Thursday, December 30, 2010

Want Shocking Lemon Lime Flavor? Go With Jelly Belly, Not Sprite!

Lemon Lime Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - 10 lbs bulk
Click to buy directly from Jelly Belly!



The Good: Tastes good, Environmentally responsible bulk
The Bad: No real nutritional value, Taste fades quickly
The Basics: A pretty wild Jelly Belly, Lemon Lime tastes good, but fades fast. Still, if you like them, this is the way to buy them!


Remember all of those old Sprite commercials that advertised that beverage as having the shockingly lemon-lime flavor? Yeah, they're full of it. And that's not because Sprite doesn't taste good (I'll let others debate that one) but rather it is not honestly a lemon or lime flavor. Otherwise, why would people ever order Sprite with a twist? That would be redundant. No, Sprite isn't very lemon lime in its flavor. Truth be told, it's not terribly shocking either. But Lemon Lime Jelly Belly jelly beans . . . wow! Were it not for how fast the taste fades, these would be a perfect jelly bean as well as a perfect embodiment of the mix of fruity lemon and lime flavors.

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 Sour Raspberry, strawberry jam, Orange Crush, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.

Who needs ten pounds of Lemon Lime flavored Jelly Belly's? Anyone who likes a slightly sour jelly bean with a little kick and the authentic flavor of the fruits it claims to be. As for the ten pounds, I don't know; people who are real good at self control?

Basics

Lemon Lime is a flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans. 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 Lemon Lime and they come more or less close enough.

Lemon Lime flavored Jelly Belly's 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 say "home security." The Lemon Lime flavor is an excellent one. Even so, I suspect that for most people, a ten pound case is a year's supply of these jelly beans.

Lemon Lime flavored Jelly Belly's are easily distinguishable from other flavors of Jelly Bellys by their light green color. Lemon Lime is appropriately a mix of yellow and green, leaning a bit more toward the yellow end of the spectrum. It is easy to distinguish from other Jelly Bellys, though, from the fact that it is more green than any of the yellows and more yellow than any of the greens.

Ease Of Preparation

These are jelly beans, not playing the complete works of Schubert without sheet music. Preparing them is as easy as opening 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 always going into the box. Then again, if one is using this ten pound box as part of a shock and awe security system, eating them right out of the box might be necessary.

Taste

Lemon Lime Jelly Belly jelly beans are pretty wonderful. The jelly beans do not have a bouquet, so that they are packed with as much flavor as they actually are is something of a small miracle. Unaided by any strong scent, Lemon Lime Jelly Belly jelly beans still embody the flavor of both lemons and limes.

Biting into the Lemon Lime Jelly Belly, one is instantly hit with a kick of sharp, taste that I can only define as "fizzy." When one opens a sparkling soda or puts Pop Rocks on one's tongue there is a distinct taste or texture that is the embodiment of tiny bubbles popping. It is that taste or texture that the Lemon Lime Jelly Belly possesses.

Beyond that, the taste is exactly that of a fresh lemon and a fresh lime squeezed together with some sugar added. The fine folks at Jelly Belly were smart enough to not overwhelm the jelly bean with a lot of sweetness. The sour kick from this bean helps to define the two fruit flavors it claims to be and as a result, this has a very authentic flavor that mixes the two tastes it claims to be.

However, the taste fades remarkably quickly. More than a handful of Lemon Lime Jelly Belly jelly beans consumed at a time leaves the consumer with the vague taste of sugar in their mouth, not anything wonderful or as distinct as the initial flavor. Of course, if one can limit themselves to about half a cup of these little gems at a time, there ought to be no problem!

Nutrition

Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition needs to remember that it takes a pretty intense sense of denial to believe that jelly beans might have real nutritional value. 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! They 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 bulk 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, because lemon and lime juice hurts when in cuts, who knows what the super-concentrated power of those flavors in a jelly bean would do?!). I've never had Lemon Lime Jelly Belly's stain anything. That said, it's pretty wild to be able to eat something that tastes so much like Lemon Lime and not have to clean juice off one's fingers afterward!

Overall

Lemon Lime is one of the best tasting Jelly Belly jelly beans, but the real unfortunate aspect of this wonderful tasting jelly bean is that the taste fades so quickly. Outside that, it is worth stocking up on and this is a great way to do that!

For other Jelly Belly flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
A&W Cream Soda
Pink Grapefruit
Sour Blueberry

8/10

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

© 2010, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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