Sometimes, candy makers hit on a taste sensation that lasts generations — or maybe, ricochets back into favor with a new generation.

That's what I'm thinking about Pop Rocks and Zotz, both candies that were wildly popular in my youth and again when my kids were kids. And yet — again.

If you've never experienced Pop Rocks or Zotz, I dare you to try. They're both worth a taste test, if only for their novel reaction alone.

Pop Rocks, you may be thinking, might be hard to chew, like tooth-breaking hard, hence the "rocks" part of the name. But no, these sweet pellets dance across your tastebuds like a Latin American maracas band, popping and crackling to the surprise of your mouth and tongue. 

According to the pop-rocks.com website, the small pieces of hard candy have been "gasified with carbon dioxide under super-atmospheric pressure." And when the gasified sugar granules come in contact with moisture, say as in someone’s mouth, "the gas is released, causing its characteristic popping sensation as well as crackling and fizzing sounds."

When you bite into a Zots, on the other hand, it explodes like a mini-volcano in your mouth. "It's where the fizz izz," is the company's tagline.

According to zotzpower.com, the candy is made in Italy. In 1970, a guy named Frank Landrey brought a box of it back with him from a Europe trip. He gave the candy to his kids, who shared some with other kids in the neighborhood. "Soon, all the neighborhood kids were pestering him for more of 'that funny fizzy candy.'"

How did the candy get its name? Again, according to the website, Landrey had a saying when he thought someone was pulling his leg: “Don’t give me the Zotz.” The fizzy name stuck, and "the first order of Zotz candy was shipped in July 1970. Now, close to 50 fizzing years later," Italian-made ZOTZ is still going strong, as is Landrey. 

Both of the nostalgic candies are available at Flying M Coffeehouse. Pop Rocks are $1.50 a pack; Zotz are 95 cents for a sleeve of four.

— Jeanne Huff