Panda Licorice – Natural Raspberry
Panda Licorice is one of those brands that’s been around for a while, but relatively speaking it hasn’t made it’s presence known very well. What I mean is that it’s been in North American for a while but it wasn’t until recent years that it seems to have gained traction. Perhaps it’s the movement towards shorter ingredient lists and more natural flavours. What the case may be, I didn’t even know the brand existed until the early 2000s and have enjoyed all my experiences with the brand since.
The brand hails from Finland, and if there’s anything that Finland is known for, it’s their licorice. Licorice is way bigger over there than it ever has been in the Frigid North, and so the offerings the brand has over here is much smaller than what they have over there. I imagine they sell a lot more of the fruity flavours like this natural raspberry one, than the original black licorice. I can’t say I have much experience with European black licorice, but if it’s anything like Panda I wouldn’t mind trying some more. Just not the overly salty stuff. That stuff will give you hypertension and a mouth full of salt if you aren’t careful.
The pouch smells very pleasant with the aroma of raspberry wafting into my nose. It’s strong smell, but not in an obnoxious way, like a coworker who wears expensive perfume that smells like a skunk. More like a coworker who has a strong scent of dryer sheets, but a very pleasing, light smelling brand.
The flavour is raspberry forward, but ultimately the flavour that is ever present and at the front is the molasses. It’s hard to really grasp what molasses tastes like, but it’s got a strong, dark, almost smoky flavour to it. It’s got an ever so slight bitterness to it. If you’ve ever had the really cheap licorice flavour or Twizzlers’ black licorice, it’s a little like that, but much more natural tasting and not as herbal, if that makes sense. These also don’t taste of cheap red licorice either, but rather it’s like a natural, slightly herbal licorice that happens to have raspberry flavour added to it. All in all, it’s a great gateway licorice to get people started into quality brands, and even black licorice in general.
These bit size pieces have an interesting shape that end up giving them a very unique mouthfeel. Let me attempt to describe it – the holes make it so that if you leave it in your mouth for a while, the whole softens up and can be squished and collapsed with a slight nudge. I don’t know why but I like eating them this way. I like to let it sit for a while and peel it apart slowly, bit by bit like a string cheese. If you decide to chew them instead, like most people do, they are soft, slightly sticky but have an almost, jelly like fudge consistency. They are quite soft and yield to the bite, and don’t put up much resistance.
The nice thing about these, apart from the flavour and texture, is that the ingredients are fairly straight forward. I’m always in favour of shorter, simpler ingredient lists and while they don’t determine whether I buy something (usually), it’s always a nice plus. People who are versed in licorice will tell you that real black licorice is day and night to the Twizzlers nonsense that is more widely available here in the North. I imagine they would say the same about the red licorice, as this stuff taste more natural both flavour and texture wise than the rubbery stuff you find in grocery stores here. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a nice sweet snack. Especially to non-licorice lovers as I’m sure it will convert at least a few of them into believers.
