Extra Dessert Delights Apple Pie Gum

NOTE:
THIS REVIEW WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO. I JUST HAD NO PICTURES SO, I DIDN'T PUBLISH IT. I APOLOGIZE FOR LACK OF BETTER SHOTS, BUT LETS BE REAL-- GUM ALL PRETTY MUCH LOOKS ALIKE. AND SADLY, I CAN'T CHEW ANY FOR AT LEAST 3 MORE MONTHS.

If there is a flavor of gum you don't see all that much of, it is apple- and that is normally a good thing, because when you do find it, it tends to be sour apple flavored. And as much as I love an actual Granny Smith, I am not a huge fan of fake sour apple. What greatly adds to this gum's appeal (get it?--a PEEL?--yeah, I really haven't blogged in a while...) is that is a warm, sweet apple flavor. (And yes, I see that there are green apples pictured on the packaging.)

I mean, who doesn't like apple pie?

The stick has a mellow cinnamon halo that sits in back of the almost floral taste of the sweetened apple flavor. Extra even managed to get a taste that could almost be called "buttery" in there...almost. I know that all sounds weird taken separately, but as a whole it is actually pretty tasty.

My only real complaint is that the flavor fades fast. As in, under five minutes. This I do not understand, as Wrigley's produces other gums whose flavors lasts far beyond my desire to chew them, and yet this one practically sits in your mouth apologizing for coming (and going) so fast. Kind of reminds me of some dates I had back in the day. But never mind.

My only other issue--and it's a small one--is also for some odd reason the gum seems a bit tougher than most of the other Extra flavors. I was willing to blame poor storage/weird shipping, etc. on the first batch. But I am on pack number three, and they were all purchased from different retail outlets--in three different states, no less--so that leads me to think it's the gum itself. (Obviously, it is not so tough that the texture is keeping me away.)

A nice flavor for those times when you aren't in the mood for mint.

Be sure to check out these other reviews from:
The Impulsive Buy

&

Gum Alert
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PURCHASED FROM:
Publix Supermarket

PRICE
$0.97

CALORIES:
5 Calories per stick

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains phenylalanine

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
extra.com

Wrigley's 5 Gum: Vortex

I really love it when a trip to the gas station ends with more than just the fear that I am going to have to sell my better-working kidney to get half a tank of gas. Well, this time I was pleasantly surprised to find a new flavor of Wrigley's 5 Gum while I was paying...and I of course snapped it up.



Vortex, the newest in the 5 lineup, is a sour green apple flavor. It also marks 5's return to a flavor that is simply gum with no gimmicks, no sizzling on the tongue, no reaction that makes you wonder which horrific corner of the Chernobyl sarcophagus it was dragged out of. Nope, just good old fashioned chewing gum. And ya know what? I can deal with that.

The first thing you notice when you pull off the cellophane is the fact that the smell of fake sour apples can be detected two states away. I guess it could be worse, though -- I would rather have fake sour apple than, say, feet (my father, I think, has actually been banned by the federal government from removing his shoes ever).



Each strip is a nice, civilized pastel green. Think of a pastel green indoor paint color Martha Stewart would approve of, and you've got it. The flavor starts off really strong and juicy...but it is a completely artificial green apple. I'm personally OK with that because let's face it: can you name a single green apple flavored item that tastes like the real thing? (Actually, for you consumers of alcoholic products, this gum tastes almost exactly like the better-living-through-chemistry liqueurs that are used to make appletinis.)

What's kind of odd about this flavor is that it wears off super fast. I'm talking about somewhere around the five minute mark, at best. As the fake apple wears down, the note that lingers is purely floral. Almost like a rose flavored gum, but not as strong (or as good). If you hold the gum in your mouth without chewing for a minute or so it does "recharge" just a bit, but it's not the same.



I dunno what else to say, really. I wanted to love this gum because the 5 line is a favorite of mine, and I like green apple regardless of whether it tastes natural or not...but somehow this gum just falls flat.

Kinda sad, really. Oh well.



PURCHASED FROM:
Shell gas station

PRICE:
$1.59

CALORIES:
5 calories per stick.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains phenylalanine.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wrigley.com

Think Gum

The nice people at Think Gum got in touch with me and asked me if I would like a sample of their gum to review at the perfect time. I'll never lie to you guys: lately, my attention span has been about as good as the dog's in "Up". I sit down to try and write, and it's like "WAIT! There's something shiny!" or "Oooh, Dr. Phil has on moms who dress like they are cast members of Jersey Shore!" or "Damn, gotta go to work!" (Sadly, the glamorous world of food reviews does not allow me to avoid a "real" job.) Well, now is the perfect time, I suppose, so here goes the review...

Some of Think Gum's benefits are supposed to be that it has (I'm cheating and using the package blurb here) "brain-boosting herbal ingredients that are proven to enhance concentration and improve memory." Ummmm, what were we talking about again? Oh yeah, gum...

Think Gum was actually founded by a young whippersnapper named Matt Davidson who came up with the idea for the gum while studying molecular and cell biology in college. Matt went to U.C. Berkeley -- and Berkeley, of course, is known far and wide for its enduring love of all things herbal. Matt happened to be reading a study about how in a particular factory, the factory managers kept track of how the workers performed while working and breathing in different herbal extracts. While to me that sounds like the stuff bad sci-fi movies and conspiracy theories are made of, Matt actually took the time to learn something and paid special attention to the fact that the workers responded well to scents like peppermint and rosemary. He then set about on his own idea, and after a lot of work, Think Gum was born.

All of that is interesting and everything, but how does it taste?

Good question. Each piece contains not only the peppermint and rosemary, but also ginkgo biloba, bacopa, vinpocetine...and guarana, which is a natural source of sweet, sweet caffeine!



Each piece has a thin candy coating. I liked that the candy shell yielded softly and didn't cause crunchy shards to break off like most candy coats do. Actually, it reminded me more of the coating on the Premium M&M's. Rather than being a crunchy candy coat, it's almost a soft, lacquer-like shell. The texture is also a little different from most gums. Sure, it's chewy -- but it is also soft, and it's not sticky.

Tastewise, it starts out all about the peppermint. It's a fresh, earthy taste -- sort of like chewing on a fresh sprig of mint. It's sweet, but not in a candy way. The mint flavor stays at the front and is strongest for about the first three minutes of chew. After that you start to taste the rosemary.



The rosemary side is distinctly more bitter...but in a good way. It takes some of the edge off the peppermint before it reaches the point where you'd get that menthol-ish burn peppermint sometimes causes. It's an herby, robust flavor. The more you chew, the stronger that flavor seems to get. If it gets to be too much for you, or if you just want to recharge it, I suggest simply holding the gum in your mouth for a few seconds without chewing. That seems to "reactivate" the mint, and the gum will taste sweeter again. Between the mint and the rosemary, the flavor of this gum has amazing staying power. I chewed a piece for about half an hour before it started to weaken.

As for feeling like I was retaining things better, or whether my concentration had improved, etc., that's harder to say. I am currently on so much medication that I'm probably the worst person to even try to review it in that context. But I can say that I felt more alert after chewing, and I'm guessing that's at least partially from the caffeine. Each two-piece serving of gum contains about the same amount of caffeine as half a can of soda. And that's not overdoing it. I like that I got a little boost without it being so much caffeine that I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest, or I may want to do extreme sports or party like a drunken frat boy, or any other overly caffeinated cliché you can think of that I didn't.

Overall, I liked this gum a lot for its unique flavor. I like the fact that it's both herby and minty, and manages to pull it off without tasting either like medicine or like chewy dried spices. I also liked the little energy boost I got, and I will definitely keep on chewing!




PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company.

CALORIES:
5 calories per two piece serving.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
thinkgum.com

Wrigley's 5 Gum: Prism

Ah, fall...yet another reason to love you! Among all the other things I like about fall (note: mostly because it means Halloween is here!), fall is also when a lot of new gum flavors hit the shelves. And we all know how much Gigi likes gum. (Seriously, I have 29 -- well, now 30 -- different gum reviews alone.)

I like Wrigley's 5 line as a whole. The packaging is slick, the flavors are strong, and they have good staying power. I will also grant you I may have chewed so much of the 5 Solstice that at this point I am considered an addict.



At any rate, Prism is the newest member of the 5 family. And like all the 5 gums before it, it has a cool hook to get you to chew it. In this case, the gum is watermelon flavored and is supposed to give your tongue an actual electric tingle; I guess kinda like what happens when you touch the terminals of a 9-volt battery to your tongue. (Not, of course, that I have ever done such a ridiculous thing.) As a fan of both watermelon and things that tingle, this gum had a lot of potential in my book.

First off, smelling the gum though the wrapper, you notice that it does indeed have a fake watermelon smell. It's a little sweet, a little sour -- and oddly enough, a little like banana.



The taste starts off like just about every other watermelon flavored anything. It made me think of a chewable Jolly Rancher. As you continue to chew, the flavor -- just like the smell -- becomes pure fake banana. Now, I happen to like banana flavoring (even fake), and the second favorite gum of my youth was Banana Bubblicious Bubble Gum (a flavor that has sadly long since gone to the great Flavor Graveyard in the sky). The banana flavor lasts a good twenty minutes before it starts to wane. The dying flavor starts off tasting like Banana Runts, and ends -- fittingly enough -- tasting almost like actual watermelon.

As for the "electric tingle," the gum does in fact make good on its promise and it really does tingle! It's not overly strong -- but if you have any used any adult product that promised warm tingling sensations...well, it is pretty much the edible version of that...wait, my mother reads this blog...

Disclaimer: Not that pure, innocent, naive me would have EVER used such products! Clearly, I have only heard about them from sources like commercials run during educational programming such as Jersey Shore, or maybe from my slutty friends who are bad influences on me.

(*Quick side-eye glance around*) Everyone think she bought that?



Anyway, it's definitely an interesting and fun addition to the 5 line. The only negative side -- as pointed in by Gum Alert in their review (linked below) -- if you hold the gum in any one spot in your mouth for too long, it starts to burn. It's not a painful burn, but it does make you question what kind of a weird chemical Chernobyl might be building up in your mouth. But sacrifices must be made in the name of cool chewing gum, right?

Even though the flavor is more banana than watermelon, I still liked this gum enough that I'm sure I'll be buying another pack.

(Also be sure to check out Gum Alert's review here.)



PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreens

PRICE:
$1.59

CALORIES:
5 calories per stick.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains phenylalanine.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wrigley.com

Wrigley's 5 Gum React: Mint

I've been staring at this pack of gum for about two months now. Oh, I am ever going to chew it? I would say to myself...and then promptly start a review of something else. Well, today is just a gum-chewing sort of a day, I think.



The two newest entries into the 5 line of Wrigley's are both simply called React. One is packaged in black and orange and is fruit flavored (and reviewed here). The other is this pack, which is black and blue and flavored with mint. I don't know why they didn't bother to actually give each flavor more of an individual name, but it is what it is. Maybe it was dreamed up by people who still think that Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are the same person.



In any event, just like its orange sibling, each stick is wrapped in a spiffy black wrapper (which I love because it matches all of my clothing), and the gum itself is a pale gray that turns darker as you chew it. It also smells to high heaven of Ben-Gay. Seriously, why?!? Mint is a good smell -- so why muck that up and make me think of my own shriveling arthritic hands?

Smell aside, the taste is more to the wintergreen side than like Ben-Gay in stick form -- but there also seems to be a tiny hint of spearmint hiding in there that adds sweetness and takes away from the almost burning strong mint it stars off with. In fact, once the initial burst of wintergreen dies out, there is about a three minute window of sweet mellow mint. Then, once that wears off, it dies down into what can best be called generic mint.



The flavor does last an incredibly long time, and the look of the gum is interesting enough. If you are a fan of wintergreen flavor, this may be your dream gum. For me, I didn't love it. It's not Solstice (I just love that flavor), but it does taste better than I would have expected from the Ben-Gay smell.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$1.25

CALORIES:
-5 calories per stick.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains soy lecithin, phenylalanine, aspartame, sorbitol, acesulfame K.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wrigley.com

Orbit Mist: Raspberry Lemon Dew

Orbit introduced the Mist line last year. The idea behind the gum is that it causes your mouth to get extra moist, giving you a "hydrating sensation" (aka more spit).

I have liked two of the other Mist flavors I tried; the Spearmint Spritzer especially.



When I saw the new Raspberry Lemon Dew flavor I had to try it. (Yeah, like I wasn't going to!) I love raspberry lemonade; and I figured that if the gum tasted even a little like that, I knew I would like it.



Smelling the gum -- because everyone smells their gum, right? -- it was like powdered raspberry drink mix. But chewing the gum, the flavor that you get is all bright lemon zest! I will grant you it's a pretty fake lemon flavor, but that doesn't mean it tastes bad. If you were really looking forward to the raspberry side of things, well...yeah, you can smell it, and it's sort of there for the aftertaste, but the flavor is nearly all about the lemon.



And that would be just fine-- we all know I love lemon -- except that the flavor wears off in less than five minutes. Not a beautiful thing if you're looking for a long chew.

A good enough flavor while it lasts, but there's just not enough staying power to make it worthwhile.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$1.69

CALORIES:
5 calories per piece.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains many chemicals.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wrigley.com

Wrigley's 5 Gum React: Fruit

I have to hand it to Wrigley's with the 5 line. At one point in time my personal Top Five Fave Gums consisted entirely of Stride and Orbit. (To be fair, Orbit is also a Wrigley's product.) Orbit Sweet Mint used to hold the Number 1 spot, but was knocked down a rank last year by 5's Solstice (still Number 1!) .

There are two new 5 flavors, both called React, but one is a fruit version and one is mint. I of course have both, but we are doing the fruit flavor first.



There is next to no information out there about what makes React different from any of the other 5 flavors. On the Wrigley's website, the flavors are described as "A unique fruit/mint experience," but nothing tells you what it is that makes it unique.

So far, the only thing I can see that sets it apart from the rest of the line is that the individual wrappers are a stylish black, and the gum itself is the gray color of wet concrete. As you chew the gum, the color darkens to slate gray. But have no fear: unlike most extreme colored gum (or gum aimed at kids), it won't turn your mouth black as well. My tongue did darken a little. But as I was really looking for something different, I highly doubt most people would notice.



The sticks smell kind of like orange and mango -- and that is pretty much what they taste like. It's sort of a vague tropical fruit mixed with orange. The more lush tropical flavors wear off quickly (within the first five minutes). The orange hangs around longer, but after about ten minutes it starts to taste more like the aftertaste of Orange Tic-Tacs than the juicy orange-like tang it had at first.



This isn't a bad flavor, and I did in fact like it more than 5 Lush. It just doesn't have the WOW factor of Solstice.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$1.25

CALORIES:
-5 calories per stick.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains soy lecithin, phenylalanine, aspartame, sorbitol, acesulfame K.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wrigley.com

Stride Eternal Melon Gum

Stride rings in 2010 with another new flavor.

If the last new flavor -- Mega Mystery -- made me think about Scooby Doo, then Eternal Melon made me think of teenage girls circa 1985. I am not sure why. It just sounds like something a crimped haired, neon legginged, Madonna listening (you know, before she started drinking the blood of virgins to stay "young"), Facts Of Life watching, Lisa Frank loving girl would chew while fantasizing about waking up in Molly Ringwald's body à la one of those zany "switch" movies that were so popular in that era...

Not that I ever did any of those things, mind you. I am far cooler than that and always have been. Just so we're clear on this, understand?



Wrapped in bright lime green paper lies an equally green stick of gum. The gum smells like a cross between powdered fruit punch and one those canned car air fresheners that have names like "California Sunset."



But how does it taste?

You know those little blocks of sawdust-looking stuff inside of those cans of air freshener? I've never felt the need to lick one, but I can't help wondering how close the taste would be to this. True to the name, there is a melon flavor -- but it's vague and hard to identify. If I had to guess, I'd say it's kind of like a cantaloupe. But I am only guessing. There is another flavor there that I couldn't identify at all. I want to say pineapple, but I am nowhere near sure of it.



It's also a little tart at first. I am not going to lie to you: it starts out tasting pretty nasty, but as the flavor wanes ever so slightly, it seems to get sweeter and better tasting. It's a Stride gum, so the flavor lasts a ridiculously long amount of time...it takes a good ten or fifteen minutes to mellow out. If you can ride out the weird flavor it opens with, it actually does end up tasting all right. And therein lies the problem with this gum -- the strangeness of the initial taste. If it actually started the way it ends up, it would have gotten a much higher rating.

Now if you don't mind, I have to go switch sides on my Debbie Gibson tape.



PURCHASED FROM:
Stater Brothers supermarket

Stride Mega Mystery Gum

Something about this gum gives me a very strong Scooby Doo vibe.

Maybe it's the word "mystery" in the name. Maybe it's the groovy tie-dye colors on the wrapper. Maybe it's the slightly fruity smell. (I am just saying there's no way that Fred was actually into Daphne...wear your ascot with fabulous pride, Fred!)



Each stick of gum is packaged in the standard Stride chewing portion. They have individual wrappers that remind me of bad casino carpeting, circa 1968. And once you actually smell the gum up close, you notice that it is still fruity -- but there's also a little citrus/sugar thing going on. It actually reminds me of the smell of Kraft FunMallows (which are a sort of fruit flavored, pastel colored marshmallow).



But how did it taste?

I think I would rather chew a Scooby Snack. The taste is sort of like orange powered fiber drink mix meets random citric acid meets peach meets I-drank-too-much-last-night-and-this-is-my-offering-to-my-porcelain-god aftertaste. And that's being diplomatic. Additionally, thanks to Stride's incredible flavor longevity, it fails to wane after even half an hour.



I still don't know what it was supposed to taste like, and I don't care to find out. This can remain a Mega Mystery, because above all else it's a Mega Fail.



PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreens

Extra Fruit Sensations Mango Smoothie Gum

OK, guys...I know we had gum week not that long ago, but I love gum and could not resist trying a new flavor.

Mango Smoothie is a mix of mango and strawberry. Why does it always have to be strawberry? While I don't mind some artificial flavors, strawberry is one that I either love or hate -- and most of the time it's hate.



Smelling the gum, it's like a mix of off-brand Kool Aid-type powder, cheap air freshener, and the bottom of an old woman's perfume soaked purse. But it is a pretty, light orange sherbet color.



Fortunately, it does taste better than it smells. It has almost a yogurty dairy note to it at first. It reminded me of a mango lassi. I liked it because it kept the fruit flavors nice and mellow.

You only taste the strawberry towards the end when the overall flavor starts to wane. And yes, it was the children's chewable vitamin taste I feared it would be. The best part, though, is the aftertaste. Once the yogurty mango and nasty strawberry are gone, it all melds into what tastes like white peach. Not sure how that happened, but I would have liked the gum better if the whole stick had tasted like that (of course then it really wouldn't have been mango...oh well).

Nothing special.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

Eclipse Breeze: Exotic Mint

As we bring Gum Week to an end, we are going to give a final try to the Eclipse Breeze line. I was less than kind in the last Eclipse Breeze review. (Actually, I said I would rather taste stripper sweat.) But I am a trouper, so I am braving another flavor.



Exotic Mint, like its Exotic Berry sibling, contains cardamom. And again, cardamom is supposed to be really good at taking care of really bad breath.



I would like to implore the fine people at Eclipse to redesign the Exotic Berry to be more like Exotic Mint. In the Exotic Berry, the cardamom overpowered the berry to the point that everything and everyone in five miles of you knew you were chewing it. But in the Exotic Mint flavor, they have struck the perfect balance.

The Mint is brisk and cool. It tastes sweet but not candy-like, and never gets close to being toothpasty.

The Cardamom is warm and spicy. There is enough that balances the mint, without it being the slap in the face that was the Exotic Berry. With this flavor, I can almost taste some of the flavor I love from Persian and Indian food. And like those flavors that I love, this one is also a winner.

When you want something minty that's not your average bear, this is a great flavor to go to.

Lotte Black Black Gum

A big shoutout of thanks to my friends at J-List for sending me today's Gum Week selection: Lotte Black Black Gum.

The cute little blurb on the package says that Black Black has "Hi-Technical Excellent Taste and Flavor." If that doesn't scream nerdy happiness, nothing ever will. I'm not sure exactly what "Hi-Technical Excellent Taste and Flavor" is supposed to mean -- but I can tell you that what makes Black Black so great is that it contains sweet, sweet caffeine. 5 mg of caffeine to be exact. If you consider that your standard can of Coke Classic has 40 mg, that is really not all that much -- but, good nerd that I am, I will take what caffeine I can get.



The taste of Black Black is interesting. It starts off with a really intense menthol kick. Notice I said menthol and not simply mint: the first few times you have the gum, I warn you that it's almost like chewing a stick of edible Vicks VapoRub. But once you get past the initial shock, you actually start craving the burn -- sort of like with a good hot sauce.

I think it also has a tea tree oil flavor, or something similar. Strong and woodsy. The gum also features chrysanthemum flower, ginkgo, and oolong tea extracts.



I find the look of the gum cool. It's a soft charcoal gray-black, so it complements my wardrobe! (OK, that was a really stupid reason to like anything for.)

Not for the faint of heart, but if you like strong flavors and and/or caffeine it's a must try!


PURCHASED FROM:

Provided by J-List.