Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Black Ace Licorice

Black Ace LicoriceI’m a licorice fan, so it’s hard to do it wrong. I’ll eat it as a hard candy, a chewy rope or classic pastille. What I thought was great about this Black Ace Licorice is that it fits into that niche of licorice products that just about everyone can enjoy. Until I saw this package it didn’t occur to me that so many gluten/wheat sensitive folks were missing out on some great chewy licorice goodness.

This licorice has no wheat flour in it, as most laces, twists and ropes do. Most mass-produced licorice products in the United States don’t even contain real licorice any longer, they use anise flavoring instead. Black Ace is all natural and contains real licorice (which is a good thing and a bad thing, I’ll get to that in a moment.) Licorice has been used for centuries in teas and medicinals. The extract is extremely sweet and has been used an alternative sweetener. It’s a natural expectorant as well, so it’s often found in cough remedies. Some of the effects of too much licorice can be welcome (laxative effect), unpleasant (green stool), or downright dangerous (high blood pressure & edema). Again ... that’d be too much licorice. What’s too much? More than six servings a day.

Black Ace LicoriceBlack Ace are little dots of licorice. They’re soft and chewy, pretty much melting away in the mouth smoothly as you chew or dissolve them. They have corn starch in them, which I guess might make them a jelly product. They’re very sweet, but have a mellow peppery, woodsy taste to them. They’re sweetened with corn syrup and sugar, not molasses, so I miss some of the more earthy flavors. There’s also a little hit of salt in here that tones down the high sweet flavors of the licorice itself.

Black Ace also does a Red version, which also has a similarly pleasant, smooth and soft chew. The flavor is a good fruity/floral mix, something like raspberry. I’m not a big fan of Red in general, mostly because it reminds me I could be having black licorice. But these were definitely nice.

I enjoyed them quite a bit but would probably prefer a molasses & wheat based candy. But if you’re a fan of licorice and can’t have wheat and don’t want boring old hard candies, this might be a solution. Since they’re all natural, you can expect to find them places like Whole Foods as well as Beverages & More, Oakville Grocery or Bristol Farms and possibly TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

Note: though this is all natural, fat free, wheat and gluten free, the package states that they were made in a facility that processes peanuts & other nuts.

Name: Black Ace Licorice
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Food Savvy
Place Purchased: samples from Food Savvy
Price: unknown
Size: 6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 100
Categories: Licorice, Jelly, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:51 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Ohhh, I’m definately going to have to try these now. I’ve seen them around, and I’ve always wondered if they were worth it….

    Comment by Sera on 5/08/07 at 10:59 am #
  2. Haha, i’ve never had black licorice before!
    the red vines were always one of my favorite candies when i was in like sixth grade.
    i’ve never seen these before, where do you buy them?

    Comment by Emily on 5/08/07 at 6:14 pm #
  3. I come from a family of Celiacs, so it’s nice to see items like this that we can eat:D

    I’ve been looking for awhile for gluten free licorice since my aunt is a big fan. Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention! <3

    so far i’ve only been able to find these online at http://www.bevmo.com sku#81034 (black) and #81035(red) However there are a few more places locally that i’m going to look smile

    Comment by Erica on 5/11/07 at 2:46 am #
  4. Cybele's avatar

    Sera - definitely worth it if you like soft licorice.

    Emily - I got these direct from Black Aces, but you can buy them Whole Foods as well as Beverages & More, Oakville Grocery or Bristol Farms and possibly TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

    Erica - I’m glad it’s of interest to you. I get emails about gluten free items, but I’m limited by the same info that you are ... unless it’s on the package that it’s specifically safe for Celiacs, I don’t like to go by the ingredients alone.

    Comment by Cybele on 5/11/07 at 12:54 pm #
  5. Has anyone ever heard of a black licorice lifesaver???  A co-worker of mine swears that she was in Canada and had a roll of black licorice lifesavers. But neither she, nor I can seem to find them.  Please help if you know where to get them. Thanks.

    Comment by Reginald on 5/15/07 at 9:20 am #
  6. I think the black licorice lifesavers were called LLC’s. I haven’t seen them for years

    Comment by Tracy on 1/12/08 at 1:29 pm #
  7. I like this review - good details on the organic ingrediients.

    Not sure a 7 for me…but maybe
    Just about to review these as well.

    Comment by Matt on 11/21/08 at 5:35 pm #
  8. I am trying to get in contact with Food Savvy to see if I can get Black Ace Licorice delivered direct ot our store. This aricle says Whole Foods may carry it but Ido not find it available in our midwest region.  can you supply me with the contact info ? I tried on the web but could not locate them.

    Thanks,

    Ron

    Comment by Ron Mitchell on 2/16/10 at 2:11 am #
  9. A variety store near where I work in Toronto got a case of black licorice Life Savers by mistake about 2 years ago (they hadn’t ordered it), but that was the last time I was able to find them.  I hadn’t seen them for years before that, so it might have been rather old stock. They tasted fresh, though.

    Comment by Sue on 3/11/10 at 7:43 am #
  10. About 15 years ago I bought a roll of black licorice lifesavers while visiting Canada and have not been able or seen them for purchase in Canada or the US…...would love to buy as much as I can for myself and family…...anyone in this big world of ours able to help?

    Comment by Cynthia on 8/29/16 at 6:53 pm #
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