10 Starburst Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

No matter what type of candy it is that you like best — whether it be a specific Kit-Kat flavor or a fruity favorite from the Haribo gummy candy collection — there's a little something for everyone out there. Of course, when we break it down, many types of candy tend to fall into two distinct categories: chocolate and gummy candy. These are two very strong, dominant categories in the candy game, no doubt, but what about those who want something sweet, fruity, and chewy?

For all those chewy candy lovers out there, Starburst products are an obvious choice. The colorful and fruity candies have been around for quite some time, experiencing flavor shake-ups and variations over the years (as any great candy does). Nowadays, though, you're likely to come across three distinct flavor packs, should you seek Starburst out at a gas station or store, including Original, Sours, and Fave Reds packs. Within these packs are even more specific flavors, ranging from the classic lemon, orange, and cherry to unique ones like sour blue raspberry or fruit punch.

If you've ever wondered what the best Starburst flavor is, I'm here to answer that question through a tried-and-true taste test. I sampled 10 different Starburst flavors — ranging across the three aforementioned flavor packs — to pinpoint the best flavor. Naturally, much of this ranking comes down to personal preference, but I did try to consider those flavors that might be more generally loved or well-received when conducting the ranking. Those lower-ranked flavors are ones that just weren't all that enjoyable to eat, and ones that even the most steadfast Starburst fan could probably skip.

I'm sure there's some diehard lemon Starburst fan out there who is already disgruntled by the lemon flavor coming in dead-last place, but I'm sorry — there's just nothing redeemable about this flavor. Admittedly, I've never been a big "yellow" candy fan in general, because those flavors usually mean lemon or banana. And to me, lemon-flavored candies are almost always a no-go.

The biggest issue I have with lemon Starburst is that they're neither enjoyable to eat nor do they even taste a whole lot like lemon. They more so have this fake citrusy flavor that's packed with a little too much sweetness, resulting in a half-hearted attempt at trying (and failing) to make a lemon candy taste good. Now, if this flavor were to be part of the Sours pack and actually be sour, then I could see it faring better than it does. But as-is, lemon is without a doubt the most forgettable flavor in the Starburst lineup, and it's one that I skip over in the pack each and every time (except, of course, when I begrudgingly tried it once again for this ranking). 

When I tell you that I was absolutely shocked at how low cherry ultimately ranked in this list, I'm not exaggerating. For context, I'm typically a big fan of cherry-flavored candy, and I even dubbed cherry the number one flavor in my Jolly Rancher ranking due to its perfectly sweet-tart flavor profile. I often find cherry to be a safe bet when it comes to just about any candy out there, so for Starburst to let me down so greatly with its cherry rendition feels like a bit of a betrayal.

The best way I can describe cherry Starburst is slightly medicinal, old-timey, and just plain unpleasant. What I love most about a good cherry candy is that balance between sweetness and tartness, and there was absolutely no tartness to be found. The flavor oddly reminded me of cherry Chapstick — as in, if you were to turn that flavor of cherry Chapstick into a candy, it'd taste something like cherry Starburst. So, needless to say, cherry Starburst are one cherry candy variation that I can officially say I'm not a fan of, but if push were to become shove, I'd at least choose it over the lemon flavor.

Faring slightly better than lemon and cherry is orange, another flavor that we're seemingly stuck with for no apparent reason. Sure, I have to acknowledge that there must be a handful of orange Starburst enthusiasts out there, but seriously, is this truly anyone's favorite Starburst flavor? In a world full of delightful Starburst flavors, it almost seems like a waste that orange (along with lemon and cherry) has somehow been grandfathered into the Originals pack.

I understand that it's hard to capture the essence of a fresh fruit in candy format, but orange Starburst truly just don't taste like orange at all. When I was sampling the flavor for this article, I found myself scratching my head at times trying to figure out how this was the best possible iteration of orange that they could come up with. A hint of tanginess, sourness, or actual citrus flavor would have gone a long way to improve this one, but alas, orange just misses the mark in my book. The reality is, though, that my disdain for orange-flavored candy is largely personal, so if you happen to love all things artificial orange, then this Starburst flavor might just be up your alley.

Sour candy, when done right, is nothing short of a delicacy. There's truly nothing quite like sour candy out there when it comes to foods that can pique your tastebuds in such a unique way and make you salivate on demand (there's a scientific reason for that, as it turns out). But with great power comes great responsibility, so if you make a sour candy flavor, it's crucial that the sourness doesn't go overboard. And in the case of Starburst sour blue raspberry, the sourness went far beyond overboard. 

This flavor was so sour that one HALF square nearly had my eyes watering, and this is coming from someone with a rather high sour candy tolerance. Now, I did like the blue raspberry flavor (despite its strange origin), and I think it's one that naturally works with a sour profile (a basically made-up flavor paired with an unnatural sourness, it only makes sense). But most fruity notes were masked by sheer sourness here, and of all the four flavors in the sour pack, this is the one I'd be least likely to return to. 

Watermelon is a unique candy flavor because you never really know what you're getting. Watermelon flavor actually tastes nothing like watermelon at all, so any resulting candy tends to lean either in the direction of super-sweet or incredibly sour. Starburst actually takes both approaches in its repertoire, offering both a plain and sour watermelon flavor, and I'm only slightly saddened to say that the regular watermelon flavor is the weaker of the two.

For what it's worth, I didn't necessarily hate this flavor, but it just didn't leave a lasting impression. I felt like I immediately forgot how the candy tasted just moments after I swallowed it. But upon chewing on another square, I was reminded of the overly sweet, vaguely melon-y, and somewhat chemically flavor profile that is watermelon Starburst. I can't say that this is the worst iteration of watermelon candy that I've had, but it's just not one that I'd ever desperately seek out. And of the pack that watermelon comes in — the Fave Reds — it's far from my fave red, personally (but it's also not my least favorite red, for what it's worth, since cherry does make an appearance in that pack, as well).

Strawberry is often a safe bet when it comes to candy, because even artificial strawberry tends to taste good (in my opinion, at least). Sour strawberry can be more of a gamble, though. On one hand, actual strawberries can have a slightly sour flavor to them, so it's not a completely unwelcome flavor complexity when it comes to strawberry candy. But it's important that the sourness is done right, not completely masking the actual strawberry flavor at play, and I think that Starburst managed to get it (mostly) right with its take on such a flavor.

At the very least, sour strawberry was much more subdued on the sourness than the blue raspberry flavor, so I could tolerate eating an entire square or two without being on the verge of tears. I think the sharp acidity of the sourness worked well with the base strawberry flavor, and the two were well-balanced (as opposed to the candy barely tasting sour, or the sourness completely overpowering the strawberry notes). A nice sweet-sour treat, sour strawberry was memorable enough to break into the top five in this list, but there were ultimately a handful of flavors (including a couple of sour ones) that I liked even better. 

Of all the candy flavors in the world, some just make sense in a sour context more than others. One flavor that absolutely makes sense in the sour realm is green apple — in fact, I'd go as far as to say that it'd be stranger to go for a green apple flavor that wasn't also sour. Actual green apples are notorious for their straight-up sour flavor profiles, so translate that to candy format, and you've (ideally) got the perfect sweet-tart-sour-juicy flavor combination on your hands. And fortunately, Starburst has pretty much nailed that flavor combo in its sour green apple flavor. 

Although it didn't end up being my absolute favorite flavor in the Sours pack, there's no denying that sour green apple has a rightful place in the candy world. The apple flavor was nice and strong, while the sourness really shined through (but not in a way that felt too intense). That sourness combined with the apple flavor is what made this candy really shine, because it felt like such a cohesive bite with two distinct flavors that came together very harmoniously. 

Any green apple candy lover is sure to enjoy this Starburst flavor. The only reason it's not ranking higher is because there were simply a few flavors that I liked even more than this one.

Rounding out the Sours pack representation in this ranking is the sour watermelon flavor, one I was surprised to have enjoyed as much as I did. As I mentioned in the lower-ranking regular watermelon flavor slide, watermelon candy tends to either lean in a super-sweet or super-sour direction. In the case of super-sour, any actual watermelon flavor tends to get completely lost in translation — but sour watermelon Starburst may be a unique exception.

Upon trying the sour watermelon flavor, there was no denying that this candy was very sour. But as I kept chewing, I was getting quite a few notes of juicy watermelon, almost like how Extra watermelon gum tastes (if you know, you know). So, not only did I enjoy this sour Starburst version much more than I did the regular, but I also felt that it captured the essence of straight-up watermelon flavor better than the regular one (which seems odd, but I'm not complaining). That juicy watermelon base paired with sourness really worked, and so although I was surprised to realize it, sour watermelon ended up being my favorite of the Sours pack — and the third best Starburst flavor in this ranking. 

There are some Starburst flavors that are incredibly well-known, like strawberry or lemon, and then there are those that are somewhat more obscure. I'd argue that fruit punch is perhaps the most obscure flavor of them all, tucked away in the Starburst Fave Reds pack, but just begging to be discovered by a larger audience.

As a fan of other fruit punch-flavored candy (like fruit punch Jolly Ranchers, for example), I wasn't all that surprised to learn that I like fruit punch Starburst. But I was surprised at just how much this flavor stuck out to me, offering up a flavor complexity that is unique for Starburst. At first, the flavor hits all those notes one might expect, being sweet, juicy, and fruity in a way that feels accurate to fruit punch. But there was a certain tangy undertone to this one that I really enjoyed, because it was subtle but welcome against an otherwise very sweet candy. Unlike the sour flavors, which hit you over the head with sourness, this one wasn't sour but strictly sweet and tangy, making for an enjoyable experience from start to finish. 

It was tough deciding whether to put this one in the second place or first place spot. But ultimately, there was one Starburst flavor that I enjoyed a little bit more than fruit punch.

Coming in first place is a classic Starburst flavor that almost needs no introduction — it's strawberry, of course. Now, I didn't necessarily go into this ranking assuming that strawberry would take the top spot, but I knew it'd rank pretty high based on how much I remember liking this flavor in childhood. And as it turns out, that formula has stayed the same over the years, because strawberry Starburst are just as enjoyable in adulthood, as well.

There's something about the strawberry flavor that is so incredibly good, you could eat several before realizing it. The flavor is incredibly mellow yet fruity, and the strawberry notes shine through nicely without being too intense. A unique thing about this flavor is that there's almost a creaminess that creeps in once the initial fruitiness establishes itself, making for a delightfully delicious flavor profile that veers from the typical acidic strawberry notes. I can't think of a single thing that I'd change about this flavor, and when it comes to all the Starburst flavors out there, strawberry is such a tried-and-true classic that you really, truly, positively can't go wrong with.

When ranking these 10 Starburst flavors, I found it was important to give each flavor a chance to speak for itself before immediately being compared to others. So, I tried flavors in batches and over the course of several days, and each time, I pinpointed things I either liked or disliked about a given flavor. I also made sure to revisit all flavors at least once before determining my final verdict. And while I already went into this ranking with somewhat of an opinion on the flavors (having enjoyed Starburst plenty of times in the past), I still made sure to try each flavor again and go into the ranking with an open mind.

As for determining how each flavor fared or ranked on the list, my enjoyment of a given flavor truly was the deciding factor. Each candy had the exact same texture, so there wasn't anything to go off of there. And since candy flavor preference is so subjective, I could only rely on my own taste buds and preferences to guide the way. That said, I did ultimately favor those Starburst flavors that were perhaps a bit more complex (like the sweet-tangy fruit punch and the sweet-creamy strawberry) versus those that were more one-note or overly sour.