Black licorice has a distinctive flavor that is often described as sweet, earthy, herbal, sharp, wild, and dark. The flavor comes from licorice root, which provides the pungent sweetness that black licorice lovers enjoy and others dislike. The flavor of black licorice is not the same as anise, although many licorice-flavored products in the United States are flavored with anise rather than licorice extract. Black licorice candy is flavored with the extract of the licorice plant, which is not the same as the artificial flavors or anise oil used in some black licorice candies. The natural sweetener in licorice root is glycyrrhizin, which is 50 times sweeter than cane sugar and can taste, to some, like saccharin. The flavor of black licorice is polarizing, and people either love it or hate it.