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

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

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

5 Gum: Solstice

I don't know how I managed to not review this gum sooner. From the first time I tried it, it has far and away become my favorite of the 5 line.



Solstice changes in flavor from a warm mint to a cool mint. Think strong wintergreen meets peppermint, with a hint of cinnamon. It's hard to describe, even for me.



Actually, while this may not be the comparison that Wrigley's would want, if you have ever used Cool Mint Listerine, this is like a gum version of that flavor. It leaves your mouth feeling both warm and tingly. And the flavor lasts an absurdly long time.

All told, this is basically just a nice, potent mint flavor with great staying power. A very simple idea. But as we know, simplicity well executed can be fantastic...and this gum is a perfect illustration.

Definitely a winner!



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

5 Gum Zing!

I found the two new flavors of Wrigley’s 5 gum while on a drugstore run today. I could have just said "drug run" to make things more interesting...but then I would probably end up on all sorts of FBI watch lists (much like the one I am now probably on for using the phrase "FBI watch list.")

Since men in black suits with super old-school earpieces (really guys, it’s sad when my Blue Tooth is better then yours) have not busted my door down yet, I guess I should actually get to the review.

Zing is (according to the package blurb) a sour, then sweet bubblegum flavor. I have never been a fan of the traditional “pink” bubble gum flavor because I find it too sweet, and the aftertaste reminds me of bad kids' liquid antibiotic mixed with “Bitch Beer” style wine coolers. I hate to reference Sandra Lee more than twice in one lifetime, but once again it seems like something she dreamed up in a post-vodka pre-visit to the “doctor” haze.

Zing, true to spiel, is in fact sour at the start. It’s more of a strong lemonade-without-the-lemons type of sour. Unlike one of those pucker-inducing candies that are made to punish the eater for daring to think they could handle the bite (I, in fact love those candies, but they are never sour enough for me), the full effects of the sour does not last very long (less then five minutes). And then it starts to blend into the “sweet” portion of the flavor.

The sweet side, while it sticks firmly to a traditional bubble gum flavor (if you have had one pink bubblegum ever you know what I mean), magically never manages to get overly sweet. It strides that fine line of just sweet enough in a way I can’t remember any other gum ever doing. They have even managed to avoid the nasty aftertaste. There is an aftertaste, but rather than being like a reminder of drinks past, it is like a very toned-down version of the first sour notes. It doesn’t have the longest flavor retention of the all the 5 gums, but it did go for about 15 minutes before it got too bland to bother with.

I actually blew through half a pack in less then a day! Now if you’ll excuse me, there is banging on my door and footsteps on my roof…



PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreens