I love licorice, coconut, fruits, and chocolate. Love. But will I love them together? I DON'T KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO FIND OUT. Together.
Oh hi, everyone! Today we’re going to discuss sorts. ALL sorts.
Back in the day-and I mean back in the way way back- a confectioner was selling sweets to a bro. But the confectioner mistakenly dropped his tray of sweets, mixing them all up. All aflutter, he was like “umm, sorry my good man, here, let me clean that up”. But the customer was all “Hold up, dawg! This looks tight! I’ll take it!”
That’s exactly (verbatim) how the exchange went in 1899, when Liquorice Allsorts were invented, or rather, “discovered”. Since then, many companies have started to make Allsorts varieties, some (shudder) without licorice, or as cutesy Brits call it, “liquorice”.
As you can see from the bag, there’s a lot of color going on here. That’s because these are not in any way traditional licorice. Yes, there’s a few pieces of straight licorice-some very chewy, some soft. But the vast majority of candy in this bag is tinged with either chocolate, lemon, orange, strawberry, or coconut. This choice-which is crucial to the identity of the candy- really dials down its potential customers-even negating some hardcore licorice fans….potentially like me.
No doubt, these look stellar in Grammy’s candy dish. The thing is though…it takes a serious candy fan to get into these. Matty Guru is a big fan, which proves his mettle (a bit), but as for me, I’m a bit on the fence. As you can see above, the majority of these pieces have a tiny amount of licorice flanked by flavored fondant. The fondant is the fruit flavored part. Oh, and I….don’t LIKE fondant generally.
I’m not FOND of it.
Anyhow, here’s the rundown of potential pieces you might come across:
Aside from the straight licorice, my favorites were the black tube with white filling, and the puck shaped pearl-covered thingies. But there’s not a lot of point trying to dig out a favorite in the bag-I honestly felt like the majority of the pieces, regardless of the color, tasted of lemon. Perhaps it permeated the rest of the pieces, …who knows. It’s not a flavor combination I seek out, but definitely not unpleasant. It’s just not my thing, and that’s coming from a hardcore licorice fan. But maybe it’s yours, espesh if the idea of fruit/coconut/chocolate licorice excites you. You can find these pretty easily online, click the link below to join the party.
ndeanson January 7, 2023 at 8:28 pm
I don’t know how these candies are continuing to find their way to the American market when so few Americans actually like licorice OR coconut, but I am one grateful American for it. It’s not just the combinations but the quality of the licorice too, however sidelined i may be. 😉
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Mikeon July 3, 2022 at 3:55 am
I found a large diamond shaped brown paste and liquorice all sort in my bag…. Was this made accidentally or is this something Bassetts do periodically? .. curious.
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Samiraon March 30, 2022 at 9:44 am
Malaco’s Allsorts are so good i’ve never bought another Allsorts again!
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Davidon January 1, 2020 at 1:21 pm
These candies have been a staple in the UK for ever. Since I’m originally from the UK, I’ve been eating these for over 50 years. They are excellent, however, they have been downgraded over the years. They are not as good as they used to be and some of the ‘allsorts’ seem to have disappeared. There are now several competing brands (I guess the patent expired) and Bassetts are no longer the best. Maybe they are not for the uninitated, they have never caught on in the US and are impossible to find in any store. They are a British sweet through and through.
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Per Sjoblomon March 3, 2020 at 11:10 pm
I live in Portland Oregon and a grocery store chain called WinCo has them in bulk. I go there weekly and buy a pound, it’s like $2.50 something for a pound and that is quite a lot of all-sorts in a pound. I don’t like the chocolate so I spend a lot of time with the metal scoop pushing all the brown to the side.
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K Hickson March 9, 2017 at 2:12 pm
Why do they have the chocolate? I understand from my british friend they can buy them without the chocolate. I throw them out?
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Elizabeth mastrangeloon August 28, 2016 at 10:30 pm
Is it possible to get JUST the chocolate allsorts as the only flavor ?I found some overseas but the truth don’t ship here. Thanks,liz
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Jonnyon August 29, 2016 at 10:18 am
Elizabeth, I can’t see, to find what you’re wanting. There’s chocolate covered all sorts on Amazon, but I know that’s not what you want. Good luck searching!
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Mattyon September 6, 2016 at 2:29 pm
Now if it was chocolate, it wouldn’t be All Sorts now would it
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42wolveson April 24, 2014 at 11:41 pm
My confession: About once every five years, I decide that I must eat a bag of licorice allsorts. I pry apart the layers to eat them, eat the licorice first, then eat too much of the sickly sweet squishy fondant; and vow to never buy another bag again…
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mattycandyon March 21, 2014 at 4:24 pm
I love these. There are All Sorts of things in here! YEAH I said that. I can’t believe not one of us reviewed these before. we’re lame with a capital d
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