The Definitive Ranking Of Your Childhood Mexican Candy

Salt and chili spice and everything nice...

16. Camotes Poblanos

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Camotes Poblanos are good but they're not great. They're the candies your mom brought over after visiting relatives in Mexico. She'd be like, "I GOT CANDY!" and everyone would flip out... until you saw these. And then you take one bite and let the mushy consistency disintegrate in your mouth like the inside of an extra soggy french fry with sugar. Surprisingly good. Not great.

15. Limon 7

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SALT AND LEMON. That's it. No sweetness whatsoever. You can taste the acid powder oozing down your throat and burning a hole into your stomach. This is definitely the candy of choice for masochists.

14. Borrachitos

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If you're walking down the streets of Puebla, Mexico, and come across an outdoor candy shop, you'll find some borrachitos generally lying right next to the camotes. They're fruity (generally lime, pineapple, and strawberry) and take on a soft jelly-like consistency, coated in grains of sugar. They also contain the tiniest hint of liquor (hence borrachitos or drunkards). They're homemade, which makes them all the more awesome.

13. Lucas

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Take Limon 7, and add a little sugar and spice and you got a bomb-ass combination. The molotov cocktail of candies. It'll still burn your esophagus, but at least you're enjoying it.

12. Vero Mango

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This is a great concept for a lollipop. The outside is coated in chili. So as you lick through the salt and spice, you slowly start tasting the mango-flavored sweetness. It's nothing short of perfection.

11. Aldama

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As a Catholic kid, you always wondered what a Communion wafer tasted like. After going to CCD, and doing your first Communion, you finally got to taste the Communion wafer... only to be disappointed by its lack of flavor. But fear not. All that Communion wafer needed was a sweet slab of thick, syrupy, caramelized milk. After taking one bite of an Aldama, you were probably like, "THANK YOU, JESUS!"

10. Pica Fresa

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This sweet little gum-ball like candy is packed with rich strawberry flavor. It's the bomb. The only problem is that you can't JUST have one. Also, they tend to get stuck to your back molars so proceed with caution.

9. Pulparindo

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This candy is badass as they come. Spicy, salty, and with a strong tamarind kick. It's just like an Airhead, except without all that sugary stuff. If you really want to live on the wild side, you can try extra hot and salted Pulparindo.

8. Duvalin

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Before there was Nutella, there was Duvalin. Only difference is that Duvalin is way better. If you lost the small plastic spoon, all you could do was scoop out the sweet, sweet hazelnut and strawberry goodness with your dirty finger and tongue. You look like a hot mess but it's totally worth it.

7. Rellerindos

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So what is a Rellerindo? It's a hard candy that's salty and spicy on the outside. But once you bite into that hard exterior, you get blasted with a sweet, spicy, and gooey inside that's too hard to resist. Again, it's one of those candies you can't eat just once, and a fair warning to those with sensitive molars.

6. Pelon Pelo Rico

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Pelon Pelo Rico is all about the presentation. You pop the top off, push down and watch all that gooey sweetness rise out of the top, like squiggly worms oozing out of a colander. It's fun, it's sweet, and more importantly, it's the candy of your childhood.

5. Bubulubu

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Chocolate-covered mashmallow with a layer of strawberry syrup. WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THIS? Bubulubu is epitome of childhood treats. Costing as low as 25 cents, you could dig around for 25 loose pennies in the house, run out to the corner store, and smack those 25 copper Lincolns down on the counter. These are small enough to eat in three bites, which is the only downside.

4. Pico

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This is essentially like a Lucas, but with an emphasis on sugar instead of the spice and saltiness. It's perfect, especially when it melts and drips in the back of your mouth.

3. Paleta Payaso

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Chocolate-covered marshmallow on a stick, topped with a "clown face" made out of jelly candy. That's all it is. But there's something else to a Paleta Payaso. It's dear to our hearts. Whenever you did a good deed, or behaved well at the grocery store, your reward was a Paleta Payaso. The paleta was a gift that said, "Hey! Maybe you're not such a bad kid after all." A treat so simple, yet powerful enough to make a kid smile.

2. De La Rosa Mazapan

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The granddaddy of them all. Mazapan is a delicious candy made out of peanuts. It would crumble at the slightest touch and opening one of these required expert handling. Whether it stuck together or crumbled in your hand, Mazapan is candy made by God himself. You let it melt in your mouth for full-effect, and can actually get quite filling if you eat more than one.

1. Rebanaditas

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Yes, THIS. IS. NUMBER. 1. HANDS DOWN. It's hard to say which part of the lollipop is the best: the salty and spicy chili coating that's an explosion of flavor in your mouth, or the sweet watermelon inside that lets you know that life is good and everything is going to be alright. You get the best of everything in one lollipop. When people talk about cherishing the little things in life, they're generally talking about a Rebanadita.