A More Average Than Extraordinary Jelly Bean Dips: Raspberry Dips Underwhelm

Raspberry Chocolate Dips Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 10 lbs bulk
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The Good: Tastes fine, Nothing bad in them
The Bad: Expensive, Does not truly embody a rich, raspberry flavor
The Basics: Raspberry Chocolate Jelly Bean Dips are arguably the least worthwhile option from an otherwise decent candy line.


Just when it seemed like I was going to love all of the chocolate covered Jelly Bellys in the new Dips line . . . I encountered the Raspberry Dips. This flavor is not up to the rest of the line’s standards, though it is not a bad tasting bean. This product falls more under the category of “things that don’t taste quite like they are supposed to.” In short, Raspberry Dips do not have anything resembling a bold, raspberry flavor to them, making them comparatively less extraordinary when compared to other Jelly Bellys and other 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 their superlative Limited Edition Candy Cane, the BeanBoozled Assortment, Cherry Passionfruit Smoothie, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.

Basics

Raspberry is a flavor of Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Dips jelly beans. The Jelly Bean Dips jelly beans are approximately one-half inch long by one-quarter inch wide and they are roughly bean-shaped. These are marginally bigger than the usual Jelly Belly jelly beans by only a few millimeters due to the chocolate shell. These Jelly Bean Dips are the Raspberry flavor (reviewed here!) Jelly Bellys with a chocolate coating.

Raspberry flavored Jelly Belly Dips Jelly Bellys are currently available in either 2.8 oz. plastic packages which are terrible for the environment or the ten pound bulk boxes most of us appreciate. The bulk box provides a less severe environmental impact as well as a more economical way to get the Dips!

Raspberry flavored Jelly Bean Dips Jelly Bellys are impossible to recognize from other Dips flavors as the six currently-available Dips flavors are all coated in chocolate and thus look more or less alike. The Raspberry flavor are dipped in dark chocolate, so they are a darker shade of brown than milk chocolate products like the average chocolate-coated raisin.


Ease Of Preparation

These are jelly beans, not trying to remove the seeds from raspberries while leaving the berry otherwise intact! Preparing them is as easy as opening the packet or box, and popping the beans into your mouth. In the case of the stiff plastic bag, which is not resealable, the jelly beans may be consumed all at once or over several days with no adverse effects to the freshness. The bulk box can be opened and as long as the bag in the box is sealed, they remain fresh and delicious.

Taste

The Raspberry Jelly Bean Dips smell powerfully and exclusively of dark chocolate. The smell of fruit does not make it past the dark chocolate aroma for these beans.

Placing the Raspberry Chocolate Dips on the tongue, the consumer gets exactly what the bouquet hints at beforehand, at least for a moment. The dry, dark flavor of chocolate overcomes the tongue, but it melts away much quicker than many of the other Jelly Bean Dips, revealing the fruit flavor beneath. Unfortunately, here the strength of the chocolate undoes the flavor. These Jelly Bean Dips taste generically fruity beneath their chocolate shell, not distinctly like raspberry at all. In fact, they hint at fruit more than actually embody it. Instead, the jelly bean within the chocolate shell serves more as a sweet release after the dry, distinct chocolate flavor melts away.

Nutrition

Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone expecting them to provide the health benefits of even actual Raspberrys will be unpleasantly surprised. Jelly Bean Dips are not a legitimate source of nutrition. As a chocolate-covered sugary snack they are loaded with calories (150 in the 40 bean serving) and no real nutrients.

Unlike most Jelly Belly jelly beans, Jelly Bean Dips do have a little fat (4 grams per serving) and no protein. For those who have to worry about Vegan compliance, these are not Vegan compliant despite not containing gelatin! They have beeswax and, more importantly, milk fat, which eliminates them from consideration for Vegans, though milk-consuming vegetarians ought to be fine with them. The main ingredients are corn syrup, dark chocolate and sugar, so it's not like this is an all-natural food, but they could be far, far worse.


Storage/Clean-up

Jelly Bean Dips jelly beans have a shelf life of over one year and because they come in an individual sealed package, they retain their freshness. Kept in a cool, dry place, the beans retain their flavor perfectly. The package I received on Christmas had an expiration date in March 2012.

As for cleanup, unless one allows the Jelly Belly to get hot to the point that the chocolate coating on the bean melts, the beans do not bleed or denature, so there is usually no cleanup necessary, not even washing one's hands after eating them (though washing your hands is just good practice, especially with something chocolate). I've never had Raspberry Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Dips stain anything.

Overall

Raspberry Jelly Bean Dips Jelly Bellys are the real failure flavor in the Jelly Bean Dips line and that is disappointing, given how Jelly Belly confounded my expectations with the other flavors in the line!

For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Strawberry Jelly Bean Dips
Coconut Jelly Bean Dips
Our Raspberry Blonde

4.5/10

For other food reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Raspberry Chocolate Dips Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 1 lb bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!