The folks that make the famous gourmet jelly beans have a few flavors of soda as well. Something key to Jelly Belly's success is how they can seemingly encapsulate about any flavor into a jelly bean. And, yes, they do make soda flavored jelly beans, including A&W Root Beer and Dr Pepper.
Gustav Goelitz was a German immigrant in who started a candy business in Belleville, Illinois in 1869. The Goelitz Confectionary Company was successful enough to open factories in Cincinnati and Chicago by 1904. In 1913, the company moved from Belleville, just east of St. Louis, to Chicago. Gustav's son, Herman, opened his own candy business, the Herman Goelitz Candy Company, in California. It was in the 1960's that they began producing jelly beans. In 1976, Herman Rowland, who was Herman Goelitz's grandson, worked with David Klein to create naturally flavored jelly beans. The Jelly Belly was born and named in tribute to blues musician Lead Belly. So while there is a long history of the companies behind Jelly Belly jelly beans, the first actual sale of Jelly Belly beans wasn't until 1976. Herman Goelitz Candy Company remained the company behind the Jelly Belly until 2001 when they renamed to form the Jelly Belly Candy Company. Since 2023 Jelly Belly has been owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. Ferrara brands include Lemonheads, Chuckles, Pixy Stix, Spree, Fun Dip, and Nerds.
The soda itself smells lemony like a can of lemon Pledge furniture polish. The taste isn't anything great in my opinion. It's basically a lemon sour with a puckering tartness but not overly tart. They've opted for cane sugar which is a surprise to me since I always picture jelly beans as being made in a chemistry lab with corn syrup.
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