A couple of years ago, after showing my parents the Try Guys' Rank King series, we got hooked on doing rankings of completely arbitrary, random things. We did a couple of the same ones as Eugene (fruit, girl scout cookies), followed by candy bars. When planning my parents' trip to see me this past weekend, we realized that Jelly Belly had already done us the favor of packaging their 50 Official Flavors into one gift box, and within 24 hours of that discovery, a box was purchased, and our plan was made.
Today, in the spirit of I'm right, you're wrong, shut up, I'm going to be presenting only my personal ranking of the 50 flavors. However, for once, instead of being the outlier among the 3 of us, I think my ranking was the least divisive (apart from their top 2).
Of course, since this is a ranking of flavors, this list is entirely subjective. Popularity plays no part in this list-- it's entirely my personal taste. There are some very polarizing beans, and I have opinions on them. I'm right, you're wrong, shut up might be the official Rank King motto, but these are literally just jelly beans. If I hate your fave, it's not that serious. I'm not here to take them away from you. Keep eating your gross snot beans in peace-- I don't need you berating me because I didn't like the flavor of a jelly candy.
Alright, enough rambling-- on to the list.
50. Juicy Pear
I wasn't expecting much, thanks to its snot-like appearance, but it somehow managed to disappoint. There are a handful of flavors I disliked, but this is the only one I actually spit out.
49. Plum
Me: "This tastes like paint smells." My mom: "weirdly, that makes sense."
48. Buttered Popcorn
This is a divisive flavor, and I've always fallen on the side of dislike. Some flavors should not be recreated as jelly candy, and this is one of them.
47. Licorice
In my experience, it seems like disliking licorice is a mostly universal opinion, and yet this flavor is still around and seems to be one of their most popular flavors. It's not offensively bad, but I'm not going back for seconds.
This is a divisive flavor, and I've always fallen on the side of dislike. Some flavors should not be recreated as jelly candy, and this is one of them.
47. Licorice
In my experience, it seems like disliking licorice is a mostly universal opinion, and yet this flavor is still around and seems to be one of their most popular flavors. It's not offensively bad, but I'm not going back for seconds.
46. Kiwi
It's been probably 2 decades since I ate my last kiwi, so I can't say how accurately this imitates its flavor. But I guess I now know why I haven't had a kiwi in the past 20 years!
45. Mango
I'm not a fan of mango in the first place, so this didn't really stand a chance. However, my dad, who does like mango, still put it in his bottom 10. So even mango fans might not enjoy this one.
44. Cantaloupe
Once again, I'm not a fan of cantaloupe already, and although my mom does like cantaloupe, she ranked it even lower than I did, and didn't want more than one. However, it tastes like a pretty accurate cantaloupe reproduction to me, so maybe my taste buds are just off.
43. Strawberry Jam
Strawberry is generally the quintessential totally inoffensive, everyone likes it flavor. But I found that every variety of strawberry in these beans just tasted a bit off/funky. They nail a lot of flavors, but strawberry is definitely not one of them.
42. Chocolate Pudding
This is another case of a flavor that I think simply doesn't work for me in a jelly form. The chocolate flavor is so artificial and really at odds with the texture. I used to like this when I was younger, but my advice now is that if you want chocolate or chocolate pudding, get it in its real form, not like this.
41. Caramel Corn
Some flavors taste very different, depending on what you eat before or after. Eating this after having buttered popcorn was GREAT, because the caramel flavor was at the forefront. Any other time, however, the popcorn flavor just still doesn't work for me in this format. Give me just a straight caramel bean and I'd be interested.
40. Chili Mango
I was so excited for this one. I love spicy/sweet mixes (like those spicy Starbursts from a few years back!), but the mango flavor really held it back for me. If they made a chili version of another flavor, however, I think I'd really like it. Just... maybe not strawberry.
39. Strawberry Daiquiri
This is a bit better than the strawberry jam, but not by a lot. There's just some weird funkiness to their strawberry flavor that I just can't get past.
38. Pink Grapefruit
We're moving into the "it was fine" territory with this one. It doesn't have a very strong flavor (a common theme in this middle section), but the flavor that is there has a decent tang.
37. Tangerine
Once again, not a super strong flavor. I'm pretty meh on orangey flavors overall, and I think this is the least successful version of that in this collection.
36. Crushed Pineapple
This was an absolutely crushing placement for me. My parents and I love pineapple, but this just didn't have much flavor. They might taste stronger if you were just eating these for a while, but trying several flavors back to back, this barely tasted like pineapple.
35. Blueberry
Definitely a bit more of a sour flavor than some of the other fruity flavors on this list. I don't have too much to say about this one-- it's fine.
34. Peach
Another unfortunate victim of very little flavor. My dad loves peach, and I quite like it too, but we both had it in our bottom half, entirely due to its weak flavor.
33. Berry Blue
With its bright, bold color, I was expecting a big punch of blue raspberry or something, and that was kinda there a little, but this is another one that just had a bit of a funky flavor to it. Something just tasted a bit off.
32. Watermelon
It's a pretty standard watermelon flavor. It's fine. Not a super strong flavor, and it does have a bit of a funky aftertaste, but overall, it's decent.
31. Sunkist Orange
It's orange! lol. It's essentially just a basic, pretty sweet orange flavor. It's fine, but orange isn't one of those flavors I'm clambering to grab for.
30. Orange Sherbet
Originally, I had this and the Sunkist orange swapped, but I decided I liked the creaminess of this one enough to place it higher. If you like orange dreamsicles, you're in luck-- that's what this tastes like! That's a flavor I could take or leave, but I do think they nailed it.
29. Strawberry Cheesecake
I was hoping to love this, because I always love cheesecake flavors. This is definitely the best of the versions of strawberry that they have, and it is largely thanks to the cheesecake flavor minimizing some of the strawberry funk.
28. Raspberry
Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits, but this one doesn't quite do it for me. It almost tastes like this was supposed to also be a jam flavor, but doesn't quite nail the raspberry flavor for me. It seems like they're going the "real fruit" flavor route, instead of the "fruit candy" flavor route, and I'd definitely prefer the latter.
26. Bubble Gum
Despite being called bubble gum and having a really good, strong bubble gum flavor, this bean manages to somehow not be the jelly belly with the strongest, best, or most accurate bubble gum flavor (which you'll see in a minute...).
26. Cinnamon
This is a perfectly good cinnamon flavor. It's classic. It's iconic. It tastes like a red hot. It's just not a flavor I'm personally ever going to actively reach for. 25. Sizzling Cinnamon
Literally just a more intense (read:better) version of the standard cinnamon flavor. Not much else to say. (This & cinnamon are my parents' favorites, so they were not thrilled with my placement)
24. Green Apple
It's got a really nice sweetness and tang. Definitely not the really bold green apple you might get from other candies, but it's got a nice flavor.23. Red Apple
I wasn't expecting to put red higher than green, because green apple is a much more established candy flavor, but this had a bold, tangy, sourness that I quite enjoyed.
22. Cream Soda
I associate jelly beans pretty heavily with fruity flavors, so at first, I felt like some of the creamy flavors were along the popcorn/chocolate lines-- not something that should be made in jelly form. But as you're going to see, a lot of creamy flavors ended up pretty high on my list. Something about them just works for me! 21. Coconut
Although it's in the top half, this is another that suffered from a weaker flavor overall. I love coconut, so I expected it to be really high, but this doesn't have the best coconut flavor, and the flavor isn't very strong either.
20. Top Banana
This is definitely reminiscent of banana laffy taffy, so if you're one of those weirdos that doesn't like that, you won't like this either. My dad hates banana in every form and fashion, so this was really low for him. But I'll take all the banana that I can get.
19. Tutti Fruitti
I mentioned this one earlier when talking about bubble gum-- this literally tastes like you took a classic bubble gum brand and injected its flavor directly into the bean. It's been too long since I've had any of those, so I'm not sure if it's Double Bubble or Super Bubble, but it's one of those, and this tastes exactly like that.
18. Margarita
We've now reached the lemon and lime pit stop on this list. This one's fine, but there are much better citrus flavors to come, and a much better version of lime.
17. Sunkist Lemon
This is your classic super, super, super sweet lemon flavor. My whole family loves lemon, to the point that lemon-flavored things rarely have enough lemon for us. So, I really enjoyed this one, but I don't think it's the best lemon option available.
16. Lemon Lime
Aptly, this is essentially the color of Mountain Dew, and I think it leans more Mountain Dew than Sprite in terms of flavor, too. I haven't had the 7Up bean, so I can't compare it, but this has a good lemon lime flavor.
15. Piña Colada
Strangely, although both pineapple and coconut placed lower than this, when I tried them together, it was better than the piña colada bean itself. Nonetheless, pineapple and coconut are two of my favorite flavors in general, and I think the combination of them is nailed better than either bean on their own.
14. Island Punch
This is another that suffered from a really subtle flavor, but I absolutely love the flavor that's there, and depending on what you eat before it, you can taste the flavor better. If the flavor were cranked up a few notches, this could be in the top 10.
13. French Vanilla
Originally, this was in my top 6, but I was forced to drop it because it's another that just doesn't have a strong flavor. I love vanilla. Vanilla > chocolate every single day. And I love the flavor of this bean. But it's not very strong at all, and if you eat it after a really flavorful bean, you might not even taste it. So I couldn't, in good conscience, put it all the way up in my top tier.
12. Cotton Candy
This was a pure hit of nostalgia. As a kid, there were a handful of flavors I always got, and this was one of them. It's probably the most strong, aggressively sweet bean in the pack, but it tastes like childhood, and I love it. 11. Lime
This is the very last bean in the 50 flavor pack, and what a way to end the taste test. This has a super strong, bold lime flavor that left most of the other citrus in the dust. Really, really, really great.
10. Pomegranate
I could probably count the number of times I've had pomegranate in my life on one hand, but if this is what they taste like, I need to change that STAT. Really good flavor, really nice tang, and a total pleasant surprise. This one came out of nowhere for me.
9. Wild Blackberry
This & pomegranate are the first 2 flavors in the box, so I spent quite a while wondering if they were so high just because they were first. But when I circled back, they were still excellent. They definitely went for a "blackberry candy" flavor here instead of trying to mimic "real blackberry," but I think I've proven that I prefer it that way! Like pomegranate, this was a pleasant surprise, and one I'd pick up if I were getting individual flavors at a candy shop. 8. Mixed Berry Smoothie
When I was a kid, there was a brand of yogurt that came with sprinkles in the lid to mix in, and it was one of my favorite sweet snacks. This tastes exactly like that yogurt. No one else in my family ranked this one very high, but I absolutely love it.
7. Sour Cherry
Although it's certainly more sour than the classic Very Cherry, it's not an overwhelming sour flavor, and I briefly considered placing it higher than its non-sour counterpart. It has a really strong flavor, and I didn't expect to love it almost as much as Very Cherry. Nostalgia ended up winning the day, but if you're a fan of sour candy, this might be the cherry you prefer.
6. Root Beer
This tastes exactly like those little root beer barrel candies. I wasn't aware until adulthood that root beer is a kinda polarizing drink/flavor in general, but we kept it around the house fairly frequently growing up, and I really like it. They really nailed the flavor of this one.
5. Lemon Drop
Lemon is one of my absolute favorite flavors, and IMO this is the best lemon flavor in the box. It's got a strong lemon flavor, with more sourness than the super-sweet sunkist lemon.
4. Cappuccino
I drink... so much coffee. I used to be one of those people who drowned it in creamer & sugar, but I always drink it black now, and have several cups a day. Coffee flavored things can be kinda hit or miss for me in their quality, but they usually are among my favorite options, and this cappuccino flavor is no exception.
3. Toasted Marshmallow
I'm well aware that my pallette tends to veer toward sugar, sugar, and more sugar. It's rare that something is too sweet for me. So it's no surprise that this creamy, pure sugar flavor, is among my absolute faves.
2. Very Cherry
Growing up, cherry was my flavor. Not just of Jelly Belly candy, but of everything. I always chose cherry if it was an option, and it remains a favorite to this day. As a kid, these were always my favorites, until they introduced a new flavor in 2006... (I think this was when it was introduced, idk for sure).........
1. Dr. Pepper
This is the least surprising thing ever to anyone who knows me. This has always been my favorite soda-- I was obsessed with it as a kid, and drank way too much of it in college. Even though I've had a lot less of it thanks to cutting out most soda and pulling back my sugar intake (kinda blew that with this taste test, huh?), it always hits the spot any time I happen to drink one. And this Jelly Belly flavor is an excellent recreation of the soda's flavor. 10/10, knocks it out of the park.
So, those are my rankings of Jelly Belly's 50 Official Flavors. Thanks for checking out my blog! Let me know your own favorite Jelly Belly flavors below in the comments! I had a bit too much fun putting this together, so I hope you enjoyed this, but I'm sure I enjoyed it even more. I think I'll head out now before I make myself sick from a sugar overload.
46. Kiwi
It's been probably 2 decades since I ate my last kiwi, so I can't say how accurately this imitates its flavor. But I guess I now know why I haven't had a kiwi in the past 20 years!
45. Mango
I'm not a fan of mango in the first place, so this didn't really stand a chance. However, my dad, who does like mango, still put it in his bottom 10. So even mango fans might not enjoy this one.
44. Cantaloupe
Once again, I'm not a fan of cantaloupe already, and although my mom does like cantaloupe, she ranked it even lower than I did, and didn't want more than one. However, it tastes like a pretty accurate cantaloupe reproduction to me, so maybe my taste buds are just off.
43. Strawberry Jam
Strawberry is generally the quintessential totally inoffensive, everyone likes it flavor. But I found that every variety of strawberry in these beans just tasted a bit off/funky. They nail a lot of flavors, but strawberry is definitely not one of them.
42. Chocolate Pudding
This is another case of a flavor that I think simply doesn't work for me in a jelly form. The chocolate flavor is so artificial and really at odds with the texture. I used to like this when I was younger, but my advice now is that if you want chocolate or chocolate pudding, get it in its real form, not like this.
41. Caramel Corn
Some flavors taste very different, depending on what you eat before or after. Eating this after having buttered popcorn was GREAT, because the caramel flavor was at the forefront. Any other time, however, the popcorn flavor just still doesn't work for me in this format. Give me just a straight caramel bean and I'd be interested.
40. Chili Mango
I was so excited for this one. I love spicy/sweet mixes (like those spicy Starbursts from a few years back!), but the mango flavor really held it back for me. If they made a chili version of another flavor, however, I think I'd really like it. Just... maybe not strawberry.
39. Strawberry Daiquiri
This is a bit better than the strawberry jam, but not by a lot. There's just some weird funkiness to their strawberry flavor that I just can't get past.
38. Pink Grapefruit
We're moving into the "it was fine" territory with this one. It doesn't have a very strong flavor (a common theme in this middle section), but the flavor that is there has a decent tang.
37. Tangerine
Once again, not a super strong flavor. I'm pretty meh on orangey flavors overall, and I think this is the least successful version of that in this collection.
36. Crushed Pineapple
This was an absolutely crushing placement for me. My parents and I love pineapple, but this just didn't have much flavor. They might taste stronger if you were just eating these for a while, but trying several flavors back to back, this barely tasted like pineapple.
35. Blueberry
Definitely a bit more of a sour flavor than some of the other fruity flavors on this list. I don't have too much to say about this one-- it's fine.
34. Peach
Another unfortunate victim of very little flavor. My dad loves peach, and I quite like it too, but we both had it in our bottom half, entirely due to its weak flavor.
33. Berry Blue
With its bright, bold color, I was expecting a big punch of blue raspberry or something, and that was kinda there a little, but this is another one that just had a bit of a funky flavor to it. Something just tasted a bit off.
32. Watermelon
It's a pretty standard watermelon flavor. It's fine. Not a super strong flavor, and it does have a bit of a funky aftertaste, but overall, it's decent.
31. Sunkist Orange
It's orange! lol. It's essentially just a basic, pretty sweet orange flavor. It's fine, but orange isn't one of those flavors I'm clambering to grab for.
30. Orange Sherbet
Originally, I had this and the Sunkist orange swapped, but I decided I liked the creaminess of this one enough to place it higher. If you like orange dreamsicles, you're in luck-- that's what this tastes like! That's a flavor I could take or leave, but I do think they nailed it.
29. Strawberry Cheesecake
I was hoping to love this, because I always love cheesecake flavors. This is definitely the best of the versions of strawberry that they have, and it is largely thanks to the cheesecake flavor minimizing some of the strawberry funk.
28. Raspberry
Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits, but this one doesn't quite do it for me. It almost tastes like this was supposed to also be a jam flavor, but doesn't quite nail the raspberry flavor for me. It seems like they're going the "real fruit" flavor route, instead of the "fruit candy" flavor route, and I'd definitely prefer the latter.
26. Bubble Gum
Despite being called bubble gum and having a really good, strong bubble gum flavor, this bean manages to somehow not be the jelly belly with the strongest, best, or most accurate bubble gum flavor (which you'll see in a minute...).
26. Cinnamon
25. Sizzling Cinnamon
Literally just a more intense (read:better) version of the standard cinnamon flavor. Not much else to say. (This & cinnamon are my parents' favorites, so they were not thrilled with my placement)
24. Green Apple
It's got a really nice sweetness and tang. Definitely not the really bold green apple you might get from other candies, but it's got a nice flavor.
23. Red Apple
I wasn't expecting to put red higher than green, because green apple is a much more established candy flavor, but this had a bold, tangy, sourness that I quite enjoyed.
22. Cream Soda
I associate jelly beans pretty heavily with fruity flavors, so at first, I felt like some of the creamy flavors were along the popcorn/chocolate lines-- not something that should be made in jelly form. But as you're going to see, a lot of creamy flavors ended up pretty high on my list. Something about them just works for me!
21. Coconut
Although it's in the top half, this is another that suffered from a weaker flavor overall. I love coconut, so I expected it to be really high, but this doesn't have the best coconut flavor, and the flavor isn't very strong either.
20. Top Banana
This is definitely reminiscent of banana laffy taffy, so if you're one of those weirdos that doesn't like that, you won't like this either. My dad hates banana in every form and fashion, so this was really low for him. But I'll take all the banana that I can get.
19. Tutti Fruitti
I mentioned this one earlier when talking about bubble gum-- this literally tastes like you took a classic bubble gum brand and injected its flavor directly into the bean. It's been too long since I've had any of those, so I'm not sure if it's Double Bubble or Super Bubble, but it's one of those, and this tastes exactly like that.
18. Margarita
We've now reached the lemon and lime pit stop on this list. This one's fine, but there are much better citrus flavors to come, and a much better version of lime.
17. Sunkist Lemon
This is your classic super, super, super sweet lemon flavor. My whole family loves lemon, to the point that lemon-flavored things rarely have enough lemon for us. So, I really enjoyed this one, but I don't think it's the best lemon option available.
16. Lemon Lime
Aptly, this is essentially the color of Mountain Dew, and I think it leans more Mountain Dew than Sprite in terms of flavor, too. I haven't had the 7Up bean, so I can't compare it, but this has a good lemon lime flavor.
15. Piña Colada
Strangely, although both pineapple and coconut placed lower than this, when I tried them together, it was better than the piña colada bean itself. Nonetheless, pineapple and coconut are two of my favorite flavors in general, and I think the combination of them is nailed better than either bean on their own.
14. Island Punch
This is another that suffered from a really subtle flavor, but I absolutely love the flavor that's there, and depending on what you eat before it, you can taste the flavor better. If the flavor were cranked up a few notches, this could be in the top 10.
13. French Vanilla
Originally, this was in my top 6, but I was forced to drop it because it's another that just doesn't have a strong flavor. I love vanilla. Vanilla > chocolate every single day. And I love the flavor of this bean. But it's not very strong at all, and if you eat it after a really flavorful bean, you might not even taste it. So I couldn't, in good conscience, put it all the way up in my top tier.
12. Cotton Candy
This was a pure hit of nostalgia. As a kid, there were a handful of flavors I always got, and this was one of them. It's probably the most strong, aggressively sweet bean in the pack, but it tastes like childhood, and I love it.
11. Lime
This is the very last bean in the 50 flavor pack, and what a way to end the taste test. This has a super strong, bold lime flavor that left most of the other citrus in the dust. Really, really, really great.
10. Pomegranate
I could probably count the number of times I've had pomegranate in my life on one hand, but if this is what they taste like, I need to change that STAT. Really good flavor, really nice tang, and a total pleasant surprise. This one came out of nowhere for me.
9. Wild Blackberry
This & pomegranate are the first 2 flavors in the box, so I spent quite a while wondering if they were so high just because they were first. But when I circled back, they were still excellent. They definitely went for a "blackberry candy" flavor here instead of trying to mimic "real blackberry," but I think I've proven that I prefer it that way! Like pomegranate, this was a pleasant surprise, and one I'd pick up if I were getting individual flavors at a candy shop.
8. Mixed Berry Smoothie
When I was a kid, there was a brand of yogurt that came with sprinkles in the lid to mix in, and it was one of my favorite sweet snacks. This tastes exactly like that yogurt. No one else in my family ranked this one very high, but I absolutely love it.
7. Sour Cherry
Although it's certainly more sour than the classic Very Cherry, it's not an overwhelming sour flavor, and I briefly considered placing it higher than its non-sour counterpart. It has a really strong flavor, and I didn't expect to love it almost as much as Very Cherry. Nostalgia ended up winning the day, but if you're a fan of sour candy, this might be the cherry you prefer.
6. Root Beer
This tastes exactly like those little root beer barrel candies. I wasn't aware until adulthood that root beer is a kinda polarizing drink/flavor in general, but we kept it around the house fairly frequently growing up, and I really like it. They really nailed the flavor of this one.
5. Lemon Drop
Lemon is one of my absolute favorite flavors, and IMO this is the best lemon flavor in the box. It's got a strong lemon flavor, with more sourness than the super-sweet sunkist lemon.
4. Cappuccino
I drink... so much coffee. I used to be one of those people who drowned it in creamer & sugar, but I always drink it black now, and have several cups a day. Coffee flavored things can be kinda hit or miss for me in their quality, but they usually are among my favorite options, and this cappuccino flavor is no exception.
3. Toasted Marshmallow
I'm well aware that my pallette tends to veer toward sugar, sugar, and more sugar. It's rare that something is too sweet for me. So it's no surprise that this creamy, pure sugar flavor, is among my absolute faves.
2. Very Cherry
Growing up, cherry was my flavor. Not just of Jelly Belly candy, but of everything. I always chose cherry if it was an option, and it remains a favorite to this day. As a kid, these were always my favorites, until they introduced a new flavor in 2006... (I think this was when it was introduced, idk for sure).........
1. Dr. Pepper
This is the least surprising thing ever to anyone who knows me. This has always been my favorite soda-- I was obsessed with it as a kid, and drank way too much of it in college. Even though I've had a lot less of it thanks to cutting out most soda and pulling back my sugar intake (kinda blew that with this taste test, huh?), it always hits the spot any time I happen to drink one. And this Jelly Belly flavor is an excellent recreation of the soda's flavor. 10/10, knocks it out of the park.
So, those are my rankings of Jelly Belly's 50 Official Flavors. Thanks for checking out my blog! Let me know your own favorite Jelly Belly flavors below in the comments! I had a bit too much fun putting this together, so I hope you enjoyed this, but I'm sure I enjoyed it even more. I think I'll head out now before I make myself sick from a sugar overload.
