12 Popular Sour Candies, Ranked Worst To Best

I have a special place in my heart for sweet and chocolatey candy, but sometimes, you need something a little less rich and a bit brighter to sate your sweets craving. That's when sour candies come into play. They make your mouth pucker and your nose wrinkle in all of the best ways. But with so many different sour candies on the market, how do you know which ones are worth your time — and the havoc they're bound to wreak on your taste buds — and which are better left on the store shelf?

I've tasted 12 popular sour candies and ranked them from worst to best to give you a starting point on your next sour candy shopping experience. You've likely tried some of these candies before (or at least seen them at the store), so chances are, you'll have your own opinions. You don't have to agree with me on every point, but hopefully, this list will give you some guidance about what to try next. The criteria for this ranking boiled down to overall flavor and texture, and I paid special attention to just how sour each candy really was. So, prepare your tongue for some serious sourness, and let's take a closer look at these 12 popular sour candies.

No hate to Mike and Ike, but it's indisputably one of the worst candies on the market, and the sour version is no better. These plasticky pellets look less like food and more like something you'd find inside a child's toy, so eating one feels wrong before you even get to the taste at all. Once you do finally go in for a bite, you'll be met with a chewy, sticky mess that clings to your teeth, seemingly negating all the brushing you've done for the past week. Chewing one of these candies makes me feel like I need to immediately seek out some floss.

But that's just the texture. What about the flavor? Well, these candies are, in fact, sour, although not quite as sour as most of the others on this list and definitely not as sour as I'd want them to be. They have a fruitiness to them that tastes more artificial than most candies out there — and that's saying something. There are 10 different flavors in the pack, so not all of them taste exactly the same, but there isn't a single flavor that I clearly preferred over the others. Overall, the effect is not pleasant, and you're left wishing you had saved your sugar allowance for something less aggressively artificial-tasting than this candy.

Has Tic Tac forgotten about its identity? This candy was once known for its breath-freshening qualities (and its containers that are great for storing spices) — or, if you're a fan of the classic orange flavor, for its bold, citrusy flavor that melted in your mouth after several minutes. But now, the iconic mint brand has gotten into the sour candy game, and I can't say that it seems like a good move. These Tic Tacs, unlike the original variety, are quite chewy, although they still have that solid, crunchy exterior that you'd expect from them. Instead of getting just one flavor in a pack of this candy, you'll get a variety of different flavors to choose from. That would be a good thing if any of those flavors were particularly enjoyable, but alas, that's not the case.

Although these Tic Tacs are a definite step up from the Mike and Ikes, they're still markedly lacking in sourness, instead tending toward the fruitier, sweeter end of the spectrum. These candies, too, taste rather artificial, which is to be expected of a sour candy but is a bit too pronounced in this case. Personally, I think I have to stay loyal to Tic Tac's original candies and leave this chewy, sour version behind.

Not everyone can have a lot of sugar in their diets, which is why it's great that products like Smart Sweets Sourmelon Bites exist. They only contain three grams of sugar per bag, which means even the sugar-sensitive among us can snack to their heart's content. That being said, the flavor of these sour treats is not the best. They have an artificial watermelon-like flavor that could be a bit off-putting to anyone who doesn't typically like that sort of flavor (like me) but is otherwise rather light and inoffensive. You'll also find a decent amount of sourness in this candy, although it's perhaps less mouth-puckering than many of the other varieties on this list.

The texture of this candy isn't amazing. Although this is supposed to be a gummy-like candy, it's a bit too soft and sticky, clinging to your teeth in a less than pleasant way. It's a good option if you are trying to watch your sugar intake, but these definitely wouldn't be my first choice of a sour candy based on the other options available on this list.

You probably think of Skittles as those tiny, sticky candy dots that you eat straight out of the bag after a quick visit to the vending machine, but these days, Skittles is trying to expand its reach by getting into the sour gummy business. Enter the brand's Sour Skittles Gummies, which bear very little resemblance to the original product at all. In fact, if the front of the package weren't clearly labeled with the word Skittles, I wouldn't imagine that they were in any way associated with one another.

These candies are pretty standard sour gummies — they have a fruity flavor to them that's arguably more medicinal than candy-like but still not completely unappealing. They're covered in that sour sugar coating that most sour candies boast, which gives them a pretty standard level of sourness. Their texture is fine, with a bouncy gumminess to them that is exactly what you'd expect from a gummy candy. Because they don't have a particularly delicious flavor profile, they rank near the bottom of this list and simply earn an okay in my book as far as sour candies go. They're not the worst option on the market, but you can certainly find better.

But Skittles isn't stopping at the gummies in its quest to corner the sour candy market. The brand also boasts its more classic Sour Skittles, which are basically just like the original, just coated in a layer of sour sugar. These candies are a definite step up from their gummy counterparts since they have that signature chewy Skittles texture that so many candy lovers find appealing. This product actually very closely mirrors its namesake, which automatically earns it a higher score.

That being said, Sour Skittles would rank higher on this list if they weren't so incredibly, overwhelmingly sour. This is definitely the sourest candy of any on this list — so much so that the effect seemed like it was a bit overkill. It felt like my taste buds were being stripped from my tongue, and although I enjoyed that intense sourness upon my first bite, after two or three of these candies, I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to eat very many of them without ruining my palate for the rest of the day. For those who are looking for aggressive sourness in their candy, Sour Skittles are absolutely the right product for you. For anyone else who doesn't have taste buds already ruined by years of sour candy consumption, though, this candy is a bit much.

Sweetarts are an absolutely classic popular candy that many of us indulged in as kids, but if you're like me, it may have been a while since you've given them a try. I can report that they're still available in all their chalky, sour glory, with a surprisingly tasty flavor profile, regardless of which variety you take out of the package first. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I still enjoyed Sweetarts, with their balance of sweet and sour flavors coming together in one perfect candy package.

So, why doesn't this candy rank higher on the list? Well, it all comes down to its texture. Anyone who's tried Sweetarts before knows that they're intensely chalky in a way that makes your mouth dry almost immediately. Their pleasant, relatively light albeit moderately sour flavor profile just can't make up for that strange, unsettling texture. Sweetarts aren't a candy I would choose on a regular basis, but giving them another taste in adulthood was a nice walk down candy memory lane.

If you're like me, you remember Sour Patch Kids primarily because of their strange commercials, which still sit in my head years later like these candies will probably sit in my stomach until they're fully digested. The main appeal of Sour Patch Kids is the fact that they're really quite sour, which is a welcome feature if you're the kind of person who tends toward sour candies in the first place. Although that sourness is bracing, it's not quite as pronounced as that of the Sour Skittles I've already mentioned, so you can feel confident there's a bit more balance here.

Although that sour factor does make these candies more delicious than many others on this list, the flavor often falls flat, depending on which color you try, with an artificiality that's not terrible but still not overly inviting either. The texture, too, is off — I want these candies to be soft and gummy, but instead, they're too chewy and just end up sticking to your teeth. Since that sourness is so appealing, though, Sour Patch Kids end up right in the middle of the bunch.

When I think of Life Savers, I think of those little hard candies that my grandma used to carry around in her purse for any time she needed a little treat. Life Savers Gummies Sours, though, feel like a far cry from those unappetizing (in my mind, at least) little candies, offering a much fruitier, juicier experience. They come in five different flavors, some of which are better than others, but all tend to be less artificial-tasting than most other sour gummies out there on the market. These candies have that signature ring shape that you know from original Life Savers, but that's pretty much where the comparisons end.

Life Savers Sour Gummies have a nice texture, with the kind of bounciness you would expect from a good gummy. They also seem to be nice and moist, which is another plus. Admittedly, they don't have the pronounced tang that some of the other sour candies on this list do, which is why they don't rank higher, but all considered, they're fairly tasty and certainly worth a try if you're generally a fan of sour gummy candies.

Sour Punch Straws are one of the more unique sour candies on the market, offering long, thin, tubular strands of candy that are known for being quite wet and sticky, a departure from most gummy snacks. That being said, they're not always super convenient to eat, which may be why the company brought Sour Punch Bites into the world. You'll get the same flavors you know and love from Sour Punch Straws in a more bite-sized format. Although these candies are a bit less fun to eat than the original, the flavor is still on point. Yes, it's a bit artificial-tasting, but in a good way. And the sour level is off the charts without feeling like every bite of candy is actually stripping your tongue of the ability to taste anything else in the future.

I like that you have the option of choosing the pack with assorted flavors, which means you get strawberry, green apple, and blue raspberry all in one bag. Blue raspberry is the best flavor by far, but having all of those options in one bag makes this product even more appealing. Although the sticky texture isn't quite as gummy as I would prefer in a sour snack, this candy's appealing flavor profile makes it completely worth trying for anyone who already loves the original.

When you're trying to save money — on candy or basically anything else in the grocery store — it just makes sense to opt for a store brand over a name brand product. And when you choose Signature Select's Sour Gummy Worms, you can feel fairly confident that you're getting a delicious product. These sour gummy worms are a bit softer and sweeter than other varieties I've tasted, which is why they don't rank higher than they do, but besides those setbacks, they're one of the better sour candies in this lineup. They have a nice, gummy texture, and they pack just the right level of sourness. Plus, at such an affordable price point, they're a good option when you just want a little sour treat without breaking the budget.

However, if, like me, you're a big fan of Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers, there are enough differences between the two products that you'll likely still prefer the original version. On the other hand, if you're not already an avid fan of the name brand, then these should answer that same itch for something sour.

Harbio is indisputably one of the best gummy candy makers out there, and the brand's iconic Goldbears are downright delicious if you love gummy candies. However, that layer of sour sugar is conspicuously absent from this classic snack, so if you're a true sour candy lover, then you'll probably want to look for the Haribo Sour Goldbears instead. This is the same Goldbears product you know and love, just with the addition of that mouth-puckering sugar coating each and every bear — and the result is delicious.

Perhaps the biggest appeal of these Sour Goldbears is the fact that they're quite soft and gummy, which means you're not working extra hard to chew a tough piece of candy. They also feature an acceptable level of sourness, definitely enough that sour candy enthusiasts will have their cravings met, but not so much that you can't actually taste the sweet flavor of the candy underneath that layer of sour sugar. If you're looking for a sour candy that offers little morsels of sourness instead of providing a larger, chewier bite, then these Goldbears absolutely have to be on your must-try list. Although they don't come in the very top spot, they're a close second.

Finally, we come to the absolute best sour candy on the market: Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers. These candies are the sour gummy worms of your dreams, offering two sour flavors in each worm. They have the ideal texture — although they're chewier than some other gummy candies out there, that chewiness provides just enough resistance to make you slow down and really enjoy what you're eating. In fact, if you're like me, you take a while to let those sour sugar crystals melt on your tongue before you actually start chewing, prolonging the glorious experience that is eating a Trolli Sour Brite Crawler.

The flavors are impeccable, too. With cherry-lemon, strawberry-grape, and orange-lime (the last of which is absolutely the best) to choose from, you won't get bored when you're snacking on these. In fact, the only problem with this candy is the fact that it's way too easy to eat an entire bag in a single sitting, despite the fact that they take a while to chew. If you're looking for the ultimate sour snack, then these sour gummy worms have you covered every time.

I chose these sour candies based on the selection available at my local grocery store. I based the ranking on both flavor and texture, with special attention paid to the level of sourness that each candy offered. I tried all of the candies at the same time, taking sips of water in between each taste-test to ensure that I had a clean palate with which to taste the next candy. I also made note of the chewiness of each candy, particularly in regard to the gummy varieties.