We Asked 6 People to Guess the Flavors of Mystery Peeps, And This Is What We Got

Peeps are a long-held Easter tradition that will never go away (we hope). Love ‘em or hate ‘em (although seriously, what kind of person would hate Peeps?), they have permeated pop culture in a way that few other novelty candies have.

Most famously, Peeps are used as an artistic medium: 15 years ago, The St. Paul Pioneer Press held its first annual Peeps diorama contest, which asked participants to place Peeps in scenes from pop culture. The competition — which became wildly popular — continues to this day, and has even been co-opted by several other papers of note, most famously The Washington Post, which sadly discontinued the tradition last year.

Peeps are also seen as an artistic muse: Witness the Tacocat song “Peeps” (sample lyric: “Peeps are delicious, squishy sugar-coated treats!”); the YouTube sensation of “Peeps Jousting” (insert plastic sword into two Peeps’ bellies, place them oppositionally on a plate, microwave for two minutes, watch and enjoy!); the culinary creation of Peepza (which was first introduced by Slice.com in 2010 and has since become an annual anti-foodie tradition).

There is even an annual Peeps-eating competition at the National Harbor in Baltimore (right outside the Peeps & Company store): Last year, competitive eater Matt Stonie downed 255 Peeps in five minutes, according to the Boston Globe. So yeah, we’d say that Peeps’ popularity isn’t going anywhere.

But perhaps our most recent favorite Peeps-centric tradition of them all is Mystery Peeps. Four years ago, confectioner Just Born dreamt up a fun new pre-Easter custom: They would release three varieties of “mystery Peeps” and let the public go nuts trying to figure out their flavors. As in years past, these sugar-coated riddles are exclusively available at Walmart, and their true nature will be revealed the Saturday morning before Easter.

Now you may recall the time that I tried to identify the flavor of Mystery OREOs, to only partial success. So this time, with three mysteries to be solved (!!!), I’ve decided to follow my gut. Now, unlike Mystery OREOs, there is no contest to be won, no prize to be claimed. Instead, Mystery Peeps exist solely for the pure enjoyment of an especially enigmatic Easter, and hopefully the satisfaction that I was right and my husband and friends were all wrong, wrong, WRONG.

Without further ado, what flavor are Mystery Peeps for Easter 2018? Here are six official guesses:

Kristyn (limited-edition foods journalist):

Peeps Mystery #1: Bubblegum

Peeps Mystery #2: Lemon meringue

Peeps Mystery #3: Blue raspberry

Jeff (technologist):

Peeps Mystery #1: Necco Wafer

Peeps Mystery #2: Lemon

Peeps Mystery #3: Blueberry

Matt (funemployed):

Peeps Mystery #1: Root beer

Peeps Mystery #2: Cotton candy

Peeps Mystery #3: Sour Patch Kids

Ashlie (executive assistant):

Peeps Mystery #1: Wintergreen

Peeps Mystery #2: Lemon

Peeps Mystery #3: Blue Raspberry

Caleb (writer):

Peeps Mystery #1: Licorice

Peeps Mystery #2: Lemon meringue

Peeps Mystery #3: Mixed berry

Ollie (3-year-old child):

Peeps Mystery #1: Cinnamon

Peeps Mystery #2: Green marshmallow cinnamon

Peeps Mystery #3: Strawberry peanut butter cherry