Within the past few months, the viral Chamoy Pickle Kit from TikTok Shop has taken on the internet by a chokehold. Many are left speculating: Why?

The Chamoy Pickle Kit originated from a trend of chamoy-soaked candy found in the TikTok Shop. Chamoy is a savory/sweet/spicy condiment that is made from pickled fruit, such as plums, and it is often found in Mexican cuisine. The Chamoy Pickle Kit is a package which consists of a giant chamoy-soaked pickle, sour candies, and spicy chips, such as Takis. It is consumed by filling up the chamoy-pickle with the spicy chips, sour candies, and, occasionally, more chamoy. The experience ends by wrapping the giant pickle in a fruit roll-up, and taking a big bite. 

Last week, when I was given a Chamoy Pickle Kit by my friends for my birthday, my initial reaction was that it was a funny joke. Now, I’m very conflicted about it. On one hand,  the giant thing is stinking up my house and makes me want to throw up. On the other hand, it was $30… However, those brave enough to endeavor the chamoy pickle kit may disagree with me. Food reviewer Alexis Morillo said it was “kind of good.” She continued to describe it in depth: “But good in the same way a toxic situationship is ‘good’ — you know you’ll probably regret it later.”

Why would anyone consume this? There’s an endless number of reasons why one may consume a Chamoy Pickle Kit: one being the fact that posting it is almost guaranteed to get you views. TikTok influencers have taken the country by storm with their blind-reaction taste tests to the Chamoy Pickle Kit. While there is no individual known who invented the kit and nobody even known to have invented the chamoy-pickle, it’s safe to say this trend has headed in a direction that none of us could’ve expected.

(All photos used are taken from Google Images)