ZYN Violet Licorice | 5 Cans

ZYN Violet Licorice: The Range's Most Grown-Up Flavour

ZYN Violet Licorice is the pouch you reach for when a mint or a berry just will not do. It layers sweet-and-sour licorice with a floral violet note and a salty hit of salmiak, then finishes on a faint peppery warmth. Nothing else in the ZYN range tastes remotely like it. It is tobacco-free, all-white, and sold as a slim pouch across three strengths, 6mg, 9mg and 11mg, with 20 pouches a can. At NicotineBuzz that is five cans for £19.99, so £4.00 a can, against roughly £5.50 for a single tin in the shops.

This is a proper Nordic classic, the sort of flavour Scandinavians grow up with and most of Britain meets for the first time through a pouch. It is bold, complex and completely unbothered about being liked by everyone. If you already love salty licorice, read on. If the phrase salty licorice just made you wince, this page will at least tell you honestly whether to bother.

What Does ZYN Violet Licorice Taste Like?

The licorice arrives first, and it is the real, grown-up sort: sweet at the edges, sour in the middle, nothing like a soft English liquorice allsort. Close behind comes the salmiak, that salty ammonium note that Nordic sweet shops are built on, which gives the whole thing a savoury, almost mouth-watering edge. The violet sits over the top like perfume over a strong drink, floral and slightly luxurious, softening what would otherwise be a very serious flavour.

Then the finish. A gentle pepperiness rounds it off, a slow warmth rather than a spice hit, and it lingers pleasantly after the sweetness fades. Swedish Match describe it as full-bodied with a sour saltiness and a slight pepperiness at the end, and for once the official blurb is spot on. It is a lot going on for something weighing under a gram, and reviewers who like the style tend to rate it well, calling it present but balanced rather than a novelty.

Flavour holds for a good 30 to 45 minutes and stays layered the whole way, with the salmiak and pepper hanging around after the sweeter notes drop off. It is not a refreshing pouch and it does not try to be. Think of it as the after-dinner flavour of the range, one to savour rather than to freshen up with.

A Word on Salmiak: Why Violet Licorice Divides People

Salmiak is the reason this pouch splits opinion, so it deserves a straight explanation. It is salty licorice, flavoured with ammonium chloride, and across Scandinavia it is a beloved everyday taste found in sweets, ice creams and even spirits. To a palate raised on it, salmiak is comforting and moreish. To a palate that has never met it, the first go can be a genuine shock: salty, sharp and not remotely like the licorice most Britons know.

That is the honest divide. Violet Licorice is not a flavour that grows on everyone, and there is no shame in bouncing off it. What the violet does is take the edge off, adding a soft floral sweetness that makes this a friendlier way into salmiak than a bare salty-licorice pouch would be. If you have enjoyed Nordic salty liquorice before, you will likely love it. If you have not, buy a single order first rather than committing to a stack, and treat it as an experiment.

It helps to know where the flavour comes from. Salty liquorice has been a Scandinavian staple for well over a century, sold in every corner shop from Stockholm to Helsinki, and violet is a classic pairing with it in old-fashioned Nordic confectionery. So while Violet Licorice looks like a leftfield choice on a British shelf full of mints and berries, it is really a very traditional flavour done in pouch form. Sweden did not invent the nicotine pouch by accident; tastes like this are part of the culture that produced it, which is exactly why ZYN, a Swedish Match brand, bothers to make one at all.

ZYN Violet Licorice Strengths: 6mg, 9mg and 11mg

Unlike some of ZYN's niche flavours, Violet Licorice comes in a proper strength ladder, so you can match the nicotine to your habit. Pick from the dropdown above and the strength dots update with your choice.

If you are new to Violet Licorice, start at 6mg. Meeting a challenging flavour and a strong nicotine hit at the same time is a lot to ask of a first go, and the Normal strength lets the taste do the talking. Move up to the 9mg Strong once you know you like it, and keep the 11mg Extra Strong for when you want the flavour and a proper lift together. Even the 11mg is not the strongest thing ZYN makes; the ice flavours climb higher, but Violet Licorice tops out sensibly at Extra Strong.

One thing worth noting across the ladder is that the salmiak seems to read a little stronger at higher strengths, so the 11mg tastes marginally saltier and more intense than the 6mg, not just stronger in nicotine. If the saltiness is the part you love, that is a bonus. If it is the part you are unsure about, another reason to start low and work up. The flavour itself is the same recipe throughout; only the volume changes.

ZYN Violet Licorice vs the Other Distinctive ZYN Pouches

Violet Licorice belongs to the odd, characterful corner of the ZYN range rather than the crowd-pleasing middle. Here is where it sits against the other pouches for people who like something different, all of which we stock.

If Violet Licorice is a touch much and you want licorice pure and simple, Black Licorice is the straighter, saltier take in a gentle Mini. If it is the offbeat idea you like rather than licorice specifically, Cactus Spice scratches the same adventurous itch with fruit instead. The whole characterful crowd, plus every mint and berry, lives on the full ZYN range.

Violet Licorice Specs at a Glance

The all-white pouches will not stain your teeth, and the slim cut keeps them discreet, which is handy given that explaining a salty-licorice habit to a curious colleague is a conversation few of us want to have.

Who Should Buy Violet Licorice, and Who Should Steer Clear

Buy it if you already love salty Nordic licorice, if you want a genuinely different flavour to break up a lineup of mints, or if you enjoy a pouch you can actually taste layers in. The strength range means it works whether you want a light everyday pouch or a stronger evening one, and the violet makes it the most approachable salmiak pouch around.

Steer clear if salty liquorice has never been your thing, because this will not convert you and there are far easier flavours to enjoy. Skip it too if you want something fresh or cooling, since there is not a hint of mint here. Anyone after clean and refreshing should look at the mint and menthol collection instead, and fruit fans are better served on the fruit flavour collection. As ever, if you do not already use nicotine, curiosity about an unusual flavour is not a good reason to start.

How to Use ZYN Violet Licorice

Place one pouch under your upper lip against the gum. A tingle in the first couple of minutes is normal, a little sharper on the 9mg and 11mg, and it settles into a steady release of flavour and nicotine. Give it 20 to 45 minutes, and with this flavour it genuinely rewards the full session as the salmiak and pepper reveal themselves. When you are done, tuck the used pouch into the catch-lid on top of the can.

One at a time is the way; this is a savour-it flavour, not a stack-two flavour. Swallowing your saliva is fine, swallowing the pouch is not. If you are new to pouches in general, our low strength collection is a gentler place to start, and our guide to what snus and nicotine pouches really are covers the basics before you take on something this bold.

What Five Cans of ZYN Violet Licorice Cost

A single ZYN can runs around £5.50 in most UK shops, so five singles come in near £27. Our pack lands the same five cans at £19.99, which is £4.00 each, and the per-can price keeps falling as you add more across the basket, down to £3.00 a can at four packs or more. The tiers work on the whole order, so you can pad out a Violet Licorice order with a mint or a berry and still reach the cheaper rate, which is handy if you want to hedge your bets on a flavour this divisive.

Violet Licorice is one of the more interesting recent additions to the range, so you will also find it in our new in collection. One plain closing note: nicotine is addictive no matter how sophisticated the flavour, and these pouches are for adults who already use it. If you want to stop entirely, the free NHS Better Health service is a good place to turn, and you can check the flavour against the official range on the ZYN UK website.

Updated July 2026. Prices checked against UK pouch retailers at the time of writing.