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 pmI could just die. I hate that stupid blue raspberry one! I miss the lemon and peach as well. I’m certain I remember other flavors, but nothing specific comes to mind, except maybe carmel in a stick form. I remember buying Jolly Rancher Stix from a candy store at a private lake in my childhood summers….
July 21st, 2008 at 3:33 amI HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE PEACH JOLLY RANCHER FOR A FEW YEARS. THEY ARE MY ALL TIME FAVORITE. IF ANYONE FINDS THEM PLEASE SHARE THE SOURCE.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:51 ami found a (peach wrapper!!) just yesterday!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 ami found a website that claims to have peach flavor dunno
September 4th, 2008 at 9:43 pmcheck it out with a small credit
http://www.ebulkcandy.com/sys-tmpl/jollyrancher/
they say they got lemon too
September 4th, 2008 at 9:44 pmhttp://www.ebulkcandy.com/sys-tmpl/jollyrancher/
wow get all these flavors at the above posted from me i bookmarked lemme know on the success seems legit im emailing now
Assorted
Passion Fruit
Cinnamon Fire
Apple
Lemon
Strawberry
Grape
Peach
Orange
JOLLY RANCHER STICKS…36 for $5.99
Orange
Fruit Punch
Cherry
Pink Lemonade
Strawberry
Apple
Peach
Grape
Cinnamon Fire
Watermelon
September 4th, 2008 at 9:48 pmI am trying to find the sugar coated gummy Jolly Ranchers that they used to make just 3 or 4 years ago. I have looked everywhere and I cannot find them, nor do I know if they still make them. Anyone who knows please contact me at mremann@uab.edu
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 pmThanks!
Has anyone found PEACH Jolly Ranchers? If so, please send me a link! ANY help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 amScott
Just want to let you know that I found Peach Jolly Ranchers at the Dollar Tree on Route 46 in Clifton, NJ. There were only 4 in the bag but I was so happy to find them. Peach is my favorite flavor. It is in a Peach coloroed bag that says Creme Flavors. Again – I found 4 peach in the bag. So don’t go planning an airplane trip to NJ. Found on 1/4/09
January 6th, 2009 at 12:34 amHere is the link for Dollar Tree
January 6th, 2009 at 12:37 amhttp://www.dollartreestoresinc.com/
Didn’t JR make a cola flavor back in the 70′s or 80′s? Do they still make it and how could I get it?
January 10th, 2009 at 11:59 pmDoes anyone remember butterscotch flavor Jolly Ranchers?? I remember them from the early 80′s.
January 14th, 2009 at 8:03 pmPeach was my absolute favorite but I had forgotten about them until this weekend. On Friday we had a Valentine’s party and one of my students brought in Jolly Ranchers and I happened to get a peach one with my Valentine card. Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I later opened my V-day bag and saw a peach candy in there! I imagine the girl bought them at the Dollar Tree but I’m unsure.
February 16th, 2009 at 9:51 pmYou know, I enjoy the flavors in the “original” flavors bags and all, but honestly it’s just not the same without peach. That is my absolute FAVORITE flavor to this day. I can still taste it in my mouth when I think about it. I saw the “passion mix” has peach in it, but I’ve never seen that kind before in any stores. I’ll have to check some dollar stores and see if I can find any, maybe Big Lots will have it too! It has to be the most heavenly flavor of them all!
June 16th, 2009 at 9:26 amAww, you poor people and your 6 flavors of Jolly Ranchers! I live in Denver, CO and for years growing up we had a real deal Jolly Rancher manufacturing plant in Golden,CO by my house. Talk about flavors!!!! They had approx. 20 flavors in the store at the front of the plant. Lemon, peach, raspberry lemonade, peach lemonade, grapefruit, raspberry…just to name a few. When they were cooking a certain flavor you could smell it in the air for miles! Ahhh – I miss that place, they shut it down about 6 years ago. BIG BUMMER
July 1st, 2009 at 4:14 pmI got one for you!!! In the 70′s, they used to make CANTALOUPE!! It was really good! Watermelon was htier most popular at the time, next to fire stix… so Cantaloupe seemed like a natural progression. I like PINEAPPLE, and that’s hard to find now as well.
April 2nd, 2010 at 7:17 pmyeah dude. i remember pineapple! loved the way it looked and tasted. it was a nice clear color. sooo sweet! could find it in the 90′s. i remember the 80′s had some crazy flavors. pink lemonade, red raspberry, and even a soft caramel one. i prefer the new blue raspberry to lemon, but i dont see why we cant just have ALL the flavors?? bring back peach, lemon and pineapple pleeeease!
September 5th, 2010 at 6:07 pmI say we should have a grapefruit flavor, i am a teacher and we talk about jolly ranchers cause they adore them! I insisted that there was a grapefruit flavor but saddly they proved me wrong i think that they should have that flavor so i can buy some at any cost to show them
October 23rd, 2010 at 7:33 pmI love grape :D
December 4th, 2010 at 8:17 pmPeach! I love the Peach! And the Fire is just too few and far between.
June 3rd, 2011 at 2:25 amI remember a Butterscotch and Carmel, but this was in ’87 or ’88 the last time I had one. I used to buy it from a little supply store my JR High had. It was also the last time I had a Lemon one. Mmmmmm.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:57 amI miss the Lemon and Tangerine flavors… by far the best!!
August 8th, 2011 at 2:23 amHi,
Can I buy only Cherry Jolly Ranchers? Thanks.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:31 amIf Tommy gets a bucket of cherry, I want a bucket of peach….stat!!!!!
August 17th, 2011 at 1:30 pmPlease let me know where I can get a lemon jolly rancher I will also like peach I can’t stand the blue one thanks
September 5th, 2011 at 11:05 pmI just sent an email to this site http://www.ebulkcandy.com/sys-tmpl/jollyrancher/ to ask if they actually sell the peach and lemon flavors. I’ll let everyone know what the reply is when I hear back from them.
September 16th, 2011 at 8:07 amOk, I’ve sent the company two emails and have not gotten a response back at all. Maybe they don’t have the peach and lemon flavors, but at least they could send me a reply email saying that. :-(
September 21st, 2011 at 11:11 amI found a bag at the local grocery store in Sikeston Mo that had a variety of different flavors as peach, fruit punch, strawberry, orange, and raspberry (not the blue). I found the assorted bag at “Food Giant.” Hope this helps!
September 27th, 2011 at 12:55 amI also found a pack of “sweet and sour” at Target.
Fire stick were by far my favorite. I hate seeing the bags of jolly ranchers that say “original” because those are not the original flavors! Bring back fire and lemon and get rid of that nasty blue raspberry!!!!
November 4th, 2011 at 4:39 pmbutterscotch was the best if i could get them i would buy a few pounds of them
November 19th, 2011 at 11:31 amI remember back in the 70′s when they were sticks. One was called “Butter”, sounds awful but it tasted like buttered popcorn.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:48 amI HATE PEACH AND LEMONNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLUE RASPBERRY ALL THE WAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M GONNA SUE THEM IF THEY CONTINUE MAKING THE PEACH AND LEMON!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS ALL!!!!! GOODBYE!!!!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!
January 4th, 2012 at 12:36 pmMy 9 year old son was asking about JR flavors and I’m so glad I found this thread!
Pink lemonade and fruit punch are my all time favorites.
Regular raspberry (not the blue), peach, and cherry are high on the list, too. And strawberry. And lemon. and….. well, pretty much every flavor….
January 10th, 2012 at 1:18 amI remember grapefruit flavor, tough I mostly recall buying it in the flat stick form and would also like to see the return of it along with all of the other original flavors.
January 13th, 2012 at 7:51 amI like blue rasberry, but I would rather have lemon! I love lemon!
February 10th, 2012 at 2:09 pmReally it doesn’t matter what the flavors are that much. Jolly Ranchers are the best anyway!
February 10th, 2012 at 2:15 pmMy all time favorites were butterscotch and pineapple. When you put one of each in your mouth, it was pure delight. A bit salty, sweet, and tart at the same time. Oh, BLISS! They really need to bring back all those wonderful, original flavors!
February 12th, 2012 at 11:01 amI HATE blue raspery and i wish they had pinapple and grape fruit sounds sooooooooooooooooooo good right now. really want a list of ALL of the jolly rancher flavors!!!!!!!!!!
April 21st, 2012 at 12:06 amThere used to be a butter rum flavor. Olly Rancher sold out a couple of times, consolidated and Hershey’s ; the current owner plants and cut back to the few flavors currently offered.
April 13th, 2016 at 5:33 pm