Forrelli Assorted Jelly Beans

Today we take a look at a very odd package that found its way onto the shelf of my neighborhood Walgreens: Forrelli Assorted Jelly Beans. I initially thought that this might be a new house brand for Walgreens, but research indicates that Walgreens still has its Nice house brand, which I reviewed in 2017 but haven’t seen on the shelf in several years. (Perhaps they are a year-round offering and thus don’t make it into the seasonal shelves that I usually scour for the latest jelly bean releases.)

Research indicates very little, though, about the set itself. Forrelli is one of a number of brands distributed by a conglomerate named Allied International, whose frame-based website looks like something I would have made when I was first learning to make websites in the late 90s. Is that an ominous portent for the beans themselves? Let’s find out!

Size and shape

If these beans were all the same shade of maroon, you might honestly think they were kidney beans. The size and shape is impressively close, and they are remarkably consistent.

This does put them somewhere between your common smaller jelly bean size and something you could call “jumbo”, which is sort of a weird middle ground. They’re just big enough that it feels a bit weird to grab two or three, but just small enough that one doesn’t seem like enough. I’ll dock one bean for that, but they are otherwise flawless in this category.

4 out of 5 beans

Chewability

The average chew on these Forrelli beans is just a hair too tough, which is probably most directly caused by the shell being quite thick. Taken individually, I really like the resistance that they offer, but your jaw might start to tire a bit after a dozen or so.

4 out of 5 beans

Texture

Dear reader, the first bite into one of these jelly beans was one of the most shocking experiences of my life! I was on a work call at the time, and I could not stop myself from exclaiming in surprise about how crunchy they are. I have had plenty of jelly beans with substantial shells, and I have repeatedly prized ones that break apart into nice hunks, but never have I ever encountered a shell like this.

I’ve been pondering what I think about it over the past couple days, and I think I have to conclude that even though I kinda like it, it’s just too hard of a texture for something called a jelly bean. I can’t come up with another descriptor, but again, they are downright crunchy. That is just not how a jelly bean should be described.

Getting past the shell, the insides are not as smooth as I would like, so ultimately this is a tough category for Forrelli.

2 out of 5 beans

Taste and flavor

Forrelli offers a fairly traditional set of fruit flavors, with raspberry, coconut, and licorice being the oddballs of the bunch. Unfortunately, the proportion of flavorless shell on these beans makes it a bit hard for the flavor contained in the insides to break through. The result is a fairly subtle experience all around.

Orange is an unexpected highlight, bringing more acidity than most classic orange jelly beans. Raspberry is a bit of a weird one; had it not been labeled on the package, I probably would have assumed it was strawberry. Licorice is always welcome, but it could be more intense.

No other flavors were noteworthy.

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

Given the medium size and slightly tough chewability, the difficulty factor on this one-of-each test hurts the score here. What’s really interesting, however, is the flavor alchemy that happens when you get all of these beans (licorice and coconut excepted) in the mouth. The acidity elevates, the flavors on the insides overwhelm the shells, and everything just sings in the mouth! It’s definitely a whole-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts situation.

8 out of 10 beans

Conclusion

While the texture and individual taste of Forrelli’s Assorted Jelly Beans left a bit to be desired, this is quite a respectable showing for a brand that isn’t nationally prominent. They are absolutely worth checking out if you’re curious about a crunchier jelly bean experience and like to eat a a mouthful at once.