Friday, September 23, 2011

Trader Joe’s Allsorts -a- Licorice

Trader Joe's Allsorts a LicoriceBefore I started Candy Blog there was a rather short but significant list of candies that I had never tried before. One of them was Licorice Allosrts. This is mystifying for regular readers, I’m sure, who already know that I love licorice. But I didn’t quite understand what it was and as Allsorts are often sold in bulk bins, there was no package (or blog) to explain it to me.

Allsorts are various shapes and combinations of licorice mixed together. The most common items within a variety bag would be rockies (cream filled tubes), twists, nibs, sandwiches (layers of licorice with layers of either fondant cream or coconut fondant), buttons (jellies or gummies covered in colorful nonpareils) and possibly licorice flavored mellocreams. 

Trader Joe’s Allsorts -a- Licorice is a very conservative and safe assortment of little licorice shapes, perfect for those who are shy of strong licorice and want to dip their toes into the anise waters.

Trader Joe's Allsorts a Licorice

The bright and moderne fifties style design on the packaging does a decent job of demystifying its contents. It says that it includes a fun and colorful variety of licorice shapes and sizes including sandwiches, tubes and swirls. The ingredients boast that there are no artificial flavors or colors, though as is the case with most licorice, it’s not gluten free and also contains milk and gelatin ingredients. Though there is no coconut in the sandwich creams, there is coconut oil.

The assortment consists of: tubes filled with pink, orange or yellow cream; sandwiches with pink, orange or yellow cream; twisted nibs and licorice wheels. 

Trader Joe's Allsorts a LicoriceWhile they’re glossy and pretty, they’re also soft. So soft that many in my package were lumped together.

The cream element is very soft and though it’s not sticky it does like to stick to the other pieces and gets dented and malformed easily.

They’re made in France, so they’ve had a long trip (but they’re well within their expiry date - good until July 2013).

Trader Joe's Allsorts a Licorice

The texture is soft and chewy without being doughy like some Australian styles can be. It’s also not crumbly or waxy like Twizzlers can get. The addition of gelatin gives it a good bounce and helps it keep its moisture. The licorice flavors are mild. There are some nice bitter molasses notes, it’s sweet and lightly salty and only lightly anise-y. The cream is sweet and only slightly grainy, it’s soft and dissolves quickly, almost like frosting. The flavors are what you’d expect: yellow is sweet lemon, orange is a little bit like orange and pink has a floral strawberry sweetness.

I enjoyed the different shapes, though the sandwich pieces were the least successful because they were so malformed. It was interesting to have a cream licorice sandwich that didn’t have coconut, as so many do. I missed the chocolate flavored cream though, that would have been fun.

Trader Joe's Allsorts a Licorice

I found the mix very munchable. It didn’t really satisfy any deep cravings for licorice, but it was a great snack. As a die hard licorice fan I don’t think I’ll be picking this up, but if you’re looking for something that kids and adults can enjoy together, this has some features that both will appreciate.

Related Candies

  1. Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Licorice
  2. Natural Vines - Black Licorice
  3. Leaf Schoolchalk, Allsorts & Pipes
  4. Black Licorice Twists & Snaps
  5. Bassett’s Licorice Allsorts
  6. Haribo Licorice Wheels

POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:19 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     All NaturalCandyReviewTrader Joe'sLicorice Candy7-Worth ItFrance

Comments
  1. According to the story I’ve read, licorice allsorts were created by accident.  A sales representative supposedly dropped a tray of various licorice candies while calling on a customer, and the customer liked the resulting jumble.

    Comment by Johnny Carruthers on 9/24/11 at 11:10 am #
  2. Bought a bag of these Friday night…..just finished them 10 minutes ago.  I liked them..I found them to be a refreshing alternative to regular allsorts.  I also missed the chocolate coated pieces.  The licorice wheels were not as good as the Haribo ones I have had in the past. This product left a good taste in my mouth and I would buy them again.

    Comment by David Klein on 9/25/11 at 2:33 am #
  3. I was excited to spot these at TJ’s this afternoon, after reading your review last evening, and bought a bag right away.

    I’ve never tried Allsorts before, and only recently started enjoying licorice (which I could not stand in the past.) I really enjoyed the sandwich ones, which were not stuck together like yours were, probably because I got my bag from the refrigerated/frozen food section (they have candies and sweets on top of the refrigerator things) and put them in the fridge right away after I got home. I think my favourite are the orange ones, but I liked the lemon and strawberry too. The twists I liked, but the wheels I thought were pretty terrible. They had practically no taste, except for bitter, which was disappointing because I always look forward to wheels as they are a lot of fun to unroll and play with hahha. I only ate a few pieces, and have not yet encountered the cream-filled tubes. Those sound pretty exciting!

    Comment by Barbara on 9/27/11 at 4:29 pm #
  4. This is the best licorice ever!!!

    Comment by deanna dawson on 10/17/11 at 4:17 pm #
  5. I wish they would make more assorted liquorice. The purple and black filled tubes

    Comment by julie graham on 2/12/12 at 9:00 pm #
  6. As of Nov 2012, these are discontinued. Sad but true. I LOVED them. These don’t contain the annyoing coconut shreds that most of this style of licorice contains that masks the licorice and pure sugar flavor. (I’m usually a coconut fan - but not in this type of candy.) Trader Joe says these are made exclusively for them in France, but I’m sure the manufacturer that creates them does so for multiple store brands. Does anyone know where to find them?

    Comment by JK on 12/11/12 at 7:49 am #
  7. Why is it that ANYTIME I like something from TJ they just pull it off the shelves? It has happened with countless things now. So much so that TJ has been going down one notch in my list of favorite supermarkets because they don’t seem to be able to keep the supplies flowing. Too bad because I really like their stuff.

    That being said, these allsorts are basically the same as Haribo. If you liked these you will find the Haribo similar but priced higher. Unfortunately thr Haribos are harder to find than the TJ version (well, not anymore thanks to TJ). I’ve had some luck on Amazon.com but you will have to buy in bulk!

    Comment by Annoyed by TJ on 2/12/13 at 10:57 am #
  8. If anyone finds licorice like the TJ one’s please let me know. I’m addicted to them and soooo sad that they are gone! WHY?????

    Comment by kathleen on 4/05/13 at 7:08 pm #
  9. I am trying so hard to buy licorice allsorts sku#59956 trader joes and it seems it was diccontinued please please reconsider and stock your shelves with this delight, sso many people are missing it

    Comment by sid greenbaum on 8/28/13 at 11:28 am #
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