Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans

By popular demand¹, welcome to the first review of organic jelly beans on A Boy and His Beans! I’ve got four more bags of organic beans in the queue, too, so if that’s your thing, stay tuned for more.

First up in that series is Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going in. In previous experiences with organic candy, I’ve had mixed results. Some so good you’d never even realize they were organic, and some so terrible I wouldn’t finish the bag. I suspect that’ll be the case with the various organic jelly beans I will be reviewing, as well.

Let’s see how the Surf Sweets do!

Size and shape

Size is good, but juuust a hair small on average, and its consistency is not as strong as I’d like.

Shape is generally OK. Most beans show evidence of an attempted dimple and none have large flat areas, but there’s an occasional unevenness or pointy protrusion.

3 out of 5 beans

Chewability

These jelly beans are rather easy to chew. A bit too easy, actually. The way the shell gives way reminds me of Starburst beans, which is good, but I like the insides to have a bit more strength than these beans have.

3 out of 5 beans

Texture

Unfortunately, texture is a weak spot for Surf Sweets. The shell, which is too thick in proportion to the insides, becomes grainy as it breaks down. The proportion imbalance causes the shell to overpower the insides, which almost melt away. It’s just not working for me.

2 out of 5 beans

Taste and flavor

The flavors or Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans are pretty subtle. I feel like I’m starting to harp on the shell, but I wonder how much of this is due to the shell thickness. It seems like most of the fruit flavors are contained within the insides, and the shell has a fairly uniform white sugar taste to it across all of the flavors.

Subtlety aside, the flavors are very natural and true. Grapefruit, one of my very favorite flavors, makes only its second appearance on this site, so I’m grateful for that. A bit more acidity would be nice, especially for the citrus flavors.

4 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.²

Eating of each of the five flavors of these beans is simple, thanks to the ease of chewing and the size of the beans. Sadly, shell is again the downfall of this category, with its bland sugariness dominating the fruit flavors.

5 out of 10 beans

Conclusion

Surf Sweets are a good organic jelly bean, but the thick, sugary shell hurts them in almost every category. I look forward to seeing how other organic jelly beans fare.