Liquorice is the most popular sweet in Iceland thanks to its suitability to its harsh weather when even hardy crops struggle.  With volcanic soil, sulphuric waters and treacherously long winters, grain was historically hard to grow, flowers and bees couldn’t flourish. Liquorice does not need to flower to thrive as the edible portion is the root and contains a compound 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose. So Icelanders turned to liquorice for their sugar fix as early as the first settled on the island.