Maltodextrin (Made From Corn), Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavors, Carmelized Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Artificial Color (Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake), Whey, Tomato Powder, Potassium Salt, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Onion Powder, Maltodextrin (Made From Tapioca), Gum Acacia, Yeast Extract, Cream, Sour Cream (Cultured Cream, Skim Milk), Honey, Garlic Powder, Carolina Reaper Pepper, Butter (Cream, Salt), Monterey Jack Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), And Swiss Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes).
Serving Size: 28g (About 21 Pieces)
Calories: 160
Fat: 10g (1.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 16g
Sodium: 210mg