Kiwi 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, Environmentally responsible bulk
The Bad: No real nutritional value, Taste fades quickly
The Basics: Not terrible, but not exceptional, kiwi flavored Jelly Bellys disappoint, except for the ones that don't!
The joy of reviewing Jelly Belly jelly beans is that I might be able to steer readers toward the best possible flavors, while avoiding the less impressive jelly beans that flesh out the forty-flavors most places that stock Jelly Belly's seem to have. The funny thing comes when one reviews something like Jelly Belly's only to discover that their initial impression about a flavor might change. That is pretty much what happened to me with the Kiwi flavor Jelly Belly jelly beans. For a long time, these green beans were simply filler keeping me from finding a more desirable flavor. But when I picked them up in bulk for a project (seriously, don't ask) I discovered they were much better than that, even if they were still not my absolute favorite flavor.
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, Bubble Gum, Caramel Corn, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs ten pounds of Kiwi flavored Jelly Belly's? Not everyone, that's for sure. But anyone who might like Kiwi jelly beans will likely find that this is the best way to get them in bulk in an environmenally responsible way for the least amount of money. I'm not sure who the target demographic is because now that my project is almost over and I am almost through the ten-pound box, I cannot imagine ever buying another one. It takes a special consumer to buy this much!
Basics
Kiwi 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 Kiwi and they live up to that well (with a caveat, check out the "taste" section).
Kiwi 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 reply, "why not?!" The Kiwi flavor, is a decent one. I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year's supply of these jelly beans.
Kiwi flavored Jelly Belly's are easily distinguishable from other flavors of Jelly Bellys by their bright green coloring. They are a solid neon green, which makes them different from Green Apple (translucent solid green), Juicy Pear (opaque olive green with spots), lemon-lime (translucent light green) and Margarita (translucent green with spots).
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not juggling three dates in one night on $12.50. 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 there is an interesting trick one can do involving dumping them from the open box into one's mouth* that I do not know about. Eating them out of the box is fine!
Taste
Kiwi Jelly Belly jelly beans are good. Sometimes they are great, sometimes they are bland and terrible. No, I'm not equivocating or being vague: Kiwi Jelly Belly's are a problematic bean. Having sampled many, many, many Kiwi beans, I have discovered that this is probably the most erratic bean on the taste front. Some taste deliciously and precisely like kiwi. Some taste vaguely lemony with a generic fruit flavor that fades within seconds of consumption.
Kiwi, more than any other flavor I have sampled, either tastes like kiwi - including being slightly tart - or like a generic jelly bean. It is completely hit or miss, bean by bean. The ones that taste like kiwi, I would rate high; they are fruity and delicious. The ones that taste like bland, ordinary jelly beans, I would rate rather low.
Either way, kiwi seems to be one of the flavors that one cannot eat in excess in one sitting before the taste begins to fade and the taster is simply tasting a generic, sugary flavor of gelatin. It does seem that this is not one of the flavors that is flavored strongly on both the shell and the center, leading to a generic taste within three handfuls, even when eaten bean by bean. And, sadly, bean by bean leads to a rather erratic potential snacking experience.
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to contemplate the wisdom of replacing actual fruit in their diet for jelly bean fruit. 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, though, why wouldn't you?!). I've never had Kiwi Jelly Belly's stain anything. That said, it's pretty wild to be able to eat something that tastes so much like Kiwi and not have to clean kiwi juice off one's fingers afterward!
Overall
In the end, though, kiwi is too erratic to rate highly, though I ultimately did opt to recommend it. The beans that taste like kiwi taste like the little fruit in a frightening and delicious way. The real problem is they don't all taste that way!
For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Margarita
Sunkist Lemon
Orange Sherbet
5/10
For other food or drink reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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