C – Sour Strawberry

C – Sour Strawberry by Lakrids by Bülow with a red center

C – Sour Strawberry by Lakrids by Bülow is a liquorice ball with a red center, coated in white chocolate and a green sugar layer that gets its color from spirulina algae. It is the most sour variety in the company's alphabet.

C – Sour Strawberry is the sour chocolate liquorice from Lakrids by Bülow in Denmark. Green on the outside, white underneath, red at the center: this variety features three layers of color and tastes as surprising as it looks, with strawberry and blackcurrant over a chewy liquorice core.

The green coating and the red liquorice center

The green sugar layer cracks on the first bite, initially offering only sweetness long before the fruit notes appear.

Beneath it lies the white chocolate, silky and mild, followed by the center, which breaks the mold for this variety. It is red instead of black, chewier in texture, and distinctly fruitier in profile than the sweet liquorice of the other letters. Crunchy, silky, chewy – three textures layered together that can be tasted individually.

The white chocolate has the most thankless task of the bunch, as it sits between two extremes and must hold them both together. With cocoa butter and whole milk powder, it provides enough fat to cushion the acidity without pushing a flavor of its own to the forefront.

Strawberry, blackcurrant, and a tingle on the tongue

The acidity is built up in several layers that arrive one after the other rather than all at once.

Freeze-dried strawberry provides the bright note, blackcurrant concentrate adds a darker berry tone underneath, and dried cranberry inserts a tart edge. Finally, malic acid pulls everything together—the same acid found in unripe apples that makes the mouth pucker for a moment.

Anyone who has ever bitten into a not-quite-ripe strawberry will recognize this moment. Fruity and sour at the same time, with a tingle on the tongue that lingers for a few seconds. That is exactly what this variety aims for, which is why it sits at the sour end of the company’s flavor scale.

How a summer guest became a year-round variety

Sour Strawberry started as a limited summer edition and was requested so often that Lakrids added it to its year-round assortment.

In doing so, it took the letter C from a coffee variety that no longer exists. Anyone reaching for C now gets strawberry instead of Kenyan coffee. The green color comes from spirulina, a microalgae that has long been used as a food coloring and is contrasted here with a turmeric yellow.

Amongst all the brown and cream-colored balls, a green one sits in the tin, and it catches the eye on any table before anyone even asks what it is. Cutting it open reveals the third color, and that is usually when the conversation about this ball begins.

The center at Lakrids is bound with rice flour rather than wheat, which is why the balls remain gluten-free. Store the tin in a cool place and out of the sun, otherwise the chocolate will lose its melt.

On a warm afternoon, C pairs well with a glass of cool white wine, whose acidity complements that of the fruit. For something milder, try B – Passion Fruit, or for something more tropical, Pink Pineapple, which features the same red center.

Along with three other summer varieties, C is included in the small SUMMER Selection Box. All other letters can be found at Lakrids by Bülow. C is available in a small size with 115 grams and a regular size with 270 grams.