Continuing our trip through the world of spicy popcorn, our next stop was this little gem from the folks at Original Juan. There are a finite number of mass-produced spicy popcorns that we would be willing to try…and this was one of them. Mostly because most of them are habanero-spiced ones, and this one promised to carry the flavor of jerk seasoning. Jerk seasoning is so darn good in a wide variety of foods, but we couldn’t wrap our brains around how this would taste in popcorn. Somehow we think the folks in the Carribean who make jerk sauces and foods would shudder at this taste idea, but that’s just why we decided we would take one for the team and give it a try for ourselves.

Apparently, the fellow pictured on this bag (and in other products by OJ) is someone they call Buckwheat…apparently due to his dreads. About this, they write:

Buckwheat’s popcorn is rich and buttery and full of jerk seasoning — the perfect snack for a tear-jerkingly funny flick.

Its ingredients list includes

Ingredients: popcorn, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, artificial and natural flavors, jerk seasoning & spices

We actually found this bag at a local Marshall’s on sale, so why not try it? Three minutes in the microwave and voila…jerk popcorn! Reeking of clove aroma after it emerged from the oven, we poured it out into our designated popcorn bowl and took a look:

Taste: Not so evenly coated as some, there were a few too many stark white kernels which emerged from the bag. It did have a spice-laden smell dominated by the aforementioned clove-i-ness (probably not a real word…just play along), so we quickly shoved a handful or two in our mouths in hope of some jerk goodness.

The result? Sorta mixed. Can’t really say that it was similar to any jerk-seasoned dish we’ve ever had, but it did have a taste altogether different from any popcorn we’ve tried recently. Pleasantly buttered, medium hot, and not overly salty, we polished off the bag in short order. It did have a pleasantly spiced taste, but nothing that we’d shout about.

Overall recommendation: In some odd way, we’d almost like to find a way to not recommend that you try this popcorn. The ingredients are atrociously unnatural and it’s probably not half as jerk-tasting as original recipes of it might be…but it’s actually pretty decent to taste, and hit the spot as far as spicy popcorn goes. It seems to be some garden variety microwave popcorn with some powdered jerk seasoning added, but it just works. Not overly hot, it has a decent taste profile which we might actually try again. Give it a try and see what you think. Enjoy!

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