In junior high school, while I was in 9th grade, cough drops somehow became hugely popular with a bunch of us. That might be because the tiny shop at the school sold a few kinds of them, so replenishing was quick and easy, but I have no idea how the whole thing started. They were our candy. I wonder if kids elsewhere have gone through that.
I haven’t had a traditional cough drop in decades, but my favorites then are exactly the ones I’d want to try now, to experience those flavors again: Luden’s Honey Licorice and Wild Cherry, and Smith Brothers Wild Cherry and Black Licorice. I could be forgetting some, but those always come immediately to mind. I branched out for a bit with Vicks’ mentholated, and the menthol became an annoying irritation after a while. Actually, to this day, I find myself kind of repelled by menthol in anything. I can deal with it, but I still find it annoying and I always think back to that cough drop binge.
It’s funny how they all had to change to being called “throat drops” at some point. They’ll always be cough drops to me.
