Sugarelly

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Sugarelly, or sugarelly water, is a traditional Scottish soft drink made with liquorice that was popular in the early 20th century.

It could not usually be bought as such, but instead prepared by leaving several strands of liquorice to diffuse in water for a period of time before drinking. This tradition seems to have been well known throughout Scotland, to the extent that an Oor Wullie cartoon in the 1940s was made with sugarelly the main focus.^[1]

Traditionally, this drink was made with "chemist's liquorice", a hard, black liquorice stick cut into sections and dropped into a bottle of cold water. This was left in a cool, dark place for a week or so. Once infused, the liquorice water could be enjoyed by shaking the bottle and sucking the brown foam from the neck of the bottle.