Ten out of Ten!

My search is at an end. And it came to an end rather unexpectedly last Friday night, after three pints of the Old Rosie's, when our downstairs neighbour invited us inside for a bit of wine to round off the evening. That is why I thought I was hallucinating when I remembered it the next morning. But I have the picture to prove it:



And I've just had another taste. The ammonium chloride is already fading slightly after the liquorice had been out of the bag for the past five days (in my jar with the other liqs and silica to keep 'em dry), but it's still there, its gentle heat almost sufficient to form fumes at the back of my throat. It's complemented by the familiar earthiness of sweetroot. And I don't know what else is in there, but it all conspires to make this liquorice perfect. It is not too hard and not too soft, it melts in the mouth just slightly too fast at the thought that it is the last one, but just at the right rate if you know you can grab another one later. The flavour is maintained throughout. I had a coffee just now but it brushes the taste aside without any ado, assuming a quiet and welcome dominance. The aftertaste lingers gently in the background until it is time for another sip.

Disconcertingly it says 'mix' on the pack, but I've only tried the little diamonds with the lattice pattern. I should hope that all the shapes in the pack taste the same, but there's only one way to find out.

Somewhere in this town there must be a Finnish shop.

Skilte Lakrids

Triangular taffic-sign liquorice: proof that cramming for your theoretical driving test needn't be boring.

These are nice and hard with a fragrant violet flavour that is quickly displaced by menthol and a good, strong salmiak hit.

Could be a new favourite.

9/10

Feeding my Addiction

I know, it's been a long time since I have written an entry for this blog. But that is because I have managed to satisfy my cravings more-or-less with liquorice bought on holiday (wherever the Germans go...) or ordered from UK-based sweet shops.

But—damnit—it's no longer enough!

The likes of Katjes paws, Salinos and Dutch coins are merely teasing. Occasionally there is a hint of salt, sometimes of sweetwood, but rarely of salmiak.

Recently, in Greece, I resorted to pouring some sort of ammonia powder—on sale for curing meat or something—over yet another bag of mild liquorice, but the taste wasn't right. Whatever the stuff was, it wasn't ammonium chloride, so I hastily got rid of it.

Scandinavian liquorice is available in the UK, but usually at exorbitant prices and with international shipping charges attached.

Thankfully, I have found a more-or-less reasonable supplier. Danfood is about 20% cheaper than the competition and is based in the UK.

I've just placed an order. Unfortunately, Pletskud (one of my faves) is on special offer: buy one, get one free. While this should be ground for jubilation, it means that I don't dare order more than one. But they have Super Piratos—yay!