Long before jelly beans, bubblegum or chocolate bars, people were already chasing that sugar rush — with honey, dates, tree sap and pulled sugar spun as fine as a dragon's whiskers. Come back in time with us and meet the world's first candy!
Quick answer: The oldest known candy comes from ancient Egypt, where honey-sweetened treats date back to roughly 2000 BCE — one recipe for tiger nut balls (dates, nuts and honey) survives on a pottery fragment nearly 4,000 years old. Other early sweets include Chinese Dragon's Beard candy from the Han Dynasty, Indian jaggery used for some 3,000 years, Mesoamerican chocolate first made by the Olmec around 4,000 years ago, and Greek pasteli (sesame and honey bars) mentioned in Homeric times. Before refined sugar existed, honey, dates, tree sap and fruit did all the sweetening.
Ancient candy around the world at a glance
| Region / civilisation | Ancient sweet | Roughly when | Made from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Egypt | Tiger nut balls | c. 2000 BCE | Dates, walnuts, almonds, honey |
| Ancient Egypt | Mai Sus (licorice drink) | Pharaonic era | Licorice root |
| Mali, West Africa | Meni-Meniyong | Traditional | Honey, sesame seeds, butter |
| Equatorial Guinea | Akwadu | Traditional | Caramelised banana, coconut |
| Han Dynasty China | Dragon's Beard candy | c. 220–206 BCE | Thousands of pulled sugar strands |
| Korea | Kkul-Tarae (Korean Court Cake) | Royal court tradition | Pulled honey strands, nut filling |
| Indian subcontinent | Jaggery (gur) | c. 3,000 years ago | Sugar cane juice, date palm sap |
| Olmec / Maya, Mesoamerica | Chocolate (as a drink) | c. 4,000 years ago | Fermented cacao beans |
| Indigenous North America | Spruce gum & maple sugar | Ancient & ongoing | Spruce resin, sugar maple sap |
| Ancient Greece | Pasteli | Homeric times | Sesame seeds and honey |
| Ancient Rome | Dragati (proto-Jordan almonds) | 177 BCE | Almonds coated in honey |
Ancient Africa: honey, dates and the very first candy
Sweet! The Egyptians were some of the first candy makers on Earth, with confections traced back as far as 2000 BCE, according to candyhistory.net. In fact, one recipe for the traditional Egyptian dessert tiger nut balls — basically balls of dates, walnuts, almonds and honey — was found on a pottery fragment dating to almost 4,000 years ago! Check out that recipe courtesy of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan here.
Egypt is also home to some of the first uses of licorice. According to an article by The Nibble, ancient Egyptians used licorice root to make drinks that would help treat ailments like stomachaches. Licorice root was even found in King Tut's tomb! That licorice drink, called Mai Sus, is still enjoyed in Egypt today — which means licorice may be the single longest-running flavor in the candy world.
A variety of other traditional sweets are enjoyed throughout the African continent, though their origins are not always well documented. One of the most delicious is Meni-Meniyong, which, according to Afri Food Network, is a treat enjoyed in Mali. This candy combines honey, sesame seeds and butter into a bar shape — think of it as the original energy bar.
Another traditional sweet enjoyed in Africa is Akwadu, a dish originating in Equatorial Guinea. Akwadu consists of baked, caramelised banana covered in coconut flakes. You can find the recipe for this delicious treat here, courtesy of Polkadot Passport.
Ancient Asia: dragon's whiskers and 3,000-year-old sugar
Now this is where candy gets theatrical! Dragon's Beard candy is thought to have originated in China during the Han Dynasty (which flourished all the way back in 220 to 206 BCE), according to Atlas Obscura. Apparently some pulled sugar strands stuck to the face of the emperor, giving the sweet treat its name. Dragon's Beard candy is made by wrapping thousands of impossibly thin pulled sugar strands around a sweet filling of peanut, sesame or coconut. Once reserved exclusively for royalty, this candy is now available worldwide — and you can even make your own by following this recipe courtesy of Instructables.
Kkul-Tarae is a regional variation of this delicate, delectable treat. It is made in Korea and also called Korean Court Cake! Read all about it on the Korean Food blog from Georgia State University here.
Another indulgent treat from Asia is jaggery. Jaggery is essentially a pure sugar block enjoyed in South Asia, Africa and the Americas that seems to have originated on the Indian subcontinent, according to an article on SPICEography. The government of India states that jaggery — or gur, the Indian name for it — has been used for 3,000 years in Ayurvedic medicine. Jaggery is raw brown sugar made from sugar cane juice and the sap of the date palm tree, according to Britannica, and it turns up in everything from sweets to meat sauces. It can even be used as an extra spice in curry!
Ancient Americas: chocolate, chewing gum and maple sugar
Ancient Central America was the hub for all things chocolate. The Olmec civilization in southern Mexico was likely the first to make chocolate almost 4,000 years ago, according to the Smithsonian. While the Olmecs left no written history, archaeologists have found Olmec pottery with traces of cocoa on it! Early cocoa beans were mainly fermented to make drinks and gruels — very different from the modern bars we love today. Chocolate was so important to early Mesoamerican societies that it became associated with royalty and special events. Archaeologists have even found ancient Maya paintings depicting cocoa beans at ceremonies and court proceedings. You can find a delicious recipe for an ancient Mesoamerican chocolate drink called Xocoatl here!
Chew on this: another Smithsonian article points out that Mesoamericans also enjoyed chewing gum made from the resin of the sapodilla tree, according to Jennifer P. Mathews, author of Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas, from the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley. Indigenous groups in North America chewed gum from the spruce tree, and it is still enjoyed as a sweet snack in Indigenous communities today, according to the Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute.
Maple sugar is another treat important to Indigenous North Americans, according to Erik Redix, writer for the Minnesota Historical Society. Maple sugar has been, and still is, an important food for the Ojibwe. The sugar is obtained by boiling the sap of the sugar maple tree, found throughout Minnesota. The process of harvesting and processing maple sugar has changed over thousands of years as technology changed, but it remains a staple today. Maple sugar can be molded into a maple-leaf-shaped treat called maple sugar candy, which is almost too pretty to eat. Almost!
Ancient Europe: sesame bars and the first Jordan almonds
The ancient Greeks and Romans were especially fond of their sweets. Pasteli — basically a candy bar made with sesame and honey — dates all the way back to Homeric times, according to the Greek Reporter. Trojan soldiers were apparently given this sweet treat before battle to energise them for the fight. The historian Herodotus wrote in the 400s BCE that pasteli was made to be broken by hand on special occasions, and that tradition still continues at Greek weddings today!
In Rome, the predecessor of our delicious Jordan almonds was first made in 177 BCE by a confectioner named Julius Dragatus, according to Candy Atlas. These ancient dragati were almonds coated in honey and enjoyed by Roman nobility. The name for those ancient sweets probably influenced another word for the modern Jordan almond: the dragée. Want the whole story? We wrote a deep dive on the history, mysteries and meanings of Jordan almonds.
Why ancient candy is having a moment right now
Here's the fun part: these ancient sweets are suddenly everywhere again. Social media has turned Dragon's Beard candy into a must-watch street-food spectacle, jaggery and date-sweetened treats are riding the "less-refined sugar" wave, and the global candy aisle has never been more curious about what people ate a thousand years ago. It is the same instinct that drives the whole nostalgic candy boom — we want the story behind the sweet, not just the sugar. And when you realise that honey-coated almonds, sesame bars and chewy tree resin were basically the world's first candy aisle, the modern one starts to look like a very long-running family tradition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the first candy ever made?
The earliest known candies came from ancient Egypt around 2000 BCE, when confectioners combined honey with fruits, nuts and spices. A recipe for tiger nut balls — dates, walnuts, almonds and honey — was preserved on a pottery fragment nearly 4,000 years old.
Did ancient people have sugar?
Not the refined white sugar we use today. Most ancient candy was sweetened with honey, dates, fruit or tree sap. Sugar cane was processed on the Indian subcontinent into jaggery, a raw block sugar used for roughly 3,000 years, long before refined sugar spread west.
How old is chocolate?
About 4,000 years. The Olmec civilization in southern Mexico is believed to be the first to process cacao, and archaeologists have found Olmec pottery with cocoa residue on it. Early chocolate was a bitter fermented drink, not a bar.
Who invented chewing gum?
Chewing gum has been around far longer than any brand. Ancient Mesoamericans chewed chicle from the sapodilla tree, and Indigenous peoples of North America chewed spruce resin — a practice that continues in some communities today.
Are Jordan almonds really that old?
Their ancestor is. Honey-coated almonds called dragati were made in Rome as early as 177 BCE and enjoyed by the nobility. The modern sugar-panned version, and the word dragée, both trace back to those Roman sweets.
Ready to taste a little history?
Wow — candy was a thing WAAAY earlier than most of us ever thought, and honestly, writing this made us hungry. The good news is you don't need a time machine. Grab a bag of licorice for a flavor the pharaohs would recognise, some chocolate descended from Olmec cacao, a few Jordan almonds straight out of ancient Rome, or a classic hard candy for good measure.
And if you want the story told in person, check out our History of Candy Tour, completely designed and built by our team here at Bulk Candy Store! These roughly 45-minute tours are packed with awesome candy facts and delicious candy samples, and every guest gets 15% off in-store purchases afterward. If you're in town, come on in — and browse the whole candy shop while you're at it!