Flavor: I must preface this review by reminding our readers that Shannon and I have a rule that we must always be chewing the gum-in-question at the time of the review. I struggled with the possibility of not chewing a second piece of this gum while reviewing-- it's that gross. In the end, my professional morals held strong, and now I'm chewing the second piece of the most disgusting gum I've had in a long, long time. I know all sugar-free gums are chemical-based and are probably leading me on a slow journey to an early death, but I can almost feel this gum in action as it deteriorates my life cells. It starts out bad and "shifts" to worse. I gave the Orange + Mint version of this gum some credit for trying something new and taking a risk. But I just can't do it again. The "berry" tastes like a straight-up packet of Sweet and Low, and the mint never even really comes to fruition at all. What you're left with is a phony-sweet lump of cold in your mouth with no defining flavors or positive attributes.Texture: I can't even go into the texture-- it doesn't matter what the bite of the gum is like-- I'm too distracted by the film of chemical coldness that sticks to every surface in your mouth, a sort of slime that stays for at least half an hour after you stop chewing. It's nearly impossible to get rid of the film, chewing a different piece of gum or swishing a mouthful of water won't do it. It's so unpleasant that I was actually worried that brushing my teeth after this piece wouldn't eliminate the nasty cold lingering feeling and I'd be stuck with it for another hour of my life.
Presentation: As with its orange counterpart, this gum seems to be marketed toward adults, although I saw a little kid eyeing it up as I was opening it in the mall. It is a compelling concept-- (Two gums in one?! I've got to try that!), but even upon conception it seems counterintuitive that a berry flavor could shift into a mint flavor flawlessly, without an inevitable merging of flavors (a la Orbit Bubblemint). Alas, it falls short, after all.
Overall: Ughl, can I take this out of my mouth now? (That's what she said.)
Rating: o one gumball
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40 comments:
I do love a good that's-what-she-said.
As do I.
I will have you know that I just spent the last 3 hours reading your posts and the comments to them. You are now my favorite blog.
As for this gum, it's absolutely HORRID. I chewed it for 5 minutes and it reminded me too much of going to the dentist as a kid. Nasty minty flouride berry toothpaste crap. I don't even think this deserves a gumball, cause it sure isn't gum.
As soon as I saw a commercial for this gum I thought, "This is probably going to taste like barf. Plus Stride totally lies through their sugar-free teeth because their gum loses flavour SO fast then turns into a giant hard ball that hurts my jaw and makes me feel like an asshole for buying a whole pack. And then I feel like I'm a bad friend when someone asks me for gum and all I have to offer them is this miserable shell of a chewing experience. I hope they still let me come to their birthday party after this. Oh god."
*ahem* Yeah, so my internal monologue is a little borderline. But anyway, thanks for confirming all my Stride suspicions and helping to ensure that I'm still on the guest list for all birthday parties.
Bubblemint FTW!!!!!!!
this gum is disgusting i thought it would be good but it tasted nothing like berry to mint the flavor didn't even change. i also hate stride gum... 5 gum is the best
i actually love this gum, unlike your mean stride-hating selves. it does shift you just dont quite notice it. its very tasty and useful when uour partying and you want something berry sweet then want something minty to make your mouth tingle. very genius gum. thank you stride.
I love it too. I am a huge fan of the Sweet Berry and hoped this would be more like that. I was slightly disappointed at first, but it is really different and reminds me of berry mentos. To me it shifts back and forth between mint and berry and I like it. I wanted a minty gum, but usually mint is too strong for me and I like the candy flavor of berry. I didn't notice a film at all, maybe you just need to brush and floss your teeth better.
Vile crap. We spit it out in two minutes and desperately were searching for a palate-clenser. Sheer garbage!
Was pretty bad the first time I had it. I was also foolishly expecting the magical "BERRY TO MINT!" moment when the gum would quickly shift flavors, which never happened. It was more like chewing a minty piece of berry gum then introducing a mint gum slowly, but it pretty much tasted like mint when I first put a piece in my mouth.
However, I've gotten used to this gum, so I can chew it without worrying about a bad taste. Would I buy it again? No.
Conclusion: False advertising, but a lot of things on TV are falsely advertised, so what can you expect.
I saw this at Walgreens for just 50 cents, and being a huge Stride fan, I had to give it a shot. That was weeks ago, and the pack is still sitting on my desk with one piece taken out. This gum is terrible!!! Neither the berry nor the mint tasted particularly good, and there was a transitional mixing of flavors that lasted several minutes and tasted like some kind of cleaning product (seriously, I was reminded of Lysol wipes).
This is pretty revolting. 100% spot on by saying it tastes like a packet of Sweet & Low... not even Splenda... but actual pink packet, Sweet & Low. Nasty.
My friend Lisa said in the first minute of chew time, she was prepared to vomit... but she transitioned to loving it at the end. Which is odd. She can have my pack. I'm over it. I'm going back to Mega Mystery... which was a WIN in my book.
i actually really like this gum but i didn't the whole flavor change thing
This the best gum is the best chewy stuff made sence dog crap YUM YUM HAHAHA my info is: Name Bryan Stout Location: Elmwood Middle School 6th grade teacher school is located at Bloomdale ohio on jerry city road i know KONGFU i will karate chop you if you follow me hhaaahhaahaha
I gave it a whirl today, popped it in my mouth as I was leaving the store and it was out before I even go to the car. BARF.
BERRY TO MINT! I loev the gum and unless you're a professional gum-maker....stfu. Even then I'd bet you'd make something crappier so stop hating
What a disappointment! I couldn't wait to go the store and pick up a pack. I have to say, the first piece didn't even last one minute in my mouth. The berry and mint flavors just don't go together, EVER!
For the science fair i am doing which gums flavor lasts the longest. And Stride won...... I know the flavor might suck but can you tell me why the flavor lasts so long???? plz!!! thx :)
THE END
I love stride gum, but berry and mint don't go well together!! I thought it would be pretty quick changing... but no it just had to be s l o w. It reminds me of a dentist to. Also, notice something...
berry>mint
citrus>mint mint has to be there.
I still am trying to chew it, but it is a big rock in my mouth!
I had high hopes for this new gum. I was expecting a Willy Wonka type of changing gum, but was sadly disappointed. The orange to mint was okay, but had a slight chemical taste when it switched to mint. The berry to mint is wretched. The berry flavor didn't even taste good, and it never really switched to mint.
Can I get a refund please, because this customer is not satisfied...
I've never once had to throw away a packet of gum. This might be the first. The second it starts changing from berry to mint it gets absolutely disgusting.
This gum is absolutely disgusting!!! I switched from Orbit to Stride because it's a softer gum and doesn't hurt the jaw if one chews a lot of gum. It's impossible to find the plain berry gum which was delicious. They need to get rid of this gum and go back to the plain berry. It's one of the worst flavors I've ever tasted!!
I love this gum actually (: That's saying something since I don't like most types of gum.
I'm actually chewing a piece at this moment! It's not like a quick super-noticeable shift but more of a subtle one. The flavor lasts quite long & I enjoy it.
Didn't shift to mint? Did you not chew it for very long? Wow, the mint is actually quite strong. Like I just put a fresh piece of spearmint gum in my mouth. However, I did find that it left a strange aftertaste in my mouth. I presume it's the aspartame. Usually ANY sugar substitute revolts me but I didn't find it unpleasant at all until AFTER I spit the gum out... hrm...
i really really really like this gum. it's perfect.
at first it is good, than after a bit it does change to a minty flavor.
but ya know when u chew gum it just gets tiny, so u throw another piece in your mouth, DONT DO IT!! it is so nasty, it is kinda fun to find out how gross it is. i had another co worker try it with me. lol, we giggled because we were so grossed out
Hands down, the most disgusting gum I've ever tasted. I completely agree with yotayshakeit
you obviously work for a different gum company, you should stop posting these blogs and let the people go out there and buy a package of this gum without a biased opinion of it.
I tried this gum just now. Wow. I usually don't comment on blogs but this gum was so bad I just felt compelled to warn others from trying this disgusting product. I gave it to four other people to make sure I wasn't crazy, because I couldn't believe that such a gum was unleashed onto the public and openly promoted. They all hated it. At least we got a good laugh out of how bad the gum was. Thanks, Stride.
"at first it is good, than after a bit it does change to a minty flavor.
but ya know when u chew gum it just gets tiny, so u throw another piece in your mouth, DONT DO IT!! it is so nasty, it is kinda fun to find out how gross it is. i had another co worker try it with me. lol, we giggled because we were so grossed out."
hahaha
Stride shift "shifts" (see what I did there?) from an unpleasant combination of berry and mint to a flavor I think is best described as "new car smell." This is one of the worst flavors of anything claiming to be edible I've ever tasted. I had one late last night and had to try a second today to make sure it wasn't a nightmare. I like sugar free gums but I seriously want to punch the inventor of this monstrosity. Stride, please refund my money
I'm so happy to find this site/post and hear that I was not going crazy about something in this gum leaving a film in my mouth..what the heck was that? I felt too that some strange chemical was reacting and that cannot be good.
I gave one to my son and he thought the same..he proceeded to hand out sticks to a bunch of his friends and every single one hated it! I realize that some people will still like it but really not sure how this one passed the testing department at Stride?
what happens if you chew the gum with the wrapper on it?
It's okay for me. That's because it's the only gum I've have for more than a month and I busted all my money on an IPod touch.
Spot on. Had this stuff yesterday and was horrified.
There's no mention in this review of the fact that, after a while, this gum will suddenly deteriorate into a mess of little pellets and you have to spend a few minutes spitting them all out in their liquidy mush.
crappy gum
Ugh... It is DISGUSTING. I don't understand - its not so much the flavor - its the texture after you chew it for too long. It breaks down into this bodyless, gross kind of substance that seems like it may be lethal...
Ugh.. it IS DISGUSTING. The taste doesn't bother nearly as much as the way the texture breaks down into some kind of gooey, non gum-like mass. I like other stride gums, but this is having a bad impact on my perception of the brand...
The "lump of cold" description is very accurate. It feels like someone dropped an ice cube in my soul when I chew this, and I don't even think souls exist!
It sucks on a supernatural level, but not in an exciting kind of way. It's like having a ghost in your house that just turns the thermostat down a little. Boring supernatural suckage.
Does anyone know where I can purchase the Stride shift berry? I have a friend who just LOVES this gum. ewwww I would like to get her some for the holidays. Has it been discontinued?
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