Liquorice Allsorts are one of the world’s most famous confections, and have been selling consistently for over 100 years. There unique flavours and strange addictions has made sure that they will continue to sell for many years.

The company who first made Liquorice Allsorts was the Basset Company. The story of how Liquorice Allsorts were first marketed is now quite famous. In 1899, Bassets salesperson Charlie Thompson was discussing an order with a prospective customer. Then completely by accident, his tray of samples was knocked onto the floor. They scattered everywhere, and while Thompson was desperately trying to pick them up, the buyer took an interest to the oddly shaped sweets, and placed an order there and then, and Bassets Liquorice Allsorts soon went into mass production. In 1992, Bassets was taken over by Trebor. Therefore they are now sold as Trebor Basset. The factory where they are made is in Hillsborough, Sheffield

There are 10 different kinds of true Bassets Allsorts, and these are split into two different sections. These are:

So here is a basic dissection of your average bag of Bassets liquorice Allsorts. This study was based upon a large bag (half a pound) of Allsorts.

The circular one with the coconut

These are one of the most famous liquorice allsort. This is probably due to their sweetness and the fact that they stick out the most. It is basically a tubular piece of liquorice with coconut paste wrapped around the outside. They come in two different colours, yellow and pink (although, in other 'slightly cheaper' makes, orange ones have been reported). The coconut seems to take away some of the bitterness in the liquorice. Quite oddly, because these are the most popular, Bassets, of course, decide to put on average 3-4 coconut ones in a bag.

The circular aniseed one with the little balls of sugar on the outside

This is the only liquorice allsort, which strangely, does not contain any liquorice. In its place is a hard aniseed jelly, which is then covered in little balls of sugar. They provide a totally different taste from the other, liquorice sweets in the bag. The also come in two colours, blue and pink. On average, there are about 4-5 of these in each bag. But if you want more, Bassets do sell these as an individual product.

The three layered one

The three-layered one is often known as the 'biggie', as it is the biggest allsort. It also has the most coconut paste, with three layers of paste cut into squares, stuck in-between two pieces of liquorice of the same shape. A rather disgusting way to eat this kind of allsort is to peel it, and eat it a layer at a time.
On average, each packet of Allsorts has 3-4 of these cubic wonders.

The liquorice Rosette

This is the only pure liquorice sweet that can be found in a packet of Allsorts. It is often the one that gets left at the bottom of a bag for months, but does not get thrown away because the bag stays in the cupboard until it is emptied. Most people put them in their mouths, suck them until the taste become overbearing, and then spits it out discreetly. On average, there are about 4-5 in each bag.

The mainstays

The mainstay of a packet of Liquorice Allsorts is the basic liquorice - paste combo. These come in three different flavours, chocolate, pink and orange. They are basically a sandwich of two pieces of paste, one coloured and one white, and a piece of liquorice. These are the most boring of all the liquorice Allsorts, and the chocolate ones especially, always stay in the packet, and are the last to be eaten. There are 6-7 in an average pack, but sometimes it seems that every one is chocolate flavoured.

The one with the white paste wrapped in liquorice

This liqourice alsort is basically a piece of white paste wrapped in liquorice. However, they are not the only ones. Several companys have marketed their own versions of this sweet. They come in differing sizes and flavours. However, the ones made by Bassets are all generally the same size and length. There are about 3 of these in each packet.

New Additions !!!

In 1999 a new liquorice allsort was introduced to mark the centenary year. It is a small replica of the Basset mascot Bertie Basset. It is made of aniseed, and is most peculiar. It is half aniseed, half blueberry, and is very soft. They are slowly increasing popularity.

Also new is the checkered liquorice allsort. Released at the same time, a chequered liquorice allsort is two pieces of liquorice stuck onto two pieces of strawberry paste in a chequered pattern. They are also slowly beginning to be accepted.