Butterkist Toffee Apple

Product name: Butterkist Toffee Apple
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 150g bag (Poundland)
Calories: 100 per 25g serving
Country of origin: UK 

There are two words that, when combined, almost guarantee that I will buy a product: ‘limited edition’. From memory, I bought this bag of Butterkist Toffee Apple popcorn near Bonfire Night – a time when a toffee apple variety makes particular sense. Having never had a fruity popcorn before, I just had to try it, even though I’d not had a real toffee apple since I was about six years old! 

 

Once again made by Tangerine Confectionery Ltd, this ‘deliciously sweet and satisfying’ product came in a bag that was very similar in design to the Caramel version I reviewed in November. The main differences were simply the burgundy panel being a little larger and the background being more of an amber shade than a yellow one. (I also realised very last-minute that the red section is meant to look like an apple!)

This popcorn, like Butterkist Caramel, was largely made up of its coating, with a whopping 65% of the product being ‘apple flavour toffee’. As a result, it was identical in both appearance and texture.

Although there was a very slight cinema-style popcorn aroma, this wasn’t nearly as strong or sweet for the Toffee Apple variety, and there was also a whiff of another, almost burnt, element mixed in. If I thought about it hard enough, I could associate this scent with tangy apple – it wasn’t instantly recognisable but it was present nonetheless.

Although I wasn’t overly impressed by the popcorn’s smell, I really enjoyed its taste. It had a subtle but sweet apple flavour that was surprisingly realistic and also quite refreshing – it left a nice aftertaste too. Again, I found it almost hinted at banana at times but, overall, there was enough of an apple flavour to make this a unique product, but not so much that it became unpleasant or sickly. Despite still containing it, this was completely different to standard toffee popcorn, although the pieces that had a thicker coating did have a slightly darker sweetness to them.

I felt that this Butterkist Toffee Apple provided the usual great texture of coated popcorn but with a unique twist on a proven flavour combination. What a shame this isn’t available all the time! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.38/10