Winter Mixed – large

Lakrids Winter Mixed large. Three winter varieties, 515 grams, one jar for the whole group.

Lakrids Winter Mixed large is the 515-gram jar from the winter collection by Lakrids by Bülow, containing a mix of CLASSIC Caramel, Crispy Raspberry and Cherry Sour. No gift box with compartments, no advent calendar, no mix with salmiak or mint.

Lakrids Winter Mixed large is a mixed chocolate licorice from Lakrids by Bülow, combining three varieties from the winter collection in a 515-gram jar. Anyone who has guests in December knows the problem: three small jars on the table are empty after two evenings, and everyone has only had one variety. The large mixed jar solves this differently. Copper-colored, raspberry-red and cream-white balls lie jumbled together, and whoever reaches in does not know which one they will get. The jar is twice as tall as the medium jar, stays on the table for weeks and answers the question of what to have for dessert all by itself.

Caramel, raspberry and cherry in one go

Winter Mixed combines three varieties that complement each other: sweet caramel, light fruit and dark tartness. CLASSIC Caramel forms the base with dulce chocolate and sea salt flakes; the caramelized white chocolate reminds of caramel candy and shortcrust pastry. Crispy Raspberry adds raspberry on top, crisp in its red sugar coating, sweet and fruity. Cherry Sour brings the tartness with cherry juice granules, without which the mix would be too sweet after three balls.

All three share the same boiled licorice core, which is why a line runs through the mix, even if the coatings taste different. The core is a strong licorice with one percent liquorice extract, soft and slightly chewy, dark in the finish. The mix is deliberately composed without Frozen Mint: peppermint would get in the way between caramel and fruit.

Anyone who wants to give a single variety as a gift is not well advised with this jar; for that, the varieties are available individually in a jar. And anyone who expects licorice with salt or salmiak will find the mix too sweet. Winter Mixed is a chocolate mix with a licorice core, not a salt licorice selection. Anyone looking for salt may find it in the sea salt flakes of CLASSIC Caramel, and there as a contrast to the sweetness, not as the main note.

On the coffee table, next to the mulled wine, in the office

The large jar belongs in the middle of the table, where someone will come by for weeks, and replaces dessert between the holidays. Around 110 balls lie inside, enough for a family throughout Advent or for an office of eight people until New Year's Eve. For filter coffee, simply place the jar there; everyone takes three to four pieces, and the mix ensures that no one gets the same one twice.

Next to a mug of mulled wine or punch, cherry is the variety that stands up best to the sweet drink. With a strong black tea with milk, caramel is a good match, with an espresso, raspberry. Anyone who wants to serve the mix as a dessert should place two balls of each variety on small plates and put a bowl of crème fraîche next to it. The fat rounds off the tartness, the licorice gives the cream depth. On a cheese platter, the balls belong next to a mild brie or a young goat cheese; with blue cheese or aged mountain cheese, they are too sweet.

An idea for the Christmas brunch: Roughly chop eight balls and sprinkle them over porridge with roasted apple and a spoonful of maple syrup. The sugar coatings stay crisp in the warm porridge, the licorice core becomes soft and spices the whole thing like a pinch of anise.

A side note: Lakrids itself points out that the ratio of the three varieties varies from jar to jar. Sometimes caramel predominates, sometimes fruit. Anyone expecting an exactly equal distribution is better served with the Winter Selection Box with eight compartments, where each variety lies individually.

Why the winter mix looks different every year

Lakrids by Bülow puts together the winter collection anew every year, and the large mixed jar reflects the respective selection. New this season is Cherry Sour, the house's first cherry variety; the regular customer panel of Lakrids Lovers rated it 4.6 out of 5 points. Johan Bülow founded the company in 2007 in Svaneke on Bornholm; today it is boiled in Copenhagen, in a factory whose electricity requirement is completely covered by wind energy.

The three varieties are coated separately and only mixed at the end. During coating, the boiled core rotates in a drum, while liquid chocolate is applied in thin layers: dulce chocolate for CLASSIC Caramel, white chocolate for Crispy Raspberry and Cherry Sour. Dulce is a caramelized white chocolate with at least 23 percent cocoa, whose milk sugar browns when heated and provides the caramel tone without adding caramel.

The raspberry red and copper tone come from carmine, iron oxide and beta-carotene, while the summer varieties are colored with beetroot and turmeric. The fruit lies as a powder on the coatings: freeze-dried raspberry and strawberry as well as dried cherry juice. Freeze-drying preserves the color and tartness of the berries and does not release moisture to the coating, which would otherwise become dull within a few days. Rice flour instead of wheat flour binds the cores, which is why they are gluten-free; the house does not use gelatin. The core is thickened at a low temperature until it releases from the kettle; only then does it keep its shape during coating. Molasses and invert sugar syrup bind it and give the dark color that is not visible through the light coating and surprises on the bite.

The jar that does not need to be wrapped

Winter Mixed large is intended as a gift for a whole household, not for one person. The jar goes to families, to hosts with constant visitors or to a team that holds the fort over the holidays. The black label with the copper star and the mix visible through the glass make wrapping paper unnecessary. The jar is only available in the cold months and only in this one size. The summer variety with LEMON, Sour Strawberry and Pink Pineapple is its light counterpart and replaces it as soon as the winter collection runs out.

Anyone who discovers one of the three varieties for themselves will find it individually, for example Cherry Sour in the 270-gram jar. With cool, dark storage, the jar lasts until spring; if it stands next to the heater, the coatings become soft and dull from 22 degrees.

One jar for the weeks in which someone is constantly sitting at the table and no one has to ask what there is to have with coffee anymore.