Halloween Taste Test: Indy’s Toxic Waste Candy

Toxic Waste Candy is what kids consider “the good stuff” on Halloween night. It’s packaged like fireworks in mini drums and in bags showing a mushroom cloud to drive home the candy’s “hazardously sour” description. Kids don’t know that their Smog Balls and Slime Lickers are actually from an Indianapolis company. The hugely popular brand, sold practically everywhere (including Target and Amazon), is headquartered near the Pyramids. So you can keep your candy game local this Halloween, and the neighbor kids will love you. But what about the leftovers—will you love them? We pucked up and tried all four Toxic Waste candies to find out.

Sour Smog Balls
Reminds you of: Gobstoppers
Tasters said: “Sour in the way Nerds are.” “Very tame. The sour lingers, though. They’re good.” “If you put a nuclear explosion on the package, they have to be more sour than this.” “The real challenge is to put the whole bag in your mouth.”

A liquefied Jolly Rancher with a handy roll-on deodorant application

Slime Licker
Reminds you of: a liquified Jolly Rancher
Tasters said: “These taste like Freeze Pops when you can’t wait for them to freeze.” “Not sour at all.” “I can’t get it to roll.” “I feel like I’m eating a paint marker.” “It leaks.” “A parent’s worst nightmare. There will be sticky blue fingerprints all over.”

Great chewy texture and an entryway to sour

Sour & Chewy Worms/Bears
Reminds You of: Sour Patch Kids
Tasters said: “Most sour thing we’ve had so far.” “Really thick. Very good.” “Lime is the best flavor.” “Not that sour. It’s the gateway candy if you’re afraid of sour.” “Nice texture, like Brach’s Orange Slices.” “Doesn’t fulfill my need for adventure.”

See how long you can hold these in your mouth

Hazardously Sour Candy (hard candies in the drum packages)
Reminds you of: Warheads
Tasters said: “Most sour right out of the gate.” “Stays sour longer than Warheads.” “Gets better the longer you keep it in your mouth.”

Click for GIF of Dining Editor Julia Spaulding

“Let’s get toxic wasted!”
Our verdict: Not as sour as you’d think, and some were better than we expected. The Sour & Chewy candies and the hard candies tied for our favorite. The Sour Smog Balls came in third. Best of all, we figured out how to turn the leftovers into a cocktail: Shake out some Slime Licker, spike it with rum, garnish with Sour Smog Balls, and crush some Sour & Chewy Worms to sugar the rim. It tastes like a test-tube shot you’d get in Vegas. Who says Halloween is just for kids?

Don’t trust our opinions? Here’s a promotional video made by the candy maker with kids providing reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG9I26MXE54