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

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

Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits

When Cybele reviewed the new Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits, it was the first time in forever that I was excited to try a Skittles product.

I liked the Sour skittles when they first came out, but I don't really care one way or the other for the current version. I tried the Cores, but never bothered to review them. But these, these FIZZ! How do you not like a candy that could make you look like you have rabies and lets you talk like a rapper, and we all know I likes that fo' sho' (OK, the lame white girlness is showing, lol).



There are five flavors in the mix: Berry Punch, Melon Berry, Raspberry, Strawberry and Wild Cherry. As Cybele pointed out, if you think you've heard this list before, you're right -- because they are the same five flavors used in the Wild Berry mix.

Each Skittle on its own has that sandy, muted look to it -- sort of like the Sour Skittles. Each Skittle seems to have the same sweet, sort of fruity smell. The texture is also the same, regardless of flavor: chewy inside, semi hard crust.

The fizzing starts as soon as the Skittle hits your tongue, and then goes flat after about 10 seconds. It's sort of rough and scratchy on the tongue. I wish the fizz lasted longer because it is a cool sensation. For the heck of it I tried loading up on several Skittles at a time. It doesn't last any longer, but because you have more than one in your mouth it is more intense (gee, that doesn't sound too dirty). It also has an almost salty taste that goes with it -- not enough to stop you from wanting more, but it is there. Putting on my Alton Brown Junior Food Detective Hat, as best I can tell, the salty flavor comes from the sodium bicarbonate that is actually used to make the fizz. As you may have guessed from the word sodium being used in the name, it is in fact a salt and thus would taste salty. Yes folks, hard hitting food journalism is what I got going here.



The above picture shows a happily fizzing Skittle that has been moistened with a drop of simple tap water, so no disgusting, juvenile jokes please! That's my job.

Anyway, let's talk about the flavors.

Two of the five flavors are red. And truthfully, no matter how hard we tried, we just could not get a picture where you could really tell the difference. (When you actually have the real thing in front of you it is a little easier.) The darker red is wild cherry and the lighter red is strawberry. Use your imagination in place of a decent photo for this.

Wild cherry:



If you have ever had a "cherry" cough drop and really wished it was fizzy, then this is your lucky day. The flavor is all fake cherry and red dye. This is always the Skittles flavor I prefer to avoid. In fact, I wonder if anyone in the world really ever likes the cherry flavors that get stuck in these mixes. Maybe it's a vast candy conspiracy. Maybe candy makers have to keep using it because long ago the original batch of cherry flavoring somehow took on a life of its own, and turned into some sort of always-growing amorphous mass (sort of like The Blob), and the only way to keep it in check and prevent it from oozing its way to world domination is to suck out large quantities at a time and use it to flavor what could otherwise have been good candy. The Cherry Flavoring Mass (CFM) is probably imprisoned in some sort of top secret lair buried deep in a mountain where it's closely guarded by security guys in red shirts -- and because we all know what tends to happen to security guys in red shirts, I am sure it's a constantly changing guard. (I wonder if they have to hire via Craigslist?) Candy companies are then forced by our government to come and take some of the goo and use it in their products. Hmmm, you know, now that I have said it, I firmly believe that is the only reason we keep getting subjected to bad cherry flavoring.

OK... that may have been a little far fetched. I highly doubt our government is capable of executing such a complex and secret multi-level plan, much less force it on the public and still keep it a secret. Silly me...it's clearly an evil plot of the Bilderbergs.

Strawberry:



In the normal Skittles mix I actually like this flavor. And for just a moment when it first hits your tongue, it picks up almost a cotton candy taste. Once that wears off I think the lingering aftertaste from the fizz makes it taste sort of like air freshener.

Melon Berry:



This is a nice sour melon. Sort of like unripe cantaloupe mixed with watermelon. I like this flavor a lot on its own. What I found weird is that even though each appears to have the same amount of powdered fizz on them, they don't seem to actually fizz as much as the other flavors. I have no idea why. It must be related some shadowy Masonic plot.

Berry Punch:



This flavor actually reminded me of grape soda, sweet and bubbly. I know it's supposed to be berry flavored, but it just screams grape to me -- maybe it's the purple.

Raspberry:



Again, are there ever enough blue foods? (No, there aren't...and you can surely blame the Illuminati for that.) The fact that it's blue was pretty much the highlight of this Skittle for me. It's not a bad flavor; it's just sort of generic raspberry. And much like the Melon Berry, the fizz level seems unusually low compared to the other flavors.

My feelings overall? Meh. The Wild Berry mix has never been my favorite. I like the Tropical mix the best, actually. So the actual flavors didn't wow me. At the same time, with the exception of the wild cherry, there are no flavors in the mix I would go out of my way to avoid. I really liked the fizzy effect. I just wish it had been more consistent between the flavors. Would I buy them again? No, probably not, but I would eat them if offered to me. I would love to see them try this idea with the soda-inspired flavors, and with the fizz kicked up a little.

Of course, being me, I had to try an experiment. (None of this reflects on the rating -- I did it strictly for fun.) If you sip soda with two Skittles in your mouth, the fizz sensation prolongs a bit. Dropping a couple of Skittles into a little soda gives a super short (about three seconds) Alka Seltzer type fizz in the cup -- but it also makes the Skittle as hard as a rock. I wonder how many skittles and how much soda it would take to make a Diet Coke/Mentos style volcano? Sadly, as Gigi has neither the outdoor space nor the time to test it, the world will have to wait on some other nerd to figure that one out.



PURCHASED FROM:
7-11

PRICE:
$1.09

CALORIES:
200 calories per bag.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Gluten free, gelatin free.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
skittles.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

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.

Orbit: Piña Colada Gum

I admit it. I was skeptical of Orbit's Piña Colada gum. Was I right to be?



While I have heard nothing but good things about it, I have yet to like any of the Orbit gums that are inspired by drinks. But hey...it's Gum Week!

Also not working in its favor is that much like the now-notorious Trident Green Apple & Golden Pineapple, once the outer wrapper was peeled off, the scent that wafted forth was -- once again -- much like the stank of 100 bad car air fresheners (and it did not look like a happy little tree).



But if you think about it, even a good Piña Colada smells like a bad air freshener -- so maybe this was a sign of good things to come. And you know what? It was!

The pineapple is sweet and vibrant. It reminded me of a longer-lasting version of the Lotte Plus X Pineapple Mint Cube Gum . The coconut adds a milky sweetness. But it also keeps the pineapple from tasting sour. There might be a little bit of mint in there, because it does leave your mouth feeling cooler.

Really nice. This gum is quickly addictive!



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

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