There’s been a real boom of coffee confections to make their way to the pages of Sprudge over the past week. We’ve seen ice cream topped with coffee chaff and three different varieties of cold brew gummy bears. But it’s a new week and we’re turning a corner in our coverage, pivoting towards more hard-hitting, pressing concerns in the world off coffee. Today we’ll be focusing on [checks note] coffee licorice. Okay then.
But these candies are just some shitty Red Vines (that’s right, Red Vines are shitty. I’m not even sure they are candy at all) dipped in old, dusty espresso. This new coffee licorice combo dombo is a collaboration between two Danish powerhouses in their respective fields, Lakrids by Bülow and the Coffee Collective. They’ve combined forces to create Lakrids C: Coffee Kieni, a sweet licorice coated in a blend of milk chocolate and Kenya Kieni coffee.
For anyone familiar with Copenhagen’s Coffee Collective—and not one of the many, many So-and-So Coffee Collectives copping their moniker, of which this writer is one of the guilty thieves (though one of the earliest thieves, if that’s better somehow)—it isn’t much of a surprise to see them collaborating in this fashion. Maybe the licorice-ness of it is a surprise, but the Coffee Collective has a long history of using coffee as a component of some larger product, be it a coffee cheese, kaffeekombucha, coffee caramel, coffee beer, or a very tasty coffee liqueur.
And as with other collabs, this new Coffee Collective jammer exceeds expectations. Upon receiving a press-exclusive sampler, resident licorice aficionado and Associate Editor Liz Clayton found the confection to be, quote, “delicious.” Per Clayton, Lakrids C “starts with a coffee, cream, and sugar vibe and crunches down into lush, rich licorice. Nothing too strong and disagreeable for those black licorice haters out there.”
“There’s enough chocolate and sugar at the front that it wouldn’t need to be one of the world’s best coffees inside… but it’s always nice to know that it is.”
For those looking to get a lick of licorice, Lakrids C: Coffee Kieni is available for purchase via both the Lakrids by Bülow and Coffee Collective webstores (but the Coffee Collective has it for a few bucks cheaper).
It’s clear that coffee is the perfect accoutrement for all manner of sugar. What will be the next collab? Coffee cotton candy by Cat & Cloud? Coffee cheesecake by Coffee Manufactory x the Cheesecake Factory? Coffee Sweet Tarts made by who else but Sweet Bloom and Heart? I wouldn’t say no to any of them.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
All media via Lakrids by Bülow.