Whatever Happened To The Lemon-Flavored Jolly Rancher?

Whether you're popping it in your mouth or melting it down for a dessert, we'd like to think that every flavor of Jolly Rancher is created equal. Even if certain flavors are picked out of the bag much faster than others (we're looking at you, blue raspberry), the candy flavors like watermelon, green apple, and cherry are all quite tasty. This is why an investigation must be conducted regarding the lemon-flavored Jolly Rancher. When was it introduced, and where did it go?

The standard bag of Jolly Rancher hard candies actually included a lemon option in the late 90s, made evident by the many commercials featuring a large lemon when showcasing the fruit flavors that could be found in each pack. While the three original flavors were the odd trio of grape, apple, and cinnamon (called "Fire Stix"), other flavors like cherry, lemon, and pineapple were introduced early on. 

While there is no clear answer as to when exactly the lemon flavor was discontinued, blue raspberry would eventually replace lemon in the original pack and leave our poor sour friend in the dust. Jolly Rancher temporarily released an entire bag of lemon-flavored candies in 2013 due to customer interest, but this flavor is now fairly difficult to come by. It is currently only sold in the hard-to-find Fruity Bash bag.

Like the PB Max and Hollywood Bar candy bars that you forgot existed, some of the past Jolly Rancher flavors have quietly disappeared. There have been some iconic flavors that, unfortunately, had a short time on the shelf. However, for some fans, they left a lasting impression, and it would be a shame to forget them.

The aforementioned Fruity Bash mix contains the lemon flavor, but it is also accompanied by many past favorites that you won't find in the original bag, like peach, pineapple, and orange. The peach and orange flavors also appeared in the now-discontinued Passion Mix, which included raspberry and fruit punch. Jolly Rancher also released the unique Hotties Mix — now discontinued – including eye-opening flavors such as watermelon cayenne, blue raspberry sriracha, cherry habanero, and green apple ginger. While you cannot find many of these flavors on the shelf anymore, their legacy in photos and heartbroken Reddit memorials will live on.