Candy Review: Sour Nerds

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - by Robby

Wonka’s Nerds have always impressed me because of their sheer boldness as a candy. With the exception of Pixy Stix and possibly Fun Dip (both Wonka products), few candies out there are as reckless about their conception as Nerds. They’re not trying to be molded into a particular shape, and they don’t look like a cute animal; they’re asymmetrical lumps of sugar and artificial flavorings that don’t apologize for their appearance.

Many people were never a fan of the candy, and I think it’s because of the premise of the candy itself. There aren’t complex flavors and multiple textures (unlike the Giant Chewy Nerds) and they do little to disguise their ingredients. Most of the people who do like them are children of the eighties and nineties, when candy was re-conceptualized to become more about sugar, sourness, and gimmick than true quality and simplicity.

As a teenager, I stopped buying these because, frankly, I had to start using my own money to buy candy since my parents wanted me to become a responsible adult. That wasn’t to say that I didn’t like them, but I didn’t want to waste my allowance on fruity aquarium pebbles when I could get something better with my money.

Recently, the Nerds line has reinvented itself by adding Nerds Rope and Giant Chewy Nerds to the market. Both spinoffs are great candies in my opinion, and so when I spotted Sour Nerds in the sale bin at my local H.E.B., I thought they could be the third great of a Nerds triumvirate.

My rationale was that the problem with original Nerds is that they were lacking in flavor; the sour premise could very well be the added notch these babies need to make them something more. Though Sour Nerds do come in classic Nerds boxes of two flavors (yellow Lightning Lemon and green Amped Apple), the plastic tube dispenser version I picked up also included an orange one with the flavor not disclosed (Obscured Orange, Mystery Mango, Top-Secret Tangerine?).

Unfortunately, the most entertaining part of this candy was trying to figure out an alliterative name for the unknown flavor (after tasting, definitely orange). In terms of taste, none of these are sour, but are instead just tart, and even that is a reach since it’s a citrus bitterness, as in lemons, oranges, and granny Smith apples, all of which have a punch to them, but aren’t sour.

In terms of flavor, like their regular counterparts, they’re probably too subtle for most people to distinguish. Yes, I could close my eyes, eat each piece, and then name the flavor, but it’s the sort of thing where some people taste wine and give you a whole list of flavors while most just think it all washes down the same.

Fans of classic Nerds will most likely embrace these as another segment in the confection’s lineup; people who dislike classic Nerds will find little redeeming in the sour variety. In the end, my advice to all the kids out there is to save your money if you see these. Wonka products tend to be hit or miss in general, and there are a slew of better items on which you can spend your hard-earned allowance.

• Wonka’s Website

Buy Sour Nerds Online:

• at Candy Crate
• at Candy Direct
• at Old Time Candy
• at Amazon.com