Red Band Sour Suckers

Best. Sour. Ever. Yes. We. Just. Wrote. That.

Reviewed by Jonny

February 12, 2021

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A repost from 2013 because if you like sour candy and you haven’t had these Sour Suckers then you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. 

What’s better than old friends?

Old candy.

One of my oldest buddies, way back from my Frankie Goes To Hollywood & clove cigarette days, Zvi, is Canadian.  He regaled me with tales about “sour keys” and how amazing they were.  Until a few months ago, it was all just conversation.  And then he dumped this bucket of insanity on me.  

Bucket of Sour Suckers

 

Handing over these Red Band Sour Suckers, Zvi apologized, “I’m really sorry, these have been sitting in my house for literally a year.”

I just patted him on the back and said “Friend?  You don’t need to apologize. You’ve aged them.  In fact, I bet they’re not stale enough for me.”

Well folks, here’s a first: These ARE PERFECT.  

I’m not exaggerating, these are the best sour gummies I’ve ever had. And I’m very particular.

Red Band Sour suckers candy and tongs

They come in a cylindrical shaped container, with plastic tongs for doling out at the corner sweet shop.  Silly manufacturers, DON’T THEY KNOW I’M EATING THESE BY THE HANDFUL?

I’m not familiar with an American equivalent, but in theory, these are simply “pacifier” shaped sour gummies.  But they’re so much more.  Dense, small, and HARD, these things are a workout for the jaw.  The sour level is definitely on point — sour enough to salivate to, not sour enough to rip off a layer of your tongue. Unless you eat a half pound in a sitting.  

But the flavor..oh man.  So good.  I couldn’t find detailed flavor information, but there’s definitely notes of lemon, berries, and perhaps lime and orange. The flavors pop in the best way.

 

The rub on the Red Band Sour Suckers? For many of you these will be too “tough.”  I’m sure that if you buy a new bag, you run the chance of them being a hell of a lot less tough than the container I got, but I can’t see them being soft. Ever. So if you’re not into tough chewy gummies, you won’t like these. But if you’re insanely smart like me, you’ll freak out over these.  And in the kicker department, they’re not THAT hard to find!

Big thanks to Zvi for being a bro, but more importantly, for shedding light on this hidden gem of the candy world.

Zolli Candy

15 Comments

  1. Squeeb

    The later comments here don’t seem super promising, especially the ones about the change in texture. Does anyone have any good recommendations for really tough gummies to find here in the States? Japan had such a nice selection of them (one of my favorites were literally called Tough Gummy). Everything here is just so soft.

    Reply
    • Jen

      Sockerbit sells a Sour Tongue which is pleasantly dense/tough and beautifully sour. Their sour skulls also fit the bill, I think.

      Reply
  2. T.J.

    I wish there were some that came in only purple (berry? bastard grape?) and green (apple, probably). Great review on them by the way, I also love stale candy, probably coming from the fact that I grew up in small towns where they couldn’t sell the candy fast enough

    Reply
  3. Emily

    I recently bought the 1.1kg tub from Costco as these are my all time favourite candies, only to find they changed the recipe. What the heck these were perfect. They’re not sour at all anymore! A perfect 10/10 coming in as a 4/10 now. They’re not horrible, but there are better candies on the shelf. They’re much softer which for some might be a plus but I really enjoyed the consistency before. I’ve looked for a way to contact them but I haven’t found anything yet. They’re sold under Red Band but also Koala and distributed by Tosuta Intl. If anyone has found an email to contact them I’d really appreciate it if you shared. Maybe it’s for the best that I stop eating them, my teeth will sure appreciate it.

    Reply
  4. Chi

    I agree. I bought some early this year and they have completely changed… and def not for the better. It is utterly disappointing as I grew up with these and they were my favourite sour candy ever!! I also agree that I would pay more to keep the original flavouring/manufacturing. I won’t be buying the new version.. they’re just not good 🙁

    Reply
  5. Rob

    Just bought what I’d be guessing my thousandth bucket , I’m almost 50 now and I’ve been chewing these things for almost 40 years regularly . Regular enough for the Korean smoke shop owner to call me “mr sour sucker man”
    A few hours ago I tore into my bucket and to my shock and horror they have changed the flavour!!!
    I knew something was off by the Colour and the sugar coating but the flavour was a shocker! More like a juice flavour now and not like that intense candy flavour I’ve grown accustomed to .. I’ve grown up in Toronto and still here eating these things all my life sadly .. But I love em.. Some people like chocolate . I like red brand sours !
    But now I’m not sure.. It’s changed. And not for the better.
    What to do? My life is upside down!
    Not really … But it’s a shocker .
    Anyone else recently get a bucket and find the change?
    No tongs either.. Those are a waste if space anyway.
    And what’s up with the “soggy” ones the last year?
    At 6 bucks a bucket I would gladly pay more for the original over a flavour change done to keep the cost down .
    Never thought I’d comment on a candy .
    Never thought there were others who love them either.. But now that I’ve been searching for a reason they did this change I’ve found this candy has a cult like following .. Fantastic!

    Reply
    • Jonny

      Yo mr. Sour sucker man!

      Dude. Your story is a huge bummer. I only had those once, when I reviewed them, and they were perfect. Changing an old recipe like that is a no no.

      Have you tried contacting the company to ask? We can’t even really get them at all down here in the states, and the tubs we can get from amazon I’m betting are the. New recipe which doesn’t interest me.

      Let me know if we can help.

      Reply
    • scatman

      YESS they fkn changed them.. theyre not as sour.. or sour at all for that matter and im pissed

      Reply
  6. candygrrrl

    Both of y’all crack me up. Must be phenomenal fathers, I’m not even being sarcastic. Great reviews, keep doin what you’re doin in the way you do it to it etc etc etc

    Reply
    • mattycandy

      thanks grrrl 🙂

      Reply
  7. Amanda

    I can’t believe you haven’t tried these before now. They’ve been a favorite of mine for ages and ages….then again I grew up in BC. I didn’t know there wasn’t an American equivalent. They are so amazing, and as you guessed, they are always hard even when fresh.

    Reply
    • mattycandy

      I can’t believe he hasn’t tried them either. What a dork. And can I amend the last line of your comment with a “That’s what she said!” Thanks

      Reply
  8. mattycandy

    Why don’t I have these in my posession? Also, nice link above. Pretty. Fits great!

    Reply
    • jonnyguru

      HEY MATTY- No one CARES about your lame ass “web page optimizing” concerns! If I wanna be “funny” and make a too long link, I’ll damn well do it! And Amanda, trust me- if I COULD have bought these before, I would have. And now I will!

      Reply
    • jonnyguru

      NEVER!

      Reply

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