Taste Test: White Cheddar Popcorn

 

    Popcorn has always been an essential snack for movie days here in my household. These crunchy and freshly popped kernels seem to contribute something special to our viewing experiences. Regular microwavable popcorn has usually been my family's go-to choice, but I've recently been craving white cheddar popcorn to have during our movie experiences.

    I went to my local grocery store in search of a variety of different white cheddar popcorn options. I found three options that were distributed by three different brands. All three were essentially the same product, but I wanted to test which was the best based on three main factors:

1. How cheesy the popcorn tasted
2. How soft the popcorn was
3. And how messy the popcorn was to eat

    To prevent bias, I had a friend lay out all three popcorn options on a plate without mentioning to me what popcorn belonged to which brand. She used colorful sticky notes to indicate which popcorn was associated with each brand for a later reveal. To avoid mixing any of the flavors while taste testing I decided to drink some water between each taste.

    In truth, the popcorn didn't differ all that much in appearance. They all looked like white, crunchy popcorn. However, one of the three popcorn options admittedly had a more visible layer of white cheddar coated on it. I couldn't see the white cheddar on the other two options as easily. Despite this one particular difference, all of the popcorn looked like tasty treats that could easily be enjoyed.

    The first popcorn I tried was the one I noted to have the most visible layer of white cheddar. This popcorn was distinctly very cheesy, which I liked! I kept eating one piece after the next just for how delightfully cheesy they were. Each popped kernel was soft yet crunchy. They didn't have any large pieces of unpopped kernels to bite into. The one downside I noted with this popcorn is that after a while white cheddar dust began to accumulate on my fingers, so napkins were needed in order to avoid making a mess.

    The second popcorn I tried was cheesy but not as distinctly cheesy as the first popcorn. I had to actually eat a few pieces before I fully tasted the white cheddar. This one was just as soft as the other popcorn and didn't have any hard or difficult pieces to chew. This popcorn was definitely not as messy as the first popcorn, but I didn't think the lack of a mess managed to outweigh the taste of the first popcorn.

    The third popcorn was admittedly my least favorite popcorn. With this popcorn, I couldn't even taste the white cheddar. It just tasted like bland popcorn. It still had some good qualities. They were soft and crunchy with no hard pieces of unpopped kernels. And they weren't messy to eat either. But my whole point in buying white cheddar popcorn is to taste white cheddar. This one fell short compared to the other two.

    After tasting all the popcorn options, I concluded that I liked the first option the best. Even if it was messier, the distinctly cheesy taste of it alone outweighed the messy factor.

    My friend revealed to me that my top pick was from Smartfood. The second option was from Central Market and my third and least favorite option was from Skinny Pop. I will be sure to buy Smartfood popcorn for myself, but if others would like a less cheesy option I would buy Central Market popcorn. While Skinny Pop will not be on future grocery lists.