When talking about licorice, there are two things to focus on. The plant and the confectionery (Candy for the young-uns.) Yeah, just like the marshmallow (We'll get to that sometime) licorice, or liquorice as smart-marks call it, was originally known as a plant. Like the one pictured above. The flavor and goodness of the licorice plant are usually taken from the root of the plant, pictured below.
Now, I'm not sure when licorice was first being used as a confectionery, but we do know that it was being used as medicine for like... A lot of time. Not really a good idea, because as soon as I googled "licorice", I was directed to a bunch of "Health effects of licorice" medical pages. As it turns out, eating a lot of licorice root isn't good for you. Then again, eating a lot of anything isn't good for you. So, apparently, eating too much licorice causes weakness, high blood pressure, and something called hypokalemia. Hopefully, you won't get any of those while eating that delicious candy after Halloween!
Boiled in water and mixed with sugar, licorice has been used to make all kinds of confectioneries.
I'd just like to point out that in the Netherlands, they have something called "salty licorice". Now, take a moment to let that in. That would taste HORRIBLE. A lot of people don't like licorice, but if you mix that with salt, you've pretty much guarenteed to not sell that to people. The people who live in the Netherlands must really like these, too. I'm pretty sure that they're the only ones who eat and enjoy salty licorice. I don't mean that they're a little salty. It's not like enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or some "saltwater" taffy, I mean they're really salty. Go ahead and wash that taste out of your mouth with some licorice liquor, pictured above.
This leads us to red licorice, which doesn't even taste anything like original licorice, which is probably why it is much more popular in the states. While resembling regular licorice, no actual licorice root is used to make it. This variety, usually flavored with strawberry or cherry, has certainly made its way into the mainstream of American candy, thanks to Twizzlers.
From Wikipedia: "The manufacturer of cherry Twizzlers candy is one of the oldest confectionery firms in the United States. The company was established in 1845 as Young and Smylie, and adopted Y&S as its trademark in 1870. National Licorice Company was created in 1902 through the merger of three small firms: Young & Smylie, S.V. & F.P. Schudder and H.W. Petherbridge. In 1908 a plant was opened in Montreal and in 1929 the Twizzler brand was established. The company changed its name to Y&S Candies Inc. in 1968 and was acquired by Hershey Foods in 1977."
The rest, they say, is history. As for me, I really like the lemon and cherry kind. If I can get my hands on it, I can't get enough of it. I may have a problem. The first step to recovery is stating you have a problem.
Not to mention, Twizzlers are actually kosher and vegan! Imagine that!
In conclusion, Red Vines suck.That is all.
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