If you were to visit me at work, you would find that many of us put out candy jars on our cubicle entrance. This has always been a pleasant little courtesy with each person picking one brand of candy. L. puts out chocolate minis, E. put out the delicious little Werther’s caramels. For a long time I just filled the dish with whatever I had picked up on sale.
{Cue heavenly music} And then I found…licorice. Not the bright red stuff that people call licorice, real, honest-to-goodness black licorice. This isn’t a flavor that I liked when I was a kid, but when I got older I would have a piece now and then. Then I discovered Walgreens and the candy aisle. They stock the old-fashioned candies that I remember from ‘the way back’.
You know the ones: little pastels dots on strips of paper, peanut butter chews, and those odd little pinkish-orange marshmallow things that Grandma ate. And there it was – Soft Eating Black Licorice. These small twists of black candy are twice as thick as the Red Vines you’re used to calling licorice. Biting into them is scrumptious, your teeth press down into a firm candy that grabs your teeth and doesn’t want to let go. It’s sweet at first and then the herbal flavor hits. Licorice is made from a root and the root extract is boiled up into all kinds of tasty treats.
It was an immediate hit. People would stop in their tracks and say, ‘Is that licorice? I love licorice; I haven’t had it in years’. Before you know it we would be chatting, telling stories and remembering all our favorite candies. I tried putting out other kinds of candy. The red Sour Cherry balls were just as popular but I don’t like them as much. The flavor started off very sweet when you encounter the candied shell, but the inner ball is very sour. My mouth is puckering just thinking about that sour flavor follow-up.
Once I started looking for other candies, I found Snaps. These are made by the American Licorice Company, OMG, they’re delicious. Snaps come in 5.5 ounce bags of licorice tubes cut into half-inch long pieces. Every little tube is coated with a candied shell coating and the taste is almost floral. The licorice flavor climbs out from behind the initial sweetness so you have that herbal and sweet rose taste together. These are my new favorite candy and they’re totally addictive.
I feel bad telling you about Snaps because if you try them, you may lose yourself in the licorice experience. Red Vines can’t measure up, jelly beans seem bland, even chocolate becomes less attractive. I have a jar at work and at home and slip a few in my pocket every now and then. Don’t worry about pocket lint, the deliciousness travels before each little glorious Snap, creating a wave of positive energy and moving from pocket to taste bud with admirable speed.
I’m not alone in my licorice world. I now have three candy jars at my desk, each filled with a different version of the candy. Choose traditional soft-eating, select Good n Plenty, or pick Snaps; it’s all good. The staff and management find reasons to walk by my desk several times a day and the level in the jars slowly, slowly drop. It’s nice to share a vice.
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