Is it me or have family cinema trips turned into one of the most expensive outings ever? Not content with simply going along and heavens forbid only watching a film, these days my lot want snacks…. a LOT of snacks. And before you know it you’re having to take out a second mortgage for some pick and mix and a supersized bucket of sub standard popcorn.
And that’s what I’ve got real beef with I guess; the popcorn. It sits there on full display already popped and waiting to be scooped into the big containers, because come on they always manage to convince you to go extra large because of the money it supposedly ‘saves’ you, and then whatever doesn’t get dropped on the floor gets hoovered up in mere seconds and then the kids are baying for more. It’s stale, bland, doesn’t fill you up and just an altogether unsatisfying food experience. Yep, me and popcorn got beef!
As part of our bid to save some money, we’ve started having family movie nights at home every week, where we’re introducing the kids to some of the old classics – so far we’ve covered Jurassic Park, My Girl, The Goonies and all the Harry Potter’s (goes without saying!) – and of course there needs to be some accompanying snacks (also goes without saying).
So imagine my absolute delight, combined with perhaps a smidgen of cynicism, when I got sent a boxload of gourmet popcorn from Popcorn Shed.
Family movie night just got interesting…
Is British Popcorn Even A Thing?
Yep, turns out it is. Home grown, handcrafted and handmade in a garden shed, Popcorn Shed is the UK’s first super-premium popcorn brand. And boy is the brand on point. Super stylish packaging, bright eye catching colours, seriously cute shed shaped boxes, and flavour names that are quite frankly genius (more on that later). In terms of how Popcorn Shed popcorn looks the company really can’t have done any better. But as we all know, you can’t judge a book by its cover and no amount of awesome design is gonna turn you into a repeat buyer and brand superfan if the contents aren’t up to scratch. So let’s take a look at those flavours.
There are currently 7 flavours available in the Popcorn Shed range all of which are made with high quality natural ingredients that are gluten free, GMO free and suitable for vegetarians. Now, as someone who can pretty much take or leave popcorn let’s just say I’m a fairly harsh taste tester to convince, so let’s see how tasty this popcorn really is!
Taste Test Time
Salted Caramel – I love salted caramel everything, so it seemed only right to kick it off with this flavour. Unfortunately my daughter, who is also a salted caramel lover, managed to get her grubby mitts on it before me and I only managed to get one bite. But thank goodness I did, because this caramel popcorn is melt in the mouth dreamy. Sweet, salty, caramel combined with Belgian milk chocolate it is unlike any popcorn I have ever tasted before. Seriously good!
Say Cheese! – This is full on cheesy business. Like sucking on a dirty great big old lump of cheddar with a satisfying crunch to boot. I don’t usually go in for cheesy flavoured things, but I gotta admit these are proper lush! Perfect little nibble with a glass of red – it would be a crime not too.
Berry-licious – Oozing in sophistication, this is the decadent one, the dark and mysterious one, sweet and seductive and berry, berry delicious! Dark chocolate, raspberries it is super yummy and feels super grown up. Enjoy a packet on its own or go all out with your breakfast and sprinkle on top of your porridge.
Butterly Nuts – Sweet popcorn mixed with salty popcorn, this is literally like a salty bag of peanuts in popcorn form. Delicious! The balance is absolutely spot on and the crunch from the nuts is highly addictive. I’m thinking peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake topped with this popcorn would create the BEST dessert ever – now who wants to go away and make one for me. 😉
Pop ‘N’ Choc – There’s none of this lightly coated in cocoa powder shenanigans going on here, this is full on smothered in chocolate goodness and it is to die for. Chocolate lovers rejoice for this is chocolate heaven for just under 120 calories a 24g pack and as a self professed chocoholic it is satisfying on every level.
Sweet Cheesus – Woah, woah, woah what’s going on here then… cheese? and sweet popcorn? together? Say what!?!? My first bite was cheese, it tasted kind of like the Say Cheese! flavour so nothing different or unusual as such, but then hang on a popcorn picking minute, a second bite gives me sweet caramel popcorn – what’s going on!?! A lot of exclamations, a whole heap of questions, this flavour is the Russian Roulette of the popcorn world, It’s the flavour for people who like to live their life on the edge. It’s the risky one. It really is the “sweet cheesus what is this!” and you will either love it or hate it. I’m still very much undecided…
Pecan Pie – Delish on every level. Sweet, nutty, buttery, simply everything I could possible want from a popcorn and more. One of my fave flavours, so much so that I came up with this Pecan Pie Popcorn Smoothie recipe to show it off in all its glory.
Popcorn Shed popcorn has shaken up my popcorn world and trust me I don’t say that very often. I can honestly say that I have never tasted such flavoursome popcorn as this before. Other brands merely hint at a flavour, but every single one of these flavours leap out the packet and smack you round the chops with their intensity. What they’re labeled as is EXACTLY what you get – there’s no messing about. This is popcorn with personality and I simply haven’t got a bad word to say about it and I promise you… I looked!
Find out more about Popcorn Shed by popping on over to @popcorn shed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
*products gifted for honest review.
