We Tasted And Ranked 10 Kit Kat Flavors
What began life as "Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp" in 1935, was renamed just a few years later as "Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp." Now, this candy is known as simply the "Kit Kat." Today, Kit Kats are beloved the world over, made in over 14 countries and munched by millions.
For a long time, Original was the only flavor of Kit Kat available. Then, in 1996, Kit Kat Orange was introduced to England. Ever since, the floodgates have been open, allowing tons of new Kit Kat flavors to be released. While Japan has over 300 to choose from, in the United States, there are fewer options.
While flavors come and go, today, there are around 15 Kit Kat flavors available in the U.S. Some are long-time favorites, others are seasonal treats, and a couple are brand-spanking new. I tested 10 flavors, trying to figure out which ones had us humming the classic "give me a break" Kit Kat jingle, and which ones we wanted to take an actual break from eating. This ranking is based on personal opinions regarding taste, texture, and which ones I couldn't stop thinking about. Without further ado, here are the results.
Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.
10. Kit Kat Raspberry Crème
Chocolate and fruit pairings sometimes require an acquired taste — excluding chocolate-covered strawberries. Kit Kat went down this road with its Raspberry Crème flavor, which debuted at the end of 2019, in preparation for Valentine's Day 2020. Raspberry and chocolate didn't exactly sound like a winning combo on paper, but I was ready to be surprised.
These Kit Kats are pleasing to the eye, with a pretty pink exterior. But while they may be warm in color, everything else about this flavor runs cold. You can tell something is off just by taking a whiff, where a noxious odor of artificial raspberry seems like it was stolen from a scratch and sniff sticker. An actual taste of this one confirmed what the suspicious smells were telling me. To get right to the point — this flavor was just gross. It's sad, but true.
Out of all the flavors tested, this one was a clear choice for the bottom. Maybe if there were some actual raspberry pieces involved, or some raspberry-flavored liquid oozing out of the middle where the wafer resides, then I would perhaps give this flavor another try. Still, I do see a reason for its existence. You could use this Kit Kat flavor as a Valentine's Day gift, as a present that might communicate to someone: "I'm just not that into you."
9. Kit Kat Birthday Cake
When Kit Kats turned 85 in 2020, the brand celebrated fittingly with the release of a Birthday Cake flavor. While birthday cakes can take on many flavors, Kit Kat followed the path blazed by so many other treats flavored like birthday cake, going for a familiar vanilla frosting and confetti sprinkles look.
Bright and colorful, the Birthday Cake Kit Kat flavor looks like a party trapped inside a Kit Kat. It's made with confectioner's glaze, which adds a shiny finish to the product. The taste of this candy is like a buttery, white chocolate Kit Kat. But when the sprinkles become part of the festivities, they almost become a distraction. The sprinkles have a specific, off-putting crunch to them that takes away from the wafer's crunch. It makes this Kit Kat flavor more of a vessel for jimmies, rather than a tasty candy. This Kit Kat flavor doesn't blow, but the Birthday Cake flavor should have been a much more solid extension of Kit Kat White. Instead, those distracting crunchies just got in the way of a great party. A better idea for a set of crunchies to team up with Kit Kat White? Hello macadamia nuts!
8. Kit Kat Churro
Churros have a complicated history. People speculate whether they originated in Spain, Portugal, or China. In the U.S., the cinnamon and sugar-coated treat rose in popularity when it became a snack for sale at the Disneyland theme park in the mid-1980s. Churros are now a beloved dessert across the country and can be purchased at many Mexican restaurants, in addition to amusement parks. The churro flavoring has now extended beyond its grooved, fried dough stick form.
Kit Kat jumped on this flavor train in June 2023, with a limited edition treat hitting shelves just in time for National Churro Day on June 6. In a press release (via PR Newswire), Alex Herzog, associate Kit Kat brand manager said: "We hope that every bite of the buttery, churro flavor and familiar crispy crunch of our wafers unlocks memories of the delightful experience of enjoying freshly baked churros from the boardwalk stand, amusement park, or the local fair."
I think it's fair to say that Kit Kat nailed the flavor, with a freckled appearance and a milky-sweet, brown sugar taste. The question is, is this a flavor we've been missing all this time, and ultimately need? That depends on how deep your heart beats for churros. I love churros, but I'm not sure I need it funneled into a Kit Kat. This is definitely one to try, but we don't need them to make every day National Churro Day.
7. Kit Kat Chocolate Frosted Donut
Taking a cue from the Birthday Cake variety, Kit Kat once again used a well-known baked good as inspiration for a new flavor. Once you cross cake off the list, donuts are a logical next choice. In a press release (via PR Newswire), Alex Kuzior, associate Kit Kat brand manager, described the new Chocolate Frosted Donut as "a sweet addition to our permanent flavor portfolio and every bite delivers upon a delightful experience, reminiscent of a freshly baked donut from your favorite hometown bakery."
Tearing open the packaging, it's not a bakery smell that is released, but that of a Yankee Candle store during the height of fall, when scents like cinnamon and pumpkin reign. However, this Kit Kat doesn't include a single one of those flavors. Taking a bite, you can maybe get a sense of the intended frosted donut taste, but to me, it was more like a chocolate-meets-butterscotch flavor, but overly sweet.
The top of the Chocolate Frosted Donut looks like an ordinary original Kit Kat, but the bottom is light creamy brown. That browned bottom instantly reminded me of the Churro flavor, and the two Kit Kats are comparable in taste. However, where the Churro is overly sweet, the Donut flavor is more palatable, since it has the chocolate "frosting" on the top, which helps to even it all out.
6. Kit Kat Duos Mint + Dark Chocolate
Everyone likes a dynamic duo, from Batman and Robin to Simon and Garfunkel to peanut butter and jelly. Mint and dark chocolate may not be the most famous pairing, but the two have certainly played nice together in the culinary world. In 2019, The Hershey Company launched not only its first "Duos" flavor but its first new flavor in almost a decade with Kit Kat Duos Mint + Dark Chocolate.
This Kit Kat flavor is fused with chocolate, skim milk, cocoa butter, cocoa processed with alkali, milk fat, and oil of peppermint. It has a bright green top and dark brown bottom, showing its cool dual personality. A nibble of the top layer reveals a strong mint flavor — one that's almost toothpaste-like — but the mint flavor is smoothed out when a bite includes the wafer, the dark chocolate, and the mint.
The Duos Mint + Dark Chocolate Kit Kat finally answers the prayers of fans looking for a Kit Kat version of Andes candies or After Eight mints — both known for their blending of chocolate and mint flavors. Stick this Kit Kat flavor in the freezer, and it could even pass as a placeholder for Thin Mints while you wait for Girl Scout cookie season to return!
5. Kit Kat Witch's Brew
In 2020, The Hershey Company got into the swing of Halloween and conjured up "four new treats that put a spooky spin on our classics" for that year's trick-or-treat season, as the company stated in a press release (via PR Newswire). The four treats were Reese's Franken-Cups, Hershey's Kisses Vampire chocolates, Hershey's Cookies 'N' Crème Fangs, and Kit Kat Witch's Brews.
A kooky-looking green witch, hovering over a black cauldron of her mystery concoction, is the mascot of Kit Kat's Witch's Brew. Peeling back the purple wrapper reveals a Kit Kat with a coating color that's something between a vintage green Formica table and the "Slimer" character from the "Ghostbusters" movie franchise.
Because of the particular color, you may be inclined to think that they are green tea mint-flavored, but once you take a bite, the light marshmallow crème's magic starts to put a spell on your taste buds. Apt for the season it arrives in, Kit Kat Witch's Brew is both a trick and a treat. The marshmallow flavor is satisfying, while the surprising flavor choices of the candy are entertaining.
4. Kit Kat White
The Kit Kat White flavor doesn't need much of an introduction. Do you like white chocolate? Then you'll love Kit Kat White. Do you not like white chocolate? Then Kit Kat White probably isn't for you. It first appeared on the scene in 2002 and proved popular enough to earn a permanent place in the Kit Kat line-up.
Tasting all the more modern flavors of Kit Kat gave me a greater appreciation for this one. While the newer ones are trying to prove their worth, with complex tastes and flavor profiles, the plain White flavor doesn't have to be anything but delicious white chocolate.
Additionally, Kit Kat White's coating looks both pristine and classy, like a marble table, and its taste remains a rich and creamy dream. While other white chocolate candies tend to be overly sugary tasting, Kit Kat White is a smooth sailor, still staying very much afloat.
3. Kit Kat Dark
When God first created the earth, it was first shrouded in darkness. Then came the light, and changed everything. In 2002, Kit Kat didn't bother with such an order and brought them both out at the same time, when it dropped the new flavors of Kit Kat Dark and Kit Kat White. Since then, Kit Kat Dark has been there for people who aren't that into milk chocolate, and who instead like things a little darker.
Luckily, plain and simple Kit Kat Dark tastes like real chocolate, which is one of the main draws here. The Kit Kat Dark is true to its name, smelling like cacao, and with a super rich flavor that is followed by a bitter aftertaste. It's the most grown-up of all the Kit Kat flavors. It almost feels like an outcast for not being so sweet. Out of all the Kit Kats I tried, for some reason, this is the one only where the chocolate started slowly melting onto my fingers while holding it. Not visible, but still happening in the shadows, it was melting my heart too.
2. Kit Kat Lemon Crisp
Looking at the bright yellow packaging of the Kit Kat Lemon Crisp, I immediately thought that this flavor was beyond wrong. A sour, bitter Kit Kat? No, thank you. Turns out, I was the one who was beyond wrong.
The Lemon Crisp flavor was hatched in 2020 and has been reborn each spring since as a limited-time seasonal candy. It has a coating that looks like butter and an odor that falls somewhere between a lemon rind and a cleaning solution you clean your floors with. The taste, however, reveals itself to be one of the most unique lemon candies I've encountered in a long time. It's like mild white chocolate with a hint of lemon. It leans sweet, but it's not the least bit sour. Lemon Crisp is a true black sheep flavor, or perhaps yellow sheep, as it completely changes the expectation of what a Kit Kat could be — light, citrusy, and a ray of sunshine surrounding a crisp wafer.
Easter is filled with candies, but those candies aren't usually that great. Jelly beans, Peeps, and chocolate eggs? Snoozefest. With the Lemon Crisp flavor, Kit Kat is giving Easter an alternative that feels like a gift straight from the heavens. Is it spring yet?
1. Kit Kat Original
With the original flavor of Kit Kat, simplicity speaks volumes. This 1936 Kit Kat advertisement found in The Daily Mirror (via Newspapers.com) describes the delicious and enticing process behind making these candies, even back then: "This is how it's done. Four crisp wafers are taken fresh from the oven. Each is lightly coated with full-cream milk chocolate, and then all four formed into a block. The block is then heavily coated with milk chocolate containing a lacing of the finest butter. The chocolate coating excludes the air, keeps the wafers perfectly crisp." Today, its winning milk chocolate flavoring is a magical meld of sugar, wheat flour, skim milk, cocoa butter, chocolate, vegetable oil, milk fat, lactose, and scant amounts of lecithin, PGPR, vanillin, salt, yeast, and baking soda.
The Lemon Crisp flavor proved to be quite an eye-opener, even making me briefly consider it to claim the top prize in this ranking. Then, I came to my senses, and I realized that no flavor of Kit Kat can truly top the original one. It's why all the other flavors exist in the first place. All other flavors are trying to outdo the original, taking the wafers to the next level, or a way too wild ride, but sometimes more is less, and as the original does way more with less, and that is why it is by far the best.