Bean counting

Have you done your Easter shopping yet? We just stopped by Walgreens to discover that buying a bag of jellybeans these days is about as complex as buying new car. So many flavors! How to choose?

We ran a little blind taste test in the office to help you decide. 

Metromix staffers rated each brand on a scale to 1 to 5 (1 is yucky, 5 is yummy). We also wanted to see if they could matched some of the flavors listed on the packaging.

Here are the results. You may want to hold on to your Easter bonnets!

BRAND: JELLY BEANS (Generic from Walgreens)
Purported flavors: strawberry, lime, lemon, grape, orange, licorice, cherry, vanilla

LISA ARNETT
Favorite flavor:  Hands down, the pink. Totally tastes like cotton candy to me.
Tasting notes: These look like the classic, old-school jelly beans that always seem to have twice as many licorice beans as other flavors. And I hate licorice. 

KAREN BUDELL
Favorite flavor: pink, green
Tasting notes: Waxy and chewy, I’m thinking this is what crayons would taste like if they were spiced up with a hint of fruit and made edible. Avoid the black (licorice…you either love it or hate it. I hated this.)

REBECCA PALMORE
Favorite flavor: licorice
Tasting notes: This is the cookie-cutter/everyman's jelly bean, nothing remarkable, too squishy.

M. KATHLEEN PRATT
Favorite flavor: cherry
Tasting notes: Plump, but not packing a lot of flavor. The pink one tasted like feet and the purple one had no discernable flavor at all. The good news: Black is mild too, so it's actually not bad.

FINAL RATING: 2.2

BRAND: LIFE SAVERS: ASSORTED
Purported flavors: cherry, lemon, green apple, orange, strawberry, peach, grape, pineapple 

LISA
Favorite flavor:  Love the yellow -- it's super lemony.
Tasting notes: The purple tastes distinctly like grape Kool-aid. Or grape Dimetapp. The white/transparent one was kind of lemon-lime/cream soda-tasting. 

REBECCA
Favorite flavor: tangerine
Tasting notes: Distinct and tangy; the small shape is cuter than its traditional pudgy cousin

KAREN
Favorite flavor: tangerine and cherry
Tasting notes: The flavors are faily spot-on: green apple, coconut, cherry, and even a distinct difference between tangerine and orange.

MATT
Favorite flavor: pink lemonade
Tasting notes: Remember when Cinnaburst gum used to advertise having flavor crystals? I can taste flavor crystals. 

 FINAL RATING: 4.4 (WINNER!!!)

BRAND: LIFE SAVERS: PASTELS
Purported flavors: Red raspberry, mango medley, cotton candy, watermelon, blueberry, pina colada

LISA
Favorite flavor:  green
Tasting notes: Jelly beans should not taste like coconut. I did not see that coming with the white ones. This pastel orange one started out OK with the first bite, until I realized it tasted like cantaloupe, which I can't stand. 

KAREN
Favorite flavor: blue
Tasting notes: Most have more of a melon flavoring, but the green sort of tasted like grass clippings.

REBECCA
Favorite flavor: coconut
Tasting notes: Love Easter pastels, but they don't taste as nice as they look; peach-colored one has a frighteningly soapy aftertaste; after a handful, my mouth is fuzzy. Weird.

KATHLEEN
Favorite flavor: coconut
Tasting notes: These look like Easter. But I can't tell what some of the flavors are ... there are three or four I'd just call "fruit punch." I miss the black ones.

MATT
Favorite flavor: A light orange bean that gave off a late hint of mango. I think.
Tasting notes: The flavors are the most subtle, so I'm not sure I can taste anything specific.

FINAL RATING: 3 

BRAND: WONKA NERDS: BUMPY JELLY BEANS
Purported flavors: None specified 

LISA
Favorite flavor: Orange. It reminds me of the watery orange drink stuff they used to serve at McDonald's.
Tasting notes: The bumpy texture on these makes them look like rabbit turds. But in technicolor.

REBECCA
Favorite flavor: grape
Tasting notes: This is what happens when jelly beans and nerds procreate.

KATHLEEN
Favorite flavor:  pink
Tasting notes: Little alien jelly bean, covered in bumps, but I love the sour flavor. These remind me of something from my childhood. Pop rocks? I can't put my finger on it.

MATT
Favorite flavor: A very grape soda-esque grape. Oddly refreshing.
Tasting notes: The fruit emerges from the weird outer shell like someone pouring juice into your mouth from underneath your tongue.

FINAL RATING: 3.8 

BRAND: WONKA GUMMY SWEETART BUNNIES
Purported Flavors: None specified

LISA
Favorite flavor:  Tie between the pink and green. I have no clue what flavor the pink is, but I love the apple-y green one.
Tasting notes: Hey, these aren't jelly beans at all! How'd these make the cut? I am obsessed with gummi candy, so these are my favorite, hands down.

KAREN
Favorite flavor: orange
Tasting notes: Not much to say except these squishy, sugar-coated bunny gummies have a slight SweeTart flavor.

REBECCA
Favorite flavor: grape
Tasting notes: Soft gummy texture gets a nice finish with sugar coating; tangy but not tart; these are some chewy bunnies!

KATHLEEN
Favorite flavor:  orange
Tasting notes: These are not beans unless they hatched into gummy bunnies. They all kind of taste the same.

MATT
Favorite flavor: NONE
Tasting notes: Not even the shape and sourness of Sour Patch Kids can counteract the sensation of a sponge in your mouth. Tastes like flavored rubber.

FINAL RATING: 3.2

BRAND: BRACH'S CLASSIC JELLY BIRD EGGS
Purported flavors: cherry, grape, raspberry Pineapple, orange, lemon, lime, licorice 

LISA

Favorite flavor: none 
Tasting notes: I thought these were the same as No. 1, until I bit into one. There's little flavor in any of these.

KAREN
Favorite flavor: red
Tasting notes: They’re trying to capture specific fruit flavors but falling flat and processed.

REBECCA
Favorite flavor: licorice
Tasting notes: These are the kind of old-school, discount beans every kid laments during Easter, but the licorice flavor leaves a great ouzo aftertaste.

KATHLEEN
Favorite flavor: none 
Tasting notes: These have an almost medicinal taste. I ate a black one and now I can't get the taste to go away. 

FINAL RATING: Rating: 1.4