Aniseed balls (next to a ruler for scale).

Aniseed balls are a type of hard round sweet sold in the UK. They are shiny and dark brown, and hard like Gobstoppers, but generally only 1cm across. They are generally sold by weight, for example by quarter pound, in traditional sweet shops in the UK and Ireland where they are often referred to as "cough drops". Gobstoppers, more commonly known as jawbreakers in the United States, are a type of hard candy. ... The pound is the name of a number of units of mass, all in the range of 300 to 600 grams. ...

They are made using anise seed, having a very strong aniseed flavour, and last for a long time in the mouth before dissolving. In the centre of the ball is a whole anise seed that can be crushed. Binomial name Pimpinella anisum L. Anise (stressed on the first syllable, rhyming with Janice), or more rarely anís (stressed on the second syllable, as a niece) (Pimpinella anisum) is an herb in the family Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) whose seed-like fruit (also called aniseed) is used in sweet baking...