I was really excited when I got this bag of Rips Bits as a free sample via the National Confectioners’ Association. Could they finally be an easily, locally available version of my filled licorice?
The bag did describe them as “filled bite-sized licorice pieces”, and they certainly looked the part!
Survey says… yes! With the slight quibble that these were covered in a “sweet and sour sugar-sand” that turned out to taste much more sweet than sour.
The licorice shells were chewy and stiff while the “cream” centers were on the grainy side. Each was about an inch long.
The red ones were strawberry and cream. They tasted like your standard fruity red candy, with an intensely bright and artificial strawberry floralness tempered with a slight creaminess from the center.
Green was green apple and cream. Its flavor was more muted and more artificial tasting with plasticky undertones, very similar to those of green apple Sour Punch Straws. I liked the red ones better.
These are by no means a high-minded candy, yet I love them for their sweet and chewy intensity. An OM.
The only downside is that they still may be rather hard to track down. They’re made by the Foreign Candy Company, which doesn’t have the widest distribution. I haven’t seen them in stores yet, but hopefully they’ll turn up someday!
Varsha