A few weeks ago, something brilliant happened. Really brilliant. Yes, it is snack-based brilliance, a joy to which even the healthiest members of our nation can relate.
To make the brilliant happening all the more momentous, I am listening to Classic FM as I type and the rather grand, horn-led Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss is reaching its crescendo. Not sure how it goes? Here’s a link:
I defy you to sit and listen, rather than standing as though on parade for our wonderful Majesty at her 90th birthday celebrations.
It was mid-morning, a quietish time on Twitter, a time at which I took the liberty to scroll through the last hour’s happenings. A competition by drinks distributor Inn Express caught my eye, a competition like no other; the prize for a lucky re-tweeter and follower was to be a hamper of popcorn and crisps from Ten Acre, a hamper containing one of each of their SEVENTEEN flavours!
Around ten hours later, ironically, I was sent a message to say I had WON!!! I inwardly did a little leap of jubilation – oh, if only I was physically capable. The residents of our quiet, unassuming village would have been mortified!
The Arrival
Two very polite, cheerful gentlemen delivered the hamper. Until it arrived, I had taken a look at the picture and counted up around twelve packs. Fabulous! Imagine my joy, therefore, when I pushed back the wicker lid to reveal seventeen!
The hamper itself was (still is) a huge woven basket. Not a cheap and nasty basket, not that I would have minded; a gorgeous, real basket hamper with black buckles to fasten. Unfastening both, I did an actual little squeal upon revealing the rainbow of seventeen cheerful colours, each pack inflated by a generous quantity of crisps or popcorn. Wow!!!
Ten Acre
Summed up in a sentence, Ten Acre are a super bunch of cheerfully health conscious, additive-avoiding, gluten free, vivid as a rainbow, vegan entrepreneurs of desirable potato and corn snacks. You can read more about them here.
Flavours
If I published a list of flavours, what might you expect to see? Sweet and salty? Caramel? And for the crisps… Sweet Chilli? Salt and Vinegar? Perhaps a token adventurous flavour too, seeing as we are in 2016, an Age of Adventure in the snack stakes. Well, here is the full list of Ten Acre’s amazing flavours, seven popcorns followed by ten crisps, as bold and tenacious as the Ten Acre way of doing things.
Amberley Popperley’s Wasabi
Aunty Winifred’s Sweet & Salty
Captain Theodore’s Lime & Sea Salt
Lucia Popperley’s Cappuccino
Cousin Maisie’s Fennel & Lemon
Cornelius Popperley’s Sour Cream & Chive
Cousin Penelope’s Strawberry & Cream
The Story of When the Cheese Met the Onion
The Secret of Mr Salt
How Chicken Soup Saved the Day
When the Pepper Crack’d
Pastrami in the Rye
The Amazing Adventures of Salt & Vinegar
When Hickory Got BBQ’D
The Day Sweet & Sour Became Friends
When the Chilli Got Sweet
When Bombay Got Spicy
Each flavour – popcorns ‘endorsed’ by a delicate-sounding, beautifully-named character, the crisps each brazen headliners in their own right – is paired with a story. Yes, a story, as in a tale of happiness lived by the character in question on popcorn planet. It’s uplifting stuff, a niche, one of many things that makes Ten Acre quite different from the other few crunchy snack producers who have hit the big time this year.
Predictions, predictions…
In March, mention of a topical Grand Snack-tional (mid-review of a delicious Bounce Ball pick ‘n’ mix) brought an element of fun to a lengthy write up. This time, I need a new theme for my campaign.
Separating popcorn and crisps makes for a clear cut snack rack, a ladder picturing my packs preferentially, pre-empted top snack on top rack of each imaginary shelf.
Round 1: Top of the Pop
1 Cousin Maisie’s Fennel & Lemon
2= Captain Theodore’s Lime & Sea Salt
Amberley Popperley’s Wasabi
3= Cornelius Popperley’s Sour Cream & Chive
Lucia Popperley’s Cappuccino
Aunty Winifred’s Sweet & Salty
4 Cousin Penelope’s Strawberry & Cream
Round 2: Potato Chip Hot Tip
1 When Bombay Got Spicy
2 Pastrami in the Rye
3 The Day Sweet & Sour Became Friends
4= When Hickory Got BBQ’D
When the Chilli Got Sweet
5= The Story of When the Cheese Met the Onion
The Amazing Adventures of Salt & Vinegar
6= The Secret of Mr Salt
How Chicken Soup Saved the Day
When the Pepper Crack’d
SNACK FINALS: My ‘Overall Top Four Sure To Most Adore!’ predictions are…
1 When Bombay Got Spicy
2 Cousin Maisie’s Fennel & Lemon
3 Pastrami in the Rye
4 Captain Theodore’s Lime & Sea Salt
Tasting
I wasn’t sent this prize amidst sneaky subliminal messages willing me to review even one of the delicious flavours, but instinct kicked in. From Bag One, When the Pepper Crack’d, to Bag Seventeen, When Bombay Got Spicy, words seemingly floated into my mind whilst crunching, chobbling, popping, not stopping, marvelling, perusing pack exteriors, testing self-control and giving single pieces the once over, inspecting some suspiciously whilst gauging the possibility of such realistic flavour to satisfyingly savour.
But wait!
There is something superly super I must reveal, in case you were none the wiser. Not only is every crisp and every corn gluten free, every crisp and every corn is dairy free, msg free and vegan. ‘Except Pastrami in the Rye’ you say. ‘Except How Chicken Soup Saved The Day’ says your smug friend, thinking they have claimed that bag by default. No! Even Pastrami and Chicken flavours are vegan! VEGAN! Ten Acre have achieved super stardom for this ingredient-led consistency across all flavours. Pretty clever, aren’t they?
Before I reveal my actual ‘Seventeen to One’, here are some little odes that found their way into my subconscious whilst eating:
Sour Cream and Chive
Expecting a savoury, powdery white
I open the pack and note ‘crunchers’ in sight!
Yes – half chive so savoury, half toffee cream sweet;
My! What a surprise, what a textural treat!
When Hickory Got BBQ’D
Spicy and tingly, great barbecue flavour
A most tasty crisp I am longing to savour
The flavour is deeper than ocean or sea
Savoury, smoky and sweet these crisps be!
Fennel and Lemon
Tempted by citrusy fennel today
The very first piece sends my taste buds to play
Astoundingly crunchy, sweet, zingy, bold snack
With savoury shell makes me beg for more packs!
You get the idea.
What surprised me most was the enormous difference between other Cheese and Onion and this Cheese and Onion, or other Sweet and Salty and this Sweet and Salty. Crisps are crunchier, thicker, well-seasoned and irresistible. Popcorn is not only excitingly-flavoured; the texture is crisp, fresh, contrasting at times. I’ll give you an example by way of a side by side comparison of two pieces of Wasabi corn.
Amazing hey? It’s like toffee popcorn but doesn’t taste fake, has less detrimental effect upon the teeth. It tastes better than the popcorn you thought was the best until now. That’s because it’s naturally delicious, made in small batches with not an e number in sight.
If you want to be amazed by a Popcorn of Two Textures, one chobbly-crunchy, one Sugar Puff-fluffy-light, grab a bag of Fennel and Lemon, Lime and Sea Salt, Wasabi (if you can take the heat) or Sweet and Salty next time you’re out and about.
The Result
Every flavour was scrumptious. I would have them all again.
The flavours that found themselves relegated to 5th must not be deflated. It is simply because I’m an adventurer who prefers crazily adventurous flavours when indulging alone.
5th= The Secret of Mr Salt – tasty, simple, perfect crunch and lightly salted.
How Chicken Soup Saved the Day – chickeny!
4th= Lucia Popperley’s Cappuccino – more crunchers and an extra shot of coffee please!
The Amazing Adventures of Salt & Vinegar – mmm… love a bit of vinegar!
Cousin Penelope’s Strawberry & Cream – really super, despite dread of cream.
3rd= When the Pepper Crack’d – a real surprise for its crunch and peppery-ness!
When Hickory Got BBQ’D – great tasting snack to kick off a barbecue gathering.
The Day Sweet & Sour Became Friends – no, the day they and I became friends!
Aunty Winifred’s Sweet & Salty – love the contrast in flavour and texture.
2nd= When the Chilli Got Sweet – delish!
The Story of When the Cheese Met the Onion – a shock favourite, intensely cheesy.
Cornelius Popperley’s Sour Cream & Chive – mightily creamy and chivey.
Ambrose Popperley’s Wasabi – so hot it nearly blew my face off.
Drum roll please… for my first placers!
BEST= Cousin Maisie’s Fennel & Lemon When Bombay Got Spicy
then… Captain Theodore’s Lime & Sea Salt
and… Pastrami in the Rye
A crisp and a corn share the prize! How wonderful and diverse this is!
The Future is Bright
In an age of fierce popcorn competition, it is essential Ten Acre share the stories of the Ten Acre village with fans beyond the social media realm. Their residents endearing and villagers cheerfully about their business upon a sunny morn, other popcorn producers are likely to be watching nervously and wishing they’d adopted this fairytale charm sooner.
iamthegfb 
Enjoy your goodies. I was lucky to win a hamper last year, it didn’t last long 😊, Chloe.
https://pinkiebag.com/
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Hello Chloe, thank you for your comment. It’s great to hear from a fellow Ten Acre winner! Pretty delicious isn’t it? I’m so pleased to have discovered Amazon sell bulk boxes of them all.
Have a great day 👧
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I love their crisps it’s great to have several choices that are safe for me to eat. I didn’t realise you can buy their goodies on Amazon, I will be stocking up, thank you. Have a lovely weekend 😊.
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