The Good: The flavor is not bad and does not fade, Good ingredients
The Bad: Environmentally irresponsible bulk, Flavor is not terribly strong, Only seasonally available!
The Basics: Jelly Belly Hot Chocolate jelly beans are interesting, but more average in their execution than they are exceptional.
Sometimes, ambition undermines a brand. In the case of Jelly Belly jelly beans, the idea of some of the flavors have been undermined by the Jelly Belly Dips, chocolate covered jelly beans. Before the Dips were created, chocolate-flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans were easily the standard of what a chocolate flavored jelly bean could be. Unfortunately, by making chocolate covered jelly beans, the Dips line of Jelly Belly beans has raised the bar for what one could expect of a jelly bean that is supposed to have a chocolate flavor. Having had some good flavors of Jelly Belly Dips, it is hard to go back to chocolate flavored jelly beans that do not contain actual chocolate. As such, it has taken me a while to get around to reviewing the Jelly Belly Hot Chocolate flavored jelly beans.
The Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans are only available for a limited time, in limited quantities, outside their seasonally-available winter Holiday Favorites assortment! So, I had to find the Hot Chocolate jelly beans in a one pound jar, as opposed to the bulk packages I usually like getting.
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 Cranberry Sauce, The Beanboozled Assortment, Pancakes And Maple Syrup, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
The Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans are (currently) only available within assortments or in one-pound packages on their own. There is not currently a bulk option for these seasonally-available beans.
Basics
Hot Chocolate is a limited edition flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans, which is being returned to the market as a seasonal bean. 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 holiday Hot Chocolate and they have a somewhat chocolatey flavor that mimics the popular beverage.
Hot Chocolate flavored Jelly Bellys are remarkably easy to recognize and distinguish from other Jelly Bellys, except the other red/brown-colored beans. Hot Chocolate Jelly Bellys are a simple brownish red color.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not trying to make Hot Chocolate with milk over an open flame. In the case of the one pound jar, one might want to put them in a candy dish of some form as opposed to always going into the jar. Then again, the jar is not very large, so it’s not like you could spill a ton if your jar tips.
Taste
Hot Chocolate Jelly Bellys do not have a strong scent at all. Opening the bag of Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans, there is a vague cocoa smell, much like the scent of a mug that had hot chocolate in it, but the fluid has been drunk. The Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans are not overly aromatic.
On the tongue, the Hot Chocolate Jelly Bellys taste mildly chocolatey, a condition that is more generically sweet than they are distinctly chocolatey. The chocolate flavor is nowhere near as strong as the actual chocolate flavor from the real chocolate on Jelly Belly Dips. However, as one chews the Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans, the flavor of chocolate explodes from the center of the jelly beans. The Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans actually start to taste more and more like hot cocoa the more of them one places in the mouth!
Despite a somewhat more mild chocolate flavor than one might like, the Hot Chocolate flavored Jelly Bellys do not diminish in flavor, regardless of how many one consumes. One might have to eat a lot at a time, but they do not start tasting less flavorful as one goes on, which is nice!
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to understand they based upon something that is not inherently nutritious! Fortunately, these are not at all fatty like chocolate has a tendency to be! 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 of carbs.
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! So long as your Vegan does not mind beeswax, these are Vegan compliant. They have only one percent of the daily sodium with 15 mg and they are gluten free! The Hot Chocolate jelly beans are made in a peanut-free factory and the main ingredients are sugar, corn syrup and modified food starch.
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. They remain freshest when they are kept in an airtight container (the jar is fine, if it is kept sealed without air in it) 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 (even if they don't melt!). I've never had Hot Chocolate Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
Hot Chocolate Jelly Belly jelly beans are all right, but the chocolate flavor is very mild, especially when compared to the Jelly Belly Dips, making them a harder sell for fans of Jelly Belly jelly beans than they ought to have been.
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Egg Nog
Tabasco
Coconut Dips
5/10
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean reviews, please check out my Ultimate Jelly Belly Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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