REVIEW: Popcorners – Sweet Cinnamon Popped Whole Grain Chips

Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips  (notable)

Comments:

“The New Shape of Popcorn Whole Grain”

What exactly was the old shape of Whole Grain?

Maybe to answer that question, we must first understand what whole grain represents in this case.  According to the ingredients list on the back of PopCorner’s bag, the whole grains in this instance are none other then the infamous sorghum grain?  That’s right, sorghum; and we’re not talking about what you get from eating too much beef jerky.  According to Wikipedia: sorghum “is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants, either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide.”  As far as we know, these are officially the first line of chips that we have ever tasted made from a species of grass….

For the most part we are huge fans of the cinnamon and sugar combination.  The perfect harmony of the sweet, salty and earthy aromatic notes come together with supreme balance.  Personally, we always loved the combination best when it also included a fatty element, such as butter with our toast, or butter with our cinnamon roll, or melted butter with our Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal….(JK)?!?  However, these snack companies are messing with our minds a little bit. They are taking iconic flavors from our youth (knowing we associate them with happy memories), and combining them with savory snacks that we associate with our salty youths.  Either way you sprinkle it the combination seems like it just can’t lose.

The rustic whole grain chips consist of a unique monotone mixture of colors, that somehow includes hues of light greys and steely blues in certain spots.  Their mouth feel is light and crispy, without being very hard or dense.  They work perfectly adequate as crunchy flavor delivering devices, but in the end do not deliver the type of crunch, texture and richness that we like to get from our chips.

The cinnamon and sugar flavor combination seems to work just fine with these chips.  The two aren’t quite as natural of a fit as pretzels with cinnamon and sugar, but do seem more natural than potato chips dusted with cinnamon and sugar.  From the very second these hit our tongues, it was undeniable what flavor they were.  We are guessing that 9 out of 10 tasters would identify this combination in a blind taste test.  So, the prerequisite cinnamon and sugar are present, but as tasty as they always are on their own, we really wish there was a lot more salt to cut through the sweetness, and balance out the combo (while reminding us that we are also eating a chip).

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Chips provided to Chip Review from PopCorners for review

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

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