Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans is an assortment of sweets equivalent to muggle jellybeans. However, these beans are of almost every flavour imaginable.

Mohandas Alva

Article written by Mohandas Alva

M.A. Degree in English Literature from Manipal University, India.

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans came in a packet with various flavours. It was almost impossible to tell which flavour the beans were, but sometimes, the color of the bean would make it evident. Like the muggle sweet jelly bean in almost every respect, these beans were known to surprise one with their strange flavours when eaten out of the box. Some of its exciting flavours included earwax, soap, vomit, dirt, and rotten egg.

The Origin Of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans were created in the 20th century by Bertie Bott. He was trying to make some sweets out of everyday food items, but accidentally he created a candy-like substance that tasted like a dirty sock. After eating this, he was suddenly brainwashed and eventually decided to commercially market an assortment of such sweets because he saw great potential in the market for candies that surprised customers with risky flavours. Hence Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans was born, becoming an instant hit in sweet shops. People would be very excited to guess and try out the different flavours that came in the packet. 

Appearances in the Harry Potter Universe

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans first appeared in the Harry Potter Universe when Harry and Ron were going to Hogwarts for the first time on the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The trolley witch came to them and asked if they wanted anything, and Ron chose not to. Harry considered buying a lot of Mars Bars but quickly realized that there weren’t any on the trolley. However, Harry decided to purchase a little bit of everything available as he wanted to try the different sweets and eatables that were sold in the wizarding world. He bought Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans along with Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Slugs, Liquorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, and Pumpkin Pasties. Eventually, they start having the sweets together, and when Harry is about to try one of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Ron warns him to be careful with it as they are literally every possible flavour imaginable. He further explains to Harry that while they do have normal flavours like chocolate, marmalade, and peppermint, they also have strange-tasting flavours like spinach, liver, and tripe. He also claims that his brother George once had a booger-flavoured bean. Suddenly, Ron is disgusted by the flavour he gets, which happens to be sprouts.

When Harry was admitted to the Hospital Wing after fighting Professor Quirrell, who was possessed by Lord Voldemort, Harry had a lot of presents and cards from well-wishers beside his hospital bed. When Dumbledore visited him, Harry offered him a bean from Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, to which Dumbledore responded by narrating a story about how he stopped trying these beans after he got a vomit-flavoured bean once. However, he eventually decides to try one from Harry anyway, but it turns out to be an earwax-flavoured one.

A large advertisement was placed on the huge billboard in the Quidditch stadium where the 422nd Quidditch World Cup took place. This was the Quidditch World Cup that the Weasleys attended with Harry and Hermione. The advertisement said, “Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans – A risk with every mouthful.”

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans Trivia

The Jelly Belly Candy Company introduced a range of Jelly Belly Candy under the name of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans to celebrate the Harry Potter series. Many fans believe that Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans may have been inspired by the Jelly Belly jellybeans, which sometimes have strange flavours like Jalapeños and Chilli. 

The packaging for Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans in the Harry Potter movies was done by Ruth Winick, the famous Irish designer, and graphic artist.

Albus Dumbledore was 54 years old when Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans were created. However, in one of his conversations with Harry, he mentions his misfortune of coming across a vomit-flavoured candy in his youth. This is clearly a continuity error, but it is possible that Dumbledore forgot when exactly he had it and mistook his experience of eating some other candy in his youth with this one.

Beans That Have Been Known To Have A Nasty Taste

While there are several flavours of Bertie Bott’s beans, some of them are known to have a revolting, nasty, or even strange taste. Some of these wild flavours include black pepper, gluten, earthworm, sausage, salt, carrot, beeswax, bogie, vomit, and earwax. Albus Dumbledore claims to Harry that he once had a vomit-flavoured Bertie Bott’s bean, and he also has an Earwax-flavoured one in front of Harry. Ron tells Harry that George once had a bogey-flavoured bean.

Scrumptious Flavours

While these beans have a fair share of bad flavours, there also exist a wide variety of very yummy flavours too. Some of the tastiest Bertie Bott’s beans include lemon, marshmallow, watermelon, cherry, peanuts, blueberry, green apple, tutti-fruitti (or tutti-frutti), dairy-based flavours like milk, butter and cheese, cinnamon, candyfloss, cookies, and hibiscus. Similar beans are also sold in the real Muggle world with similar flavours. It is believed that some of the essential ingredients used for the making of these muggle jelly beans include tapioca dextrin, glucose syrup or corn syrup, maltodextrin, juice concentrates like cherry juice concentrate, watermelon juice concentrate, and apple juice concentrate or purees like lemon puree, banana puree or blueberry puree, citric acid or malic acid, and the confectioner’s glaze to add a very shiny look to the beans.

FAQs

Who makes Bertie Botts?

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans were invented by Bertie Bott by accident when he was experimenting with the creation of candy from food. It is believed that Bertie Bott himself and his associates make the Bertie Bott’s beans. However, they are sold in several popular sweet shops including the Honeydukes sweet shop in Hogsmeade village, the Sugarplums sweet shop in Diagon Alley, and on the Hogwarts Express by the Trolley Witch.

How many Bertie Bott’s Flavours are there?

Theoretically, going from the name of the sweet itself, there must be infinitely many flavours for Bertie Bott’s Beans, as any material one can think of for a bean, it exists – hence the term “Every Flavour”. However, it is believed that there are too many flavours of beans and since the world is magical in this context, it is not unimaginable to have a wide variety of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans flavours.

What flavours are in Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans?

There are several flavours of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. Some of them include watermelon, rose, earwax, bogie, vomit, tripe, liver, sausage, salt, chilly, black pepper, blueberry, strawberry, banana, yogurt, peppermint, candyfloss, mango, cherry, papaya, chocolate, coffee, bacon, apple pie, fruticake, grass, stone, wood, etc.

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Harry Potter Quiz

Summon your wit and wisdom—our Harry Potter Trivia Quiz awaits you! Do you have the knowledge to claim the title of Master Witch or Wizard? Take the challenge now!

1) In the "Order of the Phoenix," who is NOT a member of the original Order of the Phoenix shown in the old photograph that Moody shows Harry?

2) What are the dying words of Severus Snape in both the book and the film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"?

3) What does the incantation "Obliviate" do?

4) What is the effect of the Cheering Charm?

5) In which Harry Potter book does Harry first speak Parseltongue?

6) Who originally owned the Elder Wand before Dumbledore won it?

7) What does the Mirror of Erised show?

8) What potion is known as "Liquid Luck"?

9) What is the name of the goblin who helps Harry, Ron, and Hermione break into Gringotts?

10) Which potion did Hermione brew in her second year that allowed her, Ron, and Harry to assume the identities of Slytherins?

11) What is the core ingredient of the wand owned by Harry Potter?

12) What is the name of the book Hermione gives to Harry before his first ever Quidditch match?

13) What was the last Horcrux to be destroyed?

14) Which character is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in the Battle of Hogwarts?

15) What animal represents Hufflepuff house?

16) Which object is NOT one of the Deathly Hallows?

17) Which spell is used to open the Marauder's Map?

18) Which creature can transform into a person's worst fear?

19) What is Dumbledore's full name?

20) Who teaches Herbology at Hogwarts?

21) What is the name of the train that takes students to Hogwarts?

22) Who was the Peverell brother that owned the invisibility cloak?

23) Who is the Half-Blood Prince?

24) What is the name of Harry Potter's pet owl?

25) What form does Hermione Granger's Patronus take?

26) What specific type of dragon does Harry face during the Triwizard Tournament?

27) What is the name of the goblin-made object that is supposed to bring its owner prosperity, but also brings them into conflict with goblins?

28) What creature is Aragog?

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Mohandas Alva

About Mohandas Alva

M.A. Degree in English Literature from Manipal University, India.

Mohandas is very passionate about deciphering the nature of language and its role as a sole medium of storytelling in literature. His interests sometimes digress from literature to philosophy and the sciences but eventually, the art and craft of narrating a significant story never fail to thrill him.

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