Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

• Type: Magical Confectionery
• Owners: As a mass-produced product, they are owned and consumed by countless wizards and witches.
• Maker: Bertie Bott

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans are a highly popular sweet in the Wizarding world. They are visually identical to ordinary Muggle jelly beans, appearing in a multitude of different colours. They are typically sold in small bags or boxes that offer no clues as to the wide variety of flavours contained within.

The defining magical property of the beans is that they live up to their name, encompassing literally every flavour imaginable. The assortment is not limited to pleasant, conventional candy flavours; it also includes a vast range of strange and disgusting ones. This makes eating them a game of chance, as there is no way to determine a bean's flavour by its appearance before tasting it. This element of risk is the product's primary appeal. Notable pleasant flavours include chocolate, peppermint, marmalade, and strawberry. The known unpleasant flavours mentioned in the novels include:

• Spinach
• Liver
• Tripe
• Sprouts
• Grass
• Pepper
• Booger
• Earwax
• Vomit

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans were invented by Bertie Bott by complete accident in the mid-20th century. He had been attempting to create a range of tasty sweets based on food, but he inadvertently included a pair of dirty socks in one of his confectionery experiments. Upon tasting the result, he recognised the market potential for a sweet that offered “A Risk With Every Mouthful!”, which became the product's slogan (video game). He proceeded to manufacture beans with a full spectrum of flavours, both good and bad, creating one of the most famous sweets in the Wizarding world.

The beans are one of the first distinctly magical items that Harry Potter encounters on his first journey aboard the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Ron Weasley explains their nature to a bewildered Harry, noting that when the name says “every flavour,” it truly means it. This moment serves as a key introduction for both Harry and the reader to the often whimsical and unpredictable nature of magic. Later in the same book, after Harry Potter has defeated Professor Quirrell, Albus Dumbledore visits him in the hospital wing. Dumbledore remarks that he was unlucky enough to encounter a vomit-flavoured bean in his youth and has since lost his taste for them. Demonstrating his whimsical side, he decides to try a golden-coloured bean, believing it to be toffee, only to discover with mild disgust that it is earwax-flavoured.

• The backstory of Bertie Bott and the accidental creation of the beans was first detailed on a Famous Witches and Wizards Card that was packaged with licensed Chocolate Frogs merchandise tied to the video games.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the packaging is a distinctive red-and-white striped box.
• A real-world version of the sweets has been produced by the Jelly Belly Candy Company, faithfully replicating the concept by including both standard fruit flavours and bizarre “joke” flavours like soap and black pepper.