Salty Premium Licorice

Salty liquorice from Sweden, soft and deep dark

Premium Salty Liquorice from Lakritsfabriken is soft salty liquorice from Helsingborg with 6% liquorice powder, ammonium chloride, and anise oil. Not a hard candy, no gelatine, no wheat flour – it is bound with rice flour and cut into short, fingertip-sized rolls.

Premium Salty Liquorice is the Swedish salty liquorice for everyone who is looking for that ammonium chloride kick and still wants something soft between their teeth. Martin Jörgensen pours his liquorice in Helsingborg so that it yields instead of splintering. There is 6% liquorice powder in every roll, plus a drop of genuine anise oil. 150 g in a flat black flip-top box.

First sweet, then salty, then a long finish of anise

The first bite is soft and dark, almost chocolatey. Then the ammonium chloride comes through, and in the end, anise remains on the tongue.

This Premium Salty Liquorice works in three waves. First, the cane sugar and syrup, which carry the sweetness. Then the ammonium chloride, which puckers the mouth and sets that Nordic tone – savory, mineral, spicy. Finally, the anise oil, which lingers for a long time and captures the sweetness again.

By the way, what provides the saltiness here is not table salt, but ammonium chloride – the spice of the Nordic liquorice kitchen. That is why salty liquorice tastes salty without having a handful of sea salt in it. Once you have understood that, you will look for it specifically.

The rolls are about the size of a thumbnail and so soft that they yield when chewed. This is exactly what distinguishes them from hard liquorice chunks from a bag, which you have to suck on rather than chew.

With black coffee, with aquavit, for the evening

Salty liquorice and bitterness go well together. A few rolls with a strong black coffee are enough; the anise brings the roasted notes to the fore.

On a Nordic evening, it goes well with a cool aquavit or a whisky with a peaty note – the two get along brilliantly because the ammonium chloride complements the smoke and the alcohol opens up the anise. And if you like baking: two or three finely chopped rolls in a chocolate mousse make it sophisticated.

The flat box is well-suited for the desk. It lasts surprisingly long because with salty liquorice, you automatically snack slowly – one roll, then a break, then the next. It should be stored in a dry, cool place, otherwise the pieces will stick together.

If you prefer it less tart, reach for the sweet sister without ammonium chloride. If you are looking for more intensity, you will find it in our liquorice selection from Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

A chef, a sommelier, a liquorice maker since 2011

Martin Jörgensen first trained in the kitchen, then worked as a sommelier, and began making liquorice in Ramlösa near Helsingborg in 2011.

You can taste this background. A sommelier thinks in terms of finish and balance, and that is exactly how this liquorice is built – the sweetness carries, the ammonium chloride provides the accent, the anise holds the finish. Martin has avoided wheat flour, gelatine, and hydrogenated fats from the very beginning. It is bound with rice flour and seasoned with genuine anise oil instead of flavouring.

Sweden's first premium liquorice, is how Martin described his project when he exhibited for the first time at the liquorice festival in Stockholm in 2011. Since 2019, the liquorice for it has been growing on 8 hectares in Southern Sweden, on his own fields.

In 2013, his Super Salty won the title "Bästa Saltlakrits" in Finland – and the Finns are really not lenient judges when it comes to salty liquorice. Hats off.

By the way, on the inside of the box lid, it says what many do not know: the botanical name for liquorice is Glycyrrhiza glabra, and the shrub grows to about one meter high. The root underneath takes years to develop its full aroma. You can find more about the factory in the portrait of Lakritsfabriken from Helsingborg.