What's The Real Flavor Of Tootsie Rolls?

If you find yourself digging through the kids' Halloween candy in the weeks after spooky season, chances are you're going to come across a Tootsie Roll or two. These chewy, old-timey candies have been an American staple since the late 1800s, and it's hard to imagine a Halloween haul without a couple of original Tootsie Rolls or their hard candy-coated Tootsie Pop spinoff. For all the times you've chomped away on a chewy, slightly sweet Tootsie, however, have you ever wondered what exactly their flavor is supposed to be? Well, according to Tootsie.com, the official flavor is "chocolaty." There's a big difference between actual chocolate and chocolaty, however.

The original recipe for Tootsie Rolls hasn't changed since they were invented by Leo Hirshfield in 1896, and chocolate doesn't appear on the ingredients list. What they do have, however, is cocoa, which gives the treats their signature brown color and gives the candy the essence of chocolate. Cocoa powder isn't technically chocolate because it doesn't have any cocoa butter, but it does have a deep, roasted chocolatey flavor that makes delicious brownies, cakes, and of course, Tootsie Rolls. 

Tootsie Rolls are unique in that they are one of the few candies that have been around for a century and are still widely popular. Next to Good & Plenty, which were created in 1893, Tootsie Rolls are one of the oldest American-made candies still on the market today, and unlike Good & Plenty, it's pretty common to see them show up in a stash of Halloween candy or in a Christmas stocking. But what, exactly, is in a Tootsie Roll that gives it flavor? And for that matter, what even is a Tootsie Roll, exactly?

According to the official Tootsie website, the iconic treats contain sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, condensed skim milk, cocoa, whey, soy lecithin, and artificial and natural flavors. Most experts seem to agree that they are basically a chocolate-flavored taffy. So if you consider them as more of a taffy than a chocolate chew, the subtle chocolate flavor makes more sense. In fact, the official website describes them as having, "a perfectly-balanced cocoa taste, lined with a subtle, fruit-flavored undertone." There's also a very unique process for making Tootsie Rolls: "Leo's recipe required the incorporation of the previous day's Tootsie Rolls into each newly cooked confection, a graining process that Tootsie continues to this day. As such, there's (theoretically) a bit of Leo's very first Tootsie Roll in every one of the sixty four million Tootsie Rolls that Tootsie produces each day."

Cocoa is obviously the ingredient that gives Tootsie Rolls their signature chocolaty flavor, however, it also gives the candies the fruity undertone that is mentioned on the website. Often when we taste chocolate we don't take the time to notice the undertones of it because we're so busy, well, eating chocolate. However, if you take the time to carefully taste dark chocolate you can detect very distinct fruity flavors, which come from the cacao beans. Cocoa powder is made from the cacao solids that are left behind when all the cocoa butter is extracted, so all of those tannic, bitter flavors are still present in cocoa powder. When the cocoa is mixed with the other ingredients in the candy, your tastebuds can perceive those fruity undertones, which give Tootsie Rolls that unique flavor profile.

Tootsie Rolls are not made to be complicated candies, however. Named after the founder's daughter, Clara, whose nickname was "Tootsie," these chewy treats were made simply to make people smile. Whether you prefer the original classic size, which was sold for a penny (and thus is one of the original "penny candies,") or you're more of a Tootsie Pop kind of person, the chocolaty-flavored bites haven't gone out of style for a century, and their unique flavor will probably be around for another century to come.