Trident Splash Summer Spearmint

Flavor: I could be wrong, but this gum tastes an awful lot like its cousin Trident layers Cool Mint + Melon Fresco . It's a subtle sweet melon, much like a cantaloupe, with the cooling sensation of mint. It's such a nice flavor, why not re-purpose this flavor into pellet-form? It's common in the gum world to offer several varieties of the same flavor for folks who prefer pellets to sticks or vice-versa. But I really hate when companies try to trick their customers by re-packaging a flavor and wrapping it in a flashy "New!" label with a name that appeals to different senses. In this case, I'm not even sure what "Summer Spearmint" is supposed to taste like. It's actually sort of gross to imagine a spearmint flavor combined with a watermelon flavor-- they're just not compatible, they're no peanut butter and chocolate. Luckily, I detect no spearmint undertones here, so it works. But why not just offer the Cool mint + Melon fresco in pellet form? As a fan of that gum, I definitely would have been interested and would have offered it to my pellet-loving friends to whom I've never recommended the Trident Layer varieties.

Texture: This is a really substantial chew for a pellet, it's hearty and maintains a nice bite for a long time. The outer shell feels thinner than others upon first bite, a nice delicate crunch at the get-go. I think my pack sat on the racks for too long, though, as the inner goo was all but dissolved in many of the pieces. In the pieces that did have the goo, though, it wasn't even really that noticeable. Oh-- and vegetarians, put the pack down. This one's got gelatin, too.

Presentation: The packaging on this gum seems more out-of-date to me than Trident Layers. It's got bold greens and pinks, large font-size, very little white space and no artsy-fartsy designs. If I weren't hunting for new gum (as I always do...) I would have assumed this was an older gum that slipped by us until now.

Overall: Packaging and masquerading of delicious flavors aside, this is a really good gum. I think the goo falls a little short, but I love the flavor so much that I really don't care. If it were between this and Trident Layers, though, I'd probably go with that.

Rating: oooo (four gumballs)