Review: Pepper Jack Cheez-It

It goes without saying that Cheez-It crackers are superior to Cheese Nips or whatever other stupid name wants to compete with them. And Cheez-It already has a wide assortment of flavors: Hot & Spicy, White Cheddar, Cheddar Jack, Parmesan Garlic and two Duoz boxes, with two flavors in one.

But that didn't stop them from coming out with Pepper Jack!


As soon as I saw them I threw a box in my cart. But later I was thinking, wouldn't Hot & Spicy already taste like spicy cheese? how will this be different?

As you can see in this review, the crackers do contain little flecks of peppers (or whatever they really are). I started eating them and right away I was disappointed. The flavor was okay. It was sort of generically spicy, it didn't scream pepper jack but it wasn't bad. No, the dealbreaker was the texture. These crackers were significantly harder, and the "stamped" border was very pronounced. I felt like these were even a smidge smaller than they should be. The end result was a hard, brittle unsatisfactory Cheez-It.

Or is this all in my head?

Basically since my spicy Cheez-It craving had only been teased and not satisfied, I went back and got a box of Hot & Spicy. Right away this box seemed like the crackers were bigger, and the perfect flaky texture. Of course it was crispy and not soft, but you felt like it would be easy to smash with your fingers. The Pepper Jack were so solid that they didn't have any flaky goodness.

So my verdict is if you want a spicy Cheez-It, go with the classic. Even if Pepper Jack is a more appetizing name.