Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

"You want to be careful with those. When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour - you know you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once."

- Ron Weasley to Harry Potter

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans are one of the most popular sweets in the wizarding world. They are the same as Muggle jelly beans, except the range encompasses every flavour imaginable. There is also no way of telling for sure what flavour any given bean is without tasting it, although you can try and guess by the colour. The inventor of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans was Bertie Bott, who created them in mid-20th century by mistake. He was planning on making tasty sweets from food, but accidentally made one taste like a dirty sock. He immediately recognised the sales potential of "a risk with every mouthful!"

There are ordinary flavours like chocolate, peppermint, and marmalade, but also less fanciable ones like spinach, liver, and tripe. There are also flavours that are not actual foods, like grass, farm dirt, vomit, earwax, and bogeys.

In 1992, while Harry is in the hospital wing, he offered one to Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore told him that he had been unfortunate enough to have come across a vomit flavour one once and that since that occasion he had not cared for them. In spite of this, he decided to give them another chance and carefully selected a golden brown-coloured one that he assumed would be toffee-flavoured, but alas it was an earwax-flavoured bean.

They are a popular treat at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and can be bought off the lunch trolley on the Hogwarts Express and are usually sent as a gift to someone ill in the hospital wing. They come in bags or small, striped boxes.

Known flavours
"Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one. And since then, I'm afraid I've lost my liking for them. But I think I could be safe with a nice toffee... Hum! Alas! Earwax."

- Albus Dumbledore

Behind the scenes

 * In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Albus Dumbledore is heard saying that he had the misfortune of coming across a vomit-flavoured bean in his youth. As he was at least 44 years old when the inventor was born, this would seem unlikely but Dumbledore had a great fondness for sweets it is mentioned on more then one occasion.However given his old age it is possible Dumbledore perceived himself as still being in his youth at that stage of his life.
 * In the real world, Jelly Belly released jelly beans with selected flavours from the series. There are currently 25 flavours available. The review website Candy Addict rated these candies as #4 of the "10 grossest candies." The Bertie Bott's candies may have been inspired by Jelly Belly, which produces jellybeans in unexpected flavours like jalapeno and encourages consumers to eat different-flavoured jellybeans in combination to create different flavours.
 * Advertisement at the Quidditch World Cup: "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans--A Risk with Every Mouthful!"
 * In Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Dumbledore is seen offering three large chests of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Hospital wing.
 * At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you can purchase Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans at Honeydukes Sweetshop.
 * It seems unlikely that consumers are able to tell the difference between certain flavours, such as Marshmallow and Toasted Marshmallow, Lemon and Lemon Drop, and Dirt and Farm Dirt. It is possible that they are somehow enchanted to allow a person to know its flavour once they have tasted the bean, but no explanation is given of where their certainty comes from.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Notes and references
Dragées surprises de Bertie Crochue