We're Ranking Every Flavor of Hershey Kisses Just in Time for Valentine's Day
Hershey's Kisses are packed with delicious chocolatey flavor, but which outshines the rest?
Hershey's may be the home of the great American chocolate bar, but the candy company did something extra special when it created Hershey's Kisses in 1907. Nowadays, more than 70 million Kisses are wrapped daily and there's not just one classic flavor anymore, but rather a whole list of 'em. As resident chocaholics, Parade wanted to know: Does the OG flavor come out on top? Let's rank the Hershey's Kisses flavors from worst to best.
No, we're not talking about different color foils. Hershey's has been doing that forever and there are more foil colorways than we can even begin to list. When it comes to flavors, Hershey's Kisses has tried out a handful since the original success of Milk Chocolate and nowadays there are seasonal Kisses, mint Kisses, fruit-flavored Kisses and even ones full of filling.
Below, is a definitive list of the flavors you know and love, plus a few you probably haven't heard of.
Here at Parade.com, we're all about sharing products we love with our audience. When you make a purchase on an item seen on this page, we may earn a commission, however, all picks are independently chosen unless otherwise mentioned.
Related: 32 Best Ice Cream Flavors, Ranked
What are the flavors of Hershey Kisses?
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Throughout the decades, there have been many flavors of Hershey's Kisses. As of 2023, there are 15 flavors available on the shelves right now including Chocolate Dipped Strawberry, Lava Cake Dark Chocolate and more.
The quintessential, almost-always-available flavors seem to be Almond, Caramel, Special Dark, Hazelnut (also known as Deluxe), Cookies 'n' Cream and Hugs.
What are the new Hershey Kiss flavors for 2023?
Last year, Hershey's welcomed Vanilla Frosting Flavored Creme as part of their Spring and Easter line-up and it's still on the shelves as of this writing.
New as of 2023, Hershey's recently introduced Chocolate Dipped Strawberry just in time for Valentine's Day.
"Valentine's Day is the perfect time to celebrate friends and loved ones by showering them with love and their favorite treats to show how much you care," Brian Jones, senior associate brand manager, Valentine's Day, at The Hershey Company, said in a press release. "We're thrilled to help consumers share their love for others on Valentine's Day through classic products such as Reese's and Rolo, as well as through our new innovations such as Hershey's KISSES Chocolate Dipped Strawberry."
Related: 15 Best Valentine's Day Desserts for Two
How many Hershey chocolate flavors are there?
In total? Too many to even count! Some of the now-discontinued Hershey's Kisses include Kissables (introduced in 2005 and marketed as a candy-coated milk chocolate Kiss, not unlike an M&M in Kiss form), Candy Corn Kisses (left behind in 2011), Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kisses (only available from 2021 to 2022) and Pumpkin Spice Kisses.
20 best Hershey Kisses flavors—ranked
20. Strawberry Ice Cream Cone
Hershey's Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kisses - 9-oz. Bag Limited Summertime Edition Ice Cream Inspired
A limited-edition offering, Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Hershey's Kisses leaves much to be desired. As you'll see as you scroll, Hershey's does plenty of other strawberry-flavored Kiss flavors way better than this one. This one—sickly sweet as it is—just misses the mark.
19. Birthday Cake
HERSHEY'S KISSES Birthday Cake Flavored Creme with Sprinkles Candy, Individually Wrapped, 10 oz Share Pack
Ugh. Do we really need another birthday cake-flavored... ANYTHING? We get it—Hershey's had to jump on the trend and whatnot, but there's probably only one birthday cake-flavored food product we'll tolerate and that's the ice cream flavor at Cold Stone.
Did the world need Birthday Cake as a Hershey's Kisses flavor? Probably not. Will we buy a bag every time it's someone's birthday? Also probably not.
All in all, if Strawberry Ice Cream Cone is a 0 out of 10, Birthday Cake is a 0.5 out of 10.
18. Easter Vanilla Frosting
Hershey's Kisses Taste Like Vanilla Frosting for a Hopping Good Easter (3)
Unlike the two ranked before it, Easter Vanilla Frosting—AKA #18—is not a chocolate-flavored Hershey Kiss, but rather a Milk Chocolate Hershey Kiss with Easter Vanilla Frosting-flavored filling inside. Does that make sense? We just did a double-take ourselves.
Once you bite into an Easter Vanilla Frosting Kiss, your mouth will be met with the frothy, creamy taste of vanilla cupcake (frosting, not the actual cake sponge).
It's not particularly eye-opening or anything like that, but it's worth buying come Easter time.
17. Giant 12-oz Christmas Kiss
Hershey's Kisses Holiday Candy, Holiday Giant Milk Chocolate 12 Ounce (Hollow)
Has anyone bought the Giant 12-oz Christmas Kiss... ever? OK, let's rephrase the question: Has anyone ever bought and then eaten the Giant 12-oz Christmas Kiss?
There's got to be a few of you chocaholics out there who can claim they've done it but we're willing to bet that after just a few nibbles, the Giant Kiss gets pretty old.
We would have ranked it last TBH (because who needs a Giant Kiss sitting in their kitchen cabinet for years and years?), but its classic Milk Chocolate flavor is what's keeping it from a worse ranking.
16. Sugar Cookie White Creme
HERSHEY'S KISSES Sugar Cookie Flavor White Creme with Cookie Pieces Candy, Christmas, 9 oz Bag
There's only one time of year that's acceptable to nibble on a Sugar Cookie White Cream Hershey's Kiss. You guessed it—it's Christmas. Other than that, we'll pass thank you very much because the sweetness of the Sugar Cookie White Creme is just a pinch too synthetic to taste good.
15. Roses Milk Chocolate Meltaway
HERSHEY'S KISSES Roses Milk Chocolate meltaway Candy, Valentine's Day, 7 oz Bag
Call us Hershey's Kisses purists, but the Roses Milk Chocolate Meltaway is just about the only variation of the original Milk Chocolate recipe that we'll accept. It's certainly different than the real thing but it's extremely creamy and for that, we rate it A- in the meltability department.
14. Kisses Deluxe
Hershey's Kisses Deluxe is the company's take on hazelnut and therefore, its most high-brow flavor. Where most other Hershey's Kisses flavors lean on the sugary side of the spectrum, the Deluxe is here to reel on the chocolate purists looking for something to pair with their evening red wine.
Basically, if you're a kid, you'd rate this closer to #20. If you're an adult with a more mature palette, Kisses Deluxe will likely fall right here—just about in the middle.
Either way, it's a good flavor, we just don't know how much of it you'd want to eat all at once.
13. Candy Cane
HERSHEY'S KISSES Candy Cane Mint With Stripes and Candy Bits Candy 30.1 oz Bulk Bag
In the interest of transparency, candy cane-flavored anything doesn't rank high for us in general. But for some reason, people really love the Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses. They're peppermint-flavored but also feature tiny chunks of candy cane bits, but we'd really prefer to just reach for a candy cane.
Just like the Sugar Cookie flavor though, we'd like to officially limit the snacking of this Hershey's Kisses flavor from December 1 to December 25. Anything outside of those limitations is just unacceptable.
12. Mint Truffle
Holiday Hershey's Kisses Dark Chocolate with Mint Truffle, 10-Ounce Bag (Pack of 2)
If it's mint-chocolate-flavored things you like, Mint Truffle Hershey's Kisses is probably one of the best of the best out there (right behind Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookies).
The mint isn't so overpowering that it reminds you of toothpaste and the chocolate is balanced equally enough to tame down the mint. All in all, acceptable.
Related: 25 Must-Make Mint Recipes
11. Chocolate Dipped Strawberry
HERSHEY'S KISSES Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate with Strawberry Center Candy, Valentine's Day, 9 oz Bag
When faced with the choice of an actual chocolate-dipped strawberry and Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Hershey's Kisses, you should always choose the former. However, the Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Hershey's Kiss does a great job of recreating the original flavor. Of all the more "out there," fruit-flavored Hershey's flavors, this one tastes the most authentic.
It's also head and shoulders above the chalky, poser-ish taste of #20, Strawberry Ice Cream Cone.
10. Dracula Strawberry
HERSHEY'S KISSES Dracula Milk Chocolate with Strawberry Flavored Creme Candy, Halloween, 9 oz Bag
Hershey's just keeps trying to make some iteration of 'strawberry' Hershey's Kisses happen and the Halloween-themed Dracula Strawberry is as close as it gets. (The only fruity flavor it does better is Cherry Cordial, down at #6.)
Lurking inside that initial bite is a full-bodied strawberry-flavored creme that is just syrupy enough to not taste like strawberry milk.
9. Hot Cocoa
HERSHEY'S KISSES Hot Cocoa Milk Chocolate with Marshmallow Flavored Creme Candy, Christmas, 9 oz Bag
The Hot Cocoa Hershey's Kiss first launched in 2018 and so it's a pretty promising sign that it's still around. It may not stand the test of time that say, Milk Chocolate, Almond or Caramel have, but Hot Cocoa is a classic-ish flavor we could see sticking around for a while.
Inside there's a hint of marshmallow that's not too overpowering. However, it wouldn't hurt if Hershey's could add just a touch more of it to really seal the deal on the whole "hot cocoa" concept.
8. Cookies 'n' Creme
LaetaFood HERSHEY'S KISSES COOKIES 'N' CREME Candy, Light Blue Wrap Baby Shower Candy (1 Pound Bag)
There are two types of people in this world: those that die for Cookies 'n' Creme and those that don't get what the hype is about. Cookies 'n' Creme is usually a solid flavor all around but the truth is, when it comes to Cookies 'n' Creme, both Hershey's Kisses and Hershey's Chocolate Bars KNOCK it out of the park.
An outstanding Hershey's Kisses flavor, period.
Related: 40 Monster Energy Flavors Ranked
7. Chocolate Lava Cake
HERSHEY'S KISSES Lava Cake Dark Chocolate with a Gooey Chocolate Center Candy, Valentine's Day Celebration Party Chocolate, Bulk Pack (Lava Cake, 2 Pound)
Much like the Cherry Cordial flavor below (see #6), the Chocolate Lava Cake Hershey's Kiss flavor just isn't as good as the real thing. But only by a fraction of a hair.
An exceptional Hershey's Kiss flavor, it probably is significantly fewer calories than an actual piece of chocolate lava cake, so if we had to survive off of just the Hershey's Kiss version alone, we would make do just fine.
6. Cherry Cordial
Holiday Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolate with Cherry Cordial Crème, 10-Ounce Bag (Pack of 2)
A #6 ranking for Cherry Cordial may be controversial at best but we're giving it a go. Let's be up-front—there's no substitute for a real cherry cordial. Cherry in the center, decadent goo on every side—all of it. But if we had to pick a runner-up, it'd be the Cherry Cordial Hershey Kiss. Is there a cherry inside? No. Is it reminiscent of the real thing? Only mildly, but it's still a better option than the other Hershey Kisses flavors higher on this list.
5. Special Dark
HERSHEY'S KISSES SPECIAL DARK Mildly Sweet Chocolate Candy, Individually Wrapped, 32.1 oz Bulk Party Pack
Dark chocolate can be polarizing—especially amongst those who have never veered away from the sugar-forward taste of milk chocolate. But it's true that dark chocolate is actually a healthier option if it's not loaded with added sugar (it even supports brain health!).
Hershey's Kisses Special Dark is good. Good. Not great, not horrible. But we'd be remiss to not mention that Special Dark just doesn't melt on your tongue the way Milk Chocolate does. And maybe it never will... but one can dream.
4. Hugs
HERSHEY'S HUGS Kisses Candies, Classic 10.6 oz Bag - 2 Pack
If you hate white chocolate then we're not going to try to change your mind. Truth is though, plenty of people love it and what's perfect about Hershey's Kisses Hugs is that they're part milk chocolate, part white chocolate.
A smooth hybrid that successfully combines the two competing chocolates, a Hug is the next best thing to a (classic milk chocolate) Kiss.
3. Almond
HERSHEY'S KISSES Chocolate Candy with Almonds, 10 oz Bag (Pack of 2)
As far as we're concerned there are three timeless Hershey's Kisses flavors and it starts here at Almond (and then the other two below). Does it exclude those with nut allergies? Yes. Does everyone like nuts? No. But still, the Almond Hershey's Kiss is a tried-and-true flavor and we don't see it disappearing from Hershey's Kisses lineup anytime soon.
2. Caramel
Valentine's Day Hershey's Kisses Caramel Milk Chocolate Mix Gold, Green, Red Foil - 2 lbs Pounds Sealed in a Tundras Bag
The Caramel Hershey's Kiss has been around so long, we also consider it part of the classic lineup. It's so good, we hope it never goes away. Of course, caramel isn't for everyone but if you're ever going come around to caramel, the Hershey's Kiss is going to be the thing that sways you. It's sweet—but not too sweet—and delectable enough to eat year-round.
1. Milk Chocolate
HERSHEY'S KISSES Milk Chocolate Candy, Gluten Free, Individually Wrapped, 35.8 oz Bulk Party Pack
Hershey's has their OG Milk Chocolate recipe down to a science and as such, we hope it never changes. Nuts and trendy flavorings may come and they may go, but the Milk Chocolate Hershey's Kiss remains unparalleled. She is an icon. Fight us on it.
