Welcome on Board!

Thanks for hanging on so long...

The idea for this blog came from a recent thread on my fave website:

(they publish a lot of my stories ;) )

I have long wanted to create a website in appreciation of the much under-rated delight that is Salty Liquorice, but three things have stood in the way:

• I suck at web-design


• Nobody looks at personal websites


• Websites are tedious to update (my server's on strike as we speak—again)

.
So Blogger, with its user-friendly software and wide choice of readily customizable templates is a boon. Here it finally is: a blog dedicated to all things salty liquorice, its many different varieties, uses and legends associated with it. To my knowledge, this is the first such blog on the Web. It is also not affiliated with any company, but solely reflects my opinion and that of fellow liquorice lovers who may feel inclined to comment on it.

What about that thread then?

Don't miss it! It conveys the joys of Scandinavian salty liquorice perhaps even better than I will be able to. But more to the point—it introduces liquorice-flavoured vodka, a delicacy in Finland (and rightly so). Mina says:

'...the booze is made by dissolving a pungent salted black licorice (salmiakki) into the vodka. This completely smothers the taste of the alcohol, making you think you're drinking sweet candy juice when in reality you're downing 76-proof hard liquor. Dangerous, but fun!

The treacherous concoction actually killed a few people back in the early '90s, so the Finnish parliament decided to ban the stuff. Never ones for the alcohol-regulated life, the Finns responded by simply making their own version on a mass scale, so the government eventually gave up and lifted the ban. Koskenkorva is actually a small town in Finland that translates as "dead water in the rapids," and the label on the back of the bottle is intentionally upside down, so you can read it while you drink.

An alternative name is Salmiakkikossu, and it's commonly referred to as "Flakpanzer Fuel." Sadly, Salmiakki Koskenkorva is not available outside Finland, but here's how you can make an equivalent: get your hands on any brand of Scandinavian salted licorice candies, crush them and dissolve them in warm water until you have a thick solution. Let the stuff cool and pour it into a bottle of any unflavored vodka. You may have to try this a few times in order to get the proportions right, but it's either that or go to Finland instead.'

...

'A tip on the vodka: the easiest candy to crush up and dissolve is HARD candy, not chewy. This is the one I've used: [picture of Tyrkisk Peber bag] I think that is the Swedish name on the package, the Finnish name is Turkin Pippuri (both meaning Turkish Pepper) a.k.a. BOMBS because inside the hard candy shell, there is that yellowy powder that makes your mouth tingle.'

"tingle" is one way to describe it...

More on Tyrkisk Peber coming up very soon. And one day I will go to Finland...