~~~~~Thanks for all the reads and rates, all appreciated.~~~~~I call in from time to time but just ...
~~~~~Thanks for all the reads and rates, all appreciated.~~~~~I call in from time to time but just haven't had a chance to sit and write a review for a while.
Member since:08.06.2004
Reviews:134
Members who trust:45
If you have never heard of these before they are small bean shaped sweets. Each with a different flavour jelly encased in a semi hard sugar shell. Jelly Belly class themselves as the makers of the original Gourmet Jelly Bean.
Jelly Bellybeans were first created in Los Angeles in 1976, A sweet distributor thought about only using natural flavourings to make jelly beans. He got in touch with the Jelly Belly company who had a reputation for making the very best sweets in the business. This was an all new idea in sweet making.
In 1976, the recipe was decided upon and the first eight Jelly Belly flavors were born: Very Cherry, Lemon, Cream Soda, Tangerine, Green Apple, Root Beer, Grape and Licorice.
Whilst browsing CyberCandy I came across a gift box of Jelly beans with all their 50 flavours. I though they would be great as a prezzie for my neice knowing that she is quite partial to these.
This particular box cannot be purchased in your everyday shop. CyberCandy is an online Candy shop selling sweets from other countries. As you probably know Jelly Belly are American, so this is the section I got them from. The price is high but you obviously have to consider import costs and the uniqueness. I paid £20.
It is possible to buy Jelly Belly Beans in this country, either in smaller boxes or bags. Some shops also do a pick n mix style where you can purchase your favourite flavours. Prices will vary greatly, but will always be more expensive than other makes of beans that do similar flavours.
As well as the 50 main flavours. Jelly belly also make 10 sour flavours, and 10 sugar free flavoured beans. They have also recently brought out five new flavours to add to the main ones. these are Apricot, Buttered toast,
Chocolate Cherry Cake, Honey Graham Cracker and Tabasco flavoured Cinnamon. These are available from their website. Also on the website you can play fun and games, check out their factory tours or join the jelly belly Club, though you need to live in the USA. But the site is still worth a visit at
For the rest of the review I will be referring to the box I bought. (I bought two boxes , in case you think I have pinched the ones from my neices' box!) This was a 21oz gift box containing 50 of their flavours they have available.
*The Box*
The box itself is quite stylish. It is cream with red sides. All over the cream background is written some of the flavours. In the middle is the Jelly belly logo. This is embossed, and a nice detail. The box has a cellophane wrapper over it, which ensures it has been unopened when it arrives to you.
*Smell*
There is such a range of flavours here, the smell is quite powerful when you remove the lid. The only way I could describe it is as though you have just walked into a candle shop, with all the different scents burning.
*Inside*
Wrapping off and inside the box you will find one of those corrugated protective sheets. Underneath this is a plastic cover protecting all the beans in their sections. This also prevents them from moving about and getting all muddled up. On the other side of the lid is a picture of all the beans and their flavours, so you have quick access.
You are then faced with a glorious display of bright colours sorted into 50 sections. Each section containing a different flavour. This has been well thought out to ensure beans of similar colours are not sat side by side. Not only does this present better but helps if you accidently mix them up.
Also included in the box, as well as the beans, is a presentation leaflet. This is entitled Menu and Receipes. It lists all the flavours included in the box just as you would find in a choc box. But it also gives some ideas for receipes. A couple of examples are:-
1 x Top Banana, 1 x choc pud, 1 x crushed pineapple, 1 x strawberry jam, 1 x very cherry, 1 x cream soda = Banana Split.
I guess the idea is that you cram all the beans into your mouth at one time. I tried this with the strawberry milkshake receipe and it wasn't bad.
Each of the recipes gives you a calorie count, as though you would be calorie counting whilst shoving sweets in your mouth. But just in case you are they are 4 calories per bean.
*The taste test*
In order to give a full and thorough review It has been necessary to try all 50 flavours. (Shame) However in doing so I have been able to compare the flavours against each other better than if I had just picked at them. I found many tasted quite similar, only a few really stood out. Some had a long lasting taste, but most the flavour had disappeared from my mouth before I actually finished chewing them. my favourites were the Caramel apple, licorice and the Red Apple. I definitely didn't like the Jalapeno (a 49 flavoured box is now available, leaving this one out, so guess I'm not alone here), and wasn't keen on the cinnamon ones either. The coffee ones were Ok, but as they were stong, made everything afterwards tasted of coffee too. I have listed below my views on the beans individually, and their description. Read at leisure or move on to my final verdict.
1. Buttered popcorn.....White with yellow specks. This did not taste like buttered popcorn, but was not revolting.
2. Wild Blackberry.....Dark Purple. A strong blackberry flavour comes through here.
3. Cream Soda..... Almost Clear. Again a strong flavour and just like the drink.
4. Cantaloupe..... Orange..... A cantaloupe is a type of melon, and you can really taste it. Unfortunately I don't like melons.
5. Cinnamon..... Red. Very cinnamony. A flavour I love, in cakes and biscuits, but not so good in a jelly bean. Could be tasted for a while after eating too.
6. Lemon Lime.....Lime coloured. Not very strongly flavoured but a hint does come through.
7. Orange Shebert.....Bright Orange. Again not very strong, but a slight sherbert taste.
8. Cappuccino.....Brown with white speckles. This reminds me of aver good coffee cake. Taty at first but not so nice aftertaste which was still around several beans later.
9. Strawberry Jam…..Red with black flecks. Just like eating
Pictures of Jelly-Belly Jelly Beans
The box
a spoonful of jam.
10. Peanut Butter…..Sandy coloured. Looking like a baked bean and not liking peanut butter, was already put of this one But it wasn't too bad and actually tastes like the middle of a snickersbar.
11. Crushed Pineapple…..Pineapple coloured! A very mild pineapple flavour, possibly since it has been crushed.
12. Cotton Candy….. Pink. Not sure what this tasted of, but it wasn't cotton Candy. Quite nice though all the same.
13. Watermelon…..Grass green. These fruits don't have much of a taste so not surprisingly nor do the beans.
14. Chocolate Pudding….. Reddy brown. Just as they should taste. I can see it now, a mound of pud with chocolate custard running down the sides, yumm.
15. Berry Blue…..Sky Blue. Originally tasted like a swimming pool, then a hint of something came through. I'm still deciding what it is.
16. Toasted marshmallow….. Cream with brown flecks. Similar to the cream soda, but some marshmallow flavour seeping through.
17. Strawberry Daiquiri….. Deep Pink with red flecks. Not having tasted Daiquiri I cannot truly compare. However this tasted like the strawberry jam one just milder.
18. Mango.....Yellow with green specks. Very magoey, if there is such a word, but didn't last long.
19. Caramel Apple.....Off brown. This has to be one of the tastiest so far. Both the caramel and apple come through very well.
20. Pina Colada.....Lemon coloured. At first the Pineapple came through quite strong, but the more I chewed the more the coconut came out.
21. Kiwi….. Bright Green. A hint of something, but I wouldn't say it was kiwi.
22. Caramel Corn…..Cream with Orange bits. Very similar to number one. Not very popcorny. Maybe American popcorn tastes different!
23. Very Cherry….. Red. A cross between a real cherry and a glace cherry. Not bad.
24. Tutti Frutti…..Pink with red, yellow, green and blue specks. Just like a piece of juicy chewing gum. Wasn't almost unsure whether to swallow it or not.
25. Orange Juice…..Orange. Strong orange flavour, as expected really.
26. Jalapeno…..Green. A jalapeno is a type of chilli pepper. This is obvious when you bite into this bean as it is very hot. It is also very disgusting.
27. Dr. Pepper…..Reddy brown. Tasted similar to the drink, but more like marzipan. Then again my mouth is still on fire from the previous bean.
28. Strawberry Cheesecake….. Pink with red flecks. Back to the strawberry jam again. But as American cheesecake is somewhat different to British, I will let them off.
29. Island Punch…..Purple. No idea what this was meant to taste like, and no punch to it either.
30. Peach…..Off orange. A hint of peach, quickly comes and quickly goes.
31. Coconut…..White. A real taste of Coconut.
32. Lemon Drop…..Bright yellow. Not very lemony, more orange flavoured to be honest.
33. Raspberry….. Darkish red. Just like raspberry jam. Makes a change from Strawberry I guess.
34. Root Beer…..Cola Coloured. Disgusting, like a mouthful of TCP! Is that what Root Beer tastes like?
35. Bubble Gum…..Pastel Pink. True to it's taste. Not a great flavouring for a sweet in my opinion.
36. Sizzling Cinnamon….. Red with yellow flecks. Just like eating cloves.
37. Café Latte…..Beige. Very similar to the cappuccino. Good strong flavour.
38. Top Banana…..Yellow and brown flecks. More like bananas and custard but quite tasty.
39. Red Apple…..Bright Red. A good, strong Apple flavour and a slight touch of sourness which makes it that bit better.
40. French Vanilla…..White with small dark flecks. Ahhh, now I know what the popcorn ones taste of.
41. Plum…..Purpley, grey. It's definitely a plum in this one.
42. Margarita…..Light green with dark green flecks. Another taste I can't identify but definitely fruits of some kind.
43. Bluberry…..Dark Blue. I've never tried a blueberry so I'll take their word on this one.
44. Lemon…..Yellow. Yep, just like sucking a lemon without the bitterness.
45. Tangerine…..Orange. A touch of Tangerine in there somewhere.
46. Juicy Pear….. Yellowy green. This one is just like taking a bite out of a ripe pear. Mmm, tasty.
47. Licorice…..Black. Oh, wow. This is a big hit with me. Tastes exactly like licorice allsorts, those ones with the little balls on. Yummy, yummy.
48. Green Apple…..Green. Not as stong as the red Apple and no sourness, but definitely apple.
49. Pink Grapefruit….. Peach. I can't stand grapefruits. But these beans were OK as they tasted nothing like grapefruits.
50. Grape Jelly…..Kidney bean coloured. Looking like kidney beans, and tasting nothing like jelly or grapes I don't know what to make of this last one.
*Final Verdict*
Most of the beans tasted similar and no different to other makes such as Joosters, particularly the fruit ones. My favourite ones were the only ones I would probably buy again, if available seperately. I liked the presentation of the box, and although not cheap, thought it was great as a gift and so would possibly buy again as such.
Only question now is who will eat the Jalapeno ones???
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Poor you, having to eat at least 50 jelly beans so that you could give an opinion on each flavour! :-)
Delicate_Orchid 20.06.2005 23:11
An E for the effort. I can see in a way why there are lower ratings on the review, as not every flavour is explained in minute detail. But you had 50 flavours to review!!!
Jun 5th, 2005
exceptional by (13%):
very helpful by (76%):
helpful by (11%):
