Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Sparkling Frozen "Icicle" Jelly Belly Mix- Old Navy (Gift)

My boss saw this little bag of Frozen themed jelly beans while she was shopping and she was kind enough to buy a bag to share with me. While the flavors in this mix are all from the normal Jelly Belly line, so there are no new flavors in this mix, I still wanted to write up a little review because, well, they're gorgeous!

The jelly beans in this mix have been coated in some kind of edible luster dust in both pearly white/silver and iridescent gold!

Inside the bag there are four different flavors. We have Berry blue, Blueberry, Cream Soda and Grape Soda. I might be mistaken, but I think they are available in the normal (large) Jelly Belly boxed sampler. (The only flavor I'm a little iffy on is the grape soda. That might be exclusive to the soda themed mixes.) As you can see, the flavor/color palette for this mix is obviously Elsa-inspired. These color remind me of Elsa's clothing, make-up, and (of course) her magical ice powers.

Now, before I get into this review I want to take a moment to say that I wouldn't call myself a Disney fan. I watch the films and I enjoy them, but it seems like there is a LARGE group of people who are absolutely obsessed with everything Disney. (Especially it's princesses.) I'm just not one of those people. I've watched Frozen, and while it was cute (and Idina Menzel has an amazing voice) it felt rushed story-wise. So, for me, the allure of these jelly beans isn't the Disney tie-in, but the (highly photogenic) luster-dusted beans!

Look at these photos! Oh man, these candies look like beautiful iridescent beads, or little dragon eggs! I showed them to my sister, and while she agreed that they were beautiful, she also said they look like they shouldn't be food, and I'd have to agree with her.

When I touched these jelly beans I thought the sparkly coating would rub off onto my hands, but it didn't. Not even a tiny fleck of glitter! These things must be coated with a decent amount of food grade wax or something to keep all that sparkle contained.

Enough looking, let's get to eating! Starting from right to left.

Sparkling Grape soda
: is a rich grape-y color with a silvery-white, almost metallic, coating. The fruity flavor was actually quite deep, like Welch's grape juice, but there was an artificial grape finish similar to grape freezer popsicles. It's a pretty authentic artificial grape soda flavor, but it comes off as rather flat.

Sparkling Cream soda: is a translucent white color with a frosty pearl finish. This bean tastes sweet, really sweet, and there is a hint of vanilla flavoring, but it certainly doesn't resemble any cream soda I've ever had. It's pleasant enough, but there's no attempt at recreating carbonation so there's nothing to cut through the overwhelmingly sweet flavor of this bean. (This was my least favorite, but kids would most likely love it.)  Actually, it tastes a lot like this fancy vanilla sugar I bought at Ikea.

Sparkling Blueberry
: the darkest color is the mix, t has the same silvery white coating as the cream and grape flavored beans. It starts out strong and fairly artificial, just like a blue Icee or Slurpee, but there is a slightly authentic fruity aftertaste. As far as artificial blueberries go, this isn't half bad.

Sparkling Berry Blue: to me, this is the most beautiful bean in the bag. Instead of the same old while and silver finish, this little bean is coated with a beautiful green/gold shade that changes with the light. I want this color as a nail polish! (Darn, I should have painted my nails for these photos and gotten all theme-y with it.) Now, I wasn't too sure what the flavor difference between blueberry and berry blue would be, but it seems like this is just a more artificial "blueberry." This tastes just like those blue freezer popsicles in the clear plastic squeeze-tubes.

I think the flavors in this mix would definitely appeal to children more than adults, and all of these flavors are in the normal Jelly Belly line up, so they really aren't worth buying taste-wise, but they look absolutely beautiful! Something worth noting, my boss told me this itty bitty bag cost her almost $6.00! That's insane! Six dollars for a bag of shiny jelly beans? This is like something out of Jack and The Beanstalk...or Pokémon. (Get it? Shiny Pokémon?) I'm super thankful that she bought it and let me review some of the candies, because these photos are absolutely gorgeous, but that is just too much money for a novelty product.

If you really love Frozen, or love taking pretty foodie photos, this is worth looking into. Other than that, these are just shiny 6-dollar jelly beans. I'd say pass them by unless they go on sale.
© Maria Smith

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