Orange. Yellow. White. Candy corn is as much a symbol of the Halloween season as it is a tasty treat that's remained consistent for years. Well, at least, until recently. These days, when you walk down the aisles of candy on any October afternoon, you're as likely to find the traditional style of candy corn as you are "Pumpkin Spice" or "Caramel Macchiato."
Like just about any other food or candy, some people hate candy corn in its original format, while others can't get enough of it. But what about all those other flavors Brachs and Starburst have thrown onto store shevles? Are they any good? We decided to find out for you. We gathered up a bunch of staffers and sat down for a sugar-infused taste test where people were asked to comment and then rate each candy from 1 (horrible) to 5 (delicious). Here are the best and worst of our thoughts:
Original flavor
"It tastes like a sugar fairy exploded in my mouth and it's too much sugar. It's not disgusting, it's just overwhelming." (Candice Andrews)
"I like it. I don't like corn. If corn on the cob was actual candy corn, I'd be all about some vegetables. I can taste the honey in this." (Madison Rhodes)
"I like the bottom part, but not the top part. The colors taste different — I like the orange and white, but not the yellow." (Sarah Stark. The rest of the group is shocked by her statement, thinking all colors taste the same. Do they?)
"It's just as I remember it. This takes me back to trick-or-treating and why I regretted it afterward." (Perry Tannenbaum)
"It's sweet and familiar." (Jeff Hahne)
"It reminds me of a candle that tastes like my childhood." (Ryan Pitkin)
"It was always the least favorite candy. There's only so much you can do with genetically engineered candy." (Pat Moran)
"It's waxy deliciousness." (Dana Vindigni)
AVG. RATING: 2.89
Indian Corn
"This is a Tootsie Roll. I like it better, but just the Tootsie Roll part. The orange tastes the same on this one — disgusting." (CA)
"Yep, it's a Tootsie Roll... I would not enjoy eating a second piece of that." (MR)
"It's slightly better. The nastiness is mostly covered up by the chocolate." (PT)
"It tastes like a Tootsie Roll's sad, younger brother." (JH)
"All I can taste is chocolate. I could do that with a glass of milk." (RP)
"The brown part tastes like chocolate. The orange part tastes like glucose." (PM)
"It reminds me of fudge popsicles, but not cold." (AO)
AVG. SCORE: 3
Pumpkin Spice
"I just walked into a Yankee Candle store in my mouth — that's really terrible." (CA)
"I don't even like the smell of it. This is the red-headed stepchild of candy corn. Someone ate cinnamon and then farted it. The person who made this should be fired." (MR)
"Ew. It tastes like really old cinnamon. It's stuck in my teeth and I can still taste it..." (SS)
"It smells decent. But it tastes like a Halloween candle would taste if it vomited perfume." (JH)
"No. No. No. No. I grew up with licorice as my worst enemy of candy and this is worse than licorice." (RP)
"It smells like one of those chemical scented candles." (PM)
"It tastes like something you shouldn't be eating." (AO)
"I don't totally hate it. It's like grandma's potpourri dish. It's not the worst one though." (DV)
AVG. RATING: 1.56
Green Apple
"It tastes just like one. These are dangerous. I have a whole new perspective on candy corn." (CA)
"I could eat a bag of those." (MR)
"It quietly intensifies. It crosses over the innocuous borderline into being tasty." (PT)
"Some people probably eat this and claim they had their serving of fruit for the day." (JH)
"I got too drunk on a bottle of apple vodka when I was younger. I can't do that flavor anymore." (RP)
"It tastes like a Jolly Rancher. I don't think I'm a fan." (AO)
"It's a hint of apple. It's like you sprayed apple spray on candy corn. This is as fruity as Halloween is gonna get." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 3.22
Apple Pie
"This is even better. This guy should get a raise." (CA)
"It tastes like apple pie. I want to melt it down and put it on ice cream." (MR)
"This hits more like apple sauce with an extra bit of sweetness." (PT)
"It's awful. It doesn't taste like apple or pie." (JH)
"That's amazing. I almost tasted the warmth in it." (RP)
"It tastes like when you burn sugar." (PM)
"It tastes like I drank a bottle of caramel sauce." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 3.44
Caramel Apple
"It reminds me of an alcoholic beverage. I might be candy corn drunk." (CA)
"This doesn't taste like apple or caramel. It's more like coconut." (SS)
"It tastes like a mix of cough drops and apple candles." (JH)
"I taste 20 different things in there and I don't like any of them." (RP)
"It's Robitussin over ice cream." (PM)
"I feel like I'm eating baby food. Anything that tastes kind of like medicine should not be in the delicious Halloween candy department." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 1.61
Peanut Butter Cup
"It tastes like candy my grandma would give to me. When you first bite into it, it's kinda terrible, but as you keep chewing, you taste the peanut butter." (CA)
"It smells like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It tastes like a stale Reese's Cup that was found on the floor of your mother's car from three Halloweens ago. You want it to be good so badly." (MR)
"This is the first peanut butter-chocolate thing I've not liked." (SS)
"It tastes like Indian corn with peanut butter notes." (PT)
"This smells like plant food. It's like a Reese's that got dropped in potting soil." (JH)
"If I left my coffee in a cup for weeks and it hardened into a wax..." (RP)
"It has an awful aftertaste. It's like eating sugary dirt." (PM)
"It's overly sweet peanut butter fudge. It's like candy corn mixed with Reese's, so I could tolerate it. If you eat more, you taste the chemicals." (AO)
AVG. SCORE: 2.11
Caramel
"It tastes like a regular candy corn with a hint of caramel. It's a slightly better version. This one keeps its pinky up." (CA)
"I can taste the caramel. I like it better than the original. This is 'going out.' The original is 'coming home.'" (MR)
"It's a smokier version of the original. A little less bold, a little more grown up." (PT)
"This was made by someone who has no idea what caramel tastes like." (JH)
"It tastes like buttery popcorn." (DV)
"I thought it tasted like butter, without the popcorn." (AO)
"It's more like rancid butter." (PM)
"It's like the movie theatre floor." (RP)
AVG. SCORE: 2.44
Carmel Macchiato
"I like it. It reminds me of Starbucks and the coffee smell. I couldn't eat a lot of them though." (CA)
"I can smell the coffee and I don't want to put that in my mouth. The packaging is nice... that's about all I can say nice about that one." (MR)
"This is my new favorite, 'cause it tastes kinda like Starbucks. It's perfect for fall." (SS)
"Someone took that shitty caramel one and dunked it in coffee like a donut." (JH)
"I'll take a grande." (RP)
"This is sugary burned coffee." (PM)
"It's more coffee the more you chew. The beginning is disgusting and you wonder what you got yourself into." (AO)
AVG. SCORE: 3
Sea Salt Chocolate
"I'm excited about this one. It's delicious. I like it. I love it. I want s'more of it." (CA)
"You know the hot taste in your mouth before you're going to throw up...? Oh my gosh." (MR)
"It doesn't taste like chocolate and salt. It tastes like it smells — which is bad." (SS)
"It's an upscale Tootsie Roll." (PT)
"I don't taste the salt. It tastes like a fancier version of the Indian corn." (JH)
"It tastes like fudge you bought at the beach." (RP)
"I expected to like it, but it was too much sugar." (PM)
"It's a fudgy adventure." (AO)
"It's like chocolate ice cream." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 3.17
Starburst RED
"Ew. Nope. Tastes like cough syrup." (CA)
"It tastes like Roccola. I like it." (MR)
"It's a completely different texture. It tastes like jelly beans. They're less waxy." (SS)
"They're more waxy with a gushy center, in a way. It does have medicine notes — cough medicine." (PT)
"It's Robitussin. I think my cough is gone." (JH)
"I'm surfing on a wave of juice right now." (RP)
"It's cough syrup. The only thing wrong with it is not having narcotics in it." (PM)
"It's like a bad cherry popsicle." (AO)
"Sign me up." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 2.78
Starburst ORANGE
"It reminds me of Flintstones Push Pops." (CA)
"I like that. Mmmm. Childhood." (MR)
"Kinda tastes like a smoothie; or an orange Starburst, but with different consistency." (SS)
"Definitely creamsicle flavor, but the same waxy consistency." (PT)
"It tastes a lot like an orange Starburst." (RP)
"It's Bayer Children's Aspirin. They were trying for creamcicle." (PM)
"It's a vitamin. I'll take it if I have a cold." (AO)
"Those gummy things... orange slices." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 3.33
Starburst YELLOW
"It tastes like Lemon Drops, but not as sour." (CA)
"Doesn't taste anything like Yellow Starburst." (MR)
"Suckin' on Pine Sol, that's what it tastes like." (SS)
"Reminds me of jelly candies you buy on Passover. Moderately more sugar than it should have." (PT)
"It's like a Lemon Drop, but a bad texture. It's waxy and crumbly. It's almost powdery." (JH)
"I usually like lemon, but I don't like that lemon." (PM)
"It tastes like lemon-flavored chalk." (AO)
"All lemon flavors remind me of my grandparents. I feel like it's an old-people flavor." (DV)
AVG. SCORE: 2.44
Starburst PINK
"It tastes like tanning oil. I feel like I taste coconut." (CA)
"I don't trust food you can't taste when you lick it. That's the only one I couldn't taste when I licked it. It's a strawberry daiquiri... if I dropped it in the sand, and then ate it." (MR)
"It's like strawberry yogurt. It's less intense than others." (SS)
"A certain subtlety to it. You get a breath of strawberry. It's definitely less cloying than the lemon." (PT)
"It put a smile on my face." (RP)
"It has a fake strawberry taste." (PM)
"It has that pink strawberry Starburst flavor I like." (AO)
AVG. SCORE: 3.83
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
What about those other "candy corn" treats? Every year, more and more companies are jumping on the candy corn bandwagon. We think it started with Candy Corn Oreos (which kinda taste like vanilla Oreos) and it's grown from there. So, we decided to try a few of the latest treats and see if fans of candy corn (Jeff Hahne, Madison Rhodes and Sarah Stark rated original candy corn the highest in the original survey) enjoy them. Here are their reactions:
M&Ms White Candy Corn
"What the hell is going on there? That's not an M&M or candy corn. It tastes like a white chocolate M&M with extra sugar. Is the shell extra hard on this?" (JH)
"They taste like Dippin Dots. Now that I've had six or so, it's not as bad. You know when you stay home for a weekend and don't brush your teeth... and you get a coating on your tongue? That's what these feel like." (MR)
"That's really weird. It tastes like white chocolate. It doesn't taste like candy corn — at the end, it kind of does." (SS)
Hershey's Candy Corn
"It smells like cake frosting... and tastes like it, too. There's nothing in this that tastes like candy corn. Stop molesting my childhood memories of both chocolate and candy corn." (JH)
"I can get salmonella from the raw eggs. It's like funfetti, but it's not fun." (MR)
"It tastes like white chocolate again, but it kinda tastes like candy corn. It goes candy corn, white chocolate, candy corn." (SS)
Peeps Candy Corn
"That's the worst peep ever. It's cardboard. Someone sat around and said, 'How can we mindfuck people who love Easter?'" (JH)
"It even looks sad... like a melted snowman, with dandruff. The bottom is crunchy. Why? I couldn't even chew it. That's bad for food — not only for candy." (MR)
"It tastes like a marshmellow. It's a regular Peep. How can they call this candy corn? Way too sweet." (SS)
Milk Chocolate Candy Corn Truffles
"It only tastes like chocolate... that was dipped in perfume. There's nothing candy corn about this at all. The fancy box shouldn't fool anyone." (JH)
"You know when food goes bad and tastes different? This will always taste like this." (MR)
"This just tastes like chocolate. I don't think there's anything in it. What's the candy corn part of this?" (SS)
