Gumdrops are tall, colorful, sugar-coated candies. They are chewy in texture as they are made from gelatin or pectin. The two basic types of gumdrops are the fruit flavored ones and the spice flavored ones. Many of us are familiar with the sight of gumdrops during the Christmas holidays, as they are commonly used to decorate gingerbread houses.

Gumdrops have a wider base that tapers into a cut-off cone shape. Although they are brightly colored their colors look more subdued on the outside since gumdrops are coated in white sugar. The frosted look has made them a very popular Christmas candy. Although mainly used on gingerbread houses, some bakers chop them to decorate cookies. A few recipes call for chopped gumdrops in the cake batter and this adds a colorful look as long as the black gumdrops are omitted as these can turn the batter gray.

The colors of gumdrops always correspond with their flavor, but the flavors vary by manufacturer. Fruit flavored gumdrops taste much different than spice flavored ones. For example, red and green are the most popular Christmas gumdrops but a red fruit flavored one is likely to taste like cherry and a red spice flavored gumdrop is usually cinnamon flavored. Green gumdrops may be either lime or mint flavored.

Purple gumdrops are usually either grape or peppermint. White gumdrops could be licorice or clove. Black gumdrops are always licorice. Orange gumdrops are orange flavored in the fruit type of gumdrop, but could be anise flavored in the spice type of gumdrop. Yellow gumdrops are either lemon flavored or could taste like allspice.

Children tend to like the fruit flavored gumdrops, but not the spicy ones. Spice flavored gumdrops are often sold as spice drops. They can compliment the taste of gingerbread and other baked goods that have spices such as ginger, cinnamon and/or nutmeg added. Gumdrops also differ in texture. Those made with gum arabic have a harder consistency than the gumdrops made with gelatin.