BIJOU-REVIEW: Pelican Bay Trading Company – White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

We crossed paths with this popcorn while visiting St. Louis a couple of weeks back.

That’s right, just some random bag of white cheddar cheese popcorn named after a famous prison…. we kid.  Named after a bay in California (we assume).

Honestly, we can’t find anything about this popcorn on the internet…

The popcorn itself was pretty good.

Full sturdy body to the popcorn.  Not your super light and crispy.  These kernels had some meat and chew to them.

The white cheddar cheese seasoning was both white, and tasted sufficiently like cheddar cheese powder; so, win-win.

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

Popcorn discovered at Quik Trip; Clayton, Missouri

Cannot determine an official website….

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: Uncle Ray’s – Lightly Salted Popcorn

Rating: ©©© chips  (notable)

Lightly salted popcorn is right.

Really, not much more to say.

Light, airy, crispy, bright white kernels.

Very little fat content, and lightly salted.

Uncle Ray’s popcorn is perfectly snackable, if you are looking for any something to crunch on; but it is certainly nothing special, and also nothing we would be choosing over most other RTE popcorn on the market.

These are our thoughts.  Let us know if you agree or not.

Popcorn discovered at Amoco; Villa Park, Illinois

Uncle Ray’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: Poppin Popcorn – Texas Cheddar Habanero Popcorn

Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips (lip-smacking)

We are all familiar with the occasional school fundraiser. Either the local kid stops by the Chip Review headquarters and asks us to buy a wreath, or a candle, to help pay for his trip to Mount Rushmore, or a coworker brings their kid’s fundraiser pamphlet into the office and simply plunks it on your desk to avoid the awkwardness of them asking you to buy some of their kid’s crappy treats to help their school afford the new football field.

Well, as you have probably guessed it, we scored this popcorn through a local fundraiser, and believe it or not, it was almost worth its over-inflated fundraiser price!

Now, we are fairly certain that this is no Non-GMO popcorn (NNGMO).  As the popcorn itself is HUGE!

As for the Texas Cheddar Habanero seasoning, well that is definitely the star of the show.

Ultra cheesy!  A tangy and salty cheddar cheese powder liberally coated every single kernel.

Poppin Popcorn was not joking about the habanero aspect, as this stuff did in fact bring the heat on the tail end.  We couldn’t actually taste any habanero, but we could feel it.

Most tasters agreed that this stuff was lip-smacking, and overall it tasted like an extra spicy cheddar buffalo seasoning – which paired very well with popcorn.

So, the next time your co-worker approaches you with their kid’s fundraiser packet let this be known that inside those pages there may in fact be a hidden gem that is practically worth the price!

Popcorn purchased from a school fundraiser

Poppin Popcorn Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: G.H. Cretors – Chile Jalapeño White Cheddar Organic Popped Corn

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

We certainly would not consider ourselves pessimists here at Chip Review, but upon opening G.H.’s bag of popcorn to the left, we would also certainly call this bag more than half empty with popcorn, or should we say not nearly half full.

In G.H. Cretors’ defense , we’re sure that there is some sort of logistical transport reasoning behind their bag-to-popcorn-to-air ratio, but quite frankly we found this bag’s fill level pretty disappointing.

Luckily the bag was filled with some pretty tasty popcorn!

Large white fluffy popcorn kernels, coated in a savory, slightly funky, white cheddar cheese powder.

Despite the mention of two types of spicy ingredients – both generic “chile pepper”, in addition to jalapeño – we really didn’t get very much chile flavor, or heat from the popcorn.

The white cheddar cheese seasoning did a fairly good job of making up for the lack of heat.  A rich, and creamy, and tangy white cheese powder that sufficiently coated the popcorn.

Is this the greatest popcorn?  No.  Is it more than adequately eatable?  Yes.

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

Popcorn discovered at Whole Foods; Elmhurst, Illinois

G.H. Cretors Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Trader Joe’s – Bollywood Popcorn (Vegan Tikka Masala)

Rating: ©©©©-1/2 chips (lip-smacking)

Is Tikka Masala the new BBQ or Cheddar?  Most likely not, but the Indian flavor does seem to be picking up some traction, as Trader Joe’s Bollywood Popcorn is the second Tikka Masala flavored snack that we have reviewed in as many months.  We can tell you without a doubt, that TJ’s snack version of the flavor, is easily the far superior one!

Every year Trader Joe’s always seems to knock a couple of their new snacks out of the park – last year we loved their Ghost Pepper Lattice Cut Kettle Cooked Potato Chips and the Partially Popped Popcorn …with Butter & Sea Salt, and two years ago it was their Potato Chips with South African Style Seasoning, this year we already praised their Somewhat Spicy Dill flavored Kettle Cooked Potato Chips – and it is fair to say that TJ’s Bollywood Popcorn has joined this lip-smacking list!

To accurately describe to you what exactly this popcorn tastes like we would have to have a much better understanding of Indian cuisine overall.  So, rather that do a half-popped job with that we are just going to plagiarize a few key descriptive words from What’s Good at Trader Joe’s review:

“a big, aromatic cloud of cloves and cumin and garam masala, which quickly laid to rest how potent the seasoning might be on a simple popcorn base… Potent is an understatement. My goodness. The best way I can explain it is a “happy heat.” …it builds slowly but surely, with a lot of warmth, and it just lingers on and on, but it’s never overbearing.”

We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves, and so we didn’t.  The popcorn is amazingly fragrant, dusted perfectly with those exotic spices.  And it certainly brings a slightly spicy, steady warmth after a few handfuls.  But above all else, we would describe the popcorn as balanced, and extremely SAVORY.  We just loved it!  If you like popcorn, then you owe it to yourself to give this stuff a try!!

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

Popcorn discovered at Trader Joe’s; Oak Park, Illinois

Trader Joe’s Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

REVIEW: Dimo’s – Truffle Butter Popcorn

Rating: ©-1/2 – ©©©©-1/2 chips  (return to sender to lip-smacking – depending)

Just the other day we stumbled upon this popcorn while actually trying to grab a few slices of pizza.  That’s right, Dimo’s is much better known for their huge selection of pizza by the slice.  But, because we also do what we do, we had to grab a bag of this New! Truffle Butter Popcorn.

It was one of those busy days so we grabbed a handful of slices for the road and just planned on warming them up at the HQ.  We’ve pretty much perfected the re-heat of pizza at Chip Review.  Pizza stone under the broiler for 20 minutes, turn off broiler, place room temp pizza directly on stone, heat for 5 minutes – crispy crust, warmed toppings, melty cheese – perfection.

While we waited for pizza stone to get piping hot we thought we would give Dimo’s New! Truffle Butter Popcorn a taste.  We tore open the cute brown paper bag to see that the popcorn also was coated with some herbs and what appeared to be parmesan cheese.  We popped a few kernels int our mouths to discover that the popcorn was completely stale and soggy.  Practically inedible.  We all looked around at each other to confirm the disappointment.  Yep, unanimous.  But then, almost also as simultaneously we all looked towards the over.  Could this popcorn be save?!  We spread it out onto a baking sheet and threw it into the piping hot oven on the rack below the pizza stone….

A couple of minutes passed, we grabbed the sheet pan from the oven and set it on top of the stove.  We could hear the butter on the popcorn crackling and sizzling.  The popcorn looked alive again.  We let it cool for as long as we could wait and then we dug in.  A transformation miracle!  The popcorn was once again fresh, and crispy, and delicious!!

You may or may not have noticed above that we had given Dimo’s popcorn two different ratings, and now you know the reason why.  One was based on the popcorn directly out of the cute, but useless (as far as freshness goes), brown paper bag; and another rating for after we had baked the popcorn for a few minutes.  We’re pretty sure that we have never done this before, but we thought, what the heck – we had also never bought truffle butter flavored popcorn from a pizza slice joint in Wicker Park before……

As for the flavoring of the popcorn, it was really delicious.  Dimo’s popcorn definitely exuded more aromatic truffle essence than any other truffle flavored popcorns we have tried.  Coupled with the rich butter, and salty cheese, the popcorn really is fantastic (after it is warmed up).

Popcorn discovered at Dimo’s Pizza; Wicker Park-Chicago, Illinois

Dimo’s Pizza Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list

BIJOU-REVIEW: Chef’s Shoppe – Salsa Cheese Popcorn

Rating: ©©©-1/2 chips  (notable)

Anytime Chip Review’s all too generous friends bring them back the latest new popcorn creation from Chef’s Shoppe Gourmet Kitchen Store our mouths begin to water.

Unfortunately, this is not one of Chef’s Shoppe’s best offerings by a long shot….but then again it’s not fair to think that every new flavor we try from them will be as fantastically delicious as their Sriracha, or Beer, or Bacon Cheddar popcorn offerings.

Chef’s Shoppe’s Salsa Cheese flavored popcorn suffers from the same faults as a very few of their other flavors also do.

A touch too salty.  And we love salt.

Too cheesy.  Too cheesy?  Yep, that’s right, in this case the cheese powder completely overwhelms any sense of salsa flavors there may be.

Nacho Cheese in disguise.  The only other flavor that we could actually distinguish was some essence of chile pepper.  Maybe jalapeño.  Combine this with the loads of cheese, and all our minds could think was NACHO CHEESE (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not what we were hoping for).

Of course Chef’s Shoppe’s popcorn itself was top notch as usual.  Crispy, and fresh, and expertly coated in seasoning.  But, all we were thinking the whole time we were eating this flavor was why we hadn’t just gotten bigger bags of those other great flavors mentioned above?!

Popcorn provided to Chip Review by J & V for review

Chef’s Shoppe Official Website

Chip Ratings Scale:

(1/4 increments)

© – return to sender

©© – tolerable

©©© – notable

©©©© – lip-smacking

©©©©© – “A” list