What Is Liquorice, and Why Does It Taste Like That?

Liquorice divides people more sharply than any other sweet we sell. Understanding what it actually is explains why.

It is a root

Liquorice comes from the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a legume that grows around the Mediterranean and across western Asia. The root is boiled down to a thick, dark extract, which is then combined with sugar, glucose syrup, flour or starch and usually molasses to make the sweet.

The flavour compound is glycyrrhizin, which is roughly fifty times sweeter than sugar but with a slow, lingering, faintly bitter finish. That combination — intensely sweet and slightly bitter at once — is what people either love or cannot stand.

Liquorice and aniseed are not the same

They taste similar and get confused constantly, but they are unrelated plants. Aniseed gets its flavour from anethole; liquorice from glycyrrhizin. Many liquorice sweets have aniseed oil added on top of the liquorice, which is why the two are so often mistaken for each other.

Why Pontefract?

Liquorice has been grown in Pontefract, West Yorkshire since at least the sixteenth century — the deep sandy soil suited the root. Pontefract cakes, the small stamped discs, are named after the town, and the industry is why liquorice is far more embedded in northern English sweet shops than southern ones.

Salted liquorice

Sold as salmiak in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, this is made with ammonium chloride rather than table salt. It does not taste salty in the way crisps do — it is sharp, faintly metallic and slightly numbing. It is genuinely startling if you are not expecting it. Buy a small bag before you commit to a kilo.

Is liquorice bad for you?

In normal amounts, no. In large amounts eaten regularly, glycyrrhizin can raise blood pressure and lower potassium levels. The UK Food Standards Agency advises moderation, particularly for anyone with high blood pressure or heart conditions, and liquorice can interact with some medications. This is about eating a lot of real liquorice consistently, not a bag at the weekend — but if you take medication, ask a pharmacist rather than a sweet shop.

Note that most “liquorice-flavoured” sweets contain very little actual liquorice extract, so this applies far less to them.

Why northern sweet shops sell so much of it

Liquorice root was grown around Pontefract in West Yorkshire from at least the sixteenth century — the deep, sandy, well-drained soil suited a plant that sends roots down over a metre. By the nineteenth century the town had a genuine industry, and Pontefract cakes, the stamped discs with a castle motif, are named after it. That is why liquorice is a staple in sweet shops across the north and a curiosity in a lot of southern ones.

The styles, ranked by how strong they are

• Liquorice allsorts — the mildest. Coconut fondant and sugar paste do most of the work; the liquorice is a supporting layer. The usual way in.
• Spanish and liquorice laces — soft, sweet, extruded. More sugar than liquorice.
• Pontefract cakes — unadulterated. Firm, dark, properly bitter-sweet.
• Liquorice torpedoes and comfits — a hard sugar shell over a liquorice centre, so it arrives late.
• Salmiak / salted liquorice — the strongest by a distance, and not really comparable to any of the above.

The health question, answered properly

Glycyrrhizin, the compound that makes liquorice taste of liquorice, affects how the body handles potassium and sodium. Eaten in quantity and consistently it can raise blood pressure and lower potassium levels, and there are documented cases of this causing real harm at high intakes sustained over weeks.

The Food Standards Agency advises moderation rather than avoidance, and specifically flags it for people with high blood pressure or heart conditions. Liquorice can also interact with some medications, including diuretics and certain blood pressure drugs.

Two things worth keeping in proportion. This concerns real liquorice extract — most liquorice-flavoured sweets contain very little. And it is about sustained daily intake, not a bag at the weekend. If you take medication and you eat liquorice regularly, ask a pharmacist; that is a question for them and not for us.

It is not aniseed, and that matters

Most people who say they hate liquorice are describing aniseed. They are entirely different
plants producing entirely different compounds, and they only smell similar because both contain
anethole-adjacent aromatics.

Liquorice is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a legume. Aniseed is the seed of
Pimpinella anisum, an umbellifer, and it is what flavours most black-coloured boiled
sweets in Britain. If you have dismissed liquorice on the basis of an aniseed ball, it is worth
trying the real thing once.

Why it tastes the way it does

The active compound is glycyrrhizin, roughly fifty times sweeter than sugar, but
with a completely different delivery: it arrives slowly and it lasts, which is why liquorice
lingers long after you have swallowed it. That slow build is also why it divides people so sharply
— there is no way to take a small taste of it.

Salted liquorice

The Dutch and Scandinavian style, salmiak, is flavoured with ammonium
chloride rather than table salt. It is genuinely different, not simply saltier: it
produces a sharp, almost numbing sensation quite unlike sodium. It is an acquired taste even among
people who like ordinary liquorice, and the strongest grades are not a beginner’s purchase.

The health caveat, which is real

Liquorice has actual pharmacology, which is unusual for a sweet. Glycyrrhizin can
raise blood pressure and lower potassium when eaten in quantity over time. The
Food Standards Agency advises that adults should not eat large amounts regularly, and the caution
is stronger if you already have high blood pressure, heart or kidney problems, or are pregnant.

This applies to real liquorice, not to aniseed-flavoured black sweets, and it applies to regular
substantial consumption rather than to a bag now and then. If you are on medication, it is worth a
word with your pharmacist — liquorice interacts with more drugs than most foods do.

One thing for gluten-free shoppers

Traditional liquorice is bound with wheat flour, which makes it one of the few
sweets in a shop that is a genuine gluten risk on ingredients rather than on cross-contamination.
If you are avoiding gluten, treat liquorice as suspect until the label says otherwise. Detail in
which sweets are gluten free.

Shop liquorice and
Spanish, which is where the traditional styles live.