Cocktail Classics Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 10 lbs bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
The Good: Some good flavors, Environmentally responsible bulk, Interesting concept
The Bad: I'm not a huge fan of pomegranate anything!
The Basics: Devoid of true duds, the Cocktail Classics assortment of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans offers a lot to jelly bean consumers!
For those who might not have read my many, many food and drink reviews, I have been sober now for over twenty-two years now. Even after twenty-two years, there are alcoholic beverages that I can still vividly recall the flavor of. One of the tools I have found in maintaining my sobriety, interestingly enough, is the consumption of products that taste like the flavors I used to enjoy (or never had the chance to imbibe) in products that contain absolutely no alcohol. In the last few years, that has included Jelly Belly jelly beans. Now, coolly enough, those flavors are all together in the Cocktail Creations assortment of 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 chocolate covered cherry, Bubble Gum, Strawberry Cheesecake or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs ten pounds of Cocktail Classics Jelly Bellys? Anyone who likes to drink but does not want the hangover! Anyone who might like the flavors in the Cocktail Classics 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
The Cocktail Classics Assortment of Jelly Belly Jelly beans is a mix of six flavors of Sour Jelly Bellys:
Mojito
Margarita
Pina Colada
Peach Bellini
Pomegranate Cosmo
Strawberry Daiquiri
There are no duds in this assortment, though the Peach Bellini beans are a bit underwhelming. Jelly Belly jelly beans are approximately one half inch long by one quarter inch wide and they are roughly bean-shaped.
The Cocktail Classics Assortment of 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 say, use them to replace drinks at your next party! I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year's supply of these jelly beans.
There are only six Cocktail Classics flavors and they are very easy to tell apart, except Margarita and Mojito. Some of the Mojito beans have so much dark green that they look like the Margarita, though usually they are a more pale green bean.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, so they are easy to prepare: open the box and eat them!. 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, if it's a choice between binge drinking and eating these right out of the box, eat them out of the box! Eat them freely from the box or however you please!
Taste
Mojito Jelly Bellys have almost no aroma. This unnerved me when I opened the box, because usually the best Jelly Belly jelly beans have a bouquet to them and this jelly bean did not. However, Mojito Jelly Belly jelly beans are wonderful, if somewhat problematic. Mojito Jelly Bellys are flavored with lemon, lime and mint flavors and almost every bean I have eaten starts off sweet, then transitions to the lime sour before finishing with a cool mint blast. It's extraordinary how the flavors transform and develop on the tongue. These are delicious and the variety of flavors in each and every bean make for a wonderful taste experience.
Like the other alcohol-related Jelly Bellys, Margarita represents a flavor of jelly bean atypical for a jelly bean flavor. Margarita is an intriguing flavor because it has a sweet lime flavor that is very distinctive. There is no bouquet to this Jelly Bean, so the forcefulness of the lime flavor might well shock some consumers. What knocks this bean up out of average territory is the aftertaste. The beanmakers at Jelly Belly rather expertly created a jelly bean that actually has a salty aftertaste! One need not be a teetotaler to know that margaritas are the drink with the salt on the glass! Margarita Jelly Bellys faithfully recreate that taste and it is astonishing and surprisingly delicious!
As with all of the best Jelly Belly flavors, the strength of Pina Colada flavored Jelly Belly's is that they taste exactly like the flavor they claim to. The Pina Colada flavor tastes exactly like a pina colada, without the tart aftertaste. This tastes like a perfect mix of pineapple and coconut and it works perfectly to satisfy the taste craving for a pina colada. There is no scent to these Jelly Bellys but they carry the flavor strong enough without one! Unfortunately, the pina colada flavor fades fast. It is a strong pina colada flavor to begin with, but after a handful, these just taste like sugar, lowering their overall appeal.
Peach Bellini Jelly Bellys have almost no aroma. With enough of them together, there is a faint citrus odor to the beans, but even by the handful, this is not a Jelly Belly with an extraordinary scent. The initial contact with the consumer's tongue is sweet and the Peach Bellini flavor is the exact embodiment of peach. This tastes precisely like canned peaches, overwhelmingly sweet and peach-flavored without any tang that might come from actual fresh peaches. But that is all. The Peach Bellini has the peach flavor, but nothing beyond.
Pomegranate Cosmo Jelly Bellys have no discernible scent when the box is open. I thought this might mean they were either a weak or a deceptively strong bean. They were neither, but there was a little surprise waiting for me when tasted them. The Pomegranate Cosmo Jelly Belly jelly beans do not taste like the usual, overbearing pomegranate flavorings. Instead, the shell is mild and the taste is actually a slight citrus flavor that feels bubbly on the tongue! Like the soda shoppe assortment, the Pomegranate Cosmo beans have a texture; a bubbling on the tongue surprise for consumers. The bubbling sensation fades to be a muted version of pomegranate. Sure, it's the same distinct flavor of the fruit, but in Pomegranate Cosmo, the fruit flavor's sour aspect is muted and washed out so one does not want to rip their own tongue out while eating these! As well, Pomegranate Cosmo flavored Jelly Bellys do not diminish in taste when you eat vast quantities of them.
The Strawberry Daiquiri flavored Jelly Bellys is that they taste exactly like the flavor they claim to. The Strawberry Daiquiri flavor tastes exactly like a Strawberry Daiquiri, without the kick of alcohol in the taste. This tastes like a perfect mix of strawberry and whatever else makes it a daiquiri (it's one of those flavors that defines itself) and it works perfectly to satisfy the taste craving for a Strawberry Daiquiri. There is no scent to these Jelly Bellys but they carry the flavor strong enough without one!
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to understand they are candy and competing with something that destroys your liver (these do not!), but they're not going to be terribly nutritious! 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! Some Vegans consider the wax in the coating in the Jelly Belly jelly beans to be not Vegan compliant. I suppose it depends on just how strict a Vegan your Vegan is, if this matters at all. Generally, they are animal free! Jelly Belly jelly beans 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 assortment didn't last three months in my home!). 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 cool 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 (though it's never a bad idea to wash one's hands). I've never had Sour Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
The Cocktail Classics Assortment of Jelly Belly jelly beans is one of my favorite assortments outside the main line and it is a fruity, fizzy treat for anyone looking for a fun dessert!
For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Plum
Sour Assortment
Citrus Assortment
8.5/10
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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