New Wheat Thins Spicy Buffalo & Zesty Salsa Flavors

I love Wheat Thins. Somehow, Nabisco has figured out how to make a snack cracker thin enough to just chomp at like a snack, yet be tough enough to stand up to cheeses and dips if that's what fits your mood. And the flavor is enormous - crunchy and nutty and just all-round awesome.

Every now and then, Nabisco comes up with a new flavor to add to the Wheat Thins family.  So far, just about all of them have been great. And  now, they've added two new flavors:  Zesty Salsa and Spicy Buffalo.

A few days ago, we got a package in the mail - Nabisco had sent us a sample box of each of the new flavors - and we spent the next couple of days munching our way through the boxes.

Photos by Nabisco

Zesty Salsa Wheat Thins pick up flavor from dried green peppers, onion, garlic, parsley, and spices.  While there is a certain amount of spiciness, it's balanced well with the other flavor notes (noticeable, but not overpowering, if you know what I mean.) The spicy heat has a tendency to build as you munch although it never becomes overpowering. Of the two flavors, Maryanne and Lynnafred liked this one the best.

The salsa flavor just lends itself to snacking. They're great right out of the box, but I liked them under some cottage cheese, with ranch dip, and especially topped with habanero jack cheese.

Spicy Buffalo Wheat Thins get their kick from cayenne pepper sauce, tomato powder, garlic, and paprika. There is the slightest whiff of vinegar in there (an ingredient of the cayenne sauce) but it's almost unnoticeable unless you set your mind to finding it.

As you might expect, there's more of an immediate chile pepper kick from this variety than there is from the Zesty Salsa.  It's a good, warming heat and not a mouth-killing blast, though (if you're a chilehead, the heat from these will register on the low end of your sensors...for the rest of us, the glow will be a notch or so above "mild.")

Here again, the heat builds up on you the more you eat. And true to typical cayenne behavior, that heat stokes up in the back of your throat and might start feeling a little harsh after half a box or so. Of course, you can modulate the heat a little by serving them up with cheese or creamy dips. Spicy Buffalo pairs up nicely with onion dip or a good sharp cheddar.

Spicy Buffalo is my own favorite of the two. Lynnafred, who is very sensitive to vinegar flavoring, didn't care for them very much. That's okay with me, though - it just means that I'll get to have the box all to myself. OM NOM NOM

Both Zesty Salsa and Spicy Buffalo are solid additions to the Wheat Thins line. I don't think you'll be disappointed.