Since I adore them so much, the flavors of Jolly Rancher candies often act as a benchmark for when I taste other fruit flavored candy. As a group they make no excuses for not tasting at all like the actual fruits they represent. Jolly Ranchers are fabulous in that they are so fantastically, gorgeously artificial and yummy. The advertising tag line is “bursting with BOLD fruit flavor” and when it comes to hard candies, no truer words were spoken. Here’s a quick review of the five classic flavors:
Apple: This is far and away my favorite Jolly Rancher flavor. Sweet and tart, green apple is a classic for which there is no substitute. It sits on the knife edge of being too sweet, but balances nicely with the amount of tartness in it. Added bonuses are the bright green it turns your tongue and the fact that you can use it to make Jolly Rancher beer.
Blue Raspberry: I’m pretty sure Blue Raspberry wasn’t a classic flavor when I was a kid, but I love it all the same. The color is a fantastic electric blue, and of all the flavors this one is the most true to real fruit - though of course there is no such thing as a blue raspberry!
Cherry: Cherry is a classic flavor for all hard candies, and the beauty of this version is that it doesn’t just taste like red syrup. A strong, very sweet and distinctly cherry flavor does a little happy dance on your tongue. This is the way red candy should taste.
Watermelon: One of those flavors that people either adore or despise, watermelon is the furthest from actual fruit by far. It has a slightly medicinal smell and flavor, but the taste is great. Bold, strong, and not so sweet as to make you feel as though your fillings are falling out.
Grape: Grape is by far the most distinctive of the classic flavor mix. It smells very strongly of artificial grape, has the darkest color, and the flavor is quite bold. It’s as though someone boiled down a can of grape soda into a syrup and then solidified it. Not my most favorite, but I still enjoy eating it.
Jolly Ranchers are one of those candies I like to have in the pocket of my backpack or purse for a bit of a sweet pick-me-up at the end of the day. The colors are bright, the flavors delicious - there is nothing not to like in these little blocks of sweet candy goodness.
Buy Jolly Ranchers Online:
- at Old Time Candy
- at Amazon.com
- in bulk at Candy Direct
- in bulk at Candy Crate
Love the current crop of flavors, but I must admit that I do miss lemon.
April 1st, 2008 at 6:22 pmNo lemon? For shaaaaaaaaame!
April 1st, 2008 at 10:52 pmHello!!! Lemon all the way. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who misses lemon. It was obviously the BEST flavor. Actually I just wrote an e-mail to candyaddict a few days ago concerning my love of lemon jolly ranchers.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:11 pmI remember the peach flavored ones, those were my favorite! No lemon? What the hey? =)
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 pmI will pay extra…much extra if I could just find a bucket of cherry jolly ranchers. Lemon WAS my favorite. Why did they stop?
April 5th, 2008 at 7:19 pmCherry is the best and there isn’t enough of it.
April 6th, 2008 at 3:52 pmOh yeah, I totally forgot about peach! Those were pretty good too. Ok so if anyone knows where I can get a bag of lemon and peach jolly ranchers, please let me know.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:57 pmWhy did they get rid of the PEACH???? that was my favorite!!! i could do without the lemon…but the peach..mmmmm. i need to find out where i can buy or order just the peach flavor
April 26th, 2008 at 8:33 pmI also miss the lemon and wish they would ditch the blue raspberry. Maybe this is an intelligent marketing ploy on their part considering I throw out one fifth of the product.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:24 pmDoes anyone have the complete list of flavors for JR? Not just the ones available now, but the all-time list? Does that exist?
And I did not know they discontinued peach. That burns.
June 5th, 2008 at 4:55 pmI remember other flavors from the mid-60’s when everything was still in ’stix’. There was a caramel flavored one, I’m pretty sure. We would eat them during class….at the time the faves were grape, green apple, watermelon and my favorite ‘fire stix’. I too would love to see a list of the “original” flavors. I know there were more!! They are still my favorite hard candy….with lots of nostalgia attached!
July 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pmWhy do they take away the best flavors?? I miss lemon so much and Peach too. I haven’t seen the peach flavor anywhere, do they still make it, or is that one gone too? I say get rid of Blue raspberry and bring back the PEACH AND LEMON!!
July 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pm