Jelly Bellys

Lets talk Jelly Belly. As far as I am concerned Jelly Belly's are the epitome of food engineering. How do they get all that flavor into a small bean. Its surely one of the wonders of modern science. The squints love 'em. Its the best present to bring back to squint central from the US. You can't get them here, they have pretty colors and there are a lot of them in a package.

The packages usually don't last more than a day or two here. I leave them in the "engineering lounge" and over the course of a few days, the level in the jar decreases at a steady pace. What is interesting is what flavors are left at the end. Usually cinnamon and licorice. Two flavors I like, but locally people think are weird. I particularly don't like the root beer or Dr. Pepper flavors, two tastes I think you need to have grown up in the US to appreciate.

There is a lot of interesting facts around Jelly Bellys. They were Ronald Regan's candy of choice. He even had some sent into space for the astronauts to enjoy, on a Challenger mission (not the one that blew up). They are built with real fruit juices and natural flavors (where possible) and are certified kosher by the Orthodox Union (OU Kosher). They now even make "Extreme Sports Beans", that contain electrolytes, vitamins and 50mg of caffeine for when you need that quick boost.

If they were made in Israel we would probably have Bisli and humus flavors. I'm personally waiting for the Marmite flavor. A Marmite bean along with two buttered toasts (a flavor that appears to unfortunately have been discontinued) would make the perfect breakfast.