Behind the Scenes: Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans
[Harry] finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
“You want to be careful with those,” Ron warned Harry. “When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor—you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once.”
—J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, pg. 103-104
My husband and I found them while on a quest for jelly belly jelly beans—Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
As huge fans of the Harry Potter books and movies, we couldn’t resist. Since any jelly beans we bought were going to be part of my mother-in-law’s early Christmas gift to us, we each got ourselves two of the palm-sized boxes.
On the drive back to our hotel, I pulled a box from my bag and started reading the flavors. All the ordinary ones were listed—banana, blueberry, candy floss, cherry, green apple, marshmallow, lemon, tutti-frutti, and watermelon.
But the box also held some of the strange flavors like earwax, black pepper, and yes, even booger, that the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans in the books are so famous for. I read them out to my husband.
“You don’t think they actually taste . . . bad, do you?” I asked. “Who would ever buy them a second time if they really do taste like dirt or rotten eggs?”
My husband, Harry Potter expert that he is, argued that maybe they would taste just as terrible as in the books. After all, not knowing what flavor you’re going to get, whether it will be delicious or disgusting, is part of the appeal of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
Maybe if I was a 10-year-old boy, I’d agree with him. I can still remember being ten years old and being tricked into eating a sour gumball a boy in my class promised was coated in sugar. He laughed hysterically at my puckered face.
But I’m not a 10-year-old boy, and the mere thought of eating jelly beans that might really taste like earthworm or soap made my stomach turn.
I decided I’d start with the dirt-flavored Bertie Bott’s bean, and if it wasn’t too terrible, I’d move on to the sausage, working my way through the flavors.
As we divvied up our boxes to make sure we each got to taste every flavor, the question became, if the dirt bean tasted like dirt, would I throw myself on the altar of providing the full story and try every one? Would I even try the vomit-flavored one?
But I thought I’d take a vote to find out if you’d like to know whether they taste good or bad 🙂 Send out a tweet, @ me in a Google+ post, or comment to let me know your vote.
Yes = Please tell us if the dirt bean really tasted like dirt, and if you ate the vomit, booger, and rotten egg beans anyway.
No = I’d rather not know.
If Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans really did taste like every flavor, would you still try them? And would you like to know if they taste good or bad?
The answer to the question Did I Eat All the Bertie Bott’s Flavors? is now posted!
Dec 12, 2011 @ 09:05:26
YES–I think you went for it. Why not? So of course that means that I would as well. In the end, I would ‘know’ it was still candy so I’d go all in for the experience. 🙂
Fun post for this huge HP fan!
Dec 12, 2011 @ 16:41:28
That’s what I kept telling myself–“They’re just candy. It doesn’t matter what they taste like. It’s just candy.”
Yeh for another Harry Potter fan!
Dec 12, 2011 @ 09:10:03
Well, being the Harry Potter fanatic I am I have tried my own bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. I will not give away the answer on whether or not they taste like the things they are labeled, but I would LOVE to read about your personal experience. So…
YES
Dec 12, 2011 @ 16:43:59
I actually wondered if you might have tried them. I really enjoy your “Characters of Harry Potter” posts.
Once I post my results, I hope you’ll let me know about your eating experience with them 🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 09:31:24
I can’t stand jelly beans, no matter what brand is on the box. They’re all nasty, hard-shelled-squishy-inside puckered-face bombs 🙂 But, I think if you didn’t like dirt, you’re not going to try the others. you’ll make dh try them first 🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 16:45:15
Ack, blasphemy! Jelly beans are morsels of deliciousness 😉 At least I know I don’t have to share when we travel to NY.
Dec 12, 2011 @ 09:46:26
Hmm, I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this one.
Dec 12, 2011 @ 16:45:43
And that, everyone, is my husband 🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 09:55:25
I haven’t tasted them, but suspect that just knowing what they’re supposed to taste like would push most writers over the edge… and not in a delicious way. 😉 Curious to hear what you find out, Marcy!
Dec 12, 2011 @ 17:50:23
When I was putting them into the order that I planned to eat them, it was quite the mental challenge. Do I place earwax closer to vomit because of the cringe factor or do I bet that “wax” would actually have a mild taste?
Dec 12, 2011 @ 10:11:13
I’d like to know the answer, but I never eat jelly beans myself. I just don’t like them. But I do know that our senses respond to our ideas about what things are.
Dec 12, 2011 @ 17:51:45
I did wonder if there would be a subconscious aspect to it, but I’m pretty sure I would have had the same reaction to these even if I hadn’t known what each was supposed to be. Which I guess is a bit of a hint about what happened 🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 16:40:38
Hahaha! What a fun post, and I love how you’re making us vote, Marcy! Making us wait to find out. Oh, the anticipation! I’d try them all, even the vomit one, but I’m sure I’d spit out the disgusting ones. Blech!
Dec 12, 2011 @ 17:52:38
I’d love to know how many people pass them by simply because of the labelling. I didn’t think to ask the man at the store, but I should have.
Dec 12, 2011 @ 17:04:19
I think someone gave me the vomit one as I joke–if I’m right it tasted way sour! I asked my son–who was a major HP fan if he’d ever ate the beans. His reply? “Not the gross ones!”
🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 17:48:00
Hehe. Smart boy. I’m going to be posting the rest of the story later this week since I got a resounding “yes” to my vote.
Dec 12, 2011 @ 17:54:12
Yes! You must do it, with lots of pictures, please! 🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 20:18:32
Those could be some scary pictures 😉
Dec 12, 2011 @ 19:17:49
I would like to know how they were. And more importantly was it Brandon that tricked u
Dec 12, 2011 @ 20:19:56
Hehe. Thanks for stopping by, Jules. It wasn’t Brandon, though he and I have our share of crazy childhood stories. Some days it can be scary to have a friend who’s known you since you were five 🙂
Dec 12, 2011 @ 20:20:25
I definitely want you to try them and tell us what they taste like. Just not around dinner time. Yuck. There is nothing that would make me try a jelly bean that had the possibility of tasting like vomit or booger. Myndi is right, pictures please!
Dec 14, 2011 @ 15:33:44
Love HP and I think you tried them. I think I would have to try them, even if they were yucky and I had to gag them down:)
Dec 15, 2011 @ 01:35:10
LOL! Yes, please try them! The best reason I can think of is: it’s not me trying them. The second best: think of it as training for The Fear Factor or Survivor.
I _need_ to know the results.
Dec 15, 2011 @ 09:56:19
The results are up as of this morning, so you don’t even have to wait to find out 🙂
Fire At Warp 10 (December 15) | Marcy Kennedy & Lisa Hall-Wilson
Dec 15, 2011 @ 06:38:13
[…] Behind the Scenes: Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans – For Harry Potter fans or those just wanting to find out if Marcy is willing to eat vomit, booger, and rotten egg-flavored jelly beans. (Results post here, but you’ll want to read the original first.) […]
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Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:29:53
The only way I would ever try these is if someone paid me $10 for every flavor I ate and didn’t spit out in fact if any of your friends want you try the jelly beans make them pay you