Jimmy John’s just released a fiery new limited-time item, the Firecracker Wrap, along with a new flavor of house-brand potato chips called Firecracker Jimmy Chips. If the “Firecracker” name didn’t give it away, both items are indeed meant to lure you in with spiciness, a trend which has been a lately. The Firecracker Wrap brings the heat from the outside in, because it all starts with a red jalapeño tortilla as a base.
It’s filled with turkey, salami, ghost pepper cheese, garlic aioli, Jimmy Peppers, and more, but the real gimmick is that the new Firecracker Jimmy Chips are crushed up inside the wrap as well. How does the Jimmy John’s Firecracker Wrap taste? The Firecracker Wrap ($11.29 at the location nearest me) is a loud, flamin’ hot shade of red.
It’s not particularly heavy on the cheese and meat but still has some physical heft to it thanks to the weight of the tortilla. Upon my first bite, I was puzzled — for all the color, there’s a troubling lack of actual flavor in this thing. Most of it comes from the acidic punch of the Jimmy Peppers, but otherwise, even the saltiness of the salami barely breaks through.
I even plucked out a piece of ghost pepper cheese to see how it tastes by itself; it’s also strangely bland. But to my surprise, a creeping heat started to kick in after a few bites, and it hung around at a medium-high level through the duration of my lunch. The Firecracker Wrap at least brings the spice it advertises, but I still can’t ge.
