Does Macy's Tell Gimbal's? Bet They Eat 'Em!

Gimbal's Fine Candies Gourmet Jelly Beans

If the company website is to be believed, the Gimbal family has been the purveyor of fine candies in the San Francisco area for four generations, though no word on how long they’ve been making Gimbal’s Fine Candies Gourmet Jelly Beans or whether they or that other company just up I-80 (Jelly Belly®) started making little beans with strong flavors first. Gimbal’s offerings are the typical mini-sized beans one expects to find with the “gourmet” label, although there’s no company name printed on the shell.

Since they’re gourmet, you also expect a wide variety of flavors – much more than the six or seven found in convenience-store bags – and you also expect that the jelly filling will be flavored like the candy shell. You get that with Gimbal’s, in forty-one different flavors ranging from boysenberry to java to baja margarita. The flavors are strong and, for the most part, quite distinct from one another. A plus for the flavor-curious among the public is a color-coded guide printed on the back of each 14-ounce bag. There’s even a little “recipe” guide…

The candy shells are fairly soft, moreso than cheap beans and perhaps a little softer than the other gourmet brand’s shells. The filling is color-coded, although not unique to the flavor: pomegranate, for instance, has a red shell with pink dappling, while the jelly filling is dark pink – pretty much the same color as wild cherry and red delicious. The consistency of the gel is nicely chewy with a firm bite, unlike the gooey centers of the beans made by Starburst and Jolly Rancher. According to the company and proudly proclaimed on the packaging, Gimbal’s beans are made with real fruit juice – a claim that is demonstrably true, if a bit misleading: the only fruit juice is apple juice used in place of some of the sugar. They’re also allergen-free (no tree nuts, no peanuts, no soy), vegetarian (no eggs or dairy), and have no HFCS (they do, however, contain corn syrup). They’re gluten-free (like all jelly beans should be) and Kosher. The company uses artificial colors as well as carnuba wax, so they aren't vegan.

When it comes to taste, Gimbal’s beans are indeed exemplary: the flavor, especially of fresh beans, is quite powerful and holds up well throughout. Almost all flavors are savory, though a few are rather odd for the mixture. The only true oddity of a Gimbal's tasting is the peculiarly strong odor that lingers in the bag even when it’s empty. No idea what it is, either…

Considering the relatively low cost – I can find them in grocery stores for around four bucks a pound – these gourmet jelly beans are definitely an economical alternative to the big kids on the block, Jelly Belly.  A great value and a pretty darned good taste means about as good as you can get!

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