Liquorice Guide
Types of Liquorice
Soft-eating, hard, salted, fruity, sugar-free, raw root — a plain-English tour of every style of liquorice and who each one suits.
All liquorice starts in the same place — the root of the Glycyrrhiza glabra plant — and then splits into styles that taste almost nothing like each other. Here's the full spread, and who each one is really for.
Soft-eating liquorice
Soft, chewy batons in black and a wide range of flavours. The easiest style to like and the one most people mean by 'liquorice sweets' today.
Best for: Anyone starting out, and anyone who finds traditional hard liquorice too much like hard work.
Shop soft-eating liquorice →Traditional British liquorice
Firmer, darker and more bitter — Pontefract Cakes, cuttings, cream rock, comfits and Allsorts. This is the Yorkshire tradition that gave Britain liquorice in the first place.
Best for: Traditionalists, and anyone chasing the flavour they remember from childhood.
Shop heritage boxes →Nordic salted liquorice (salmiak)
Salted with ammonium chloride for a sharp, savoury, mineral edge. A national favourite across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Best for: Confident liquorice eaters — and the curious, who should start with a small bag.
Shop Nordic liquorice →Fruity liquorice
Liquorice paste flavoured and coloured with fruit — strawberry, apple, mango, blackcurrant, lemon — usually in cables, stripes and wheels.
Best for: Children, sharers, and anyone who says they don't like liquorice but has never tried it fruity.
Shop fruity liquorice →Sugar-free liquorice
The same liquorice flavours made with sweeteners instead of sugar, in black and blackcurrant.
Best for: Anyone cutting down on sugar who doesn't want to give up liquorice with it.
Shop sugar-free liquorice →Raw liquorice root
Dried sticks of the liquorice plant's root, chewed as they come. Mellow, woody and naturally sweet — the raw material for everything above.
Best for: Purists, and people who find sweets too intense.
Shop natural liquorice root →Which should you start with?
If you're buying for yourself and you're unsure, start soft-eating and black. If you're buying for a committed liquorice lover, go traditional or Nordic. If you're buying for a household with mixed opinions, fruity cables keep everyone happy and a family favourites box covers all bases at once.
Whatever you pick, Buy 5, Get 6 runs across the whole shop — the cheapest item comes off — and UK delivery is free over £25, so mixing styles to find your favourite costs less than committing to one.
Browse the full range and mix your own six.
Shop all liquorice