jelly belly overload
pete and i took the day off today, rented a car, and drove up to fairfield, california, home of jelly belly. and went on the super special factory tour where you can taste jelly belly's at all stages of their growth. i ate so many jelly beans today i think i could live without seeing jelly beans for a few days, if not weeks. and that's saying a lot, because i f'in LOVE jelly belly's.
my favorite flavor? juicy pear. cinnamon comes a close second.
apparently, very cherry is the most popular flavor, followed by licorice, and then buttered popcorn. i find the last flavor on that short list hideous, personally. buttered popcorn?? gak.
tried toothpaste, that was actually not too bad!
vomit flavored jelly belly's began with pepperoni pizza (a failed flavor that never really made it because it was pretty disgusting, apparently) and they added some parmesan cheese flavor to make it a little chunky and then some citric acid, b/c when you puke, it's acidic. fun facts, people!
also, concentrated parmesan cheese flavor in liquid form is about the rankest smell ever, EVER created. a worker there was having fun with us and opened up the bucket and let us sniff, and holy cow, people...it was foul.
anyway, it was really fun. i recommend, if you like getting behind the scenes tours and seeing how things are made.