The Good: Wonderful flavors, Nothing bad in them, Holds up over many handfuls.
The Bad: Does not quite live up to all of the promised flavors.
The Basics: Our Strawberry Blonde Jelly Bellys come close to embodying all of the flavors Jelly Belly promises, making it an intriguing jelly bean!
As I near the end of the Jelly Belly product line again (my wife has a few last Dips flavors hidden away for me, I think!), I am filled with a little sadness. What shall be the next candy line I devour for review purposes? None is leaping out at me. That makes me sad. Fortunately, Our Strawberry Blonde from the Cold Stone Ice Cream Assortment did not sadden me at all! Our Strawberry Blonde intrigued me as the Jelly Belly website claims the beans will possess the flavors of strawberry ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, strawberries, caramel and whipped topping. I was fairly certain that Jelly Belly could not pull this off, despite them making an awesome Strawberry Jam jelly bean, they underwhelmed me with their Strawberry Cheesecake beans. The sheer number of flavors they are trying to pack into this bean seemed to make it a herculean task for the taste buds. And Jelly Belly almost pulled it off!
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 Snapple Assormtent, Seasonally Available Candy Cane, Beanboozled Assortment or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs up to ten pounds of Our Strawberry Blonde flavored Jelly Bellys? Anyone who wants all of the joy of fruit and ice cream without the ice cream headaches! Anyone who might like Our Strawberry Blonde Jelly Belly jelly beans will likely find that buying by the ten pound case is the most economically and environmentally responsible.
Basics
Our Strawberry Blonde 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 Our Strawberry Blonde ice cream sundaes and they manage to replicate that flavor well, but because the flavor is so complex, it is not a flawless recreation.
Our Strawberry Blonde 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. Our Strawberry Blonde flavored Jelly Bellys are easy to recognize. The Our Strawberry Blonde Jelly Belly jelly beans are an opaque dark pink with very dark red spots on it. Inside the assortment, there are no Jelly Bellys that look quite like them and outside the assortment they are easily confused with Strawberry Daiquiri.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not keeping ten pounds of ice cream from giving you an ice cream headache! 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, what better way to commemorate your enthusiasm than eating them right out of the box?!
Taste
Our Strawberry Blonde is one of the odorless Jelly Belly jelly beans, which made me concerned initially because I have found the beans without bouquet tend to be a little weaker. That is, fortunately, not the case with Our Strawberry Blonde.
The strawberry ice cream and strawberries flavors easily dominate these jelly beans which have no noticeable scent to them. What impressed me, though, was how close they come to fulfilling their full claimed potential. These are a rich, milky strawberry taste when one begins eating them and as the fruity tang clears, it is replaced on the tongue with a sweetness that has the body of caramel to it. About two seconds after I had swallowed the beans, my tongue was dry and bore the aftertaste of honey graham cracker crust! This, too, is an impressive Jelly Belly and that it fails to taste like whipped topping is not enough for me to downgrade it. Anyone who likes strawberry sundaes will love this flavor.
Our Strawberry Blonde holds up with its diverse flavors over many handfuls!
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 Our Strawberry Blonde 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 and Our Strawberry Blonde is no exception. 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; washing your hands may help prevent ice cream headaches!). I've never had Our Strawberry Blonde Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
Our Strawberry Blonde Jelly Bellys are a good jelly bean that might not be perfect, but it takes on a difficult taste challenge and works hard to meet it!
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor reviews by me, please check out:
Cherry Passion Fruit Smoothie
Mint Mint Chocolate Chip
Strawberry Banana Smoothie
7.5/10
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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