Jelly Beans from the People Who Bring You the J for Your PB&J

Welch’s Jelly Beans

With a nickname like “The Jelly Bean Fiend,” you can bet I’m always on the lookout for a different brand or flavor of my favorite candy, so when I happened on a bag from the folks at Welch’s recently I took the plunge. The 8-ounce bag of Welch's Jelly Beans set me back a whoppin’ $1.99 at my neighborhood Walgreens – I was there in search of Brach’s pectin beans, but no luck – so I was pretty sure they weren’t “gourmet.” I was right. Unlike the super-cheap beans from WalMart and similar brands, these aren’t made in Mexico: they’re made in Brazil, and distributed by the Frankford Candy Company of Philadelphia.

Unlike true gourmet beans, Welch’s bag contains only five flavors: Concord Grape (of course!), Strawberry, White Grape Peach, Raspberry and Orange. The five have the appropriate colors, except that white grape peach is not white, grape, or peach – it’s yellow. Regardless of color, the beans all have the same stiff, off-white translucent sugar gel inside the flavored candy shell. All flavors are slightly tart, similar to those packaged by Jolly Rancher and Starburst. A couple of flavors have a slight chemical tang, perhaps from the “tarting” agent. According to the ingredient list, the beans are made with dried fruit powder and artificial colors, plus the obligatory carnuba wax to keep them shiny.

The beans are slightly larger than typical gourmet jelly beans and many are slightly misshapen – more like a crescent moon than a kidney bean. This doesn’t affect the taste, of course – those are fairly strong and the flavors are recognizable (except white grape peach, which is a little more peach-y than grape-y, if you ask me. There are, of course, no black beans (a positive in this fiend’s estimation)

They’re not gourmet and they’re kinda strange-shaped, but Welch’s are definitely better than the peg bags you get at the local gas station (or WalMart). I give them a leg up over the other semi-gourmet brands, but only enough to get them to 3½ stars.

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