The Good: Strong chocolate flavor, Nothing bad in them.
The Bad: Not exactly ice cream flavor.
The Basics: It is hard to care that Chocolate Devotion Jelly Bellys do not taste much like any flavor of ice cream as it does rich, pure chocolate!
I am ashamed to admit that I have hit a slight backlog in my reviews. As such, I am currently working very hard on the Snapple Assortment Jelly Belly jelly bean review. But, because there are many flavors in that assortment, I have been taking my time going through it with a thorough quality that I hope will make the review worthwhile to all of my readers. In the meantime, I am going through some single flavors to revisit some of the best individual flavors that I have not previously reviewed. Tonight, that is the Jelly Belly Chocolate Devotion 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 the Pineapple Pear Smoothie, Seasonally Available Candy Corn, Snapple Assortment or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs up to ten pounds of Chocolate Devotion flavored Jelly Bellys? Anyone who wants all of the intensity of ten pounds of chocolate without having to worry about it melting will enjoy these beans. Anyone who might like Chocolate Devotion Jelly Belly jelly beans will likely find that buying by the ten pound case is the most economically and environmentally responsible.
Basics
Chocolate Devotion is a flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans from the Coldstone Ice Cream Assortment of Jelly Bellys which is reviewed here! 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 like chocolate devotion ice cream sundaes and they manage to replicate that flavor surprisingly well.
Chocolate Devotion flavored Jelly Bellys are available in a wide array of quantities, but they are least expensive by the ten pound box, which Jelly Belly finally sells them in outside the Coldstone Ice Cream Assortment.
Chocolate Devotion flavored Jelly Bellys are easy to recognize. The Chocolate Devotion Jelly Belly jelly beans are light brown with very dark brown spots on it. Inside the assortment, there are no Jelly Bellys that look quite like them and outside the assortment they are distinctive.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not keeping ten pounds of chocolate from melting! Preparing them is as easy as opening the bag in 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 risking spilling them each time one goes into the bag. Then again, there is no negative consequence to eat them right out of the box!
Taste
A handful of these little brown beans smells richly of cocoa. Opening the box of Chocolate Devotion beans, the scent of the beans spreads out and overpowers the consumer. The very chocolate scent invites the consumer to grab them by the handful to eat them up!
The full-bodied aroma of warm chocolate makes this bean an easy sell for living up to its claim of tasting like chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips, fudge and brownie. Despite the promise of the flavors, there is no recognizable differentiation in taste between "brownie" and "fudge," but the intent here is clear and well-realized with offering different chocolate flavors. The tongue hits the jelly bean and there is a smoother chocolate flavor, like that of ice cream. Breaking the bean reveals a more potent chocolate flavor release, which fans will interpret as the perfect fudge, so when one chews the Chocolate Devotion it is truly like tasting chocolate ice cream, over brownie bits with chocolate sauce on it! This is absolutely amazing and it is a clearly different flavor from something like the standard Jelly Belly flavor Chocolate Pudding or Dark Chocolate.
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so one has to recall that they are based on something that is not exactly nutritious. They 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 to most Vegans because they contain no gelatin. Vegans who might take issue with these as being Vegan-compliant are the ones who have an issue with the use of bee's wax in the coating, so know your Vegan before buying! The Chocolate Devotion 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 . . .). They remain freshest when they are kept in an airtight container (the bag in the 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, just as you would if you encountered melting chocolate!). I've never had Chocolate Devotion Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
Chocolate Devotion Jelly Bellys are exceptionally good, but they lack the creamy undertone to truly sell the consumer on the ice cream nature of the source flavor. That said, these are delicious and well worth stocking up on!
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor reviews by me, please check out:
Mandarin Orange Mango Smoothie
Birthday Cake Remix
Candy Cane (limited edition)
9/10
For other Jelly Belly reviews, please be sure to visit my index page for a complete listing by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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