What Is Salmiak? Sweden's Salty Licorice Explained

If your only experience of licorice is the sweet red or black candy sold in American movie theaters, your first piece of Swedish salty licorice can come as a shock. It is salty in a way that table salt is not: sharper, deeper, and oddly moreish once you get past the surprise. That bite has a name. It is salmiak, and it sits at the heart of licorice across Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Iceland.

What salmiak actually is

Salmiak is ammonium chloride, a salt that has been used in Scandinavian licorice for generations. Licorice root on its own is sweet, so much so that it is used as a sweetener. Adding salmiak turns that sweetness into something balanced and intense. The flavor is salty first, then tangy, with a slight tingle on the tongue that some people describe as almost fizzy. It is not the same as sprinkling table salt on candy. Sodium chloride tastes flat by comparison. Salmiak tastes round, sharp and a little wild, and it makes the licorice flavor itself taste bigger.

Salmiak shows up in hard licorice, soft licorice, licorice pastilles, and in combinations with fruit, chocolate and mint. In Finland it is called salmiakki, in the Netherlands zoute drop, and in Sweden you will see it labeled saltlakrits, salty licorice. The salmiak content is regulated for food use in the EU, and licorice makers work within set limits, the way bakers work with any strong flavoring.

Why Scandinavians love it

Part of the answer is habit. Swedish kids grow up with salty licorice the way American kids grow up with sour candy, so the flavor reads as normal, even comforting. Part of it is the Swedish candy palate in general, which loves contrast: sweet against sour, sour against salt, fruit against licorice. A piece of salty licorice does more in one bite than a sweet candy does. It hits sweet, salt and bitter notes at once, and the flavor lasts.

There is also the ritual. Licorice is a fixture of lördagsgodis, the Saturday candy tradition, and of the pick and mix wall, where salty licorice sits in its own bins next to the sweet and sour candy. Choosing your salt level is part of the fun.

We will be honest, though: salmiak is an acquired taste. Plenty of first timers find their first supersalt piece genuinely challenging, and Swedes enjoy watching visitors try it a little too much. Acquiring the taste is the point. Most people who push through the first few pieces end up converts.

The spectrum, from sweet to supersalt

Salty licorice is not one flavor. It runs on a spectrum, and knowing where a candy sits on it matters more than the brand name.

At the gentle end is sweet licorice, where licorice root does most of the work and salmiak is absent or barely there. This is the right starting point if you are new. Our Swedish Licorice collection includes a sweet licorice from Lakritsbolaget, the Swedish licorice maker whose range we stock, and it is where we send beginners.

In the middle sits salt licorice, where the salmiak is clearly present but balanced against sweetness. This is the everyday salty licorice most Swedes reach for, and it is the level to aim for once the sweet version starts tasting too mild.

At the deep end is supersalt, extra salt licorice with a heavy salmiak hit. It is intense, long lasting, and absolutely not a first piece. Lifelong salty licorice fans love it precisely because it does not compromise.

Combinations soften the edges at every level. Raspberry and licorice is the classic Swedish pairing, and you will find it in skull shaped candy from BUBS as well as in pure licorice. Chocolate covered salty licorice is another good bridge, since the chocolate rounds off the salt.

How to try it

Start sweet and work up. Buy the sweet licorice first, then the salt, and only then the supersalt. Take small pieces and let them dissolve or soften rather than chewing through quickly. Salmiak builds as it goes, and a small piece gives you the full arc of the flavor without overwhelming you. If a piece is too strong, that is information, not failure: drop back a level and stay there a while. Your palate adjusts faster than you expect.

Läkerol Salmiak pastilles: salmiak in its classic lozenge form.

One more honest note. Salty licorice is candy. Salmiak is a traditional food ingredient with a long history in Northern Europe, but this is not a health food and we will not dress it up as one. Eat it the way Swedes do: a few pieces on a Saturday, chosen carefully from the wall, enjoyed slowly.

Ready to explore? Browse the full Swedish Licorice collection, start with Lakritsbolaget Sweet Licorice, step up to Lakritsbolaget Salt Licorice, and when you are ready, meet Lakritsbolaget Supersalt.