This Must be what Happens When You Dehydrate Gatorade

Jelly Belly Sport Beans

When it comes to jelly beans, I love the little guys: I can only resist licorice and the snot- and earwax-flavored ones in the gross “BeanBoozled” collections. That means a packet of Jelly Belly Sport Beans is right up my alley, especially since I'm often looking for fortification and replenishment during exercise time.

I picked up a couple of the small resealable packets at a local bike shop for $1.35 each. They only stocked Lemon-Lime, which wasn’t my first choice from among flavors that also include cherry, watermelon, orange, berry, green apple, juicy pear and fruit punch. A packet weighs 28 grams (just about an ounce), and contains nine beans. They're larger than gourmet Jelly Bellys, but smaller than conventional brands like those from Ferrara.

Sport Beans are made with cane sugar and tapioca syrup instead of corn syrup; and contain fruit juice for flavoring. They also include (natural) vitamins B1, B2, B3, and C; plus interesting additives like pectin, beeswax, carnuba wax (aka Turtle Wax), sodium lactate, and salt. The full packet provides 100 calories, 0g fat, 0g protein, 25g carbs (17g of sugars), 80mg sodium, 40mg potassium, and about 10% of the RDA for each included vitamin. A couple of flavors are available as "extreme" versions, meaning the formulation includes 50mg of caffeine ( they’re not suitable for children!) Users are instructed to "Always consume with water." FWIW, the packaging (which is recyclable plastic) indicates that they’re Kosher.

Gobbling a packet of Sport Beans immediately before exercise seems to provide a bit of an energy boost, though not much more than a good dose of your favorite sports drink. DO pay attention to the warning to follow up with water, since failing to do so left me with a lingering queasiness because the beans are dense, both calorically and physically. Without that water, they just sit there in your tummy like little lead weights.

As far as taste is concerned, that’s not why someone buys Sport Beans: they’re supposed to be a nutritional supplement. On that count, they’re just average. On the plus side, the entire 100 calories weighs just an ounce; on the minus side, they contain minimal electrolytes and no protein at all. Pros: electrolyte and carb replacement in an eensy-beansy package Cons: no protein, may give you a crummy tummy Summary: If you want the most expensive flavor of Jelly Bellys yet, here they are: Sports Beans!

Hmmm... I wonder if I can get in on that class-action suit for "mislabeling" of the sugar content...

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