Stacey, a lovely friend visiting from New Zealand, did a truly wonderful thing and brought me various goods from the isle a yonder. For such a small country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they deserve some props for good sweets.
Here we have RJ’s Licorice Choc logs, a name that doesn’t really make me want to eat because in the U.S., “logs” imply…kinda inedible. Perhaps because of this I left them in the pantry for 2 months. Finally got the nerve to jump in, and here we are:
As you can see, the candy is sizable. Thick and long. (If you think I’m going to make a “that’s what she said” joke you’re wrong.) The texture is semi-soft, not mealy but dense. Like, if you took three black vines, or something like it, took out the twist and the shine, and rolled them together until it was a solid cylinder. If you pull on an RJ log with some force, you can pull it apart. But you have to work to do it.
The log is a licorice outer cylinder and chocolate inner. Neither of which has strong flavors. This isn’t a deep salty, or super anise-y licorice nor a dark or creamy sweet milk chocolate. Both flavors mixed together are kinda mid, as the kids would say. But dammit, it works. Especially if you are one of those crazy people who doesn’t like licorice. RJ’s Licorice Choc Logs give you a hint of it, but the chocolate flavor overtones and soft feel take over.
A few key callouts:
- These are gluten-full, not gluten-free.
- Made with cane sugar and not corn syrup.
- May contain soy and milk…
- And RJ’s proud to tell us the logs are Palm Oil-free. Which is good, it means less saturated fats.
This link to buy has a stooopid expensive price on it (crappy economy anyone?), and these don’t appear to be available en masse. You get a good amount of candy in the package of three and it feels like a lot to eat, but not sure I would pay a premium for it. So look around the interwebs and you may be able to find a better price. Here’s an ad for cheaper RJ’s straight-up licorice if you want to go down that path.
Although part of me wishes I got either more chocolate or more licorice flavor in RJ’s Licorice Choc Logs, they are a solid, unique candy that I’d eat again. It may even make licorice naysayers reconsider. . . Who we kidding. Of course they won’t. If I’ve learned anything in my long 29 years of life, if you don’t like licorice, there ain’t NOTHing changing your mind.
Solid review. Sounds….like a pass for a REAL licorice lover (yes I’m calling you out)