Haribo Jelly Beans

It is long past time for me to review the jelly bean offerings of one of my favorite candy companies of all time: Haribo! The German candy maker is mostly known for its gummis of various kinds – such as the notable Goldbears, Happy Colas, and Twin Snakes – but they do, of course, have a jelly bean offering, and (spoiler alert) it’s pretty good!

Size and shape

On dumping out the package, the incredibly precise and consistent bean shape is immediately apparent. They are longer than most, with a glorious dimple. There is practically no perceptible variation in size or shape, which is really impressive.

The only reason I can’t give this category a perfect score is that the size is a little too large, venturing close to Russell Stover territory.

4 out of 5 beans

Chewability

My rating here will unfortuantely have to be a little fuzzy. I ordered these beans from a large online store (you know the one) that provides storefronts for independent sellers, and the seller that sold these sent me the German version of the product. I’m not sure if it’s related to it being the German version or not, but there is no “best before” date printed on the packaging, and I think they sent me a pretty old package. Most of these jelly beans seem harder than they should be too chew.

About a quarter of them chew reasonably easily, though, which indicates to me that when these beans are fresh, they aren’t too hard to chew, though it feels like they are probably still on the tougher side of average. There is also a little bit too much sticking to the teeth.

2 out of 5 beans

Texture

Haribo’s jelly beans, like their gummi candies, have an outstanding texture. The shell, which is pleasantly on the thinner side, is very smooth. It would be nice if it broke into bigger hunks, but that’s nitpicking.

The insides are very smooth, as well. There is not a bit of unpleasant grit to be found in any part of the eating process.

4 out of 5 beans

Taste and flavor

My overarching impression of the flavors of these beans is that the flavors are much more complex than typical American jelly beans. Though the package does not name the flavors explicitly, you can tell what they are supposed to be, but there are also subtle undertones that one doesn’t normally encounter in a typical jelly bean. I’m not sure I can put my finger on exactly what all of these undertones are, but it’s quite a pleasant departure from the norm! Actually, they bear a passing resemblance to one of my favorite British candies, wine gums.

The grape bean has a distinct anise note to it, while the lemon and lime beans are some of the most true-to-life representations of their real life counterparts that I have encountered. The shell of the pineapple initially brings to mind candied pineapple, though it progresses more toward fresh pineapple as you chew through it. Strawberry also has a bit too much of a refined sugar taste up front, but again finishes stronger. Finally, orange is pleasant, but unremarkable.

7 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

The size of these six Haribo beans puts them at a slight disadvantage in this category, and that is not helped by the chewing difficulty added by the suspected age of this package. However, after working through the bland sugary shells, the flavors meld together exceptionally well! Individuality is retained, and there is brightness without overwhelming acidity.

With a fresh package, I think I would really enjoy eating handful after handful of these delightful beans.

8 out of 10 beans

Conclusion

Perhaps I came in prejudiced from prior positive perceptions of Haribo products, but I was particularly pleased with this package! I’m poised to purchase a properly fresh peck of pectin pretties at the next possible point in time.