Rating: ©©©-1/2 chips (notable)
Anytime we discover a delectably spicy new snack on our store shelves we pounce on it! We just have to try it! And, when that spicy snack has the words ‘ghost’ and ‘pepper’ in the title, we are even that much more thrilled! Just how excited were we to try J&D’s Ghost Pepper Nacho Popcorn? Well, just imagine how excited you are to try these, multiply that times five, divide by three, add fifteen, carry the one and round to the nearest tenth! Yeah, we were that excited!! But, as so often happens, our inflated expectations were simply too much to live up to. That, or the product just really is only as good as it is. Either way, you get the picture, despite being a perfectly notable popcorn, J&D’s G.P.N.P did not really impress!
First, the positive. The seasoning mixture that amply covers each puffy popcorn kernel is extremely flavorful. First, and most prominently, is the cheddar cheese aspect of the nacho flavor. The yellow dusting adds a deliciously salty and tangy presence that we all have come to love on popcorn. Next, we definitely noticed a decent amount of garlic. Apparently, garlic + cheese = nacho. Who knew? Of course there is the heat in the background, but we will get to that below. The popcorn kernels were large, white and dare we say plumpy. They had a bit of chew, and “meat” to them. A tad bit on the dry side, but the cheese seasoning helped combat that. So, there you have it, Spicy Nacho Popcorn. Decent enough. But, oh yeah, wait, this is supposed to be GHOST PEPPER Nacho Popcorn. Let us proceed.
As you probably already know, we like our heat here at Chip Review. No, we love our heat. And, for most of us, we can handle our heat too. Which is why we are so disappointed when a popcorn calls itself ghost pepper, and yet we could have devoured the entire bag without so much as a glance towards a glass of milk. In a blind taste test, we may have guessed that this popcorn was supposed to be jalapeno cheddar flavored, but certainly not ghost pepper, and really not even anything close to habanero heat. Don’t get us wrong, there is some heat to this popcorn. After a few handfuls the backs of our throats did burn a little bit. But again, a “little bit” is not usually the words used to describe the heat level of the ghost pepper. Come’on, there is even a bottle of ghost pepper hot sauce on the front of the bag. Bring the heat already!!
J&D’s could definitely take a few pointers from Paqui’s Tortilla Chips. Let’s just say, we were hoping for, and really expecting, a reaction a little bit more like the one we had to Paqui’s chips: “…we cannot convey the heat level of these chips to you accurately. Our chests felt like we had a bad case of heartburn, our lips felt like a layer of salt had sat on them all day, and our mouths felt like they were on fire! Luckily, after a couple (probably 10) glasses of milk, a few (probably 10) cold pancakes from the fridge, and some time (approximately who knows how many minutes we may have blacked out), the heat finally began to subdue, and our bodies began to adjust to normalcy.”
We rest our case, and we will leave it at that. The popcorn was flavorful, just not spicy.
As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.
Discovered at World Market; Oakbrook, Illinois
Chip Ratings Scale:
(1/4 increments)
© – return to sender
©© – tolerable
©©© – notable
©©©© – lip-smacking
©©©©© – “A” list
Chip Review 