Over the past few years I've been eating popcorn more often. I'm not entirely sure why; I used to think popcorn was boring and never ate it, but now I really enjoy it. I started off with store brand popcorn kernels, but soon discovered a preference for Pop-Secret Jumbo Popping Corn, since it was big and had fewer unpopped kernels.
However, one of the things Wendy got me for my birthday this year was a variety pack of popcorn from Amish Country Popcorn:
Over the next few months I tried all 10 varieties, and it was really surprising how much better some of them were!
Here are the 10 varieties, and the brief description that accompanied each one:
- Mushroom: Pops in a Ball
- Purple: Tender, Less Hulls, More Flavor, Higher in Antioxidants
- Extra Large: Caramel Type
- Red: Fewer Hulls
- Baby White: Extra Small and Tender
- Medium Yellow
- Rainbow: Unique Blend
- Ladyfinger: Smallest of the Hulless
- Blue: Just a Little Sweeter
- Medium White: Hulless
I had no idea there were so many different types, or that hulless popcorn even existed. The first one we tried was Purple, and we could tell from the first bite that it was much better than traditional popcorn. When we tried Mushroom (which really did pop in a ball), it tasted like normal popcorn, which was disappointing now that we knew popcorn could taste so much better!
The Extra Large (Caramel Type) popcorn was another one that tasted like plain popcorn, so Wendy turned it into caramel corn, which was delicious. The opposite of Extra Large was clearly Ladyfinger, which tasted good, but it was so ridiculously tiny it was almost comical. I kind of wish now that I'd taken a picture of Ladyfinger side-by-side with Extra Large.
When I finished the variety pack, I had 3 clear favorites: Red, Purple, and Blue, so I ordered one-pound bags of all three.
That wasn't the only popcorn I've tried recently, though. A few months ago Wendy joined the Rancho Gordo Bean Club, which delivers a selection of heirloom beans every quarter (she'd been on the waiting list for nearly a year, and was super excited when the invitation finally arrived). Her first shipment included a bonus bag of Crimson popcorn. I'm not clear if it's any different than the Red Amish Popcorn, but I was still excited to try it, and I can report that it, too, is delicious.
Meanwhile, we still have an unopened jar of Pop-Secret Jumbo Popping Corn sitting in our cabinet. I don't know when, or even if, we'll use it!