Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Wonka Sour Nerds

Nerds have been around since the early eighties and I’ve never tried them. I was an early member of the Wonka fan club (you had to send in proofs of purchase) and I’ve never tried them. There’s actually a pretty long list of very common candy items that I’ve never tried, but this was one I decided to tick off my list.

imageNerds are little panned crunchy and sour candies. They’re made by taking a little crystal of sugar and then tumbling them with successive layers of sour coating, then a coat of color. Nerds are irregular with some as small as a sesame seed and others as large as a dried pea. The unique selling proposition with Nerds is that they come in packages with two flavors in them and a separate dispensing opening. The flavor combo that got me off my bum to try them was Lightning Lemon/Amped Apple.

What I found out is that I’m not really missing anything by not eating Nerds.

The texture is good and the consistent crunchiness has a lot to recommend it, however, there’s really no flavor there. The distinction between the apple and lemon is rather scant. They’re both tart but little else. As for the SOUR! emblazoned on the box, well, they were sour, but not in all caps.

I can see these being very useful for a decorative element for cupcakes, but I can’t see myself buying them again. I know they have their fans, but I think I’m going to stick with Tart ‘n’ Tiny. For the record, I’m not an ice-chewer, so maybe that’s who these are marketed for. I have actually purchased the new Nerds Rope twice, but I haven’t actually eaten them (I think I gave one away in one of the contests), but I suspect they’re better in combination with something else like a gummi.

(While I’m on the subject of decorating with candy, check out Candy Addict’s Swimming Pool Cake ... if he decided to make an aquarium instead, this would make great colored gravel.)

Name: SOUR! Nerds: Lightning Lemon/Amped Apple
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Wonka (Nestle)
Place Purchased: Powell's Sweet Shoppe
Price: $.89
Size: 1.65 ounces
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Hard Candy, Sour, United States, Nestle

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:22 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I’d suggest trying the traditional Nerds.  I always enjoyed Grape/Strawberry.  Mixing the flavor was always a nice blast of sugar with only a little tartness.  But then, I never liked candies with an emphasis on sour or tart.

    Comment by Cat Skyfire on 8/15/06 at 6:44 am #
  2. I read it first as “armpit apple” !! But yeah, Nerds don’t have much to recommend them. It’s one of the last things to get eaten from birthday party bags or Halloween hauls, if they get eaten at all. (Alternative use: dump into compost pile. :^)

    Comment by Tricia on 8/15/06 at 6:54 am #
  3. Nerds are really good with ice cream.

    Comment by Ellen on 8/15/06 at 7:31 am #
  4. I would also recommend the traditional Nerds. Nerds Rope is one of my favorite candies of all time. It has something like only 90 calories, lasts a long time, is fun to eat, and tastes really good (in my opinion).

    Comment by Tristyn on 8/15/06 at 8:25 am #
  5. Nerds are one of my favorite candies - not sure why. I have never had the Sour ones though. Nerds are great for a Fishbowl drink:
    http://candyaddict.com/blog/2006/04/24/candy-cocktail-fish-bowl/

    As for the cake, my wife did the cake, not me.

    Brian

    Comment by Brian on 8/15/06 at 8:44 am #
  6. These always tasted a bit to chemically to me.  My friends in Jr. High loved them though.

    Comment by Julilla on 8/15/06 at 9:01 am #
  7. Wow, consider me suprised - a candy addict that hasn’t tried Nerds?

    I keep a pack in my car for a quick candy fix.  They seem to sit around without getting stale for quite awhile.  I’ll agree with a previous comment that Nerds are not to be judged on this strange Sour variety.

    On the Tart ?n? Tiny front, do you remember back when they didn’t have a candy shell and were just a little column of compressed sugar?  I’m not a fan of the newer, shelled model - the size seems perfect for pushing oddly on my teeth as I bite them.

    Comment by John on 8/15/06 at 10:59 am #
  8. I loved Nerds as a kid, but probably haven’t had them in 15 years or more. I think a lot of fun was the packaging.

    Comment by Grace on 8/15/06 at 1:09 pm #
  9. The original Tart N Tiny candies were great!

    Brian

    Comment by Brian on 8/15/06 at 2:52 pm #
  10. Grape Nerds are yet another candy that I pined for when I was pregnant. I agree with all who have said to give the non-sour Nerds a chance.

    Comment by Shauna on 8/15/06 at 3:34 pm #
  11. Regular grape and strawberry Nerds are probably the best in the lil crunchies kind of category.  Hugely chemical taste, a little too sweet, but very satisfying.  I’ve even had a Nerds gumball.  In case you didn’t know, regular gumballs are hollow, but this one was full of Nerds (it even rattled).  It was excellent.

    Comment by Dave on 8/18/06 at 6:34 am #
  12. you guys are frickin’ idiots…  nerds are prob. one of the best candies out there.  in fact, you should read up on your history.  “nerd shots” (taking a whole box in one tilt) helped the germans win the cold war.

    grow some class losers…

    Comment by Nerd_Fu er on 9/28/06 at 12:14 pm #
  13. What the hell is it with strawberry and grape nerds?  Do they even MAKE any other flavors anymore, aside from “rainbow”?  There used to be a whole slew of flavors, now I’m stuck with disgusting grape and so-so strawberrry.  Mr. Wonka, I’d like to give you a piece of my mind!

    Comment by smeggo on 9/29/06 at 12:34 pm #
  14. well i dont know about you but to me those limated edition chocolate nerds were awesome does anyone here know where to get them???and as for the sour nerds i am eating them right now and they are cool to ,
    byebye

    Comment by mallory on 1/25/07 at 12:51 pm #
  15. Hi everyone!I know this is a little random but i was thinking of getting a tattoo of the little guys on the nerds box.But i need to bring in a picture of them and when i type in nerds candy or anything of that sort, it brings them up but nothing close enough for someone to follow as a guide.So my question was does anyone know the official name for them..or even iof the have one?thanks alot for your time and i hope to hear back from someone!

    thanks a million!

    Comment by Jillian Kubat on 4/19/07 at 2:09 pm #
  16. HI!i am a huge fan of nerds i enjoy grape most of the time i started eating nerds when i was 6 years old my fav is the rainbow they are sooooooo nice!

    Comment by colin on 4/22/07 at 1:08 am #
  17. I LOVE NERDS!

    Comment by Tita on 7/16/07 at 5:34 pm #
  18. I agree with the ‘good with icecream’ comment.  I love Nerds Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

    Comment by cerebral on 2/21/08 at 2:04 pm #
  19. Nerds are my fav candy to snack on, just letting them sit on my tongue while they disolve away is a fantastic treat! I am eating the sours right now AFTER just brushing my teeth, so they’re extra sour wee!

    Comment by Shystimacnasty! on 9/06/08 at 12:14 am #
  20. I think you all are nerd and should do something more meaningful with your life like create peace instead of talking about candy.!

    Comment by Matt on 1/27/09 at 7:01 am #
  21. Cybele's avatar

    Matt - so commenting on blogs that talk about candy is engendering peace? (Really, I believe that cultural exchange of commonplace items like candy is a great way to engage other cultures in an area of common interest ... but let me know how googling things like “how are wonka nerds made” solves global social crises.)

    Comment by Cybele on 1/27/09 at 7:06 am #
  22. I love Nerds they taste very good and my favourite kinds are grape and strawberry

    Comment by Keelyn on 1/27/09 at 1:52 pm #
  23. Just had a Christmas box of Nerds. White and Green on one side (Punch and Cherry), and White and Red on the other (Punch and Watermelon). Yummy Yum Yum. Next to Everlasting Gobstoppers these are my fave. Merry Christmas!!!!!

    Comment by Banana on 12/25/09 at 1:49 pm #
  24. I LOVE those sour nerds… one year at summer camp I had them every single day (two boxes or more a day) and stocked up the last day.  The next year, they stopped selling them since I was literally one of the two people who had ever bought them. And since that, years ago, I’ve seen them twice- once in a Mexican family resort, and once in a really small grocery mart in Wisconsin. And guess what? I WANT MY SOUR NERDS.

    Comment by Sarah on 3/28/10 at 8:54 pm #
  25. I love nerds

    Comment by Brooklyn on 2/07/11 at 4:01 pm #
  26. Nerds are the bomb. Enough said. The old 3-section packages were tons of fun, but the candy has the same great balance of sweet and sour. And I love the crunch.

    Comment by Ian on 10/20/11 at 7:39 pm #
  27. there so sour and tasty
    awesome amped apple and lightning lemon soda can fizzy candy

    Comment by paco on 6/16/12 at 9:27 am #
  28. are they soda can fizzy candy?

    Comment by paco on 6/16/12 at 9:28 am #
  29. i think they are very sour as u may all now but also very very nice

    Comment by emily smart on 9/16/12 at 10:45 am #
  30. I love nerds alot and just had over 10 boxes already they never get old.No matter what flavor they are I will eat them its the texture that pleases me.

    What the nerd!

    Comment by Isaiah Trageser on 10/19/12 at 4:57 pm #
  31. I think that Nerds are ok but I usually prefer other candy.

    Comment by CandyLover on 12/04/12 at 12:40 pm #
  32. Nerds are ok, but I prefer other things.

    Comment by Ella on 3/01/16 at 1:00 pm #
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