Jelly Belly Fiery Five Challenge

Jelly Belly has a new one! It's the Fiery Five Challenge!
While I was shopping at my neighborhood Ralphs, I saw a couple bags of these new Jelly Belly flavors. The package says they're part of the Bean Boozled line which has a whole bunch of crazy flavors. And for this taste test, we've got two other people who love hot stuff. It's Jacob and Matt! (properly socially distanced, of course)

These Jelly Belly beans look like they just might be a little hot...

Their packaging says Warning! Extremely Hot!

The kids weren't thrilled, but they said they would try it. Then I read the little writing at the bottom of the packaging. 

Oh my. Maybe these are going to be a little too hot for you guys. Some of my favorite parts are "Keep out of reach of children under the age of 13, the elderly and pets. Do not give to persons except with their permission, and only after sharing this warning." 

I had thought to do this with Richard and Chi too. I suppose they're out as well now. 

So when Jacob and Matt came over for lunch, I offered this up as a fun taste test to do! We'll see if they regret it. 

There's five different flavors to try in this Fiery Five Challenge. From least hot to most, there's Sriracha, Jalapeno, Cayenne, Habanero, and Carolina Reaper. 

Jelly Belly is one of those manufacturers that will try to go for the real thing versus using an artificial flavor. These really have jalapeno puree, cayenne puree, carolina reaper puree, and habanero puree (sriracha is made from jalapeno puree too). 

Sorted into colors, this is what we're dealing with. Our bag had a nice mix of all the different flavors. The other bag wasn't as good, having only two sriracha. At least it was enough to taste everything. 

Everyone is smiling now... Just wait. 

We opted to go from least hot to most hot, just to see what we were dealing with. That means without further ado, time to try the sriracha Jelly Belly!

Sriracha - This one isn't too bad. For having the top two ingredients of these being sugar, it's not particularly sweet. I don't feel any heat in the front of the mouth or on my tongue. It's only when I swallow that I am feeling some spice on the back of my throat. Is there a little garlic or vinegar in there? Maybe? I would say that this tastes like the sriracha that I'm used to using. They did a good job replicating it. 

Jalapeño - "This tastes like hot grass - Jacob". "These are horrible - Theresa". "These would be good on a taco - Matt". They definitely have a different flavor to go along with the heat. I still can't taste any heat on my tongue, but it does hit my throat when I chew it up and swallow it. It tastes like a jalapeno to me. And yes, it's a good thing the kids aren't participating in this. These first two would have been too hot for them. 

Cayenne - Now I'm starting to get some heat on my tongue. I can't say that I really know what cayenne tastes like. I always use cayenne powder in recipes, but I don't taste it by itself. Things are certainly starting to heat up though. I like hot foods and always order things spicy. And while my mouth is hot and I'm doing fine, my body is reacting to the heat. I'm starting to get a little sweat on my brow, so I know there's some spice in here. 

Theresa - "I'm done. I don't want anymore hot nastiness in my mouth."

Habanero - Huh. These taste a little sweet actually. I'm still getting the heat, but they've got an interesting flavor to go along with them. Not too bad. 

Carolina Reaper - The Guinness certified hottest pepper in the world. Oh yeah, there's definitely some heat to this Jelly Belly! At this point, I've got a couple drips of sweat on my forehead and my ears are starting to get a little puffy. Even after I've swallowed the Jelly Belly, the heat is still tingling my tongue. 

Afterwards, I'm not sure anyone else was happy to have gone through all that. It was certainly an experience, but I don't think any of them will be wanting to taste these ever again. I tasted them all again as I was writing this up, so I could describe them a little better. 

As a consolation, Theresa brought out a couple bags of Jelly Belly Sours (our favorite Jelly Belly mix), and Jacob shared a big plate of Rice Krispy Treats he had made. We also had milk available to anyone who wanted it. 

Despite liking spicy foods, I don't particularly want my candy spicy. These were an interesting taste test, but not one that we'll be repeating.