pür gum - Peppermint

This review is sponsored by our friends at pür gum!

Flavor: A clean, refreshing, natural tasting peppermint. The initial punch is pleasantly strong, without too much of a nasal-clearing menthol sensation. It mellows into a long-lasting minty chew.

Texture: Your standard pellet crunch, followed by a period of a slight too-tough texture. Upon prolonged chew, say 5 minutes or so, it does soften up to a more pleasant malleability, although it remains a firmer than average chew from start to finish. This might not be a bad thing to some chewers, though. I know that I myself occasionally prefer to chew a gum that has a bit less "give" to it.

Presentation: Absolutely minimalist. No fancy graphics, just plain text in a sans serif font that's easy on the eye. I love this packaging, though I suspect that one might look a tad pretentious when pulling this out of your purse or pocket to share. "What kinda new-wave freaky gum do you chew, man! Just gimme some Trident!"

Overall: pür gum is a new gum from Action Candy out of Canada. Their claim to fame is that it's all natural and sugarfree, a quality I haven't seen yet from a gum. It proudly boasts "no artificial flavors," "no artificial colors" and "infused with antioxidants" on its packaging. And an interesting side note - the ingredients list does not include soy or soy lecithin, a quality I was hard-pressed to find in gum when I was eating soy-free a couple months ago due to my daughter's allergies. In fact, it was downright impossible for me to find a gum that was soy-free and sugarfree. And speaking of the ingredients list, there are only seven - seven! - ingredients in this gum, and all of them are easy to pronounce! The pack of Trident I happen to have closest to me has sixteen, no less than half of which are chemicals. This is a groundbreaking idea in gum, and it doesn't taste half-bad, either. If this were a Dentyne or Orbit White pellet, it would probably only get 4 gumballs due to the texture, but when you weigh in the multitude of benefits this gum packs, the good certainly outweighs the one negative point. Bravo, pür.
Rating: ooooo (five gumballs)

Clark's Teaberry Gum

Flavor: Clark's Teaberry is an old-timey looking gum with an old-timey, mild flavor. It's a super smooth, easy-to-chew minty stick. It's a pretty generic mint flavor, though if I had to classify, I'd say it's closest to a wintergreen. The flavor fades quickly, and after you remove your wad, you're left with the standard bitter aftertaste you get with most sugar-based gums.

Texture: It starts off a little tough, but quickly softens up to a perfect softness. Unfortunately, it's a little sticky to the teeth, and it has one of the worst squeaks I've experienced since Wrigley's 5 Flare.

Presentation: Clark's Teaberry gum has been around since 1900, and it looks like the packaging has remained the same since. It's a no-frills, retro packaging that warms the heart and reminds one of easier, simpler days. The sticks themselves are wrapped in coordinating paper sleeves with the simple Clark's tree logo.


Overall: Check out this advertisement from the 60's:

That about says it all. Teaberry gum is such a cute, sweet throwback to the days of old. While I don't find my feet running away with themselves and doing a little shuffle every time I pop a stick in my mouth, I do find myself reaching for it more often than other soy-free gums I've purchased.
Overall: ooo (three gumballs)

Glee Gum - Tangerine Flavor

Flavor: I'm always curious when companies decide to go with "tangerine" or "nectarine" to describe their flavors. Wouldn't it just be easier to go with the safer alternative of "orange?" I don't think the tastes are all THAT different. Anyway, Glee's tangerine is quite nice. It's more sweet than tangy, not quite living up to the ultimate orange-citrus-fruit flavor title that is currenty held by Orange Tic Tacs (c'mon, you know you eat them by the box,) but it's a pleasant flavor nonetheless. It runs out quickly, however. This seems to be the major flaw in Glee Gums.

Texture: A nice candy shell crunch evens out to a decent chew. With continued chewing, it gets a little waxy and somewhat sticky to the teeth.

Presentation: The Glee Guy returns on the Tangerine flavor's package. In fact, all Glee packaging features our friend the Glee Guy, who came and said hello on our review of Glee Bubblegum and has a Twitter page of his very own. As with the Bubblegum, the pellets come in a cute, retro-styled, convenient reclosable box.

Overall: As I said before, I'm on a pretty strict diet because of my daughter's allergies, and soy-free gums are hard to come by. I'm really quite bummed out that I can't sample all the awesome new gums out there, but I am comforted that I have my friend the Glee Guy by my side to get me through this hardship.

Rating: ooo (three gumballs)

Glee Gum - Bubblegum Flavor

Presentation: The packaging of Glee Gum is a really cute retro style box. It features a gleeful guy, jumping for joy at the prospect of chewing this All Natural Gum Made With Rainforest Chicle. Yum! The box contains 18 pink 1/2" x 1/2" pellets. It should be noted that if opened correctly, the packaging is really convenient and recloseable. The first pack I opened, I did it wrong, and now I have to be really careful that all the gumz don't fall out. Be sure to press in the little tab and lift the whole side of the box off.

Flavor: A really pleasant, stereotypical bubblegum flavor. This is a sugared gum, so it's not surprising that the bubblegum is spot-on. It fades pretty quick, and that rainforest chicle is all you're left with - and it's totally the blandest of the bland gum base. It's not bad, though... there's no bitter back-of-the-mouth bitterness, just blah.

Texture: A mild pellet-shell crunch is followed by a nice, albeit slightly waxy, textured chew. The texture holds up far longer than the flavor does, which isn't saying much. It binds nicely and doesn't fall apart or get too hard.

Overall: I'm nursing my 3-month old daughter, and recently we've discovered that she has some food allergies, which has severly limited what I can eat at the moment. Right now, I am off dairy, soy and eggs. Imagine my shock and heartbreak when I discovered that nearly ALL gum I had lined up in my Gum Review Queue had a suspect ingredient - Soy Lecithin. In fact, 99% of all gums have this ingredient in them. It's been quite a challenge to find soy-free gums, and the Glee line is by far the most varied. That being said, beggars can't be choosers. While it's not the greatest gum in the world, for those with soy allergies, this is definitely a viable, chewable choice.
Rating: ooo (three gumballs)