If you’ve been missing the mouth-watering Altoids Sours since they were discontinued in 2010, the family-owned confectionary brand, Iconic Candy, is here to help.
The tangy flavor, called Retro Sours, is now available in citrus, tangerine and mango — three of Altoids Sours’ most popular flavors. They even come in a similar looking can.
The candies themselves are the floral shape that fans know and love (they’re actually called “raspberries,” according to Iconic Candy) and are covered in a light dusting of powder.
The team behind Retro Sours is small but mighty. Iconic Candy’s president and chief executive officer is Kenny Wiesen, whose son, Jordan Wiesen, is chief operating officer. Kim Wiesen, CFO and Jordan’s wife, tells PEOPLE of the family team, “It’s the closest you can get.”
Retro Sours are currently available at IT’SUGAR stores nationwide for $5. The candies will also be sold at Cracker Barrel restaurants through the end of September at a similar price, according to Wiesens. Additionally, they plan to make Retro Sours available on Amazon and other online retailers sometime in October.
The Wiesens didn’t anticipate the demand they’ve had for Retro Sours. When Iconic Candy made a post about the sweets after taking them to the Sweets & Snacks Expo, a flood of messages followed.
“They’re very demanding, but they’re very loyal,” Kenny laughs about his customers. Kim agrees: “We said it’s coming out in tangerine, mango and citrus, and people have already said, ‘Well, what about raspberry?’ What about the apple?’ And I say, ‘Can we get the three we’re launching first?’ And then we can work on additional flavors.’”
The Wiesen family has reformulated several discontinued candies since Iconic Candy was created in 2013. Creme Savers, Reed’s, Regal Crown and BarNone are just a few examples of previous revivals. Retro Sours is part of a new line of ’90s-inspired sweets, which also includes Bubble Jug, Ouch! Chewing gum and Squeeze Pop.
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Retro Sours isn’t meant to be an exact replica of its predecessor, but a “revival,” they say. Some of Iconic Candy’s products are made in collaboration with other candy companies — like Creme Savers with Mars Wrigley — but Retro Sours are not affiliated with the makers of the original product.
Kim described the departure from her and Jordan’s “memory” of their favorite childhood candy. “We ate it all the time. We remember how it tasted, we remember how it felt in our mouths, we remember having blisters after eating it, because you can only eat so much that your mouth literally feels like it’s going to bleed,” he jokes.
Combining their experiences with their knowledge of candy making was successful.
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“We also have a unique opportunity to be masters of candy making. So we took all of those things working with our production facilities and remastered and recreated our beloved product,” says Jordan.
It took two years, 30 iterations of each flavor and 1,500 taste testers until Iconic Candy came up with these three final products.
“I think at the end of the day we’ve spent a lot of time creating something that we’re really happy with and that’s also uniquely ours, which is Retro Sours,” says Kim.
The PEOPLE team was thrilled to get an early taste of the hard candies — and they did not disappoint.
The initial taste of all three flavors was equally eye-watering and lip-smacking sour. But after a few seconds of tartness, a sweet and fruity citrus, mango and tangerine candy flavor kicks in, just as testers remembered from Altoids Sours. One tester even described the tangerine flavor as “tasting exactly like 2007,” which she clarified was a compliment.
Fans of Altoids Sours have felt the loss of the hard candies since they ceased production 14 years ago.
Chrissy Teigen recently bought nearly 20-year-old Altoids Sours.
Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
In July, Chrissy Teigen posted a video of herself trying a package of Altoids Sours that expired in 2007. She revealed that the nostalgic candies were her “favorite” treat growing up. But when she opened the container, she saw that the sweets had melted and turned into whipped cream.
“Maybe I won’t try them,” she said before bursting into laughter. “What happened? oh no! At worst I thought maybe they were all glued together, but that’s not a smell I’m familiar with either.”
Teigen might get a second chance thanks to the Iconic Candy team. The family sent her, Drake and other Altoids Sours-loving stars early samples of the candy, they tell PEOPLE.
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Source: HIS Education