Katjes - Kinder Black Licorice Cats From Germany

I have never been a big fan of black licorice. If there is a choice of jelly beans - I will not pick the black ones. Having said that...if all the jelly beans are gone EXCEPT the black ones - I will eat them.

My favorite licorice is red licorice and it has to be the "name brand" variety - not some waxy, cheapy knock-off variety (shudder). The pull apart licorice will do in a pinch. I enjoy shoestring licorice b/c it's fun to play with and tie it in knots before eating it. When we were kids there was a store/gas station called "Husky" or "Husky's" - husky as in the northern dog not as in the polite way of referring to a fat little boy. Anywhoo - that store, along with 7-11, and "Night Owl" had a nice selection of candy and licorice... It's amazing how as a kid/teen, candy was such a BIG DEAL! Sure I like it now - but if I had a dollar there would be something other than candy I'd rather spend it on (like a Slurpee). But back then it was fun to look through all the candy - ponder a purchase, make a decision and then put it back and take something else.

I remember the store owner of "Night Owl" was an old, grouchy man. Maybe rightly so. It would bug me if I had a candy counter and a bunch of little kids came in and pawed through it all and took 1/2 hour to buy something. Sometimes he'd give one of my sisters or me some money to buy him coffee or some thing from the restaurant a couple of doors down (guess he couldn't leave the shop or he'd be cleaned out of candy pretty fast!). Don't know what we got for it - maybe he gave us a free gumball.

Enough reminiscing about candy purchases of yester-year...and back to the present.

I know there are all types of black licorice - some can be very salty. When I bought the little cats I didn't know what they would be like - but was willing to try it out. The fact that the licorice was in the shape of black cats - encouraged me to buy that variety. The 75 gram bag cost $1.00.



The black cats had a very mild licorice flavor with just a hint of a menthol aftertaste. The candy is quite hard to start with but becomes a bit softer after awhile.

Dd didn't like the cats (but doesn't like black licorice any way)...ds who LOVES black licorice - of course liked the cats.

Here is a great website for licorice lovers...they have licorice from lots of different countries. I have ordered from them before, and was happy with the purchase and service. If I had to choose my "favorite" black licorice - it would be the black licorice pipes.