Liquorice Guide
The Liquorice Allsorts Guide
Every shape in the box explained — the coconut wheels, the sandwiches, the jelly buttons — plus where Allsorts came from and how to buy the ones you actually like.
What Liquorice Allsorts actually are
Liquorice Allsorts are a mixture rather than a single sweet: firm black liquorice combined with coloured coconut fondant, jelly and sugar-shelled comfits, cut and layered into half a dozen distinct shapes. The liquorice does the heavy lifting on flavour; the fondant softens it and turns a strong, grown-up taste into something you can eat by the handful.
Because they're a mixture, no two boxes eat quite the same. Most people have a favourite shape and a shape they leave in the bottom of the bag — which is exactly why we sell several of the components on their own as well.
Every sweet in the box and its name
| Sweet | What it is |
|---|---|
| Coconut wheels | A liquorice centre wrapped in a band of coconut paste — usually pink or white. The most recognisable Allsort of the lot. |
| Liquorice sandwiches | Layers of firm black liquorice alternating with coloured coconut fondant, cut into neat rectangles. |
| Jelly buttons (Bertie's buttons) | A black liquorice disc topped with a coloured jelly dome and covered in tiny sugar nonpareils. |
| Coconut rolls | A cylinder of coconut fondant rolled around a thin liquorice core, sliced into short chunks. |
| Plain liquorice batons | Solid black liquorice, no fondant, no coconut — the purist's pick and the reason the whole box tastes of liquorice. |
| Liquorice comfits | Small liquorice pellets in a crisp, brightly coloured sugar shell. Sold on their own too, and often the first thing to disappear. |
Names vary between makers and between generations — the jelly buttons are also called Bertie's buttons after the Allsorts mascot, and the sandwiches are sometimes just "layers". The shapes themselves have barely changed in a century.
Where Allsorts came from
The story told in the trade is that Allsorts were an accident. In 1899 a Bassett's salesman in Sheffield, Charlie Thompson, is said to have dropped a tray of separate liquorice samples in front of a wholesaler; the jumbled mixture on the floor looked far more appealing than the neat trays had, and the wholesaler ordered it as it was.
Whether or not the tale is embellished, the point stands: Allsorts work because of the contrast. Sweet fondant against bitter-edged liquorice, soft against firm, bright colour against black. That's the recipe, and it's why they've outlived most of their Victorian contemporaries.
Buying Liquorice Allsorts in the UK
We sell Allsorts loose by the bag and in a heritage gift box if they're going to someone else. If it's one particular shape you're after, the comfits and the jelly buttons are available separately — no picking through the box required.
Everything is hand-packed to order at our Worcestershire workshop, delivery is free on UK orders over £25, and Buy 5, Get 6 applies across the whole range, so a mixed order of Allsorts and single sweets works out well.
Know which shape is your favourite? Build a box of nothing but that.
Shop Liquorice Allsorts