A cornerstone of snack culture, popcorn is a light and fluffy snack that’s relatively harmless to eat by the handful. At least until a company like Pop Works & Co. starts putting delicious stuff all over it.
Popcorn is a wondrous snack. It begins as a small kernel with a watertight outer shell and starchy insides. When heat is applied the insides expand, bursting forth to form a delicious bit of whiteness that’s only a dash of salt away from greatness. Between this magical transmutation, a low calorie per stuff ratio and its power to make any company break room smell like death if burnt its no wonder popcorn is such a powerful force in snacking circles.
Pop Works & Company, like many snack makers before it, would like to harness that power for profit. And since anyone can make plain popcorn, they’re getting all fancy with their new line of “party-worthy” popcorn flavors.
There are actually three flavors in the line, now available for shipping straight to your door (because shipping to someone else’s door seldom makes sense)—Salted Caramel & Fudge, Cookies & Cream and Birthday Cake. I’m guessing they meant to send along one of each and accidentally sent two bags of Salted Caramel & Fudge and one Cookies & Cream by mistake. That, or they only ship things with ampersands.
Of the two, Salted Caramel & Fudge is the definite standout. It plays it safe with a tried-and-true popcorn coating sure, but the caramel coating is just the right thickness—not so thick that you get hard bits, not so thin that it’s nearly insubstantial and by extension inconsequential. I’ve eaten a lot of coated popcorns that get that ration wrong, but only once.
A strong chocolate fudge hit mellows into caramel warmth. It’s a smooth transition, sort of a moonwalk in my mouth. The salted bit manifests as a little friend that pops up here and there—surprising but quite welcome.
Pop Works Cookies & Cream falls into the same trap as many other cookies and cream products—lots of cream, not much in the way of cookie. The crumb dust is obviously there. You can see it in the photos and video. But just because you can see something doesn’t mean you can taste it. That’s a lesson I learned the hard way. I won;t go into details. You probably shouldn’t attempt to imagine it.
It’s a fine tasting coated popcorn, mind you. The cream drizzle and white fudge glaze are milky and soft. They just overpower any hint of chocolate cookie that I expected to be present. It’s more Dark Brown Dust & Cream than Cookies & Cream.
Tasty popcorn is still tasty, even if one bag isn’t quite the tasty I had hoped for. Tasty popcorn shipped to your door at a price of $15.99 for three substantial bags (all of which can be Salted Caramel & Fudge if you so choose) is tasty and pretty darn convenient.
Snacktaku is Kotaku’s take on the wild and wonderful world of eating things, but not eating meals. Eating meals is for those with too much time on their hands.
To contact the author of this post write to fahey@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @bunnyspatial.