Al's Delicious popcorn is a popcorn manufacturer based in Cincinnati, OH. I haven't ever been to Cincinnati, but I think it is pretty well known there. They've been in business since 1985, and still make everything in small batches.
"Our philosophy is simple: Gourmet, Handcrafted and Exceptional."
There was one thing that immediately stood out to me when I learned about Al's. The vast number of flavors of popcorn they make. 65 flavors of popcorn. ZOMG. Really, there is something for, uh, absolutely everyone here (and yes, some flavors are totally whacky).
Special Delivery! |
A friend who knows how obsessed (yes, this is the correct word choice) I am with snacks, and in particular, popcorn, and lives in Cincinnati sent me a gift pack of 4 flavors: 2 sweet, 1 savory, 1 salty-sweet. I was glad to try the brand, as the popcorn was good, and I'd love to try more flavors, particularly some of the more ridiculous sounding ones!
Savory
Jalapeño. |
"For those that ‘like it hot”! It’s pure jalapeno, so get that water ready!"
Sweet
Kettle Corn. |
It turns out, the kettle corn uses their "sweet popcorn base"which is made up of more sugar than popcorn kernals. Seriously. 45.1% sugar, 16.7% corn syrup, and only 18.5% corn kernels. The rest is water (12.4%?) and oils and a touch of salt. Besides the water that I don't quite understand, this at least explains what I experienced taste-wise. Yes, this was sugary candy coated popcorn. Salt (or, sodium bicarbonate) is the last ingredient, but honestly, I didn't taste it.
So, as a kettle corn, this was not a success. When I reach for kettle corn, I want something not as decadent as caramel corn, I want something that keeps me oscillating between sweet and salty and unable to stop. But this was just sweet. Sugary, sugar sweet. A small handful and it made my teeth ache. That said, when I wanted something sweet, I quite liked it. I finished the whole bag, easily - as evidenced by the tiny bit left when I remembered to take a photo! But I certainly wouldn't consider it kettle corn. If I wanted kettle corn, I think this would be more enjoyable if I mixed it 25% this flavor and 75% simple salty popcorn to balance it out a bit.
* as kettle corn, *** as candy corn.
Blackberry. |
Next, the brilliant purple colored blackberry.
The blackberry, just like the kettle corn, uses the sweet popcorn base that is basically sugar/corn syrup coated popcorn. I think it might have had butter as well? No salt component. This one has added Blue #1 and "natural flavors". It appears no blackberries were harmed in the making of this popcorn.
In this case, I did expect it to basically be candy corn, just, purple-ish, and likely with some slight berry flavor, so the fact that it was 60+% sugar didn't bother me. I was pleased to find that while it was definitely candied, it somehow wasn't cloying sweet. It wasn't nearly as sweet or candied as most caramel corn. Which also meant, it was way way too easy to eat far too much of this in one sitting.
Which I did. Because I loved this one. It was a fascinating experience to eat, because my brain screamed, "grape!" with every piece I picked up, clearly having strong associations with purple candy meaning it was grape flavored. Then the piece would hit my tongue, and my brain would backpedal, screaming, "No! Wait, blueberry!", clearly jumping to the next best guess. I never got a strong blackberry taste to it, but, it was berry flavored for sure, and, like I said, candied sweet, but, a very very enjoyable sweet.
This one also did seem to have a bit of a buttery base to it, although the ingredients didn't imply there was butter, so it must have just been the oils. It made it eat rather decadent-like, but not in a gross way. I really really enjoyed this, finished the bag in no time flat, and can't wait to try their other fruity options.
I'd get this again, although really would probably mix it up and try another fruity flavor. ****. I think this was my favorite of the flavors I tried, but, really, it was a close tie with the next one.
Specialty
"OK…we are going to be frank with you! Buckeye is our most time-consuming popcorn to make! However, it is worth every single bite! We start with a delicious gourmet popcorn base, then we melt chocolate and peanut butter over the top while it’s still hot! The result is that perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter! Gourmet? Yes! Delicious? Oh yes!"
I somehow didn't get a photo of this one, because I was busy devouring it. I meant to go back and take a photo once I opened the bag, but, uh, the next thing I knew, it was gone. Ooops.
This was a dangerous flavor. I mean, chocolate and peanut butter is a great combo in general, and this was completely decadent, completely sweet and lightly savory and salty at the same time. The pieces were very heavily coated in chocolate and peanut butter, much like the best versions of muddy buddies (or puppy chow, if you know it by that name), but, as popcorn instead of Chex mix, and without the powdered sugar - which wasn't needed as it used the sweet popcorn base. It was the kind of snack that most certainly should be treated as a full on dessert, not just a casual little snack, and yet ... I somehow devoured it even after eating a regular dessert prior. It was just too good. This was considerably better than the puppy chow popcorn I recently had from POParazzi in Houston.
****, and I was definitely glad to have this one in my mix. Near tie for first place.
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