Jelly Belly

This house is no stranger to Jelly Belly jelly beans.

So when I got a text from my daughter a couple months ago asking if I wanted her to pick up these three Jelly Belly sparkling waters I said, "Sure!"  The Jelly Belly brand is known to be very flavorful, but I have to mention she found these at one of those stores where everything's $1. 

These are "sparkling waters," which a lot of people consider bland and tasteless.  The three flavors here are orange sherbet, very cherry, and watermelon.  The initial taste of each one didn't disappoint... much.  I could definitely tell what each flavor was, but it didn't last long and then turned into slightly-flavored water.  But I did drink them all.

And if you want to learn more about the Jelly Belly brand, I recommend a 2010 documentary called "Candyman" that explores the history of Jelly Belly.  It prominently features David Klein, the man who invented them.

Paid in Yerba Mate

While lending a hand at the local food pantry yesterday, something caught my eye:

It was a stack of cans.  I noticed two things about them: 1) They were all the same  2) It was a can I didn't have in my collection.  So as payment for my assistance, I took a can home with me.

I was torn.  I really like strawberry, but I don't really like pomegranate.  So this was going to be a toss-up.  But it didn't really matter since I was only interested in the can itself, not the drink inside.

And if you want to know a little more about this drink, here's the text on the back of the can.  After reading it I was even less enthused than before about trying the beverage.

And to leave things on a cliffhanger, I still haven't tried it.  It sits in my pantry waiting to be bottom-opened and sampled.  And if I take a couple drinks and realize this stuff is delicious, I know where to get more of it.  See picture #1.

I Got the Right One, Baby

Earlier this year someone I know was at a huge flea market and sent a picture of a Pepsi can featuring Ray Charles.  I had never seen one before, so I knew I didn't have it.  They didn't say how much it cost, in fact, that was the last I heard from them that day.

A few days later, I was at their house and they handed me the can.

This was a limited edition set of 3 cans Pepsi released in 2018.  The other two cans featured Michael Jackson and Britney Spears.

Doing a quick search on this blog revealed a post I made in June of 2018.  What do you know?  I had the other two cans in the set all along!  I just didn't have Ray Charles.

So now my set is complete.  Accidentally.  I was afraid to ask how much they paid for the can, I was going to pay them back.  They said it was only $2 and it was their treat.  How neat.