Written by If you’ve never heard of the game Bean Boozled, let me take a moment to fill you in (because this is one game you definitely don’t want to agree to play unless you have full disclosure of what’s about to happen to you). Basically, you’ve got a box full of jellybeans. You spin the little wheel, pick the matching jellybean, and eat it.
Easy enough.
But this is where things start to get messy. See, the evil overlords at Jelly Belly thought it would be fun to hide awful-tasting jellybeans in the mix and make it into a disgusting (and sort of hilarious) game. So you spin the wheel and that little orange-flecked jellybean you choose might taste like peach, or it might taste like barf. Black jellybeans might be licorice (which is horrible), or they might be skunk (who knew licorice flavor could get any worse?).
Stevie and I were first introduced to Bean Boozled at his Dad’s house in New York, when Stevie’s nephews TJ and Tyler busted out the box to play the game with Cadence. I politely declined to join in. I don’t really enjoy jellybeans to begin with, so there is sure as hell no way I’m going to pop a jellybean in my mouth that could either taste like coconut or spoiled milk.
Nope. No thanks.
But Stevie was curious enough that after a few moments of all of us egging him on, he decided to test his luck. He choose the orange-flecked jellybean, popped it in his mouth, gave it a couple chews, and then bolted for the sink to spit it out.
You guess it, barf-flavored.
Fast forward to this year and Cadence happened to spy Bean Boozled on the shelf at Hobby Lobby. She wanted to prank some friends, so we picked up the box, and it sat in our cupboard until Halloween when we got to talking about it with some friends and decided to bust out the box and show them what it was all about. I’m not sure if our friend Jeff just has tastebuds of steel or the flavors mellow with time, but he ate a couple dozen of the Bean Boozled jellybeans and said they all sort of taste the same.
Cadence was excited this morning when she got up and saw that Cosette and Leo decided to play. Cosette is either going to get a taste of blueberry or toothpaste (which Cadence says is a good choice because both options taste pretty good). Leo looks a little ill, like he may have gotten a bite of canned dog food or moldy cheese. Henry saw the elves had candy and immediately reached to grab a bite, but I managed to distract him with a bowl of oatmeal and a banana muffin. I mean, the kid has already barfed on the carpet once this week, I don’t need a repeat performance because he happens to choose a jellybean that tastes like rotten egg.
He’ll thank me one day. And so will you. Beware the Bean Boozled invitations people.
Lori Romano 