Welcome To Taste of States a place where we celebrate the weird and wonderful food of the United States of America. This can be everything from the snacks that are available for a limited time to the foods that are classic traditions at events such as Christmas and Thanksgiving! Each week we will explore the facts and the history surrounding a different food.

NIK L NIP

Today we look at a candy that are apparently a party and holiday favourite. The Nik L Nip was created by the Tootsie Roll Industries and was invented in the early 20th century. There us a reason why these candies have a really unusual name – according to research the Nik stands for a Nickel and the Nip stands for the appearance of a Nip of whiskey.

The candy is in the shape of small bottles that are made a sort of wax and in the middle is a flavoured syrup that is fruit flavoured which is a different flavour depending on what colour you have. To access the syrup you have to bite the lid of the bottle off. The wax on the outisde of the bottles is actually non-toxic and once you have drunk the syrup you can actually chew the outside like gum.

The candy can be bought for around $2 depending on where you look to buy them (this was a price I found from an online shop) however they were originally a nickel to purchase (hence the name Nik). It comes in a selection with many colours including orange, red. green, yellow and blue. They are an American household favourite and have the slogan of ‘Bite Em Drink Em and Chew Em.’