The Grapery’s Cotton Candy Grapes Review

Drugstore Divas received no compensation for this review and has no affiliation with The Grapery.

The hottest thing right now are Cotton Candy grapes from The Grapery. Have you seen them? I feel like you’ve had to. My Facebook and Instagram feeds have been filled with photos of this elusive fruit. But my fridge was lacking them.

And then, as I was in the produce section of Harris Teeter the other night, I saw them. The rarely seen (in my shopping circle, anyway) Cotton Candy grapes. Next to them was a bag of even less seen Moon Drops. At $3.99 a pound, I sort of winced, but for the sake of research, I put a small bag of each in my cart. I mean, I could spend $16 on grapes in order to write a Cotton Candy grapes review, right?

Now, if you haven’t seen these grapes all over, they’re called Cotton Candy grapes because, well, they taste exactly like cotton candy. Seriously. Just like the sugar spun carnival treat. I know, you probably think these grapes bathe in sugar before they’re sent to stores … but shockingly, that’s not the case. These green grapes are all-natural, there’s no GMOs, and they still taste like pink sugar. Which is simultaneously good and bad.

Personally, I really like fruits and vegetables. I buy red peppers just to slice and snack on. I eat them plain too, no salad dressing dippers for me. I love chocolate-covered strawberries (I mean, who doesn’t?), but in special occasion doses (Valentine’s Day, wedding receptions, the rare time someone sends me an Edible Arrangements basket). For the most part, I just really love strawberries on their own. I just feel like fruits and vegetables are so delicious on their own, they don’t need to be coated in anything.

So I know these grapes aren’t coated in sugar, but it tastes like it. And for me, that’s just okay. I’m in shock and awe of the fact that these do, naturally, taste like cotton candy. Their name is definitely not a misnomer. These are cotton candy-like grapes. The brand definitely accomplishes that. It tastes exactly as you would expect. You have the mouthfeel of a grape, but the taste of spun sugar. Cotton Candy grapes really taste like cotton candy, but, I realized, I don’t need my grapes to taste like cotton candy. Your kids will probably love these, and that’s where the bad part comes in. If these grapes taste like candy, your kids might expect all fruit to taste like candy — and then refuse any fruit that isn’t sugary. Personally, I’d rather my grapes just taste like grapes.

And that’s why I am a much bigger fan of the Moon Drops grapes. They are extra large black grapes (one Moon Drop is two to 2.5 times the size of a normal grape). They’re packed with flavor: plain, normal grape flavor. But the flavor is so potent, it’s delicious. Both the Cotton Candy grapes and Moon Drops are really plump, firm grapes. They’re not soft and squishy. And that means they are deceivingly heavy when you’re paying per pound. I picked the smallest bag of Cotton Candy grapes and damn near fell over when the cashier rang it up as $8.48. “Over $8. For grapes.” This was a question, but it just came out of my mouth as disbelief. “But they’re really good,” the bagger told me. I laughed. “For $8 grapes, they better be,” I said.

The Grapery has a few other seasonal varieties: Flavor Pops, Gum Drops, and Witch Fingers. All the grapes are harvested on a staggered, seasonal schedule, but they will all be out of season by October 15. You can head to The Grapery’s website to find retail locations and the harvest schedule.

Have you tried The Grapery’s Cotton Candy grapes? What about Moon Drops? What did you think of them?