I’ve Been Bean Boozled!

My sweet, innocent family from Arizona came to town recently for a family reunion and brought with them an evil (but hilarious) game. My aunt and cousin were fully aware of my obsession with candy so when they asked if I would play a game that involved eating Jelly Belly jelly beans with the chance to win money, I thought, why not! They even sweet talked my father (not a game player) into joining. I should have known something was up when my uncle wouldn’t join, but I threw in my $5 and took a seat.

The game is designed so that two Jelly Belly jelly beans look IDENTICAL but have VERY different flavors. For example, a brown Jelly Belly may be Chocolate Pudding but it may also be Canned Dog Food. The catch is that there is absolutely no way to tell–not by color or smell. You won’t know until you bite into the candy.

There are different ways to “play” Bean Boozled so with our large group, we divided up the Jelly Belly’s into identical colors and then everyone chose one bean from each group. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into since the flavors of the nasty jelly beans had not yet been revealed. We started off easy…”Everyone eat your light blue Jelly Belly.” If it tastes like toothpaste and you eat it, you get two points. If you spit it out, you get one point and zero points for a (yummy) Berry Blue. Obviously, the goal is to collect the most points by being Bean Boozled and then actually eating the jelly bean (and keeping it down).

Note the picture above…this reaction by me was NOT from Toothpaste but instead from Rotten Egg. My gag reflex had been in check all night but this one pushed me over the edge. It’s hard to see in the picture but I was spitting out water and wiping my tongue hoping that the taste would go away.

Even my super macho cousin and brother-in-law couldn’t take the heat. My best advice is to make sure to keep PLENTY of water around and establish some game rules early. For example, how many chews per jelly bean is required to “count” as a point or can you just take one bite and swallow? When you’re chewing up a vomit-flavored jelly bean and want to make sure you get your points, these details are crucial!

Here’s a list of the flavor combinations. It’s probably good to keep them in the back of your mind in case a friend offers you a “peach” Jelly Belly.

Canned Dog Food – Chocolate Pudding

Skunk Spray – Licorice

Rotten Egg – Buttered Popcorn

Centipede – Strawberry Jam

Booger – Juicy Pear

Baby Wipes – Coconut

Barf – Peach

Moldy Cheese – Caramel Corn

Pencil Shavings – Top Banana

Toothpaste – Berry Blue

Bring this game to your next family reunion or party and while it may be pretty disgusting, it is guaranteed to garner some laughs!