Chiclets Peppermint Gum

Flavor: It's difficult to call our assessments of classic gums "reviews," because it's really hard to give something that's lasted the test of time in an increasingly competetive field less than a stellar rating. This gum might not taste as peppermint-y as Orbit, Stride, Extra, or any number of new, improved brands of gums. It might leave that undersirable sugary aftertaste in your mouth even as you're chewing. It definitely won't freshen your breath. But it's like comparing Godzilla with Iron Man-- one might look better on your plasma screen, but there's just no real way to compare a classic with a Blockbuster hit. Chiclets are crunchy and sugary and gummy, they're not good or bad they're just-- Chiclets.

Texture: To be fair, the actual serving size for Chiclets is two pieces, and it is a substantial wad when chewing two pieces (whereas just one Chiclet dissolves to almost nothing within minutes of chewing). The firmness is consistent throughout a lengthy chew, but it does create a slight foaming of saliva after a while. But again, the ingredients are basic, and the texture is fairly impressive given the circumstances.

Presentation: It's a classic Adams package, simple, recognizable. You know what to look for when you're looking for Chiclets.

Overall: Apparently, Chiclets aren't widely available in the U.S. anymore, but they're pretty popular in the Middle East. Luckily, we received some samples from our friend at BestCandyStore.com. As with all tried and true gums that have lasted, unchanged, in the marketplace against gimmicks and chemical advancements and flashy packaging, Chiclets have made a mark and don't have to prove anything to us anymore. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you want a super hydrating, minty, flashy pack of gum to match your outfit, there are plenty of gums for you. But if you want a sugary crunch in that old familiar box, pick up a pack of Chiclets.

Rating: ooooo (five gumballs)

Stride Always Mandarin

Flavor: A shockingly accurate "mandarin orange" flavor. Normally when we have such a specific citrus call-out in the flavor name (like tangerine), all we get is a vague "orange" flavor, but this gum actually does taste like mandarin oranges, the kind cute tiny ones you eat out of a can. Good job, Stride.

Texture: A little bit too tough for my tastes. This is a super firm chew.

Presentation: Stride doesn't mess around with fruit imagery, "fashion packs," or anything like that. Stride's packaging is friendly and predictable.

Overall: A friend of Gum Alert requested this gum a long, long time ago with the warning that it was really hard to find. Since then, I've been on the lookout for it, so it was like hitting the jackpot when I found a display with 3 packs left. I have to say that, despite the tough texture (which may, in part, have to do with the fact that I've had this gum opened in my purse for about 3 weeks [and we know from experience that, once opened, Stride tends to turn for the worst really fast]) this is a really great gum. Nicely done, Stride.

Rating: oooo (four gumballs)

Orbit Tropical Remix

First, I'd like to apologize for the dearth of posts lately at GumAlert. We know it's no excuse, but we both have been at sort of a cross-roads lately career-wise and it's reflected upon this blog. We know you depend on GumAlert for your weekly dose of gummy verbosity, and these last couple weeks, we've let you down. The good news is that we're both on track again, and both of our gum queues are epic, so there's lots to come!

Flavor: First chew is phenomenal, however, it's nothing new - this exact flavor profile has been duplicated time and again by every manufacturer. There's nothing new about this remix - it's a tropical drink in stick form. This one's heavy on the mandarin flavor. I think that to call a gum "remix," something needs to be changed up here. It's just more of the same. The initial punch lasts pleasantly long, but when it fades, it gets kid of bitter, like an orange peel.

Texture: No huge complaints on texture. There's a period about 4 - 6 minutes into the chew that you think you might have a dissolver on your hands, but it re-adheres to itself and the crisis is averted. It's a nice gum for snapping.

Presentation: Alright, this has to be addressed, and I suppose now is as good a time as any. Orbit's all over the TV lately touting their new "fashion packs," and I, for one, say "WTF, Orbit?" I mean, sure. They look ok, I guess? But what's the point? Orbit always had eye-pleasing packaging to begin with, and they spent what I can only guess to be millions of dollars on redesigning every package in their line. What of the reason we're buying it in the first place - the GUM itself? Orbit's at the top of the pack when it comes to quality of the brand as a whole, but there's so much more that can be done. Can you imagine the new and interesting flavors they could come up with if they invested some of the wasted packaging marketing dollars on food scientists? Or if they fiddled around with the texture of Citrusmint? We could be missing out on a potentially perfect gum, all because Orbit is wasting their efforts on silly "fashion packs." And my biggest complaint about them? There's no indication on the outside of the pack what the flavor is, and that's a serious issue for someone like Katie or I who has upwards of 15 packs of gum in our purse at any given time. It's a pain in the rear to have to open the pack to see what the flavor is. Fail, Orbit.

Overall: Packaging issues aside, this is a great gum, and definitely worth a try. It would have gotten 5 gumballs if the whole tropical thing wasn't so overplayed and imitated; gums this good are a dime a dozen, really.

Rating: oooo (four gumballs)

Freshen-up Bubblegum

Flavor: Freshen-up Bubblegum is, to me, a classic, and the bubblegum flavor here stands true to the historic flavor we all know and love. The gel inside the gum isn't overly sweet, and adds a gooey burst of flavor upon the first bite. Although my pack was rather stale, I remember back in the day the goo being plentiful and lending itself to the hydrating sensation now found in gums like Orbit Mist. The flavor only lasts for a couple of minutes, but I think they were going for much more than just long-lasting flavor here.

Texture: This gum was way ahead of its time. The grandparent of the now popular liquid-filled pellet gum, Freshen-up was among the first (if not the first) commercial gums to explore the concept that gum could be more than just a chewy, flavored stick. Gum is a treat, a kind of candy, dating back to the five-and-dime gumballs cupped in the palm of a twelve-year-old boy, alongside licorice and chocolates. This gum recognized the importance of the first bite for some people-- how for some, it doesn't matter how long the flavor lasts or how malleable the chew is after ten minutes. For some people, it's all about that burst of flavor right at the start. Getting to chew it for longer than a gummy bear, well that's just an added bonus. It's a whole different market, and it's given birth to such diverse favorites as Dentyne Pure and Bubblicious Mango Peach Bursts.

Presentation: Celebrating thirty-five years on the market, this gum has always been a fierce competitor for flashier packages and cheap (although effective) gimmicks. It's packaging hasn't changed for as long as I can remember, metallic pink and an illustration of an oozing piece of gum. It's simple, unassuming, and blends in with all the others on the rack if you're not looking for it.

Overall: I have to admit that when I mention this gum to my friends, no one can ever really remember the name of it, although most do recount fond memories of a pack in their pockets in grammar school. I can't remember the last time I saw someone pull a piece of Freshen-up out of a bag and start chewing. Does anyone still buy Freshen-up? Or are the packs in the stores as fresh as the day I bought them fifteen years ago?

Rating: ooooo (five gumballs)

Wrigley's 5 Prism

Flavor: Katie knows that when it comes to watermelon, I'm much more of a fan of artificial watermelon flavor (a Jolly Rancher is the perfect example of this) than an actual watermelon. I actually don't like actual watermelon very much at all. The new 5 flavor, Prism, is billed as "...an electric watermelon." And I have to say, that of all the artificial watermelons I've tasted, this one comes the closest to natural watermelon flavor. Right there it's got one subjective strike against it. Then it gets weird. The "electric" part of this gum is actually palatable. It's another one of those scary-gum-chemical-reactions that you can feel going on in your mouth that makes you wonder exactly what kind of phenylketonurics they've got going on here. There's a definite tingle in the chew - a quasi-carbonation, sort of a peppery tingle. If you leave the wad in the same spot in your mouth for too long it actually kind of burns. Very disconcerting, and just plain weird.

Texture: Nothing too interesting to say here. It starts off a bit too soft for my tastes but after a few minutes it firms up nicely.

Presentation: I've always been a fan of the 5 graphics, and this is no differently. Love the sleek black ribbed cardstock with the bright, almost tie-dyed color splashes. The matching foil is always pleasing to the eye.

Overall: As usual, I gasped with excitement when I saw a new gum in the checkout line today, and swooped it right up. I was super stoked that 5 had gone back to its roots after all the "React" shenanigans they've toyed us with recently. Unfortunately, this gum disappoints. Normally you can trust that 5 will be a worthy chew no matter what the flavor, but I'd probably stick to Extra Fruit Sensations Sweet Watermelon if I wanted a watermelony chew.

Rating: oo (two gumballs)

Extra Dessert Delights Strawberry Shortcake

Flavor: I have to admit right off the bat that I'm not the biggest fan of strawberry shortcake. If you put it in front of me, like any other sugary treat, of course I'll devour it, but I'd never choose it out of a lineup. All prejudices aside, though, I'd say this gum is just all right. It's got all the elements you'd expect out of a strawberry shortcake gum-- it's sweet and creamy and tastes of the familiar artificial strawberry flavor. I think I would have loved this gum when I was ten or eleven; it's got that really phony, terrible sweetness that reminds me very much of my smelly Strawberry Shortcake doll. I remember most adults gagging at the smell of her, though, a reaction that I finally now understand, thanks to Extra.

Texture: As a gum, it's a quality chew-- thick, not too soft, not too firm, keeps consistency for a long time. But I think that the reason I feel this gum falls short for "strawberry shortcake" is because so much of strawberry shortcake is about the texture-- the soft flesh of the strawberries, the spongy bread, the smoothness of the cream. That's what I most enjoy about it, anyway, and I feel like it loses half its appeal here. Again, I would not have given texture a second thought back in the day, if a free pack of this stuff had come with my awesome smelly dolly.

Presentation: I wonder if it might suit Extra better to market these three "Dessert Delights" independently from one another. I mean, it's true, they do have lots in common-- they're all desserts, they all have that unique creaminess to them, and they're all in one way or another delightful. But I think that, unlike Extra Dessert Delights Mint Chocolate Chip, and even Key Lime Pie to an extent, I wouldn't categorize this particular gum as a "sinful indulgence," per se. It's a kid's gum, simple and sickeningly sweet. Smack a cartoon character on there and Extra will be selling these by the handful. As for the way it's packaged now, though, I doubt it would have caught my eye as a kid, when lined up on the shelf beside such masterpieces as Hubba Bubba Max Sweet and Sassy Cherry or straight up Big League Chew.

Overall: I feel like I can't give this an objective rating, since it tastes like it's intended primarily for kids. But then, I feel like the packaging is not marketing to kids, so I shouldn't have to censor my adult opinions. So in honor of my old friend Miss Shortcake, in all of her stinky glory, I'll err on the favorable side of the gumball scale this time around.

Rating: oooo (four gumballs)

Extra Dessert Delights Key Lime Pie

Flavor: Interesting. I'm not a huge key lime pie person, but the first few chomps of this gum really make me crave it. The flavor is totally spot-on here. You can almost taste each element- graham cracker crust, whipped cream, and tangy lime filling- separately. The flavor doesn't fade too quickly, either. It does mellow a bit with a prolonged chew, but it never loses the Key-Limeness.

Texture: Big fat fail, Extra. It starts out so good, you wonder how it could possibly be sugarfree. The creaminess of the texture matches the creaminess of the flavor at first, but the longer you chew, the harder it gets. I actually find myself avoiding the side of my mouth with the dental crown, for fear that I'll knock it loose with this gum. It's one of those gums that if you spread it over your tongue, it almost feels like a latex balloon.

Presentation: Standard Extra packaging. I really like the font of the "Key Lime Pie" header for some reason. And like Katie said in her review of the Mint Chocolate Chip Dessert Delights, Extra should totally have taken advantage of the spot-on flavor of this line and called out its "Sinful Indulgence."

Overall: When I first heard about this gum line, I was ridiculously excited to taste the advance samples that Katie got from a friend. So far I've tasted this and the Mint Chip, and I'm really not impressed with either of them (despite my sister's enthusiasm.) I don't know why, exactly-- they're certainly tasty enough -- but they're just "meh." to me.

Rating: ooo (three gumballs)