Cool beans!

Black beans was mysterious due to its color, which provided a rather “blind” test among the canned brands. A restaurant from my childhood served one of my favorite dishes that contained black beans as a side which introduced a unique flavor to me. Unfamiliar with the canned versions, three brands I picked are Bush’s black beans, la Costeña black beans and Ranch Style black beans which was a variation of the original Ranch Style beans. It should be noted that I compared the black beans to Ranch Style original beans; not Ranch Style black beans, which I never tried until this taste test.

I attempted a controlled, non-biased taste test with the assistance of my father. He followed out my instructions and poured one serving of each brand of black beans into separate paper bowls. Next, he microwaved each black beans and placed each paper bowl on one of the three index cards labeled A, B and C. The different brands were written under each paper bowl as I waited in another room. I prepared myself a glass of water and graham crackers which “rinsed” out my taste buds before I tried each brand.

The black beans on index card A visually was the darkest of the three brands. The beans appeared watery and not gooey. After I ate some crackers and drank some water, I placed a couple of spoonfuls into my mouth and slowly savored the black beans. It tasted saltier than I remembered from the restaurant of my childhood so I instantly assumed that it was the Ranch Style brand. I tasted a nice blend of salt which enabled my prediction of brand A being the Ranch Style brand, although only hinted. The dark beans were also bit crunchy though, as if rockier bits were contained in them.


Brand B appeared as lightly colored as brand C yet both weren't as dark as brand A. On the texture, brand B looked to be the most gooey of the three so I decided to test brand B and C on which defied gravity more. Brand C easily proved  that it was faster than brand B after I lightly tilted both bowls, simultaneously. After I tasted brand B, I taken back my earlier guess and predicted that brand B was the Ranch Style brand. Although much tastier on its saltiness, it tasted more closely to the Ranch Style brand yet with the taste of black beans hinted; this is the opposite for brand A. I became more confident with brand B as ranch style, for its mushy texture similar to the original Ranch Style beans brand.


Lastly, I said before that brand C is closely similar to brand A in appearance, as brand A is the oddball of the group. I tasted the beans and immediately assured myself that brand C is not the Ranch Style brand. It tasted if it barely had salt and more liked cardboard instead. Brand C had me feel as if I was stuck on a boring, weight loss diet. The crunchiness, like in brand A, became evident as I tasted more until I decided to put the end on the taste test.

 I’d predict that brand C was Bush’s, brand A as la Costeña and my favorite, Ranch Style for brand B. To my surprise, brand A turned out to be Bush’s and La Costeña for C. Albeit, I was at least correct on brand B predicted to be Ranch Style black beans. I must have judged them by their cover as la Costeña appeared to show its Mexican origin as I stereotyped that Mexican  food tended to be more salty. On the other hand, Bush’s was blue and I somehow reflected that as being basic. I rathered to prefer Ranch Style original beans over Ranch Style black beans since the black bean brand had not met my expectations. Despite this, Ranch Style was the winner in my book.