Liquorice (licorice) is a fine item of confectionary derived from the root of the plant glycyrrhiza glabra. It has a distinctive taste, and comes in many different varieties. Licorice is renownd for it’s laxative, and aphrodisiac properties.
Types of Licorice
- Standard Red and Black Licorice - Perhaps the most basic form of licorice; hard and tasty.
- Licorice Allsorts - A common derivation of licorice; Licorice combined with sweet confectionary. Fairly enjoyable, but is cheaper
- Soft Eating Licorice - The stuff you buy in the supermarket in those paper bags. Comes in several flavours ranging from black, to fruity flavours, including apple, mango and others. Requires minimal effort to chew, and tastes delightful.
- Licorice Chocolate Logs - Another common derivation of licorice; a slab of chocolate is wrapped in a layer of soft licorice. Exquisite.
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Dutch Licorice -
For the more cultured licorice consumer. Comes in a wide variety, but the most noticed feature is the salt content of the licorice. Infamous examples include:
- Double Salt - dutch licorice made saltier
- Triple Salt - dutch licorice made even saltier
- Dutch Licorice Powder - dutch licorice in a powdered form. Some powders were created to be so salty, that standard salt is not salty enough to be used as a primary ingredient.
- Zwart Wit Kogels - hard boiled lolly with dutch licorice powder inside, which makes them useful for pranks. Nato actually enjoys them, enjoying the refreshing contrast that is produced when the sweet and the salty intermingle within the mouth.
- Zwart Wits - literaly; Black and Whites. Look like m&ms, but are black and white. Very Salty centre. These two features make the ideal for pranks involving real m&ms. Nato actually enjoys these ones to - but only in moderation.
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Dutch licorice also comes in less extreme flavours, including:
- Farm Mix - The basic dutch licorice. Medium-hard, relatively salty, comes in a variety of dutch farm shaped {e.g. windmills, animals, etc…}. Nato does not enjoy these so much.
- Katjes - Slightly harder / chewier version of the Farm mix, but in the shape of cats. Nato does not enjoy these, as they are difficult to chew, with only an average flavour.
- Honingdrop - Medium-Hard, with a slight taste of honey. Quite Mild.
- Griotten - Small cubes of a gell like substance containing licorice, aniseed, gelatin, and coated in sugar. The mildest dutch licorice available.
- Salmiak Rockies - A sweet confection wrapped in licorice; perhaps the dutch equivilent of and allsort? Has Mild Smooth Taste, and is reasonably soft.
- Chalk Licorice / Schoolkrijt - Licorice covered in a white layer of mint. Most often sold out at van Damms, presumably because of it’s unique taste.
In Christchurch Dutch licorice may be purchased from van Damms. The friendly staff have been known to give free samples to allow customers to discover which flavours they enjoy.
Parallels with Alochol
Licorice can be compared to Alcohol; a wide varieties exist, ranging from the harder licorices to softer licorice. Triple salted licorice is the licorice equivilent of absinthe, while licorice allsorts are perhaps the licorice equivilent of RTDs.
