Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Light And Fruity, Mango Jelly Bellys Are A Great Flavor!

Mango Jelly Belly - 10 lbs bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!

The Good: Great realistic flavor, Environmentally responsible bulk, Taste does not fade
The Bad: No real nutritional value, Not the most powerful taste in the world.
The Basics: With another flavor that is absolutely worthwhile, Jelly Belly jelly beans bring Mango to life with Mango flavored Jelly Bellys in bulk!


There are some troubling fruits that have come to prominence in the last few years. Perhaps the one I dislike the most is the sudden prevalence of pomegranate in things I love, like Celestial Seasonings teas and Jelly Belly jelly beans. But I am not simply against exotic flavors of jelly beans. No, I have a love of the weird fruits, as is evident by my appreciation of Mango flavored Jelly Bellys. Mango Jelly Bellys are a solid, new staple flavor for Jelly Belly and they are a welcome addition to the mix, even more than the Chili Mango Jelly Belly jelly beans.

For those who might never have had Jelly Belly jelly beans, these are easily the best jelly beans on the planet, packing a lot of flavor into a very small size. Unlike most jelly beans which are only vaguely flavored and are more based on colors, Jelly Belly jelly beans have a wide variety of actual flavors, like dark chocolate (click here for that review!), pina colada, Dr. Pepper, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.

Who needs ten pounds of Mango flavored Jelly Bellys? I suppose anyone who would eat that many mangoes, but does not want all of the rinds left around. Come to think of it, can't you eat the rinds on a mango? I suppose anyone who likes mango taste, but not the actual mangoes. Anyone who might like Mango Jelly Belly jelly beans will likely find that this is the best way to get them in bulk in an environmentally responsible way for the least amount of money.

Basics

Mango is a flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans. Jelly Belly jelly beans are approximately one half inch long by one quarter inch wide and they are roughly bean-shaped. These little candies are marketed to taste precisely like Mango and they live up to that exceptionally well.

Mango flavored Jelly Bellys are available in a wide array of quantities, but the largest quantity available is the ten pound bulk case. This is a decent-sized box with a plastic lining and while some might wonder why anyone would need a ten pound box, I ask, "Who could hate real mangoes? I don't know, but these might be for those people who love the taste, hate the fruit." I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year's supply of these jelly beans.

Mango flavored Jelly Bellys are remarkably easy to recognize and distinguish from other Jelly Bellys, though they are close to the Juicy Pear flavor in coloring. Both Mango and Juicy Pair are opaque green with green spots. The Mango beans are actually closer to yellow in their base color and a pretty bright yellow-green at that.

Ease of Preparation

These are jelly beans, not finding a support group for haters of mangoes in a rural area. In the case of the ten pound box, one might want to put them in a candy dish of some form as opposed to always going into the box. Then again, there is no law against eating them right from the box, not even a natural law. Eat them from the box proudly.

Taste

Mango Jelly Bellys have no real scent, so it is only by putting them on one's tongue that they reveal their flavor. And Mango is a peculiar, but distinctive citrusy flavor. Mango has body and is not sour, but it has a fruit flavor that tends to remind people of more sour fruit. It is a hard taste to describe but Jelly Belly gets it perfectly right with these beans. They are sweet and fruity in a way that is undeniably Mango. In fact, the aftertaste adds a realistic richness to these beans that is perfect for the flavor.

As well, Mango flavored Jelly Bellys do not diminish in taste when you eat vast quantities of them. No, these taste like mango bite after bite, never fading and that only adds to the value of the ten pound case. In fact, this might be one of the best of the more obscure fruit flavors. And truly, the way it embodies mango it is perfection by lack of flaws.

Nutrition

Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to understand they are not the fruit they are based upon, they are a sugary snack! Jelly beans, even Jelly Belly jelly beans, are not a legitimate source of nutrition. These are a snack food, a dessert, and are in no way an adequate substitute for a real meal. A serving is listed at thirty-five beans, with each Jelly Belly jelly bean having approximately four calories. This means that in a single serving, there are 140 calories, which is 12% of your daily recommended intake.

The thing is, Jelly Belly jelly beans are not as bad as they could be in the nutrition area. They have no fat and no protein, but for those who have ever dated a Vegan, these are Vegan compliant because they contain no gelatin! They have only one percent of the daily sodium with 15 mg and they are gluten free! The main ingredients are sugar, corn syrup and modified food starch, so it's not like this is an all-natural food, but they could be far, far worse.

Storage/Clean-up

Jelly Belly jelly beans have a shelf life of approximately one year and I have yet to run across a stale Jelly Belly (though that could have something to do with a package never surviving a year around me and this flavor doesn't even last six months usually). They remain freshest when they are kept in an airtight container (the bag in the bulk box is sufficient if it is kept closed) and they ought to be kept in a lukewarm environment. Storing them in hot places is likely to make the beans stick together and be gross. Kept in a cool, dry place, the beans retain their flavor perfectly.

As for cleanup, unless one allows the Jelly Belly to get hot to the point that the waxy coating on the bean melts, the dyes on these do not bleed or denature, so there is usually no cleanup necessary, not even washing one's hands after eating them (They might not be juicy, but your hands could be from something else!). I've never had Mango Jelly Bellys stain anything.

Overall

Mango Jelly Belly jelly beans are a perfect flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans, truly embodying the exact flavor they claim to have. It's mango and who would have guessed they would be perfect . . . well, if anyone could pull it off, Jelly Belly could. And they did!

For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Superfruit assortment
Lemon Drop
Toasted Marshmallow

10/10

For other food reviews, please visit my index page!

© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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