Al's Delicious Popcorn

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

Al's breaks the savory popcorn down in to a few categories.  "Original" I think is their first flavors, just, classic unsalted, plain popcorn, buttered & salted, or a hybrid butter and salt one that uses a different style of kernel.  I didn't try any of these basic flavors.

No popcorn range is complete without cheesy flavors, and here you can find classic cheddar cheese, white cheddar, or parmesan garlic, but also more exciting ones like cheddar pretzel ale, cheeseburger, bacon & cheese, grilled cheese & tomato soup.  A slew of spicy cheesy options abound as well.

Beyond those, the main savory range is 11 flavors strong, ranging from Cincinnati Style chili to dill pickle, to everything in-between (including, everything bagel flavored).  Some potato chip classics like salt & vinegar, sour cream & onion, salt & pepper, and ranch join the ranks here too, along with a few spicy options.

The "Signature" range also includes some savory choices like black truffle, brie & jam, pretzel & mustard, pumpkin soup (!), ramen (!!), and more.

I tried only one savory option, and it wasn't a success, so I'd like to try others, as I think this was just a bad match for me.

Jalapeño.

"For those that ‘like it hot”!  It’s pure jalapeno, so get that water ready!"

The jalapeño uses their "savory popcorn base", with corn kernels as the dominant ingredient, plus a lot of coconut oil and artificial flavor.  In addition, it manages to be 13.7% seasoning - a blend of salt, onion, garlic, cilantro, tomato, and of course, jalapeño.  Bring it on!

I expected to really like this one, as I like spicy things, and I certainly like all the spices involved, but, I think the abundance of spices just rubbed me the wrong way (see what I did there?  Spice rub? Tee hee).  There was just something off tasting about this blend, and it almost seemed cheesy (which, isn't bad, but it was like a stale cheese flavor).

The kernels were huge, fluffy, and well popped, and the pieces were very well coated in the seasoning, but, the seasoning blend just wasn't one I cared for.  I did like the hints of heat when I got them, but the jalapeño was masked by the other spices.  And nobody should put jalapeño in a corner.

*+.

Sweet

Al's has even my insatiable sweet tooth covered.  And then some.  Basic sweet options span from every fruity flavor you can think of (blueberry, blackberry, cherry, green apple, apple pie, caramel apple, grape, lemon, lime, orange, orange creamsicle, pineapple, strawberry, raspberry, watermelon, even banana and pomegranate).  Other sweet options include child favorites like bubble gum, jelly bean, and cotton candy, adult indulgences like butter rum, and basics like caramel, butter pecan, cinnamon, english toffee, and kettle corn.  Their #1 flavor is vanilla butternut, a sweet and creamy option, available in special colors for holidays.

I tried two from this category, and would happily try any others (besides the deathmelon of course!). 

Kettle Corn.

Hmm.

I'll admit that I thought my bag was mislabelled when I had this popcorn.  To me, kettle corn is a fabulous blend of sweet and salty.  It is not supposed to be candied (not like caramel corn), but rather, a lighter style, definitely with sweet element, but, in a more subtle way than a complete candy glaze.  And this?  Sugar heavy.  Every single kernel was entirely coated in sugar.  It made it very crispy (yay!) but, besides not having an actual buttery caramel taste, it sure seemed like caramel corn.  Or ok, candy corn.  Which isn't a bad thing, just, not what I think of as 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.

"Do you know how it is when you eat a batch of blackberries?  Such sweet, delicious flavor!  Every once in a while, though, you bite into that sour one…yuck!  At Al’s Delicious Popcorn, we have that pure Blackberry flavor in every…single…bite!"

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

In addition to the regular sweet and savory lineups, Al's has two additional categories: "Speciality" and "Signature".  These seem to be even more decadent, or unique, flavors?

The Specialty group includes many with nuts (so, more premium I think?), like almond coconut bliss, cinnamon roll with nuts, and peanut butter extreme.    It also has the ones with more drizzles (like birthday cake), mix-ins (cookies & creme or marshmallow charms), or just, uh, crazy (like "breakfast" with bacon, cheese, and french toast flavors all mixed together).  Chocolate lovers will find many options here too, like sinfully chocolate, s'mores, mint chocolate chip, heavenly chocolate, chocolate covered churro, chocolate gold, and more.

There is another category for seasonal offerings as well, which includes all your holidays classics like candy cane, apple pie, eggnog, pumpkin spice, etc, along with fun summer options like pina colada. This category also includes specially colored versions of their number one flavor, vanilla butternut, e.g. a red white and blue version for 4th of July, a red and pink valentine's version, etc.

I tried one from this category and would certainly pick others as they sound so fascinating!

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Buckeye

"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.