According to the National Confectioner’s Association (NCA) April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day. While the history of National Jelly Bean day is unclear, the strong flavors of jelly beans can actually affect your whole body. Your taste receptors, although located mainly in your tongue, can cause sensations throughout your body. In fact, you have receptors in your stomach, intestine and pancreas.
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But back to the beans. The Jelly Belly Company produces the most popular gourmet beans. Despite their 50 standard jelly bean flavors, they also produce beans with vomit and skunk flavors, among other surprising types. Don’t ask why; just go with it. Here are 15 gourmet, or at least unusual, jelly bean flavors that will affect your whole body.
1. Tabasco: Jelly Belly makes a hot tabasco-flavored bean. They are flavored with genuine Tabasco sauce spices, and are marketed to those who like it hot. Just have some water nearby. You’ll need it!
2. Buttered popcorn: Jelly Belly claims that this is their most popular flavor. Except for being sweet, they really do taste like buttered popcorn. The company even sells them in a box designed like a movie theater popcorn container.
3. Sizzling cinnamon: Jelly Belly makes several varieties of cinnamon-flavored beans but, sizzling cinnamon is their hottest. The company describes the flavor as “cinnamon with a kick.” Eat enough of these and you’ll burn your tongue!
4. Toasted marshmallow: The company claims that eating these during the summer will keep you inside, away from mosquitos. They do have a taste reminiscent of toasted marshmallows, but not quite so gooey.
5. Acai berry: It was bound to happen. The popularity of Acai in diet formulas, flavored water and juices has now led to an acai-flavored jelly bean. Currently, the acai beans are sold in a “superfruit mix” with Barbados cherry, cranberry, and blueberry-pomegranate flavors.
6. Mojito: The popular lime and mint mixed drink is now a jelly bean. It’s like having a mojito but without the hangover.
7. Moldy cheese: Jelly Belly makes a collection of both normal and weird flavors, which the company calls “Beanboozled.” Apparently, the moldy cheese flavor has made at least one person upchuck. Nice.
8. Baby wipes: Baby wipes beans look like the company’s regular coconut flavor, but the taste is quite different. We’re not sure whether the flavor is intended to represent clean or dirty baby wipes?
9. Licorice: Licorice is one of those flavors that people either love or hate, and practically every jelly bean confectioner makes black licorice jelly beans. Jelly Belly is no exception. You can even buy a 10-pound box of them!
10. Skunk spray: The Beanboozled Skunk Spray flavor bean looks just like the company’s black licorice bean. It allows you to experience what it’s really liked to be “skunked” but, without having to go out to the woods. That is, if you really want to experience that.
11. Barf: Yeah, we’re starting to get grossed out too. The company actually makes two varieties of vomit flavored beans; their Bertie Bott’s vomit version, which actually isn’t all that bad, and the barf-flavored bean, which comes in the Beanboozled collection.
12. Black pepper: The black pepper beans are also part of the Bertie Bott’s collection, inspired by the Harry Potter movies.
13. Grass: Ever wonder what your dog tastes when he eats grass? Now you can find out! This is yet another Bertie Bott’s Bean, where it joins other little darlings, like Dirt and Earthworm.
14. Sausage: One reviewer describes the Bertie Bott’s sausage bean as tasting salty— we imagine so.
15. Sour cherry: Sour cherry remains one of the company’s most popular flavors. They’re sold alone, or mixed with other flavors. Not to be confused with Jelly Belly’s cherry sour flavor.
