Island Punch Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 10 lbs bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
The Good: Tastes all right, Environmentally responsible bulk
The Bad: No real nutritional value, Lingering fruity taste dissipates remarkably quickly.
The Basics: Starting with only a vaguely fruity taste, Island Punch fades to flat-out sugar flavor within ten beans, making is a poor Jelly Belly to stock up on!
When it comes to tea, there is something to be said sometimes about "adjective teas." Adjective teas are the flavors where the title either is the primary ingredient (Green Tea) or the name defines itself as a flavor that tells someone new to the experience nothing about what to expect (Earl Grey, English Teatime). With Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, there is a similar phenomenon: flavors that do not so much tell the taster what to expect and instead leave us with only a vague sensation about what is coming. Island Punch is one such Jelly Belly. Before trying these, the fair assumption was that they would be fruity and they are in a vague way. Unfortunately, they are also one of the fastest fading flavors Jelly Belly produces, making it far less of a treat than one might otherwise want from a Jelly Belly.
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 Strawberry, Chocolate Pudding, Cotton Candy or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs ten pounds of Island Punch flavored Jelly Belly's? Beats me; their flavor fades so fast that within ten beans one is struggling to remember why they picked the flavor up. But anyone who might like Island Punch 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
Island Punch 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 Island Punch and even without having had any beverage called island punch, I know the makers of the jelly bean failed because within ten beans, these taste like sugar.
Island Punch flavored Jelly Belly's 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 say "You've got me!" I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year or two supply of these jelly beans.
Island Punch flavored Jelly Bellys are remarkably easy to recognize and distinguish from other Jelly Bellys as well. They are an opaque, solid purple, which is different from all other Jelly Bellys. There is another purple Jelly Belly (Plum) but it is lilac with dark purple mottling, so the lack of a solid purple color clearly distinguishes it from the Island Punch flavor.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not swimming from the Arctic to the Bahamas. 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, perhaps some sort of "chugging" contest from the box would be a selling point. Eating them out of the box is fine!
Taste
Island Punch Jelly Belly jelly beans are surprisingly pathetic for a Jelly Belly jelly bean. I've never had Island Punch, the drink. I assume, though that it is some sort of fruity concoction because that's what punch tends to be. Island Punch Jelly Belly jelly beans are purple, then sugar. I'm using the color as a flavor there for a reason: it tastes purple. The flavor is a vaguely fruity, ultimately insubstantial flavor.
More than any other Jelly Belly Jelly Bean, Island Punch seems to have a taste that does not endure. It does not hold its flavor for more than ten beans. What I mean by this is that if the flavor starts out as vaguely fruity with a miniscule aftertaste that is sour, all of that character is gone within ten beans. By the time one eats the tenth bean, the taste of the Island Bunch beans is just sugar. It's bland and sugary and Jelly Belly does better with such frequency that one wonders why they bothered with this bean.
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to ask themselves "How nutritious does 'Island Punch' actually sound?!" 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 Belly's, because who knows where they've been since the last time you washed them?!). I've never had Island Punch Jelly Belly's stain anything.
Overall
Quite simply Island Punch flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans are one of the worst flavors to come out of that company and they are a lousy flavor to stock up on!
For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Sour Peach
Orange Juice
A&W Root Beer
2/10
For other food or drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here and checking out the organized listing of reviews!
© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment