Why do you suppose _sour_ candies are so popular these days? It wasn't a market when I was a kid.

This is funny because like 10 years ago or so they had to lower the amount of acid they put in warheads because people kept getting acid burns from eating too many.

That’s also why they got rid of my all time favorite candies: sour altoids.

Unrelated, but I had constant raw flesh on the top of my mouth for almost a whole year before those got pulled from the shelves.
I remember them being way more sour back then. I chalked it up to me being an adult for why they are less sour lol
- Yeah it was due to the "warheads challenge" where people would just shove warheads into their mouths.
  
  Lots of hospital visits later the warheads company changed their formula.
They got away too war-ry.

Scandinavian Xenial here. It's been popular here for as long as I can remember.

Is Xenial some kind of linux distro?
- I wish. It's that small overlap between GenX and Millennial. I fall into both/neither category, depending on which definition you go by.
- Xennials aren't quite old enough to remember New Coke, but definitely remember Crystal Clear Pepsi.
- Yes, Ubuntu version 16.04 was called Xenial Xerus.
- I tried that one but it had to go when it wouldn't run snap.
- I tried that one but it had to go when it wouldn't run snap.
Yep. Sour, salty and salmiak. Djungelvrål ftw.

Just because you didn't like something doesn't mean other people don't. Adults who didn't grow up eating Hershey's chocolate frequently don't like it due to a compound that they use to preserve it that tastes kinda like vomit. What you like is influenced by society and what you grew up eating.

Like other commenters have said, sour candies have always existed in some capacity (before Lemonheads it was likely candied fruit including lemons and limes), and back in the 90s Warheads were super popular due to the edgy marketing and the "kids doing foolish shit" factor. I'm part of the generation that grew up with Warheads being popular and I once kinda gave myself a chemical burn by sticking way too many in my mouth at the same time. Sour Patch Kids are one of my favorite candies now as an adult. And guess who the parents of the kids today are? Yup, the same people who ate the entire package of Warheads in one mouthful in a dare.

I'm the idiot who ate the entire package of Warheads in one mouthful on a whim, no peer pressure necessary. Can confirm, everything tasted like battery acid and flour for a few days there
Didn't say it was wrong (Well I did say food perversion, but I was joking). I was asking why it was surging, and I think you gave me a pretty damn good answer.

Thank you kind person!

Remember warheads???

1993
- So you should definitely remember Warheads

I am in my late 40s and I remember always having either a sour candy or a fireball (cinnamon jawbreaker) in my pocket or mouth when I was in middle school.

WARHEADS. ATOMIC FIREBALLS.

They're selling extremes. You must be tough to eat this! Not for the faint-hearted!

Not saying, mmmm, they're delicious! 😋
- You must be tough to eat this!
  
  I grew up in NM, we eat green chile on everything. Atomic Fireballs are child’s play in comparison.
Similar age and ya, I remember sour packets being popular in middle school. Can't recall the name, but it was similar to the artificial sugar packets used for coffee, except it had a mixture of sugar and citric acid (the "sour" flavoring) in them.
- Was it fundip? I remember it but never really had it that I recall.

Sour patch kids came out in the 1990s. How old are you?

Over 60
- Lemonheads came out in ‘62. I love those little guys.

Lots of sour candies from early 1900s till the year you mentioned. Lifesavers had sour since the 20s. Jawbreakers and toxic waste brand since the 70s. Lick-a-Stick, Sherbert Sour Powder, etc

But almost non-existent by the 60s-70s.

Now, ubiquitous.
- Jaw breakers and sour tarts were big in the 80s when I grew up

I don't even think sour candies are necessarily that popular anyway. Chocolate still seems to be the number one candy by far. That being said, people like sour candy because it's delicious. :)

Chocolate still seems to be the number one candy by far

My only true love in this world... I will be sad when it's all synthetic because climate change took it all away :(
people like sour candy because it's delicious. :)

So far you seem to be the only person to even mention OP's actual question... But the answer reads like nonsense to me personally.

What is it like to enjoy sourness? (Is that even something that can be described?)
- Given acidity is one of the 5 basic characteristics of wine, I suspect people, even adults, have been enjoying sour flavors for a few thousand years. Also, preserves have tended to be sweet, salty, or, you guessed it, sour for a long time, as well. They only thing that has really changed is our delivery vehicle for sour snacks.
- Suck a lemon. Actually that sounds good maybe I'll go do that
That's like saying hot peppers are delicious. They are, but they are one subset of the spices, or even the foods available, many of which are also delicious, but in different ways.

Suddenly one extreme flavoring has easily 1/3 of the market, a market once dominated by candy bars and gum. Chewy candy has exploded. And along with it, sour candy as well.

Lemonheads, sweetarts, and warheads beg to differ

When were you a kid? There was a vending machine in an ice rink when I was a kid in the nineties that exclusively sold candy, and the sour candies were always sold out by the time the guy came to refill.