Review: I Still Can't Get Over The Smells Of Bush's Baked Beans Bizarre Summer Flavors Trio

Sunshine, sparklers, campfires, and your mom slathering on enough sunscreen to fill a bathtub. That's right, summer is right around the corner. To celebrate, Bush's Baked Beans has created three special edition cans inspired by seasonal classics. As a barbecue staple, Bush's is no stranger to cookouts, so Its summer-inspired lineup has to be filled with robust flavors perfect for your next tailgate, right? 

Well, maybe, but probably not. Bush's Baked Beans got creative with this lineup and went all out, introducing Dill Pickle, Apple Pie, and Rocket Pop flavored beans. (Don't worry, those are all separate flavors.) I simply couldn't resist trying this ludicrous-sounding lineup, so Bush's was kind enough to send me a 28-ounce can of each. I'll tell you right now, each flavor surprised me in its own, unique way. Read on to find out how to get your hands on these limited edition cans of baked beans and what to expect once you do.

Bush's reached out to Mashed and offered to send samples of the summer flavors prior to their release. After a quick photoshoot, I heated up a small portion of each and dove in. My evaluations were based on flavor, scent, the accuracy of the flavor relative to the inspiration, and overall quality. 

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

To say I wasn't fully prepared for this experience would be an understatement. The second I removed the top of the can, I was transported to a hot July day, watching the iconic red, white, and blue Rocket Pop in my hand drip onto the steamy pavement because these beans smell alarmingly like a popsicle.

At a glance, there are no visual cues to indicate that this is anything other than a standard can of Bush's Baked Beans, but there's no denying the saccharine sweet smell emanating from within. Warmed up, the aroma became even stronger. I like Rocket Pops, but I'd never smelled a hot one, and for good reason.

For as much as these beans smell like a popsicle, they taste even more like the childhood treat, but fused with beans. The combination is unsettling at best. I will try anything once, but once was about all I could stomach. The aftertaste was the demon spawn of sticky, sweet, formerly frozen sugar water and hot beans. Salute to Bush's for trying something unique, but this is a gimmick, not a food to be taken seriously.

The good news about the apple pie beans is that they're not the Rocket Pop beans. The bad news is that they're only marginally better. Once again, the scent was an almost comical recreation of an apple pie. After a zap in the microwave, I half expected a cartoon character to float by my windowsill in search of a freshly baked pie. Instead, they'd have found a can of beans with an identity crisis.

Visually, Bush's Apple Pie Baked Beans appear to be covered in pie spices, most notably cinnamon. The normal brown sugar sweetness of the beans is close enough to apple pie that the two foods share at least a few strands of DNA, so I was hopeful the taste would find some footing. The apple flavor actually works well enough with the beans that it's not an affront to the taste buds, but this isn't apple-flavored beans; it's apple pie-flavored, so there's a pie crust flavor in there as well, and that's where things begin to crumble.

If you're determined to make apple pie baked beans work, I'd suggest pairing them with a Kansas City-style pulled pork. The thick, brown, sugary sauce will complement the apple pie beans as much as anything can hope to, which might be reason enough to bring it to the cookout.

Where the first two beans zigged hard towards sweet, these beans swerved into the more savory, acidic profile. Once again, and I cannot stress enough how confusing my kitchen smelled after all three varieties had been heated, this can of beans smells exactly like dill pickles.

These beans have by far the thinnest liquid base (bean juice?) of the trio, thanks to three-quarters as much sugar per serving as the Apple Pie and Rocket Pop. The surrounding liquid also sports a green tint that could only make sense in the context of pickle-flavored beans.

And the taste? Shockingly, this might be a bean actually worth eating, but you definitely need to be a pickle fan. As foods, pickles and beans aren't nearly as far apart on the meal table as apple pie or popsicles — or alcohol for that matter — so the combination feels like less of a stretch. You'll get a strong dill-and-vinegar aftertaste, but the flavor doesn't fight the beans the way the Rocket Pop does. Instead, I can picture eating this alongside a hot dog – or perhaps even on top of it – and enjoying Dill Pickle Baked Beans as a novelty. They're good enough to eat a serving if only for the story you get out of it, and for a special summer release, that's enough.

It only seems fair that someone produce a bean-flavored Rocket Pop, apple pie, or pickle so we can flip the taste test on its head. Bush's almost certainly isn't taking these flavors seriously, and neither should you, which is what makes them fun. The Rocket Pop is awful in a train wreck sort of way; you simply can't ignore it. While the Apple Pie Beans might have a place, they too live more in the realm of "you absolutely have to taste this," than something you're honestly scooping onto a plate.

However, it's Dill Pickle Beans that begs the question: Is Bush's onto something? Might a potato chip-flavored bean work? How about corn on the cob or even coleslaw? Perhaps next year, Bush's will take a few other cookout classics for a spin, but until then, if you've got a slew of summer parties to attend (and a good sense of humor), grab a few cans of Bush's summer-inspired baked beans and give everyone a bite to remember.

Bush's Apple Pie and Dill Pickle Baked Beans are now rolling out at Walmart stores nationwide. The Rocket Pop flavor will be available exclusively through Walmart online beginning May 23 — all while supplies last. Cans start at $2.47 but vary by region.

For each flavor, a half cup is a portion size, and all three are fairly similar in terms of calories, with the two dessert-flavored beans sporting 160 calories per serving and the pickle-flavored one coming in at a more diet-friendly 120 calories. It's of little surprise that the Rocket Pop Beans contain the most sugar — 14 grams per serving — while the Apple Pie flavor contains 13 grams per and the more savory Dill Pickle Beans have just 4 grams. Salute to you if you consume more than half a cup of anything but the Dill Pickle flavor, of course.