Ayman Halai and Maya Hennvall

Dum Dums are a staple in the candy world. However, with all sweet things come the sour things. Read this ranking to find out which Dum Dums are worth getting to experience the childhood nostalgia.

Dum Dums are an absolute staple of candy, sporting a menagerie of flavors each with their own unique profile. As vastly different as each flavor is, however, there are clear stand-outs when looking at them in their all. Here are the 16 Dum Dum flavors ranked – from worst to best.

• Root Beer. Root Beer comes in a deep brown shade, and at first glance, looks half appealing – but be warned! Its spicy, aromatic scent reflects nothing of the actual taste, which is nothing like a real root beer float. Truly, it’s most reminiscent of licorice: quite a misleading lollipop.
• Cream Soda. Cream Soda is a relatively boring flavor, with a simple color scheme. There’s nothing special to its lackluster taste, and comparatively, it tastes akin to the medicine Ayman took for her pneumonia, making it an overall oddly flavored lollipop.
• Lemon Lime. Although objectively good, with a refreshing flavor, Lemon Lime lacks substance; there’s definitely better out there. It does not have enough lemon or lime to give its flavor any nuance, which makes it fall short in the grand scheme of flavors.
• Sour Apple. It sports a boring shade of green, but it does its job well, tasting and looking just as the name denotes. Other than that, it is a simply boring flavor, and similar to Lemon Lime, possesses little significance.
• Orange. Tasting similar to a creamsicle, orange tends to come off as more artificial than the other Dum Dum flavors. This isn’t a horrible thing, but it surely bumps it down the rankings.
• Cherry. Cherry tastes like pepto bismol medicine, but not to a terrible extent. In fact, it wouldn’t be such a low ranking flavor, if only it didn’t have such a misleading name in relation to its actual taste.
• Strawberry. Strawberry tastes slightly artificial, as most strawberry flavors do. It is nothing majorly special, and so it doesn’t get a special ranking. Its color does move it up the rankings a little, though, as its shimmering strawberry look provides a good flavor base.
• Pineapple. An intense, magnificent summer flavor, pineapple tastes just like a sweet treat after a long swim, making it a staple of the summer aesthetic. However, this (quite obviously) doesn’t work year-round, which bumps this beloved flavor further down the rankings.
• Butterscotch. Just as it says. Our very middle ranking, it possesses a caramel-esque flavor, with a sweet, butter-infused first lick. Slightly salty, but rich enough to warrant a good ranking. Its color looks just as you’d expect, a light coffee shade. Not boring enough to fall below midway, but not surprising enough to rise above.
• Blue Raspberry. A bit of an overbearing flavor, Blue Raspberry makes a punch in the flavor rankings. Its color is just as deep and rich as its flavor profile, a magnificent royal blue. It definitely stands out, and well at that. However, its manufactured flavor just tries too hard to be considered anything but mid.
• Fruit Punch. Tangy and sweet, it tastes just like the fruit punch Kool-Aid mix. This is definitely not a bad thing, however; it has a good balance in terms of flavor and is not misleading in the slightest. This lollipop has the brightest red coloring of all the red flavors, standing out considerably in both color and in taste.
• Watermelon. Although it does not have a great first lick, if you stick it out, the lollipop has a lot to offer in terms of profile: a refreshingly watermelon relish. Its color, likewise, is exceedingly similar to a watermelon’s shade, an appetizing red hue. Marking the start of our top 5 rankings, Watermelon is a definite must-have.
• Cotton Candy. This lollipop has the perfect cotton candy flavor, but the coloring does provide a considerable issue – it would be so much cooler as a pink! The blue hue is a bit boring, and makes it seem as though it should be a completely different flavor. Even with this color problem, Cotton Candy makes its stand in terms of flavor, corroborating the fact that it has undeniably won its fourth place spot.
• Peach. No notes; a true 10/10. Its color looks like a genuine peach, and it tastes just the same. This lollipop does its job perfectly, without trying much too hard.
• Dragonfruit. A beautifully balanced flavor, mildly sweet yet perfectly tart. Its color is the perfect lip shade hue, a stunning maroon ombre. Truly a standout flavor, this lollipop has earned its hard won second place spot in our rankings.
• Bubble Gum. THE lollipop flavor. The original. What you think of when you think “lollipop”. A magnificent cumulation of what the very brand of Dum Dum stands for: an eye-catching, glittering pink color, and underneath it, a nostalgic, fruity flavor for the ages.