Life Savers Jelly Beans: Assorted Flavors

In honor of the Chicago Cubs, playing in their first World Series since 1945, it’s time for a review of some jelly beans from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company of Chicago, Illinois – another set of beans that are based upon a prominent, preexisting brand of candy – Life Savers Jelly Beans.

I’ve definitely been a fan of the traditional Life Savers hard candy in my life, especially the classic cherry flavor. How do their jelly beans stack up?

Size and shape

The Life Savers beans are pretty inconsistent in size. ranging from teeny, tiny beans that are entirely shell to some beans that are the perfect size. Fortunately, none are too large.

The shape is a disappointment, as well. Though they are all somewhat elongated spheroids, each bean is fully rounded, with nary a dimple in sight.

2 out of 5 beans

Chewability

The chewability of these beans is perfect; They require a moderate amount of force, but not too much. Your mouth is not going to get tired chewing these beans, but they don’t totally fall apart on the first bite.

I should disclaim that this bag has been open for a couple months as I have procrastinated this review, so the current chewability may not be reflective of the beans in a freshly-opened package.

5 out of 5 beans

Texture

While the shell gets a little powdery when broken up, and the overall texture balance is too far in favor of shell (due to the small average size of the beans), the overall texture of Life Savers Jelly Beans is good. The insides are just right.

3 out of 5 beans

Taste and flavor

I’m a little puzzled by the inclusion of flavors that aren’t part of the traditional five flavors of Life Savers (grape, strawberry, and green apple), and the exclusion of pineapple is a great tragedy, but overall, the beans faithfully represent the flavor profile of Life Savers hard candies. The cherry flavor, especially, is a dead ringer for its hard candy inspiration.

That said, looking at the objective taste of them as jelly beans, leaving aside their resemblance to the original Life Savers flavors, I feel that they are definitely lacking in acidity. They also leave a bit of a waxy taste in your mouth. On balance, the taste of these jelly beans is rather mediocre.

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

Six beans is probably the perfect number for this test, so they’ve got that going for them. And the flavors work well together; they definitely feel like they’re all a part of the same family of flavor.

8 out of 10 beans

Conclusion

A respectable showing from these Chicago-based beans, but, frankly, not good enough for me to purchase them again in the future.