Decade after decade, household brands like Wonder Bread and Velveeta consistently satisfy the comfort food cravings of middle America, but when a sugar craving strikes, most know that one particular product line offers a semi-elitist fix without breaking the bank — Jelly Belly.
The 143 year old company has achieved the adoration of the masses, not for their gummy candies or candy corns, but for their ever-enduring collection of creatively flavored “gourmet†jelly beans.
As with the majority of their confectionery biz campadres, Jelly Belly wisely rolls out new products every now and again in an effort to successfully pique the interest of short attention spanned sugar junkies like myself.
Not surprisingly, I have gamely sampled everything from their super fruit-boosted, smoothie-inspired and citrusy, Sunkist-inspired assortments to their carbonated soda copycats and much maligned, taste bud taunting Bean Boozled jelly beans.
Compared to the pedestrian, sugar-coated jelly beans that I naively gobbled up in my youth – which were nothing more than glow-in-the-dark colored, highly refined cane globules – Jelly Belly makes consistently palate pleasing, flavorific beans that have become the reliable go-to fix for fans of chewy little nibbleys.
Chocolate Dips, are certainly a happy little addition to Jelly Belly’s candy empire. Unlike their hard-shelled brethren, these particular beans are liberated from their tough exterior and instead plunged into a very thin coating of glossy, dark, confectioners glaze-laden chocolate which makes for a pretty nifty chewing experience.
While the company apparently sells a five-flavor assortment packaged in a 4.15 ounce box (which includes chocolate-dipped coconut, orange, raspberry, strawberry, and cherry jelly beans), I’ve never seen it in person. Instead, I found an abbreviated selection of the chewy cocoa-covered wonders in 2.8 ounce peg bags (in coconut, orange, cherry, and mint) at a local candy haunt – so I snapped up one of each.
Are you now wondering if you should bother seeking these babies out?
First of all, do yourself a solid and avoid Jelly Belly’s Chocolate Dips in “Mintâ€â€¦ that is, if you’re not a fan of what comes off as being a medicine-like candy. You’d think that I was a card-carrying member of the mint-haters club but in addition to drinking several cups of peppermint tea after dinner, I make a habit of using a mint toothpaste and mouthwash combo twice a day, so what gives?
Quite simply, Jelly Belly’s beanologists were so heavy-handed with the breath-freshening flavor that in spite of its glossy dark chocolate robe, their eensie weensie brown bean is flat-out unpleasant and dare I say far too “earthy†for something masquerading as candy. Imagine ripping a 6 inch piece of mint straight out of your garden (with soil still clinging to the roots), shoving the whole piece in your mouth, and masticating for five minutes. Yup… that’s sort of what happened in my mouth. A chlorophyll-dirt explosion. Bleccchhh!
On the other hand, this sinus-clearing flavor would make a mighty fine post-meal freshening agent. Suck on one or two and you’d be good to go, but truth be told, I haven’t yet returned to my barely-touched bag, which methinks is a bad sign overall.
Things aren’t all doom and gloom in the world of Chocolate Dips however, especially with regard to Jelly Belly’s Very Cherry and Orange flavors. Consistency wise, they’re chewy in a fruity pate gel kind of way which made me a happy camper. The longer I allowed the cherry variety to sit on my tongue, the more apparent the stone fruit flavor became, whereas the orange version was consistently bright and full-bodied from beginning to end.
Does the chocolate exterior really enhance the overall experience? The package gives no indication of the actual cacao content, but it matters not. Once you emerge past the confectioners glaze, move through the perfectly palatable thin chocolate layer and into the heart of the juicy, jelly center, all is good in the candy neighborhood. Jelly Belly’s fruit flavored Dips were fun to munch and tasty through and through.
Let’s not neglect the coconut variety – despite my somewhat low expectations, I found it to be a surprising triumph. While some might feel that perhaps a milk chocolate exterior would be better suited to such a lovely little flavor escape, I found its dark coating to be especially well-suited to the oven toasted, macaroon-like interior.
Gourmet sugar junkies may require a bit more motivation before jumping on board the Jelly Belly Chocolate Dips train, but for those seeking a better than average flavor-boosted chew, their beans deliver the goods for a respectable $1.50 per bag.
