Licorice has been popular in Britain since the Middle Ages when the Crusaders returned with the plant it is made from.
Many different candies have evolved that contain licorice, including varieties that surround or layer the licorice with coconut paste.
In 1899 a sales representative named Charlie Thompson for the Bassett Company accidentally dropped a tray holding samples of licorice candies in front of a customer.
As Thompson picked them up off the floor, the customer asked if he could order them all as a mixture, and “licorice allsorts” were born.
