Good and Plenty Shot

Sambuca and grenadine — recreating Good & Plenty candy (Philadelphia, 1893), Sambuca's star anise anethole producing the same aromatic profile as licorice root.

Good & Plenty is one of the oldest continuously produced branded candies in the United States, first manufactured in 1893 by the Quaker City Confectionery Company of Philadelphia. The candy's format is distinctive: small pillow-shaped licorice pieces coated in either pink or white candy shell, producing a bite that begins with the sugary crunch of the coating and finishes with the intense, slightly medicinal sweetness of the licorice center. Quaker City Confectionery was eventually absorbed into larger confectionery companies through the 20th century, and the brand passed through Hershey's ownership. The name Good & Plenty itself is believed to reference the generous size of each pack relative to its price, a selling point for penny candy in the 1890s. Licorice's flavor comes from the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a plant native to the Mediterranean and Middle East whose primary sweet compound — glycyrrhizin — is approximately 50 times sweeter than sucrose. Sambuca, the Italian anise liqueur most commonly used in the shot, derives its characteristic flavor from star anise (Illicium verum) rather than true licorice root, but the two plants produce nearly identical aromatic profiles because both contain the compound anethole. The Good & Plenty Shot pairs Sambuca with grenadine to recreate the candy's pink-and-white aesthetic and sweet licorice flavor in liquid form, making it a natural fit for Halloween menus and nostalgic novelty bar contexts.