Click here to purchase the 16 oz. pack of
Egg Nog Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
directly from Jelly Belly.com!
The Good: Accurate flavor, Flavor does not fade, Good ingredients
The Bad: Environmentally irresponsible bulk, Flavor is not terribly strong, Only seasonally available!
The Basics: Not enough to make fans of Egg Nog come running for the candy dish, Jelly Belly still gets the flavor of their Egg Nog jelly beans right!
I admire ambition in manufacturers of the things I love. Ambition has led the Jelly Belly Candy Company to create a massive inventory of some of the very best jelly beans on the planet. I understand when one produces so many flavors and has such high quality standards that some flavors have to be cut every now and then to keep the product lines focused (though I doubt I’ll ever forgive Jelly Belly for getting rid of Ice Blue Mint and I recall there was once an Earl Grey flavor Jelly Belly jelly bean . . .). For years, I swore that Jelly Belly had once made an Egg Nog flavored jelly bean and finally, my apparently crazed ramblings were proven correct when Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans were returned to the marketplace!
The Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans are only available for a limited time, in limited quantities . . . outside their seasonally-available winter Holiday Favorites assortment! So, I bought my local shop out of their one-pound packages on the remembrance of what the Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans tasted like. And I ended up a little (but not much) disappointed. While the Egg Nog jelly beans taste like Egg Nog, they don’t have the most forceful, creamy, powerful flavor; this is like a slightly watered down version of Egg Nog and that means one has to eat these Jelly Bellys more than one at a time to truly release their flavor potential!
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 Tabasco, The Beanboozled Assortment, Cranberry Sauce, or their signature flavor Buttered Popcorn.
The Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans are (currently) only available within assortments or in one-pound bags on their own. There is not currently a bulk option for these seasonally-available beans.
Basics
Egg Nog 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 Egg Nog and they generally live up to that.
Egg Nog flavored Jelly Bellys are remarkably easy to recognize and distinguish from other Jelly Bellys, even the other yellow-colored beans. Egg Nog Jelly Bellys are dull yellow color with occasional gray spots.
Ease Of Preparation
These are jelly beans, not trying to make Egg Nog from scratch (seriously, buy it by the carton – homemade is too hard!)! In the case of the one pound bag, one might want to put them in a candy dish of some form as opposed to always going into the bag. Then again, the bag is not huge, so it’s not like you could spill a ton if disaster befell your bag.
Taste
Egg Nog Jelly Bellys do not have a strong scent at all. Opening the bag of Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans, I could not smell a thing. That surprised me because Egg Nog usually smells like nutmeg, at least.
The mild aroma of the Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans is mirrored in the flavor, though the beans are by no means tasteless. Instead, the Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans have a buttery, nutmeg flavor that is distinct to Egg Nog. Unfortunately, that flavor is not at the forefront of the palate; these beans do not overwhelm or impress the taste buds. Instead, these are like watered-down Egg Nog jelly beans. Only when I put four or more in my mouth at a time did the flavor become creamy enough to taste realistically like a good egg nog. The flavor is not bad, it is just not potent enough.
That said, the Egg Nog 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 Egg Nog! 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! 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 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. They remain freshest when they are kept in an airtight container (the bag 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 Egg Nog Jelly Bellys stain anything.
Overall
Egg Nog Jelly Belly jelly beans might not have been worth my wait for them to return to the marketplace, but even having the less potent version of them is better than none at all! These Egg Nog jelly beans are worth picking up while they are available. And, hey, maybe if enough people do that, Jelly Belly will bring back the Earl Grey ones . . .
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors reviewed by me, please check out:
Bubbly (Champagne)
Pumpkin Pie
Draft Beer
6.5/10
For other Jelly Belly jelly bean reviews, please check out my Ultimate Jelly Belly Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
Buy the Egg Nog Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
directly from Jelly Belly!
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