Pirkka Salmiakki

There's nothing wrong with plain, ordinary, and run-of-the-mill, and in the world of Salmiakki, Pirkka seems to offer just that. There's no special packaging, special shapes, or special "features" like chili flavor. It looks a lot like the generic/store brand of candies that we have here in the states.

Cracking open the bag of liquorice revealed a bunch of penny-sized, diamond-shaped candies. They had a soft texture, but were a bit firmer than, say, a Twizzler.

When I popped one in my mouth, I was pleasantly surprised to experience a non-offensive liquorice taste. Chewing a few times reiterated the flavor, and my apprehension slowly turned to delight. Could it be... a piece of liquorice from Finland that wasn't awful!?

Alas, it was too good to be true. After about twenty seconds, a subtle, salty note started to appear and, within a few moments, completely take over. It quickly evolved into a deep "salt thirst," and I had no choice but to abort mission. The candy was spat out and I quenched my thirst with a full liter of water.

Although this was one of the more mild Salmiakki, the creeping salty sensation makes it almost edible.

Katjes: Hot Temptations

Now that I've not only remembered which Google account I used for this blog, but remembered that account's password, I can once again continue on my reviews of Salmiakki. Actually, the timing worked well; I've finally recovered from those toxic cookies.

I was recently invited to a "Hotluck" dinner party. In case the pun is not painfully obvious, it's a potluck party in which everyone brings hot and spicy food. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of share some of the delightful Salmiakki.

Mmmm, mmm, mmm: a smiling model touching her lower lateral incisor with a long chii peper! Now if that's not sexy, then I don't what is. Good work, Katjes, you've actually managed to distract me from the fact that this is a bag of salty, spicy liquorice. I mean, for crying out loud: adding hot to salty liquorice is like adding a lawsuit to an insult that was added to an injury. But no matter, it was the perfect treat to bring to the hotluck.

I put the fish-shaped candy in a little bowl and snuck them on the snacks table next to the wasabi cashews and hot peanuts. Surprisingly, they actually looked like edible candy, and the sugar-like coating made them seem like a delightful mix of hot and sweet.

Of course, the only delight that came from the Hot Temptations was watching unsuspecting party-goers casually take a piece and pop it in their mouth. It would take a few seconds, but just about everyone gave the unmistakable what the hell did I just eat face.

Most were polite, and quietly chased the candy with something not awful tasting, while a couple people disgustingly said, "what kind of liquorice is that!?!" Actually, that's been my question all along.

For the sake of completeness, I did try the Hot Temptations at the party and, surprisingly they weren't too bad. Compared with the rest of the spicy food, they were pretty mild.  Oh, and that sugar-like coating I mentioned earlier? Salt, of course.

When paired with spicy foods, this rates as almost edible.