What Is The Most Sour Candy In The World?

Sour candy has exploded in popularity in recent years, with candies whose names alone indicate that they mean to bring the pain: Cry Baby Tears, Atomic Warheads, and Toxic Waste. Toxic Waste was chosen by Delishably as its top pick for sourest candy on earth, and it even comes with its own challenge, printed right on the case, based on the length of time you can keep the candy in your mouth (15 seconds you're a wuss, 60 seconds a hero).

But is Toxic Waste really the sourest of the sour? Not everyone thinks so. Some of the commenters on that Delishably article recommended a British candy called Barnett's Mega Sours. Still others voted for a different UK import, Mr. Simms Exclusive Black Death Pips, with one reader calling them "a tastebud massacre." While Barnett's and Mr. Simms sour candies each had five votes apiece for "world's sourest candy" in the comments thread, we're giving the edge to Mr. Simms here, both because of the deadly name and also because of their subsequent appearance in a TV reality show.

In a June 2019 episode of The Bachelorette, the titular Hannah Brown traveled to Scotland with her gang of wannabee husbands. While she was there, she visited a candy store with a contestant named Mike. Both Hannah and Mike tried the Black Death Pips at the recommendation of a store clerk, and somehow survived the candy's 20-second burst of pain and potential stomach irritation and mouth pain (these caveats courtesy of the candy's own manufacturer). Their recovery was perhaps helped along just a bit by all the whiskey they consumed later that evening, but sadly, this death-defying date did not result in wedding bells at the end of Season 15.

Think you're as tough as a dating show contestant? No need to travel abroad in order to torture your tongue with the Black Death. Although these candies are not sold by any U.S. retailers, the manufacturer will, of course, happily ship them overseas to candy-loving masochists all over the world.