It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a popcorn addict. I pop my own salt and pepper popcorn and have as part of my lunch every day at work. My office initially thought I was bonkers but now they’ve come to accept my weird little obsession.
Along with my more simple popcorn, I love trying the different flavours that have come out as well. There’s definitely been an explosion of popcorn in the past few years. No longer is it just the butter and sugar drenched stuff you buy to pop yourself and eat at home while watching a film or buy jumbo buckets of at the cinema. Recent flavours out there have also fully embraced the salty sweet flavour combo that is in full force at the moment too. It’s a match made in heaven in my eyes!
Portlebay Popcorn do a range of popcorn flavours called Kracklecorn which is “hand popped” in Devon.
Kracklecorn is where they’ve added raw cane sugar as the grains are popping which makes the popcorn more brittle and crunchy. They sent me a fabulous selection of popcorn flavours to test out and review. Honestly, I was blown away by the variety they had!
I’ve previously tried the Crispy Bacon and Maple Syrup flavour and adored it so I knew that flavour would be fine. But Lemon Sherbet? Very Berry? That sounds mental! The three new flavours that Portlebay have released are Very Berry, Cinnamon Swirl and Lemon Sherbet.
The Lemon Sherbet flavour was fairly subtle – don’t expect to get your head blown off. But it did have that tangy lemonness and fizziness you’d expect from the original sweet and it went so well with the popcorn. It tasted delicious!. It was my second favourite flavour (the maple bacon still has my heart).
The Very Berry flavour was equally as subtle and extremely tasty. There were hints of berry-ness without it being overwhelming. 
The Cinnamon Swirl I was initially not sure about. It tasted very “American” if you know what I mean. It smelt quite synthetic. Cinnamon isn’t a huge flavour in the UK (unless it’s Christmas), unlike the US, and it reminded me of the sweet cinnamon things you can easily eat over there but not so much here. After a few bits I decided I did like it. Again, subtle flavours.
The one flavour I wasn’t sure about was the Smoked Cheddar. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t awful but it was just odd. It had a cheesy flavour but was still slightly sweet. I don’t think I’d have this flavour again, but I wouldn’t throw it back at someone if they offered me some!
I won’t go into the nutritional details for all the popcorn but I’ll give you an example.
Cinnamon Swirl (per 25g)
- Calories: 111 calories
- Protein: 1.3g
- Fat: 4g
- Of which saturates: 0.3g
- Carbohydrate: 16.2g
- Of which sugars: 7g
- Fibre: 2.7g
- Salt: 0.1g
The range of calories per bag for the flavours is around 110-115 calories, so less than a packet of crisps and nice and filling with the fibre. The ingredients lists are also fairly clean without any nasty, strange sounding chemicals. They’re not vegan (they contain lactose) but they are gluten free.
By far Portlebay are the best range of popcorn I’ve had. The crunchiness of the actual popcorn gives a nice eating experience (does that make sense?) and the flavours are really good. Big thumbs up from this popcorn addict! I just cannot buy bigger bags though as I won’t stop eating.
What’s your favourite popcorn flavour?
What do you snack on when you’ve got the munchies?
What’s the weirdest flavour you’ve tried (of anything!)?
***Full Disclosure: I was sent the popcorn for free to review. All opinions are my own honest ones.***
I love how popcorn has become ‘posh’ recently with all of these new gourmet flavours. The funky packaging is great, although I’m not sure how I feel about lemon sherbet popcorn.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes recently posted…Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
It’s very subtle and not overpowering. Just a bit more of a jazzy sweet and salty popcorn really.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
Oh wow these sound amazing! I’m definitely a sweet and salty girl so would have to go for maple bacon 🙂
Pip {Cherries & Chisme} recently posted…Looking Forward: June
It’s SO good.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
I loveee popcorn. It has become my snack of choice, too! They have SO many flavors, that’s incredible. I usually stick with the classic sea salt. I do love a good cheese popcorn though (you need to get it from Wisconsin otherwise it’s weird, ha).
Lora @ Crazy Running Girl recently posted…Three things Thursday
Oooh I bet you guys have loads of good flavours in the US!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
popcorn is the best!! i always feel like a bag of it is never enough though… i always need a massive bowl of it to keep me happy. but i love all the different flavors that seem to be ‘popping’ up. ahahah
Beverley @ sweaty&fit recently posted…Matcha Smoothie Bowl
Haha yeah I can’t be trusted around huge bowls of popcorn…dangerous!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
I bought some of the cinnamon stuff at a garden centre randomly! I really liked it, but I know what you mean about it tasting American. The bags are so big though- we would tend to share one. I like the sound of the lemon one too- really unusual. We sometimes get the posh Joe and Seph stuff (they do a peanut butter flavour) but they are more coated and crunchy like the butterkist style stuff, which I don’t like so much.
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Back to a routine
Well these bags were only 25g (or 22g?) so quite small…unless you do mean those bags and now I feel like a pig haha!! But what’s new there eh! 😉
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
Oh whaaat those flavours! I remember the days of Butterkist being the only option available. Not that I was complaining then, but bacon and maple syrup popcorn is something I know I need in my life now!
Cat recently posted…Why I’m Going on a Coffee Detox
I know, Butterkist is sooo old now 😉
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
Those flavours sound really nice and unusual. I’m a die hard sweet and salty fan though!
laura@wholeheartedlyhealthy recently posted…Eat, Move, Wear, Love, Link #75: Toddles and Yurts
Sometimes simple is best!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Romsey 5 Mile Beer Race
I love cinnamon- I put it on everything, and go through about a jar a week haha. I also love popcorn, we have an air popper so do it at home and just add some coconut oil and himalayan salt afterwards.
Lauren (@PoweredbyPB) recently posted…Race to the Stones
I think I need to embrace cinnamon more. I hear people putting it on sweet potatoes…I’ve never tried but I am intrigued.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Almost there…
Wow, I had no idea popcorn had evolved so much! The subtle tanginess of Lemon Sherbet and the berry hints in Very Berry sound so intriguing. I’ll have to look out for Portlebay Popcorn – their hand-popped approach and creative flavors sound like a game-changer. Thanks for the recommendation!