Licorice

Botanical name: Glycyrrhiza glabra
Native origin: Europe and Asia
Part Used In Our Teas: Root

Licorice (sometimes spelled liquorice) is a tall, fan-like plant with pretty leaves and delicate, spiny purple or pale blue flowers. The name licorice means “sweet root,” which is pretty appropriate, considering glycyrrhizin, the primary compound of licorice root, is one of the world’s sweetest natural substances. It’s more than 50 times sweeter than sugar! Besides its pleasing flavor, licorice root has potent properties that make it a star of the herbal world. Long used in herbal medicine to support digestive and respiratory health, licorice can be your best friend if you find yourself with a chest cold or heavy cough.

Did you know? The most common “licorice” flavorings in candy are not actually made from licorice, but rather from anise oil. Flavors made from real licorice root are typically quite sweet and somewhat bitter and often not at all what people expect.

We work closely with a group of 14 collectors who sustainably wild collect our licorice root. For nine months of the year they harvest from Kazakhstan’s vast stands of wild licorice, which stretch as far as the eye can see.