Dunkin’ Refreshers Blended Fruit-Flavored Jelly Beans

Last time I mentioned that Frankford Candy is leading the charge with new jelly bean releases in recent years. This second set I held over from last season was Frankford’s big 2025 release, building on 2023’s initial Dunkin’ collaboration with a take on the fast food breakfast chain’s fruity green tea beverages.

I liked the Dunkin’ coffee beans pretty well; let’s see how these fare.

Size and shape

Size and shape are much improved from Frankford’s 2024 set, the regrettable Claussen Pickle Flavor Jelly Beans. These are more in line with the first Dunkin’ set. Maybe Frankford has multiple factories that account for the difference?

Average size is good, but the shaping is pretty lazy. A small proportion have a proper bean shape, but many are too flat, too round, or simply misshapen.

3 out of 5 beans

Chewability

I have no complaints here! These beans have just enough resistance to enjoy the chew without it ever becoming a chore, and rarely do they stick too much to the teeth.

The Claussen and Dunkin’ coffee reviews both noted some difficult outliers, but I have yet to encounter any of those in this bag.

5 out of 5 beans

Texture

These jelly beans have what I’ve come to think of as a standard modern jelly bean texture profile. The shell-to-insides ratio strikes the right balance, and the insides are not grainy (but not extremely smooth, either).

I do wish for the shell to not disintegrate quite so easily, but overall, it’s a fine texture.

3 out of 5 beans

Taste and flavor

I think it speaks well of these jelly beans that I quickly reach for more after each one or two I finish; they clearly have a baseline level of quality that makes them enjoyable to eat. That said, when I think about the individual flavors, I’m hot hugely impressed.

Lemonade is probably the best of the four; there is a nuance to the flavor that really captures the ideal balance between the tartness of a lemon and the bucket of sugar that you would use to mitigate that in a pitcher of the real-life beverage. The other three each have issues with the secondary fruit in their pairings.

Raspberry Watermelon is the tastiest to me, but I mostly get raspberry and not really any watermelon. As I’ve admitted before, though, part of my issue with the other two is not (to the best of my recollection) having any experience tasting passion fruit or dragon fruit in real life. The peach and strawberry are definitely identifiable, but they are not my favorite examples of those flavors. Both are lacking a little hit of acidity that would brighten them up just a bit.

5 out of 10 beans

The one-of-each test

Perhaps the ultimate test of a bag of jelly beans is how enjoyable it is to take one of each flavor and eat them all at the same time.¹

While the individual flavors may have been underwhelming, they work quite well together as a mouthful. The flavors stay pretty distinct, and it’s not a big workout to chew of these beans at once. This is actually my preferred way to eat these beans, rather than my usual preference of one or two beans of one or two flavors.

8 out of 10 beans

Conclusion

They don’t reach the same heights as the Dunkin’ coffee beans, but this is a solid collection of fruity flavors that I will happily finish. Those who are more into passion fruit and dragon fruit may find them even better than I did.