Coconut Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 10 lbs bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
The Good: Tastes good, Nothing bad in it, Environmentally responsible bulk
The Bad: No real nutritional value, Not the strongest flavor ever.
The Basics: A good, but rather average flavor, Coconut flavored Jelly Bellys are tough to get excited about stocking up on!
I think that coconut is one of the standard flavors of jelly beans in the world. For those companies that bother to make flavors for their jelly beans (other than just colors) white seems to be coconut most of the time. Jelly Belly jelly beans, easily the greatest, most flavorful jelly beans in the world, have a coconut flavored jelly bean as well. And, truth be told, it is good, but it is pretty much the industry standard. I like coconut Jelly Bellys, but it is one of the few flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans that may just be as good as the competition's jelly beans and as a result, the expense and interest in this flavor is somewhat diminished. If coconut is an average flavor, my jelly bean experiences with coconut flavored beans tends to run right around the same, average experience. That holds true even with Jelly Belly jelly beans in this case.
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 Sour Grape, 7-Up, Strawberry Daiquiri, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs ten pounds of Coconut flavored Jelly Bellys? I suppose they are ideal for the people who would eat ten pounds of actual coconuts, but would rather not have to go through the effort and expense of cracking that many coconuts up! Anyone who might like Coconut 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
Coconut 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 Coconut and they live up to that well, though it is a pretty subtle flavor to begin with and seems mostly defined in these beans by the aftertaste.
Coconut 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, "Ever carried or cracked ten pounds of coconuts? These cases are much easier!" I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year's supply of these jelly beans.
Coconut flavored Jelly Bellys are remarkably easy to recognize and distinguish from other Jelly Bellys, save the French Vanilla beans. Both Jelly Bellys are opaque white, but the coconut ones have no spots. The French Vanilla beans have tiny black spots (much like Vanilla Bean ice cream does). The Coconut beans are easily distinguished from the other white beans, A&W Cream Soda flavor, by the fact that the Cream Soda beans are translucent white, as opposed to Coconut's opaque white color.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not splitting Coconuts with your bare hands! Preparing them is as easy as opening the box and popping one (or a handful) into your mouth. 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, one might imagine the box as a giant ten pound coconut and enjoy scooping out the goodness of the coconut that way. Whatever. Eat them however you would enjoy jelly beans!
Taste
Coconut is a good Jelly Belly jelly bean. The beans do not have any sort of strong bouquet, so much of their taste comes from the actual taste, not the scent. They have a creamy, very sugary flavor to begin with and they are reminiscent of coconut flakes that one bakes with, as opposed to actual dry coconut or fresh coconut. In fact, the dry aftertaste of coconuts is entirely lacking from this jelly bean experience.
However, the precise taste of coconut is encapsulated in this Jelly Belly's aftertaste. The flavor of coconut is perfectly preserved in the aftertaste and after being underwhelmed with my first bites of these beans, I always found myself pleased by the kick that they generated after that.
I have noticed that, bean to bean, coconut is one of the more irregular flavors of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. Some are bursting with flavor - even in the primary contact with the tongue - others have a much more neutral taste that never even pops. Perhaps that is why I am a little more neutral on them than I otherwise might be.
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to understand they don't even have any of the nutritional properties that actual coconuts would have. 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 . . .). 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 (always wash your hands before eating Jelly Bellys, these aren't protected by a hard, hairy shell, after all). I've never had Coconut Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
Coconut Jelly Belly jelly beans are a good, not great, flavor from Jelly Belly. If you have to stock up on them, this is the way to go. If not, it's a fun flavor to pick out and enjoy when eating a full mix of Jelly Bellys.
For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
French Vanilla
Sour Watermelon
Watermelon
5.5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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