You'll Never Believe This Is the Most Popular Jelly Bean Flavor

Springtime is prime jelly bean season, and according to CandyStore.com, America has a new favorite flavor. Using a decade of data and polls reaching over 12,000 people, the site has ascertained America's favorite jelly bean flavors, including the bean that has taken the top spot. This year, buttered popcorn is the clear winner and has pushed last year's favorite, black licorice, to the number two spot.

At CandyStore.com, you can also see a map of America's favorite jelly bean flavors by state. Of the Southern states, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas all chose buttered popcorn as their favorite, while Alabama and Florida prefer watermelon; Oklahoma and Mississippi love green apple; and North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky crave black licorice. As for the rest? South Carolina chose cherry, Virginia and Delaware voted for cinnamon, Maryland opted for orange, West Virginia picked blueberry, and Louisiana singled out strawberry as their favorite flavor.

While browsing the map, we were surprised that cream soda, peach, and root beer—all Southern favorites beyond the candy aisle—didn't make it into the South's top jelly beans this year. Beyond the flavor rankings, CandyStore.com also offers a few fun facts about jelly beans on their site, including that Jelly Belly created the blueberry flavor to mark former President Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration.

You can also check out JellyBelly.com for more fun facts about jelly beans. According to JellyBelly.com, "It takes 7 to 21 days to make a single Jelly Belly jelly bean," and "Enough Jelly Belly beans were eaten in the last year to circle the earth more than five times." Plenty of work goes into making those sweet bean-shaped candies, but it's all worth it, because they're making the world a little bit sweeter.

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What's your favorite jelly bean flavor? Does your favorite match up with your state's favorite, or do you like a different flavor best?