Even though looks are to the contrary, Jelly Belly Sport Beans are not Jelly Beans. I made the mistake in eating them thinking they were just a caffeinated treat, the fusion of caffeine and the deliciousness of Jelly Belly jelly beans. These are not in the same category as caffeinated snickers bars or energy mints – it seems this is a workout snack for serious athletes. I found much more information on these beans on their site than what is on the package, where it states that these beans were created and designed for anyone engaged in prolonged exercise of 60 minutes or more.

Rather than being sold in candy and coffee shops, these beans provide as much hydration and nutritive qualities as a caffeinated Gatorade. As a mater of fact, In a study held conducted by the University of California Davis School of Medicine Sports Program, Sports Beans were proven just as effective as popular sports drinks and gels in maintaining blood sugar levels and improving exercise performance in competitive endurance athletes.

Even as a sports drink, I have some problems with this as opposed to a Hydrive or other caffeinated sports drinks. This snack is high in calories, does not taste that great and hard to eat with one hand. Moreover, there is something sacred about the jelly bean. Jelly Belly is the frontrunner, the Maserati of jelly beans. If I wanted a bad jelly bean, there are dozens of those – and if I wanted a blah sports drink, the convenience stores are chock full of Gatorades, Propels and a dozen knock offs.

Taste:4
Table sugar (sucrose) and corn syrup. They mention on their site this is used as a carb source, equal to sport drinks. Unfortunately, this mix destroys the basic joy of jelly belly. JB is one of those things that have a firm hold in peoples minds – the first time they had a buttered popcorn that tasted like buttered popcorn – or the thrill of a full package of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. These beans do not taste like cherry or watermelon – and certainly don’t taste like a jelly belly should. As a sports nutrition device for high endurance athletes this might be helpful, but I would not ever get these again.

Buzz/Nutrition:6
Sport Beans® jelly beans have 100 calories per packet. This also contains 25 grams of carbs, a huge supply of electrolytes (sodium and potassium). The beans contain Thiamin (vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), and Niacin (Vitamin B3), as well as Vitamin C. They are very high in the things a body needs in a workout. Basically, this is gatorade in a very small concentrated package. The 2 flavors I tried out of the 6 they have contain 50mg of caffeine per bag. So of course I ate both packages and felt a small buzz. If you are looking for a caffeinated little treat, this is not it. you would need at least 2 packages to get any sort of real buzz, and for the 300 calories you would be consuming, just grab something tastier.

Packaging:5
seeing as I am not trying to open this while running a marathon or on my 7th hour on the Reebok Spinner, the problems I have with the package are much more inconsequential than athletes seem to have. For me, these sport beans look good enough, listing the website and the caffeine, as well as the instructions for use and the nutrient content.
The issue the correct audience for Sport Beans have is the frustration of having a hard to rip open package – forcing them to stop exercising to consume them. Gels come with nifty tops that rip off, and bars or blocks can be opened easily. This package comes in a strong sealed package – impossible to open single handedly. If this candy is really just for those endurance athletes, they really should have consulted one when it came to package design.

Website:8 sportbeans.com
In terms of wealth-of-information, this website has it down. Not only does it tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the beans, but also a big FAQ with scientific studies to back up their claim. They miss a beat adding superfluous stuff like screenshots, galleries and computer downloads, but I appreciate the info, and the non -snazzy, non-flash html pages, absolutely not necessary on a site like this.