EVERYONE KNOWS THE kinds of jams that cough drops—and cough-drop-adjacent products—can bail you out of. Wake up with a throat feeling a little scratchy? You know where to go. Stay out a little too late yapping away with friends at the local dive bar? Covered there too. But there are some times when you know in advance that you’re going to need to call in the big guns to preserve your voice (and have a throat that’s not bothering you for hours if not days at a time).

I recently took a trip to Boston to visit a friend, and I knew it would be a weekend filled with talking, taking in a baseball game (with lots of antagonistic shouting, considering I’m a New York fan), and, yes, quite a bit of hanging out at bars and participating in all they have to offer (as old college friends reuniting tend to do).

Clearly, I thought, this would be the perfect opportunity to put Ricola Throat Balm drops to the test. And, really, they delivered. I’ve typically been a loyalist to drops that come with more of a cherry flavor, but these throat drops—caramel-flavored with a liquid, creamy center—both tasted good and did the job. I embarked upon all the endeavors detailed above, with plenty of beers and trash talk along the way, and to my surprise, my throat was still in great shape by weekend’s end—thanks to the throat drops keeping my throat from feeling scratchy and my voice from feeling burned out.

The Taste

Let’s be honest: Some cough drops taste bad. But that’s not the case with the Throat Balm drops, which are closer to tasting like the candy you’d find in a doctor’s waiting room than your typical strong, bitter-flavored cough drops. If you can suck down a couple of hard candies from your grandma’s house or are an expert in the waiting-room arts, you’ll be more than pleased with the caramel flavor Ricola offers here (with that liquid center as a bonus). They’re also free of any fake sugars.

The Size

The Ricola drops are pretty standard-sized, which comes with both positives and negatives. They’re easy to carry around, but because they’re not overly large they sometimes don’t last all that long. Luckily, the serving size is two, so you can have one right after the other.

Effectiveness

In my opinion, Throat Balm drops may be effective as a preventive measure. Feel something maybe on the precipice of coming on? Strike now. Know you’re going to be screaming your head off at a game? Now’s the time to get ahead of it. The active ingredient—pectin, a soluble fiber found in plants—reputedly coats the throat in order to soothe it, and that’s sure how it feels. And since they also serve as a perfectly good old-fashioned sweet treat—one that just so happens to offer you a little bit of throat reinforcement along the way—it’s never anything but a pleasure to take this action.

Aftermath

I recommend the Ricola Throat Balm drops around for just about any kind of throat drama. If you’re feeling a really heavy sore throat, they’ll provide a nice taste and a period of comfort when you need it. If you know you’re going to be heading out to a baseball game and yelling a lot at that rival team, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to care for your throat and take some to the game with you. But most important, the Throat Balm drops can just keep you feeling good and well ahead of any unfortunate throat feeling the world might send your way. That’s a pretty valuable thing to carry around in your pocket.

Prop styling by Miako Katoh