Icelandic Licorice

Licorice in Iceland is not a minor flavour. Supermarkets give it a whole wall, petrol stations sell it by weight from pick-and-mix bins, and the version most people mean is salt licorice, dosed with ammonium chloride, which tastes sharp and faintly medicinal rather than sweet. From there it goes in every direction: licorice centres inside chocolate bars, licorice powder shaken over soft ice cream at the drive-through stands, licorice in liqueurs and in cakes. Icelanders get through a great deal of it. Visitors either take to it on the first piece or find that piece genuinely unpleasant, and there is very little middle ground.

What you actually see

• Salt licorice - the salmiak version, sharp rather than sweet.
• Chocolate-coated bars - licorice centres inside milk chocolate, the standard thing taken home.
• Licorice on ice cream - powder or crumbled pieces shaken over soft serve.
• Pick and mix - bins sold by weight at supermarkets and petrol stations.

When to go

Year-round. Supermarkets are far cheaper than airport and souvenir shops for exactly the same bars, so buy before the last day rather than at the gate. Pick-and-mix walls let you test a few pieces without committing to a bag. The ice cream stands stay open through winter, which is one of the more Icelandic parts of the whole business.

Honest expectations

Salt licorice divides people sharply, and a large bag bought after one piece often comes home unfinished. The salty version is strong enough that children frequently refuse it outright. Sweets are expensive here, and airport shops charge a good deal more than a supermarket two streets from the hotel. It also turns up unannounced inside chocolate, which catches people out.

Nearby

It sits beside the chocolate counters and the year-round ice cream stands as everyday Icelandic sweets.