When people think of popcorn, they usually think of a quick cinema snack – something sweet or salty and normally, nothing too flavourful.
But at Tommy Popcorn, we’ve set out to reimagine what popcorn can be.
Our latest creation, Golden Irish, is popcorn that tastes like Irish whiskey. It’s bold, full of sophistication, and has never been done before. It’s everything we wanted a modern craft snack to be. And the best part? It’s launching online next month.
How Tommy Popcorn began
Tommy Popcorn started from a simple idea: popcorn needed its craft moment. I met my co-founder, Michael Norr, at a farmers’ market. We were chatting about how popcorn had somehow missed the “craft” revolution that swept through coffee, beer and chocolate.
There was no middle ground. Popcorn was either overly sugary cinema popcorn or plain “healthy” options. To both of us, popcorn was the perfect canvas to test bold flavours. From that day, we saw an opportunity to make something different: popcorn that had personality, storytelling and depth of flavour.
That conversation led to late-night taste tests, flavour experiments and eventually a brand that is set to take over the popcorn category.
Building Tommy’s world
From the beginning, we knew Tommy Popcorn couldn’t just be about kernels and coatings; it needed a world and a story for our customers to be immersed in.
At the centre of that world is Tommy, a fictional 1950s Italian-American from Brooklyn who’s obsessed with popcorn and flavour. You’ll never meet him, but you’ll see him everywhere: in the packaging, the branding and the feel of the product.
In fact, Tommy’s voice is a constant throughout our brand. Think classic New Yorker done well – that’s Tommy.
From the beginning, we wanted to create a snack that doesn’t just taste good – it inspires a feeling within you. Every bag feels like stepping into a scene from Tommy’s world: neon lights, New York nostalgia. It’s yellow cabs, a slice on the street and a day at Yankee Stadium.
The data behind the flavours
As much as we’re storytellers, we’re also realists. Great ideas only work if people actually want them, and that’s where data comes in.
My co-founder Jason Martinez Moreno is an advertising expert who knows how to use and read search data. Together, we spent a lot of time studying what people were searching for on Google and Amazon. Through this, I discovered something surprising: “whiskey-flavoured popcorn” was appearing more often than you’d think.
The problem? The products people were looking for didn’t exist.
Through data analysis, we found that people were looking for fun, flavour-driven snacks. Those insights guided us straight to creating Golden Irish.
The line-up that’s shaking up snacking
But Golden Irish isn’t our only hero flavour. It joins a line-up of Tommy Popcorn products that are anything but ordinary:
- Empire State – tastes like a New York cheese slice; bold, savoury, and unexpected.
- Sweet Cinnamon – nostalgic and comforting, inspired by childhood cereals.
- Iconic Caramel – smooth, silky and timelessly American.
- Mallow Magic – marshmallow-infused popcorn, inspired by Lucky Charms.
And yes, there are new flavours in the pipeline too. In fact, one of the benefits of Tommy Popcorn is that we do all the manufacturing ourselves, so we can create new flavours at the drop of a hat.
A brand built on flavour, story, and spirit
For us, popcorn isn’t just a snack, it’s a storytelling platform. Every detail, from the names to the visuals, is designed to make people feel something.
We’ve created popcorn that feels premium without being pretentious. It’s playful, nostalgic and indulgent – the way Tommy himself would’ve made it.
Coming soon: Golden Irish
If you’ve ever wondered what whiskey-flavoured popcorn tastes like, you won’t have to wait much longer. Golden Irish will be available to order online from next month, bringing a smooth twist to your snack cupboard.
Because at Tommy Popcorn, we’re not just making popcorn, we’re making moments.
