By Gary Whitehouse: On a recent vacation (or “holiday”) trip in New Zealand’s South Island, we were doing some grocery shopping before hitting the road for our next destination. We’d already picked up a couple of bags of Cadbury Jaffas to take home as candy mementos, and were looking for something else unique and representative of Kiwi candy culture. These RJ’s Licorice Choc Twists immediately jumped out at me.
I was introduced to the joys of chocolate-and-licorice as a taste combination by the M&M’s-like Lakrits licorice-coated chocolate “lentils.” It’s a combination that ought not to work, but it does, at least to sophisticated palates like mine! So I was intrigued by this treat that puts the chocolate on the inside of a soft(ish) licorice twist. Or “whip” as we’re more likely to say in the States.
I grabbed a bag and stuffed it in my suitcase, and much to my regret didn’t open it until we got home.
As soon as I bit into one, I was hooked. They’re fat little chunks of licorice twist, about 1.5 inches long, with milk chocolate filling the hole in the middle of the tube. Though soft, the licorice gives a very satisfying little “pop” when you bite into it. It’s very good licorice, though you wouldn’t call it “gourmet.” And the chocolate likewise is just good enough. Better than the kak they put in M&M’s these days, but not, you know, high-end, single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate. Just yummy milk chocolate.
That bag disappeared in short order. Well, its contents. I kept the bag to remind me to get some more. You can learn more about this candy and RJ’s other products on their website. And you can find out how to purchase the stuff if you’re not in New Zealand, although it’s a bit unclear whether the chocolate-filled variety is available in the U.S. If you’re a fan of chocolate-licorice candy, it’s worth searching out.
Gary Whitehouse (he, him), a lifelong resident of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, is a retired reporter, editor, and government communicator. He’s also a lifelong lover of books and music, which he has been writing about online for nearly a quarter of a century. His other passions include birding, standard poodles, chocolate, coffee, and craft ales.
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I always thought a licorice “whip” was one of the “full-length” strings of licorice, the ones in the 1ft/30cm range (Red Vines, Twizzlers, etc.), and that the smaller, cut ones like these would be called “bits” or some such. (Incidentally, I grew up in the Seattle area, so my childhood-acquired vocabulary on candy matters should not be that much different from yours.) I do remember, though, when I was quite young, visiting my grandpa in Portland and walking to the Lloyd Center with him, where he treated me to licorice from a place that had much longer, non-twisted whips, and in colors like green and brown! Mind-blowing for a very young child.
This licorice/chocolate combination does sound intriguing, though I’m surprised it’s not spelled “liquorice”. Or is that name reserved for the stuff flavored with actual licorice root, which I’m guessing this may not be?