Alongside sweet and salted drop, Dutch shops sell licorice in which another flavour takes the lead. The best known are honingdrop (honey), laurierdrop (bay laurel) and the eucalyptus and menthol drops sold as much for sore throats as for pleasure. Licorice itself was a cough remedy long before it was a sweet, and these flavoured drops are where that history is most visible.
Honingdrop
Honingdrop is licorice flavoured with honey: sweet, mellow and usually firm. Venco's Honingdrop, probably the best-known version, is shaped like a beehive and, according to the maker, contains licorice extract, salmiak and honey — so a classic "sweet" drop can still have a light salmiak note. It is a favourite with people who find ordinary salted drop too strong, and often the first drop offered to visitors.
Laurierdrop
Laurierdrop is licorice flavoured with bay laurel (Laurus nobilis). It tastes darker, more herbal and less sweet than honingdrop, with an aromatic, slightly spicy note. Sellers often repeat a story that the flavour arose because blocks of licorice extract were packed with bay leaves to stop them sticking together; it is a pleasant story, but we have not found a primary source for it. Venco, Klene and others make laurierdrop. Shaken in water, it is the traditional base for dropwater, an old Dutch home remedy for a sore throat.
Eucalyptus and menthol drop
Eucalyptus and menthol drops sit on the border between sweet shop and pharmacy. The cooling sensation comes from menthol and from cineole, the main compound in eucalyptus oil, acting on the cold-sensing receptor TRPM8. They feel as if they clear the airways, and that sensation is real, even if their medical effect is modest. They fill much the same slot as Halls or Ricola elsewhere.
Other flavours
Anise is common across Dutch drop, from schoolkrijt (anise and mint, in a white coating) to Katja's Kokindjes. Mint appears in a number of drops and in the white-coated kinds; note that muntdrop usually means coin-shaped drop, not mint drop.
| Variety | Flavour | Typical character |
|---|---|---|
| Honingdrop | Honey | Sweet, mellow, firm |
| Laurierdrop | Bay laurel | Herbal, dark, less sweet |
| Eucalyptusdrop | Eucalyptus oil | Cooling, medicinal |
| Mentholdrop | Menthol | Cooling, fresh |