It seems rather odd to reserve the 19th of January for National Popcorn Day. You don’t have to look far to see the many detox recipes and fitness guides across the internet and magazines, as well as how we should be embracing the ‘clean eating’ trend. The whole thing makes me shudder just thinking about it. After all, January is miserable enough without making it worse by going dry, or suffering the latest fad diet. For this fact, I salute the punk that chose a day in January for National Popcorn Day.
Pop Notch is a gourmet popcorn, but at a good price, without compromising on taste and quality. A local brand native to my neck of the woods, all production is done in Draperstown, a village in the Sperrin Mountains in Londonderry. It all began when Declan McBride visited Canada and fell in love with the popcorn over there. Inspired from his trip, he decided to start his own popcorn business. Fast forward 20 years and with the recipes perfected, Pop Notch was born.
Made from scratch, natural ingredients are what are used in the coatings, making for a luxuriously flavoursome popcorn topping. I adore the colourful packaging and branding; it remains vibrant without sacrificing the premium appearance it has over other rival brands on the shelves.
There are currently three distinct flavours in the range: Sweet and Salty; Salted Caramel; and the unique Marshmallow flavour. I simply couldn’t resist sampling each of them, so here are the results:
I have never tasted marshmallow popcorn before, so I was intrigued to see what this would be like, and to my surprise it tastes really good. Not the sickly sweet that I had feared, but still chewy while retaining enough crunch to deliver a satisfying snap.
As a massive fan of anything coated with salted caramel, this is my firm favourite of the three. It’s just so addictively good, popcorn I didn’t want to share with anyone else! I’m not surprised it was awarded One Gold Star at the Great Taste Awards in 2014.
I’m not very fond of overly salty popcorn, however when paired with a hint of sweetness it makes for a delicious combination. This also won One Gold Star at the Great Taste Awards in 2015, proving that Pop Notch continues to impress the judges.
You can buy Pop Notch in a large 130g pack, a regular 80g pack and a 23g snack pack (23g comes under 100 calories if you’re counting). The prices are very reasonable for the standard of the product, with that in mind, I surely recommend giving this local brand a try out the next time you fancy a snack. Regular packs cost 83p in the Spar, where I purchased mine. It’s available in Asda, Dunnes Stores, Spar and many other retailers across the uk, as well as their online shop.
Now I’ve got the popcorn, all that’s left is to pick a couple of movies to watch! Or stock up for the Super Bowl!
Happy National Popcorn Day!
This post contains affiliated links. Buying through a link will not cost you more, but I will receive a small commission. This helps keep my blog up and running. Thanks.
Further note: This is not a sponsored post – product purchased by myself.