Sour Orange Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 10 lbs bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!
The Good: Taste good, Nothing bad in them, Environmentally smart bulk
The Bad: Not sure what the point of the "sour" is. . .
The Basics: Wonderful on the technical merits, the Sour Orange flavored Sour Jelly Belly jelly beans still are not my favorite.
While I was eager to finish trying and reviewing all of the flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans I, for the most part, avoided novelty flavors that are not part of their current 50 flavor assortment. Still, on my trip home from Las Vegas with my wife, we picked up some candy and she seemed surprised that I had not tried any of the sour assortment Jelly Bellys. So, she bought me the full assortment of ten flavors. My mouth has been puckering a lot from all of the boxes she bought! So, I figured it was time to get on reviewing them! The first box I opted to break into was the Sour Orange flavor and as good as they are, I'm not exactly sure what the point of the Sour Jelly Bellys is. This is essentially a mix of Jelly Bellys and Sour Patch Kids and for something as flavorful as orange Jelly Belly jelly beans, it just seems like a kick in the tastebuds to get hit with the sour element! Then again, I used to love Sour Patch Kids, so perhaps the crossover makes sense.
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 Jalapeno, Cinnamon, Grape Jelly, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
Who needs ten pounds of Sour Orange flavored Jelly Bellys? Well, I live near Syracuse, NY where the college sports teams are the Orange and I suppose if they have a bad game, I could sell some sort of collectible filled with the Sour Orange flavor as opposed to the regular Orange Sherbet or Orange Juice Jelly Bellys. I suppose anyone who likes to torment their tastebuds would love this quantity of Sour Orange. Anyone who might like Sour Orange 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
Sour Orange is a flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans from the Sour line. 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 Orange, with a sour twist, and they live up to that very well.
Sour Orange flavored 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 ask, "Have you ever watched the Orange lose a game after burning your tongue on hot coffee and needed something, anything, just to taste again?" I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year's supply of these jelly beans.
Sour Orange flavored Jelly Bellys are fairly easy to recognize and distinguish from other Jelly Bellys, especially in the Sour Assortment. There are only ten Sour flavors and the closest within the assortment is Sour Peach, which is a more yellow orange color. These opaque orange jelly beans more closely resemble the Orange Sherbet flavor, though these are a bit less bright. The only other Jelly Bellys likely to be mistaken for Sour Orange are the Orange Juice and Tangerine flavors, but those are both translucent orange.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not making a tasteful joke about the Orange in the college district of Syracuse and getting out alive. 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, there is no law against eating them right from the box and it's not like they become less sour if you do! Eat them freely from the box or however you please!
Taste
Sour Orange Jelly Bellys have a faint citrus smell when one opens the box of these Jelly Bellys for consumption. They do not have the strongest scent, but they do certainly set the consumer up for the taste of oranges.
When one puts the Sour Orange Jelly Belly on their tongue they get overwhelmed with a concentrated burst of orange flavor. It is almost exactly like the taste of orange juice after brushing one's teeth when the toothpaste and the citrus acids collide and the orange does not taste quite right. The shell of the Sour Orange tastes like superconcentrated, unsweetened oranges and it is only by biting into the jelly bean that one gets the flavor of a more well-rounded orange. The center tastes more like sweetened orange juice and the taste washes over the tongue line a relief from the mouth-puckering initial taste. Throughout the flavor is consistently orange, but the Sour Orange goes from tasting like a rancid orange to a truly delicious, juice-filled orange.
Sour Orange holds up remarkably well over many beans as well, though the tastebuds are not as likely to. When the tongue is overwhelmed with such powerful sour flavoring, they stop registering it after a while. As a result, one is likely to only be able to eat a handful of these beans before they feel the need to stop eating them. If one continues eating them, the sour flavor is likely to register less and the taste will just be sugary and orange. Still, these beans do exactly what they promise and they are delicious and intriguing in smaller quantities.
Nutrition
Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to understand they are designed to compete with Sour Patch Kids and other sour candies, so 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! I was recently contacted by the fine folks at Jelly Belly and they have had some concerned Vegans write to them about how the wax in the coating does not make these 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 flavor isn't going to last six months, whatwith Orange season beginning locally). 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 (fortunately, these are not sticky like actual oranges!). I've never had Sour Orange Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
Sour Orange is a good flavor, but despite how it hits the mark on exactly what it promises to be, I find myself less inclined toward the flavor, though it makes for a very natural Sour flavor. Those who love all things sour will probably appreciate these more than I did and want to stock up. As it is, they remain a "once in a while" treat for me.
For other flavors of Jelly Bellys, please check out my reviews of:
Honey Bean
Cappuccino
Cold Stone Ice Cream Parlor Assortment
7/10
For other food reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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