More Beans for Valentines Day?

Starburst Heart-Shaped Jellybeans

A couple of news releases came across my Google alerts this month to let me know that Starburst had concocted a special release for Valentine's Day: heart-shaped jellybeans. In reality, the new product isn't anything particularly special: it's just a subset of the company's FaveReds cast in the shape of a valentine heart. Only two flavors are included, strawberry and cherry. Starburst left out their other two red flavors, watermelon and fruit punch. I'm fine with the omission of watermelon, but the fruit punch might have been welcome

Though the candies are allegedly heart-shaped, they tend to have a rather broad, smooshed-looking appearance that makes them look more like pregnant red bananas than they do hearts. They weight an average of about 2 grams each, so are a little more than twice the bulk of the typical gourmet bean.

Both flavors have a medium-hard sugar shell in two shades of red, the darker of which is the cherry flavor. Both flavors seem to me a little bit tart, which I suspect means they're aimed at the Sour Patch® generation. No matter which one you taste, though, the interior is a glutinous, translucent, slightly pinkish sugary gel. There's no difference in filling between the two flavors, only in the color and flavor of the shells.

The 11-ounce bag cost me $2.50 (on sale) in a local grocery; the regular price was $2.99. If the truth be told, I think that's overpriced: the flavors are somewhat indistinct and for that near-gourmet price ($4.35 per pound) I kind of expect to get a wider variety of flavors and the flavored gel center that marks most expensive beans. I also prefer my beans without the tartness, but that's just me.

If you want to give your sweetie some heart-shaped jelly beans, my advice is to skip the Starburst entry and head straight for the heart-shaped Cherry Lovers jellybeans made by Gimbal's Fine Candies. Now those are some tasty beans!

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