Rainbow Nerds Rope is a variation on classic Nerds, those small tart pebbles of candy that became an instant hit when Wonka introduced it in the 1980s. Rainbow Rope combines the crunchy texture of Nerds with a sweet gummy center so there's tiny, tangy, tart berry-flavored Nerds on the outside and stretchy, chewy, gummy inside.
Nerds are what's called panned candy, made by taking little crystals of sugar and then tumbling them with successive layers of sour and sweet flavored coatings, finished off with a coat of color. Unlike most panned candy, Nerds are not panned until they're a uniform size and shape: Nerds vary in size (from sesame seed to pea) and retain a rough, irregular shape, thickly glazed to create a unique crunchiness.
