Drop

EM periodically tests typical Dutch food with help of international students under the name of ‘Dutch Delight’. This edition, MSc Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship student Natia Nozadze from Georgia tastes and reviews Echte volzoete Scheepsknopen Drop.

The product

Drop is typically being made by extracting the juice of the root of liquorice. Later on, sugar and sal ammoniac are added, giving it the typical drop taste. In order to give the drop a more solid bite, Arabic gum is added to the mix. Historically, The Netherlands is among the top with regard to production ánd consumption of drop in the world.

The Review

At first glance, Natia remarks that the drop is very dark-colored. “Like a chocolate”, she adds. “Maybe it tastes a bit bitter?”

Very briefly after Natia takes her first bite, she notes – with a slight chuckle – that the drop piece is “a bit hard to chew”. This quickly changes to “really hard to chew”, when Natia isn’t able to finish the first piece of drop after a minute.

“Not a traditional candy”, Natia summarizes her experience afterwards in one sentence. “It’s not bitter as I expected, but instead it has some herbal taste. You have those liquors with a similar taste.”

Natia thinks it’s quite odd that drop is completely black. “It’s not appealing to eat”, she remarks. “It’s even darker than the darkest chocolate”. To the question whether she would buy them again, she answers: “If it would be a mix of different colors maybe. Completely black? Maybe not.”