Zoete drop ("sweet drop") is Dutch licorice in which sweetness, not salt, leads. It contains little or no salmiak (ammonium chloride), so it lacks the sharp finish of zoute drop. In English it is simply sweet licorice — the closest Dutch equivalent to the black licorice sold in Britain or North America, though usually with a stronger licorice-root flavour.
Common kinds
- Katjesdrop — soft, sweet cats; probably the best-known children's drop.
- Honingdrop — honey-flavoured drop; Venco's version is shaped like a beehive.
- Muntdrop — coin-shaped drop, usually mild and sweet.
- Schoolkrijt — white-coated sticks of soft licorice, flavoured with anise and mint; Venco's is the best-known.
- Figures and novelties — farmyard animals (boerderijdrop), bears, and the car-shaped drop of Autodrop.
- Engelse drop — the Dutch name for licorice allsorts.
Texture
Sweet drop is sold both hard and soft, but the children's lines are mostly soft. Venco, for instance, labels its range by both axes — "zoet" or "zout", "hard" or "zacht" — so a pack tells you both at once.
Who makes it
The main makers are the same as for the rest of the drop shelf: Venco and Red Band (Cloetta), Klene (Perfetti Van Melle), Katja (Royal Fassin), and Autodrop (Concorp), plus supermarket own brands.
The way in
Sweet drop is the usual starting point. Children meet it first, and visitors who find salted drop too strong often enjoy honingdrop or katjesdrop. It is still licorice, though, and it still contains glycyrrhizin: EU labelling rules for liquorice apply to sweet drop as much as salted, and very large habitual intakes can raise blood pressure (see the chemistry of licorice). It is also, like any sugar confectionery, mostly sugar.