Green Skittle Debate

Ever since the introduction of a second green skittle in 2013, candy lovers have been faced with a difficult choice: which green skittle flavor is better, lime or green apple? In order to settle this difficult debate, Flour Bluff High School students took to Google Forms to decide which flavor is better.

“I believe the Green Skittle should be green apple flavored because usually green colored candies are green apple flavored,” senior William Barrett Matthews said. “No one eats a green candy expecting it to taste like lime.”

The reason some people make their choice on green skittles could be based on our appreciation of the past. This is one of the main reasons most people choose green apple as the superior flavor: it's “the classic” Skittles flavor they remember from their childhood. In reality, however, lime is the original classic. Before lime returned in late 2021, it debuted in the US in 1979 alongside its fellow Skittles flavors. Lime was the original Green Skittle flavor for decades, until it got replaced by green apple in 2013.

“I believe it should be lime because it was the original flavor,” junior Dustin Buttram said. “There's nothing wrong with Green Apple Skittles; they are perfectly fine. They just aren't the classic.”

According to our poll, the majority choose the green apple skittle over the lime skittle due to expectations about the candy's green color. Most colored candies are typically the same flavors across multiple brands, minus a few exceptions. Red is cherry, orange is orange, yellow is lemon, purple is grape, and green is usually green apple or watermelon. With the Lime Skittle being neither of the usual green candy flavors, like green apple and watermelon, chaos has risen in fans.

“Nobody asked for the green skittle to go back to lime; there were already enough citrus fruit flavors being given away to other friends or tossed out, just like the lemon and orange flavors,” sophomore Kayliah Montegomery said. “Green apple is much more favourable because it has a unique flavor from the others, compared to basic lime that you find in any kind of variety fruit candy.”

But maybe, being different from other brand flavors is what brings lime skittles its devoted fans. 

People do love an underdog, and lime is the underdog of the skittles pack.

While green apple is the popular favorite among the students of Flour Bluff High School, there is a fair share of students who love lime. The reason someone might prefer lime could be as simple as a taste preference. Compared to the other flavors, lime sticks out with its slightly sour taste. Maybe you enjoy sour candies more than sweet, or you love citrus-flavored candies, which causes you to lean more towards lime as the better Skittle flavor.

“[I choose] lime because in my opinion green apples are gross,” freshman Evelyn Mears said. “But lime-flavored things always taste good, and yes, even lime juice!”

The same could be said for green apple: if you enjoy sweeter candies more than sour ones, you might be more inclined to enjoy green apple skittles.

Sometimes the taste may have the opposite effect on a person. You may expect a flavor like lime to be sour, but for others, it may not taste sour at all. 

“When a candy is lime flavored, it's always assumed it will be sour,” freshman Allison Arredondo said. “Anything lime-flavored HAS to be sour, or it won't make sense. And why would you have a sour Skittle with a bunch of non-sour Skittles?”

Something ironic about this whole debate is that, despite lime being reintroduced into the Skittles pack in 2021 at fan demand, most people believe green apple is better than lime and want the old flavor back in the Skittles roster. Putting green apple fans in the same spot as the lime fans nearly 13 years ago, awaiting and begging for the return of what they believe is the superior Skittle flavor.