Flavour Pairings: Liquorice and Mint

This can be a winner, with the fresh blast of mint complemented by the pungent assertiveness of ammonium chloride. In my opinion the ultimate marriage is found in Super Piratos, where the liquorice and mint are faultlessly integrated:


In this relationship the liquorice holds the upper hand, but it can be hard to arrive at a harmonious result. On the next level down we have a duality between liquorice powder and a coating of crunchy mint, but already the mint has been mellowed. The particular sweet I have in mind is akin to the pack on the right, but it's more smarties-shaped:


A mellowing of both mint and liquorice results in a nostalgic taste that is familiar from childhood, albeit separately as mild mint candy and sweet soft liquorice like that found in Allsorts (which—as far as flavour pairings are concerned—won't be discussed here any further. It looks pretty, though). It's is an agreeable all-rounder, but it does nothing to alleviate my cravings:


Finally we have a number of candies where the mint dominates to the extent that there seems to be no point in the addition of liquorice. These include disgusting minty sugar pearls and these jellies:


They may be OK for mint addicts, but why bother with the liquorice?

There you have it, from the sublime down to the abysmal ;)