Black, or traditional, liquorice seems to be a flavour that divides opinion and appears to be less revered among younger generations. Today I have two black liquorice sweets up for review that might tempt you to give it another try if you are not so keen on this traditional flavour…
Liquorice (English spelling) or licorice (American spelling) has been used in medicinal tablets, suckets, comfits and cakes for centuries and arguably was one of the first ‘flavours’ to transcend its homeopathic history into the realm of established confectionery.
Australian sweet company Darrell Lea was established in 1934 by English immigrant Henry Lea, and named after his youngest child. The Aussie company is well known for their range of traditional and fruit flavoured liquorice as well as chocolate bars and confections that combine the two.
These ‘soft’ liquorice allsorts are some of the chunkiest I’ve ever seen! And despite their name being ‘soft’, I actually found these to be rather firm. Due to their generous size I also found them a little difficult to chew in one mouthful (those with bigger gobs might not have the same issue). But despite a minor jaw ache, they tasted great.
Layered with black liquorice and fondant infused with coconut these allsorts are a great combination of sweet and bitter flavours. However, considering these are ‘allsorts’, I was also a little disapointed to find that all the sweets were of the same variety, albeit, different colours.
Liquorice Allsorts originated in 1899, England, when a travelling salesman for the Bassett’s confectionery company, accidently spilled his samples across the counter of a potential buyer. Up to that point Charlie Thompson had struggled to sell his array of sweets, but when the customer saw the jumbled up mix of liquorice, fondant and sprinkle-coated sweets, he said he would happily buy this random assortment together.
Darrell Lea’s Liquorice Allsorts lack any other variety other than the liquorice/fondant sandwich. In a typical mix you may also find a ‘spog’ (aniseed flavoured jelly covered in candy sprinkles), coconut ring, and small chunks of ‘pencils’ (fondant filled black liquorice rolls) to name a few. If Darrell Lea’s assortment also included some of these then it would be a very fine assortment indeed.
Gustaf’s ‘Licorice Ice‘ somewhat resemble a nub of chalk…but taste much better! Interestingly enough the Dutch word of ‘licorice ice’ is ‘schoolkrijt‘ or ‘krijtjes‘ (say kri-teous). This peppermint flavoured liquorice sweet was invented in the 1960’s by a small candy factory in Amsterdam. The company today produce a wide variety of liquorice-based sweets; black and fruit, salty, allsorts, belts, laces and and tablets.
The white outer shell is thin, sugary and crunchy. After biting through it there is an extremely sweet taste followed by the strong, herbal flavour of black liquorice. The cool peppermint comes through last, floats around at the back of the teeth before all three balance out and linger in the mouth.
‘Licorice Ice’ is definately the sweetest black liquorice product I’ve ever tried, and I think for those of you who aren’t too keen on this traditional taste, something with a flavour profile such as this might be a good ‘gateway’ liquorice product.
For me, the sweetness is a little too much. I obviously prefer a more earthy root taste to my liquorice sweets…each to their own…but the overall impact of Gustaf’s ice is very pleasant.
And there you have it! Are you pro-black liquorice? Or do you prefer the soft, Aussie, fruity kind? Or can you not abide the whole thing in general?
The British Candy Connoisseur 
If this turns out to be a duplicate feel free to delete as after it made me log in I didn’t see the comment.
Hey Leigh, I found this trying to see if Gustaf’s actually was located in the Netherlands, as an old English expat I’d rented from when stationed there many moons ago, and who lives in the Netherlands now thought it might not be Dutch candy in reality, though is states on the package of Beehive honey. He says he’s never heard of them. Though he now sees the Made in Netherlands for Gerrit J Verburg in Michigan. He seems to have found it under the name of Venco that’s doing the distributing for Gustaf’s, as I couldn’t find anything besides your review.
By the way doesn’t Gustaf’s have the Licorice Allsorts too? It might’ve have been better to examine side by side the same type of product. I’ve not seen the Licorice Ice product here in the States. I do like licorice and prefer black, and even after having it delivered here this morning in 32 degree weather (or 0 in Celsius), within minutes it was soft and very chewable, and likely to be my new choice of licorice.
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Hi! I’ll have to dig out my wrapper and research it a little more! There are certainly companies out there that like to give the illusion about their product’s origin. And this review was just devoted to black liquorice, and wasn’t set up to be a comparison review (I do love to do those though)! If I had Gustaf’s Allsorts I definitely would have done that! But, I review what I find! I found both Darrell Lea and Licorice Ice in shops in Kansas, USA.
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I see now you’re not a Brit, just a connoisseur of British candy. I’m up the road a bit here in MN. I found my candy on amazon, and where I saw the Allsorts here https://www.amazon.com/Gustafs-Premium-Licorice-Allsorts-lbs/dp/B00WMQLL58/ref=sr_1_8
and of course they do have the licorice ice too, though I’m not sure their prices are the lowest, though there’s always shipping from other USA suppliers. I’ve not looked for local stores, which would likely be a drive into the big cities for me as there are none close by to be sure.
Understood you can only review what you find, and I’ll keep an eye out on your future reviews.
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Wrong dear, I’m 100% British, I relocated to the Mid West from the North West (of England) over two years ago. But thank you for joining me on my sweet adventures!
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Ahhhh another British Expat in my midst. My buddy is from Ipswich, and I was there back when Ipswich won the FA Cup lol, and also lived in Felixstowe. The bases I worked at are all now defunct, and it seems Woodbridge is used in making movies, and I noticed on google maps that the bomb dumps are being rented to businesses on Bentwaters?? I personally can’t imagine there’s still no radioactivity in them. Cheerio
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