I’ve had my fair share of disappointments when it comes to “social shopping,” swept up by a viral marketing wave on social media only to be dashed upon the rocks of reality by a neck cream that turned out to be a cheap knockoff, a sling carrier that scared the literal sh*t out of my elderly Yorkie, and a chili crisp that leaked in transit and made an enemy of the mailman. But for every miss there is a hit. Final Boss Sour, the super sour candy made from real dried fruit that’s been blowing up my feeds, is that hit.
Before they set out to reinvent the sour snacking experience, the brand’s co-founders James Hicks and Tommy Riggs worked at Science Inc., a venture studio that helped incubate brands like Liquid Death and Dollar Shave Club, so it’s no surprise that humor and retro gaming-inspired nostalgia are the pillars of their content. But Final Boss Sour really commits to the bit with a complete narrative. A grumpy honey badger named Hank stumbled upon a jar of expired pickles that was actually an ancient relic trapping the dormant essence of an evil sorcerer. After accidentally Pandora’s Box-ing the Final Boss Sour free to spread his sourness upon the land once more, Hank must team up with a sugary-sweet quokka named Quinnie to collect the sour fruits needed to build their sour stamina and liberate Gooberland. And that’s just the main story. All the mini-bosses get their own backstories and motivations for throwing in with the big bad, and their email newsletter, The Gooberland Gazette, expands the Sour-verse even further. This isn’t just a candified fruit snack. It’s a candified fruit snack with lore.
The video game vibes extend beyond the fabulous branding, packaging and marketing. There’s sadly no 16-bit console video game tie-in, but there is a game to be played, it’s just more Saw than Sonic. I could eat Level 1’s all day, every day; deliciously concentrated fruit flavor with sourness just a skosh shy of too much. But those people downing handfuls of Level 2’s and 3’s without making a face? Straight-up sociopaths. If you’re hosting a night of board games or heavy drinking (or better yet, both), I recommend starting your evening with the VIP Destroyer Ultimate Sour Sampler Box (the slightly smaller and cheaper VIP Sour Sampler Box also gets the job done, but you’ll have to pick it up on their TikTok shop), which lets you try all three of their flagship fruit offerings – cranberries, blueberries and strawberries – in three increasingly intense levels of sourness. You and your friends and family unwitting victims can play all 9 levels at home, forming a trauma bond that will remain long after the mouth-puckering, tooth-disintegrating sting of these sour candies has faded.
With no artificial ingredients, sweeteners, or preservatives, Final Boss Sour is a great choice for the health-conscious snacker, but make no mistake – this is candy. With 20-22 grams of sugar per pouch, it has less sugar than the same serving size of Sour Patch Kids (24g) but more than Sour Strips (16g), Warheads (15g) or Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers (10g). But those other candies also have a long list of chemicals on their nutrition labels. Final Boss Sour has only five ingredients: real dried fruit, cane sugar, sunflower oil, citric acid, and malic acid. And let me say, you can really taste the acid. You should definitely conduct your own taste test to find how sour is too sour for you. In confectionery, striking a balance between sweet and sour creates a harmonious taste experience, and in my humble opinion, Level 1 Sour Strawberries are a symphony of flavors that would make angels weep.
Don’t even get me started on their limited special drops. They sent me a box of Strawberry Kiwi Level 2 that had me saying “Level 1 Strawberries? I don’t know her,” at least until I realized the drop was already sold out. Turns out that’s pretty standard for these highly anticipated and highly addictive releases, which have included Sour Strawberry Mango Level 2, Blue Raspberry Mango Dippers Level 3, and Chocolate Covered Sour Cherries. It’s also the only way to have gotten your hands on their sourest offerings, with Sour Yuzu Pineapple Level 4, Sour Cherry Lemon Lime Level 4, and a collab with Friday Beers that had a Blueberry, Cherry, Cranberry, Lemon Lime Level 4 flavor that made me taste colors. As of publication, you can still get their latest monthly drop, Sour Grapes Level 4, but if you have a fear of missing out on future drops, they’ve just launched a Monthly Drop Club.
If you’re a nostalgic gamer, healthy snacker, or closet masochist, you will like Final Boss Sour. Get your first box free ($20 value) with purchase when you order DFB (Direct from Boss). Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. That’s how they get you. The first taste is always free.
In full disclosure, this review is based on retail product provided by Final Boss Sour. But in further full disclosure, I have since made three separate purchases. Definitely not helping dispel the crack comparison…
Hurts So Good
Once more the almighty algorithm proves it knows me better than I know myself; this combo of real fruit, real sugar, and real (maybe too real) sour power lives up to the social media hype. It would have scored a perfect ten, but lost 0.1 points because I blindly grabbed a couple of Level 1 Blueberries during a dark movie night, and suffered silently through one-third of the pouch before my sister said, “You know these are Level 3, right?” The physical pain has faded, but the emotional damage remains.
