Delving Into Lollipops 

Choosing a lollipop to cram down is certainly a great deal. Oftentimes most don’t even think twice about what it is they’re ingesting, they settle for mediocrity. You shouldn’t settle for an average experience when an extraordinary one can be easily obtained with simply examining the elements of a lollipop.

Before lollipops came around, folks were expected to eat hard candy with their bare hands, a fairly crude practice I have to say. But as luck would have it, a man by the name of George Smith thankfully resolved this conundrum weighing on everybody’s mind (and fingers). This man came to be known as the acclaimed inventor of the modern day lollipop. (according to yummy candy fandom wiki) As you can probably imagine, lollipops soon thereafter became widespread and even inspired a handful of confectioners into creating their own variations. Nowadays there are countless variations of lollipops seen everywhere, to the point that keeping track of them is no longer possible.

Now, for the best possible experience beyond any reason of doubt, it is of uttermost importance to carefully examine the different attributes these variations possess. The hard candy at the terminal of the stick itself not only comes in many different flavors of your choosing, but different shapes too. At any rate, it goes without saying the chosen flavor is a very necessary factor to take into consideration when deciding on which lollipop to slobber on. And as important it is to choose the flavor of your lollipop carefully, it is just as equally important to pick out the shape of your lollipop with much thought. As certainly everybody is aware, taste and flavor are two sides of the same coin, though never interchangeable. Flavor accounts for whatever the candy is trying to mimic of a certain taste as well as the aroma, texture and or past experiences with lollipops. Taste however, only refers to the tongues ability to recognize the basic tastes – sour, salty, bitter, spicy, and umami – two of which are not typical of lollipops. Both should be thoroughly analyzed before coming to a concrete decision. 

To further add to the convolutions of picking out a lollipop, the matter of which type of lollipop stick is most preferable is also at hand. Most are familiar with the insufferable paper sticks known to deteriorate as soon as it comes to slight contact with saliva. There are also the saner options such as plastic sticks or perhaps even wooden sticks which I needn't mention don’t decompose sooner than you could finish the lollipop. On a smaller, lesser note, the way the lollipop you are purchasing to be consumed is packaged or wrapped, to most, is of no concern. That’s not to say it’s of absolute no importance, as with most things, the beginning of an experience is often the most memorable and oftentimes dictates how the rest of the experience will ensue. Taking into account all of these components will surely make up for a decidedly pleasant experience for everyone and anyone involved.  

Everyone, before beginning to suckle on a lollipop, has to obviously first unwrap it. A process of which can be made enjoyable or at the very least easy determining which kind of wrapping of lollipops you decide to go with. There are about four main methods of lollipop wrapping, the first is called twist wrapping which is where the wrapper is wrapped firmly onto the lollipop, taking its shape and is then twisted around the stick to where the candy is attached. This wrapping style is rather rudimentary and dare I say inconvenient, frankly it is just a liability. Trying to unwrap a lollipop that’s been wrapped in this way is enormously tedious especially when the wrapper is too tightly twisted, so much so that it becomes nearly impossible to unwrap neatly. If this type of wrapping is to your liking it can be safe to assume that you also like the scent of dirty diapers. 

The second type of wrapping is called double twist wrapping which is essentially the same as the previous method. The only difference being that, as the name entails, there are twice the twists, the one located as before, at the bottom of the candy attached to the stick and the other on top. Unlike the singular twist wrapping method, this lollipop wrapping style ensures no messy unwrapping or the need to have to tear the wrapper where it should not be torn. With a twist on top of the lollipop, unwrapping it easily and neatly would be of no issue, seeing that as soon as the top twist is untwisted, the wrapper would gently and gracefully unveil. Having a separate twist at the top of the lollipop, although a slight tweak, would be held revolutionary and regarded with great awe by many onlookers down the line after its invention. A natural reaction to a change so ingenious and impactful as this. A graph created by a respected research scientist depicts a pattern showing many who favor this wrapping method are the favorite children. (not actually true) With all that being said, bad news does not evade us, quite the contrary in fact, as much as it pains me to say this, the double twist wrapping style’s unfortunate predecessor, the twist wrapping method, is regrettably still at large at many lollipop companies. 

The third type of wrapping is called pillow case wrapping, a method of wrapping in which the lollipop is entirely enveloped and inside of a plastic wrapper. Think of it as any other candy bar except instead of there being a chocolate bar or whatever inside, there is a lollipop. This particular style of wrapping is perfectly sound, and with the exception of the slight problem encountered nearing the end of unwrapping one of these types of lollipops, it functions just fine. And although I have no qualms with its effectiveness, it still, nonetheless, leaves a lot to be desired. It isn’t so much so because it is lacking per say, rather it’s a far too ordinary and standard method of wrapping, found quite literally everywhere else on every type of candy imaginable. There is just absolutely no originality nor is there any room to have fun with it but I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. I can only presume that if this textbook wrapping method is your favorite then you must have to be a bore to be around. 

Lastly the fourth method of wrapping and in my opinion the best, is one called sandwich wrapping. This wrapping method as much as it irks me to be comparing it to the boresome pillow case method, is similar to it in regards to how it appears. As we’ve come to know, the lollipop in the pillowcase method is fully enveloped in the plastic wrapper, stick and everything. But in the sandwich wrapping method only the hard candy atop the stick is enveloped in the wrapper, leaving the lollipop stick completely open. I point this detail out not because it sets it apart from the other method and makes it the sandwich method or because it’s unquestionably a stroke of pure genius innovation but because it serves a purpose. Having the lollipop stick exposed in such a way makes it so that removing the lollipop from its wrapper becomes a diverting task. The satisfactory audible pop you can hear when you forcibly pull the lollipop from its wrapper is what truly makes this wrapping method the best. Not to mention there are not any flaws to speak of except perhaps your lollipop breaking but only after pulling a little too hard which makes it so it is the consumer’s fault - not a flaw by design. Since how the beginning of an experience goes determines how the rest will follow, choosing the right type of lollipop wrapping is principal when looking for a pleasant experience, though of course it isn’t all.

Once your heart has set on a chosen type of lollipop wrapping, there is the matter of which shape it is that you would like your lollipop to be. There are a myriad of shapes to select from including some unique and abnormal ones such as a rotisserie chicken or the common shapes like circles, spheres, and whatnot. Among all the different shapes of lollipops there are, it is important to keep in mind that not any one shape is best for all, rather we should choose according to what is most compatible to ourselves. Only you yourself know what you’d allow to be in your mouth, what feels most comfortable, whether that is a large spheric lollipop or the crappy hand shaped vero manita lollipop either way the choice is yours. 

Well anyway, onto a greater and more pressing concern – the type of lollipop stick of which best fulfills a satisfactory experience. As mentioned earlier, the paper sticks found in a troublesome amount of lollipops are undoubtedly and unanimously despised. The paper lollipop sticks go against the entire point this story is attempting to get across. Perhaps it would be the least bit more tolerable if these sticks when wet only became slightly damaged. But that’s dreadfully not at all the case, instead these stupid sticks completely fall apart, too incompetent to even do the singular task they were meant to do. These loathsome sticks are so pathetic and substandard it is not even worth the small effort it would take to elaborate any further. Fortuitously, all is not lost, the much more charming and agreeable plastic sticks are thankfully an option. This class of stick entirely mirrors the characteristics of the horrendous paper sticks, and are wholly capable of holding the hard candy it was designed to hold with zero issue. These smooth, strapping sticks are as well much softer on the eyes, farther adequate to be used and admired. As much as I’d like to keep praising the plastic sticks to further spite the defective paper sticks, there is another stick I would like to briefly mention – wooden sticks. These sticks have long been forgotten. And apart from receiving them at carnivals or going to a designated candy store to buy them, lollipops with this kind of stick are rarely seen on a day to day. Honestly its probably for the best it stays that way – I can’t imagine it being at all pleasant to suck on a lollipop worried the whole time you’ll get a splinter on your lip. If I hadn’t made it apparent enough, the only correct option any normal person should go with are the plastic sticks. 

Flavor and taste are both increasingly much more important aspects to consider than any trivial stick or wrapper could ever be. They are what brings any consumer back for more. If the flavor and taste are to people's liking then the lollipop has doubtlessly done all it could – it has fulfilled its job. To avoid the tragic and unnecessary waste of untapped potential each and every lollipop holds, the flavors and tastes lollipops are sold in should be analyzed. As you would expect, both these things, similar to the preferable shape of a lollipop, are according to your own personal preferences. Incidentally, there is no actual better way than another to joyfully consume a lollipop, rather each and everyone should decide that for themselves. The flavor, taste, wrapper, shape, and stick as well are all features that should be individually looked at and chosen correspondingly. Of course, that is not to say, you should just choose out any random lollipop on a whim. For the ultimate lollipop experience, it is best recommended to use all the knowledge you now have on all the various kinds of lollipops there are, and choose your lollipop to accommodate your own weird if not distinctive likings. 

In the end none of what I say truly matters.