The candy canes have a strong peppermint taste. The color is more pink than red as in traditional artificial colored canes. I bought them to eat and to crush them, so I could use in them in a white chocolate fudge. The Amazon packaging (bubble wrap mailer) needs to be upgraded to a cardboard box as these candy canes are fragile. The taste is a little different from the candy canes I grew up with but still tasty enough to buy them again. The main draw for me is that they are dye and artificial flavor free and made with ingredients that I can eat within my food restrictions.