The Licorice Allsorts Story

Licorice is a plant that has a rather long history of being used from China to Ancient Egypt and then to Europe as a medicine and as a sweetener. In England, it was first reported as being grown in Pontefract at a monastery. From there, it gradually spread throughout the world. 

Among the numerous licorice, confections are Licorice Allsorts. The sweets were first marketed by the Bassett Company, a famous confectionery in England. The story goes that sometime in 1899, one of the sales staff of the Basset Company – a man named Charlie Thompson was attending to a customer. As he was about to present samples of their goods, the tray containing the samples knocked over and all the sweets were scattered over the floor. As Mr Thompson was trying to pick them up, the customer’s attention was drawn to the assortment of sweets and inquired if it was possible to order such a mix of sweets. That incident is said to have sparked the creation of the allsorts, which was soon mass produced.

The original Licorice Allsorts were a mixture of ten different kinds of candies depending on which brand of allsorts you wanted to buy. A portion of these candies is made from pure licorice, and some from licorice mixed with fondant or paste candy. Some are square shaped and layered, while some are round candies lined with coconut. Some candies contain no licorice at all and are instead flavoured using aniseed or other flavourings. 

The original Bassett Licorice Allsorts contained the following mix of candies or sweets:

  • Tubular candy with coconut, which is typically pink and yellow made from licorice wrapped in coconut paste.
  • Round aniseed candy with small sugar balls on its exterior that contains actual licorice. 
  • The biggest candy is a three-layered square containing coconut paste and licorice 
  • Rosette of licorice which is made from pure licorice
  • Candies are made from a combination of licorice and paste that typically comes in orange, pink, and chocolate flavours. 
  • White paste wrapped in licorice.

Some confectioners add their unique creations into the mix but generally, a number of the candies described on the above list feature in the mix.

Licorice Allsorts have come a long way from their earlier days as a more and more modern combination of flavours is being added.

 

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