Taste buds catch fire

PAPRIKA’S passe. Tabasco’s outdated. Even jalapenos seem old school. These days, pepper-loving people demand peppier peppers, and they have reasons to rejoice, what with seemingly everyone jumping on the chile bandwagon.

Even McDonald’s, which for years rarely served anything spicier than a Shamrock Shake, is now in the midst of a marketing blitz to introduce the new Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It’s a chipotle-dusted, breaded and deep-fried chicken patty served in a honey wheat bun with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.

How good is it? Well, let’s compare it with another fairly new spicy chicken sandwich, also with lettuce, tomato and mayo: the Big Flava Chicken Deluxe Sandwich from Popeyes, a chain that’s been promoting hot peppers since before they were cool.

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Spicy Chicken Sandwich Battle

Taste

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McDonald’s

The Spicy Chicken sandwich certainly looks spicy, but that could just be food coloring. The overly red chicken patty does pack a noticeable punch, though.

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Popeyes

The Chicken Deluxe has a plumper, juicier chicken patty that’s breaded in the cayenne-

laced flour that makes Popeyes fried chicken so distinctive. (There’s a “tame” version too.)

Portability

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McDonald’s

The cute cardboard carton makes this sandwich easy to travel, while the slender, oblong bun makes it easy to handle.

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Popeyes

The sandwich may not be quite as filling as a three-piece meal of Popeyes original chicken, but it’s definitely easier to eat in the car.

Diet Watch

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McDonald’s

At 510 calories and 17 grams of fat, it fares better than most premium fast-food burgers. And if you want it a little skinnier, saying “hold the mayo” allows you to subtract 50 calories and 5 grams of fat.

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Popeyes

Bigger sandwich, more calories. This clocks in at 728 calories and 39 grams of fat, but saying “hold the mayo” will save you a whopping 198 calories and 22 grams of fat. Wow, that’s a lot of mayonnaise!

Hype-o-meter

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McDonald’s

McDonald’s has billboards, radio spots and TV commercials promoting the Spicy Chicken, and the ads all have one thing in common: They’re exceptionally forgettable.

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Popeyes

The Big Flava campaign is equally forgettable, but Popeyes spicy reputation is so dominant that they don’t need to do as much to persuade a true pepper lover to pull over and try one.

Winner: Popeyes, by a slightly inflamed taste bud.

* Ratings are on a scale of zero (lowest) to four (best).