I bought these at a flea market for only 69 cents, while in search of a Leonardo Pez Dispenser to complete my collection of the new TMNT dispensers. They were on the counter in a jar and it was a total impulse buy simply because it said “Raspberry” on the package. I wasn’t even sure exactly what it was when I bought it. It’s called a Raspberry Bar, but it also says it is licorice. But the ingredients say it’s mostly molasses. In fact, there are only 4 ingredients total, Molasses, wheat flour, citric acid, and natural flavor.
The bar itself is a super dark red, almost black even. The bar is about the length of a Snickers, though much skinnier. The candy is also a little sticky to the touch, I assume from their use of molasses. The taste wasn’t exactly full on raspberry, as I expected it to be. The taste definitely reminded me of something, and my friend who tried it agreed.
It took a while, but we finally hit on it – dried apricots. It tastes like dried apricots and raspberries. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I thought the candy was pretty good actually – it was just a little different than I was expecting. The Panda Licorice company is located in Finland, but their candy appears to be fairly easy to get in stores or online. Amazon
- Panda Licorice webpage (in English)
- Panda Licorice at Amazon
- CandyBlog.net’s review of Panda Bars
I’ve loved this licorice since I was a kid. It is is pretty easy to find in US health food stores.
These are great. I get mine at the local Safeways or other healthfood stores.