Burger King Gets Serious
As we revealed way back in 2009, the first Burger King Angry Whopper couldn't live up to its name. Weighted down with excessive amounts of mayonnaise and other fried elements, there wasn't enough serious heat to cut through the fatty clutter. If my two tastings since the sandwich debuted are any indication, BK has taken serious steps to engineer out the flaws of the original. And to show they mean business, they have completely leap-frogged the never-iterated "Angrier Whopper" and christened this reboot the Angriest Whopper. The sandwich actually has a pretty volatile personality, swerving from grumpy to irate as one proceeds bite by bite, depending on which fillings you happen to hit. This excessive variability keeps the burger from being a total success, but the improvements are both many and intriguing.
Interesting Changes
There's a definite strategy powering BK's attempt to create a flame-broiled beef creation with real fire, so let's look at the new features and understand the thinking behind them.
Hot Sauce Bun - Either electrically thrilling or appallingly gauche, depending on your point of view, the hot red color of the bun definitely gets your attention, and I believe aesthetics was the prime mover behind staining the bread. But ostensibly, there is hot sauce baked in that you should be able to taste. I took a goodly wedge and ate it straight, and it does provide a bedrock foundation of mild piquancy. If you can stand the sight of it, it's a net plus.
Thick-Cut Bacon - You could hardly taste the bacon in the first Angry Whopper, but that doesn't happen this time. The bacon has a manly leatheriness and an authentic smokiness that, together with the flame-broiled beef, establish smoke and spice as the two strong flavors the sandwich needs in order to have a personality.
American Swapped for Pepper-Jack: Superficially, this is a step backwards but it really isn't. First, we all know that the Pepper-Jack in the original wasn't real Pepper-Jack; it never is. And when sliced as thin as is common in the fast food world, it didn't add any real flavor. American Cheese, love it or hate it, goes a long way even when sliced super-thin. BK was decidedly going for flavor here, and this choice makes good sense.
Less Mayo: This was by far the most consequential decision. All the other ingredients -- the japapenos, the "angry onion petals" which actually have almost no heat, the tangy "angry sauce", the lettuce and tomatoes -- are all unchanged from last time but they were all stifled by what felt like tablespoons worth of fatty gunk; white food-borne squid ink if you will. This time there's just a touch of dressing and that makes all the difference. Now the tangy (but not truly spicy) sauce sings, the jalapenos bite, the onions are at least detectable, and the tomato and onion lighten the load. BK take note: less really IS more.
Jalapeno Fury
Despite all the improvements, we still need to address head-on the extent of this Whopper's anger. Both times we tried it, the very first bite was alive with fire. Each component, the bun, the onions, the sauce, all supplied a modicum of heat, upping the overall level. But as we progressed through the sandwich, what slowly became clear was that the burger was only truly furious when we happened upon a jalapeno. For all the tricks that BK is employing here, it isn't the gimmicks that are igniting the tongue, it's those pickled hot peppers, sliced even thicker than last time if memory serves. This is great news for people that believe in tried-and-true ingredients over high-tech fixes. But the downside of all this is that, when you happen upon a bit with no peppers, the whole thing deflates down from the Hulk to Bruce Banner. And something else is going on here that works against the Whopper. After a while your mouth adjusts to the heat and seems to reach a new set point. So while the Angriest Whopper is feisty for fast food, it's not like you're eating four-pepper Thai cuisine. Adjust expectations accordingly.
Conclusions
As of this writing, the Angriest Whopper is the most peppery item on the fast-food block, a close second to Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Flaws aside, it deserves to graduate to the permanent menu. You won't need an extra large soda to cool yourself down, but this is a burger to raise eyebrows.
As we revealed way back in 2009, the first Burger King Angry Whopper couldn't live up to its name. Weighted down with excessive amounts of mayonnaise and other fried elements, there wasn't enough serious heat to cut through the fatty clutter. If my two tastings since the sandwich debuted are any indication, BK has taken serious steps to engineer out the flaws of the original. And to show they mean business, they have completely leap-frogged the never-iterated "Angrier Whopper" and christened this reboot the Angriest Whopper. The sandwich actually has a pretty volatile personality, swerving from grumpy to irate as one proceeds bite by bite, depending on which fillings you happen to hit. This excessive variability keeps the burger from being a total success, but the improvements are both many and intriguing.
 |
| This burger indeed has attitude "You eat me? No way, man, I'm eating YOU!!!! |
There's a definite strategy powering BK's attempt to create a flame-broiled beef creation with real fire, so let's look at the new features and understand the thinking behind them.
Hot Sauce Bun - Either electrically thrilling or appallingly gauche, depending on your point of view, the hot red color of the bun definitely gets your attention, and I believe aesthetics was the prime mover behind staining the bread. But ostensibly, there is hot sauce baked in that you should be able to taste. I took a goodly wedge and ate it straight, and it does provide a bedrock foundation of mild piquancy. If you can stand the sight of it, it's a net plus.
Thick-Cut Bacon - You could hardly taste the bacon in the first Angry Whopper, but that doesn't happen this time. The bacon has a manly leatheriness and an authentic smokiness that, together with the flame-broiled beef, establish smoke and spice as the two strong flavors the sandwich needs in order to have a personality.
American Swapped for Pepper-Jack: Superficially, this is a step backwards but it really isn't. First, we all know that the Pepper-Jack in the original wasn't real Pepper-Jack; it never is. And when sliced as thin as is common in the fast food world, it didn't add any real flavor. American Cheese, love it or hate it, goes a long way even when sliced super-thin. BK was decidedly going for flavor here, and this choice makes good sense.
Less Mayo: This was by far the most consequential decision. All the other ingredients -- the japapenos, the "angry onion petals" which actually have almost no heat, the tangy "angry sauce", the lettuce and tomatoes -- are all unchanged from last time but they were all stifled by what felt like tablespoons worth of fatty gunk; white food-borne squid ink if you will. This time there's just a touch of dressing and that makes all the difference. Now the tangy (but not truly spicy) sauce sings, the jalapenos bite, the onions are at least detectable, and the tomato and onion lighten the load. BK take note: less really IS more.
 |
| There's a lot here, but note what isn't there. Yep, the mayo was applied with a very light touch, so you taste everything. Incidentally, this very first Whopper we tried seemed to be pretty skimpy on the beef. One expects these things to be standardized, but apparently not always. |
Despite all the improvements, we still need to address head-on the extent of this Whopper's anger. Both times we tried it, the very first bite was alive with fire. Each component, the bun, the onions, the sauce, all supplied a modicum of heat, upping the overall level. But as we progressed through the sandwich, what slowly became clear was that the burger was only truly furious when we happened upon a jalapeno. For all the tricks that BK is employing here, it isn't the gimmicks that are igniting the tongue, it's those pickled hot peppers, sliced even thicker than last time if memory serves. This is great news for people that believe in tried-and-true ingredients over high-tech fixes. But the downside of all this is that, when you happen upon a bit with no peppers, the whole thing deflates down from the Hulk to Bruce Banner. And something else is going on here that works against the Whopper. After a while your mouth adjusts to the heat and seems to reach a new set point. So while the Angriest Whopper is feisty for fast food, it's not like you're eating four-pepper Thai cuisine. Adjust expectations accordingly.
 |
| Imagine the top bun is a kind of toupee, that the bacon is a protruding nose, and the jalapenos are eyes. Once you do, the Whopper looks not angry, but dispirited and somewhat lonely. Now you can't stop seeing it, can you? |
As of this writing, the Angriest Whopper is the most peppery item on the fast-food block, a close second to Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Flaws aside, it deserves to graduate to the permanent menu. You won't need an extra large soda to cool yourself down, but this is a burger to raise eyebrows.
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