Stella Popcorn

Another day, another new popcorn brand to review!  Such is life, when you are ... addicted to popcorn.  And snacks and munchies in general like I am.

Stella is a bit of a departure from my regular popcorn brands, in that ... it is from Thailand.  I discovered it in Singapore.

"The first taste of Stella Popcorn came about one day as Stella was popping popcorn over the flame and her mama pulled out a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from her hometown on the island of Sicily, a Mediterranean haven for plump and decadent olives. A good bottle of olive oil is multi-dimensional: vibrant, crisp, and distinctive. Real olive oil speaks highly of its provenance."

Stella Popcorn is different from most popcorn, as it uses olive oil, with a focus on quality extra virgin olive oil (and of course is non-GMO, gluten-free, etc).  This goes for all flavors produced.

And speaking of those flavors, the lineup is pretty unique: the most "normal" would be the simple mediterranean sea salt, or perhaps the sour cream & chives or parmesan cheese, but the range is generally savory and herby.  Think roasted garlic, rosemary 'n herb, tomato 'n basil, and the like.  And then there is ... calamari.  Or, the one I was able to try: honey mustard.  They make no products besides the popcorn.

I'd like to try more flavors, you know, next time I'm able to get popcorn from Thailand ...

Honey Mustard Popcorn

"With a well-balanced of sweetness from the popcorns and a tinge of spiciness from the honey mustard, this snack is well loved by everyone."
I really couldn't wrap my head around this popcorn.

I love honey mustard.  I love popcorn.  I adore honey mustard snacks (like Snyder's, my total goto weakness or Harvey's Pretzels, which were even better!).  So you'd think this would be perfect for me.  I wanted it to be!

But these didn't combine as magically as I wanted.  It was ... odd.  Not bad, but not clearly good.

The popcorn was very well popped.  Big kernels, fluffy.  Great popcorn, really.

The flavor was intense honey mustard, definitely on the sweet side.  Along with the mustard and honey were thyme and parsley for a slight herbaciousness, and even nonfat milk, which I think gave it a somewhat ... "creamy" feel, if that can make any sense.  Oh, and sugar.  There was sugar in addition to the honey (powder).  It was almost too intense though.

I liked the popcorn considerably more frozen - more crunchy, a bit more mellow - but when I got a particularly strong one, it was still just a bit much.  I think it would go *fabulous* in a mix, or perhaps served alongside the right thing (like, uh, pickles and bologna?), but as an individual snack food, it was always just slightly too strong for me ...