3.47 - Wrigley’s 5 Elixir

Wrigley’s 5 Elixir: A Mouthwatering Berry. That is a pretty big claim: mouthwatering. Makes you have visions of drooling in anticipation to get a hold of this gum. Let's find out what we thought about it...ewwww...so much anticipation, my mouth is watering!



The reviewers for today are: Jay & Kevin. Chromer joins us, once again, as a special guest reviewer.

Flavor Longevity: 2.00
Jay - 1
Kevin - 3
Chromer - 2

Comments:
"Didn’t last long at all..."
"About 10 minutes in, the flavor started tasting more like the base than the flavor itself."
"Started well and faded quickly."



Taste: 4.00
Jay - 5
Kevin - 4
Chromer - 3

Comments:
"I usually am a fan of minty type gums more than fruit type gums, so this was a shock that I enjoyed it that much."
"This was a good flavor, while I don’t know what a “Mouthwatering berry” is, I would say it is a good description on this gum."
"Very good berry flavor, but didn’t last."



Flavor Strength: 3.33
Jay - 2
Kevin - 4
Chromer - 4

Comments:
"The flavor was very weak...could be why it doesn’t last long."
"Just right, subtracted a point for the short term of the flavor."



Texture & Consistency: 4.00
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Chromer - 5

Comments:
"A little rubbery, but good."
"Very medium not, too hard or too soft."
"Became hard to chew after a short time."



Refreshment: 4.00
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Chromer - 4

Comments:
"Mouthwatering..."
"At least for short amount of time."



Overall Score: 3.47

Okay...my random method of picking gums has resulted in about 18,000 different brands of Wrigley's gum in a row. That ends next post. That is a promise.

3.00 - Wrigley's Extra Fruit Sensations: Mango Smoothie

Extra Fruit Sensations Mango Smoothie, also by from Wrigley's (how many freaking gums do they have???), turned out not to be a great gum, as you will see. Perhaps it is the Mango, perhaps it is the Smoothie...



The reviewers for this gum are: Dan, Jay, and Kevin. Special Guest reviewer, Chromer.

Flavor Longevity: 3.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Chromer - 3

Comments:
"Thank Jesus! At 10 Minutes it started becoming tolerable, then at 20 minutes I spit it out, but it was about the same as it was 10 minutes in."
"Lives up to its claims."
"It really didn’t last that long. No longer than any other gum."



Taste: 2.25
Jay - 2
Kevin - 2
Dan - 3
Chromer - 2

Comments:
"This gum tastes like a mango...if mangos tasted like chemicals."
"Fairly mediocre – Initially had hints of Mango and a creaminess (like a smoothie, which it claims to be), but it had a lot of weird aftertaste action going on that wasn’t the best. Not vile, but not good."
"It wasn’t fruity enough for fruit...it wasn’t sweet...it was just kind of there. It was citrusy though."



Flavor Strength: 3.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 3
Chromer - 4

Comments:
"Too Strong, I don’t want this in me anymore."
"Could have used more of the good stuff and less of the bad."
"It was pretty weak from the get go."



Texture & Consistency: 2.75
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Dan - 4
Chromer - 2

Comments:
"A little fluffy feeling."
"Decent. Similar to other Sugar-free gums."
"It was a tough chew. The beginning was hard, but once it softened up, it was very rubbery. Like when you have had a piece of gum in your mouth for 6 hours."



Refreshment: 3.00
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 4
Chromer - 2

Comments:
"Makes my mouth mad, but does keep it moist. Maybe it is trying to protect itself from the horrible taste."
"Kept the mouth moist and gum was pretty chewable."
"It didn’t do too much to refresh. The citrus flavor wasn’t good enough, the flavor wasn’t strong enough. The only real good part was that it didn’t dry out my mouth."



Overall Score: 3.00

3.18 - Wrigley’s Hubba Bubba “Ouch” Bubble Gum

Wrigley’s Hubba Bubba “Ouch” Bubble Gum is, I suppose, directed at kids. The gum tin is designed to be like a "Band Aid" tin, only multi-colored and fruity flavored.

Because of the "bubble" word, we add a new category: "Bubble blowing ability".



This review was performed by Jay & Kevin, with Chromer as a special guest reviewer.

Flavor Longevity: 2.67
Jay - 3
Kevin - 2
Chromer - 3

Comments:
"Less than 20 minutes."
"When chewed with water flavor fades immediately."



Taste: 3.33
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Chromer - 3

Comments:
"Very sweet taste…almost too sweet."
"Meh, it's alright."
"Starts strong, but becomes bland quickly."



Flavor Strength: 3.00
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Chromer - 3

Comments:
"It seems very strong at the beginning, but then just calms down to a standard bubble gum."



Texture & Consistency: 3.33
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Chromer - 3

Comments:
"Soft right from the get-go."
"Very soft and pleasant at first – quickly becomes hard."



Refreshment: 2.66
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Chromer - 2

Comments:
"I found myself drinking water a lot."
"Moistened at first, but then dried me out after 30 minutes."


Bubble Blowing: 4.5
Jay - 4
Kevin - 5
Chromer - N/A

Comments:
"Gum portions are too small to effectively blow bubbles, but that may just be a factor of the general portion size for gum nowadays. However, when I did try the bubble it held together nicely and achieved a decent size, given the amount of gum. Back in “the day”, we used to chew 3 or 4 pieces of Hubba Bubba at a time to get huge bubbles. I did that with this and it worked out great."
"Good for bubbles initially."



Overall Score: 3.18

2.83 - Wrigley’s 5: Zing

Wrigley’s 5: Zing describes it self as "a sour to sweet bubble". (That’s it, “a sour to sweet bubble”…not bubble gum, just "bubble"). Wrigley's 5 is a line that appeared a few years ago (at least when I became aware of it) with strange and unique names for gum.

Because of the "bubble" word, we add a new category: "Bubble blowing ability".




For this review, Dan and Adam were absent and we had a guest reviewer, Jeff.

Flavor Longevity: 2.33
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Jeff - 2

Comments:
"Went pretty weak within 10-15 minutes."
"Unless you only have 10 minutes to live, then this is the perfect gum."


Taste: 3.00
Jay - 2
Kevin - 2
Jeff - 5

Comments:
"The sour wasn’t sour enough, the sweet wasn’t really…"
"Great taste to begin with."


Flavor Strength: 2.67
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Jeff - 3

Comments:
"Overall it was just weak. The “sweet” tasted just like standard bubble gum, only weaker."
"Great beginning, horrible ending."


Texture & Consistency: 4.00
Jay - 5
Kevin - 3
Jeff - 4

Comments:
"The consistency was pretty good. If the flavor was better it would be a decent gum.
Good consistency."


Refreshment: 3.00
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Jeff - 3

Comments:
"I was pretty dry with this one, I needed to drink a few times."
"Seemed average."

Bubble Blowing: 2.00
Jay - 2
Kevin - 2
Jeff - N/A

Comments:
"There was hardly enough gum to blow a bubble. When blowing one, perhaps a centimeter diameter was the largest you could do before it popped. Also, it took a long time to “prep” the gum for bubble blowing."


Overall Score: 2.83

3.80 - Wrigley's Winterfresh

Wrigley's Winterfresh is a gum that presents itself in a respectfully plain wrapper, with few claims. This is good because it knows itself as a chewing gum, and doesn't pretend to be something more than it actually is.



For this review, Dan was absent and we had a guest reviewer, Jeff.

Flavor Longevity: 4.25
Jay - 4
Adam - 5
Kevin - 4
Jeff - 4

Comments:
"After 40 minutes of chewing, it is still going."
"For a gum that does not claim to be long lasting, I have to say, I am impressed with how long the flavor lingered in my mouth."


Taste: 4.00
Jay - 4
Adam - 4
Kevin - 4
Jeff - 4

Comments:
"I am not sure what flavor this is supposed to be...wintergreen or spearmint maybe."
"Taste is great, I like the minty fresh feeling."


Flavor Strength: 3.75
Jay - 4
Adam - 4
Kevin - 4
Jeff - 3

Comments:
"Flavor was good…spoiled by all these new flavored gums, the flavor seemed too normal/too plain."
"The flavor comes on strong and does last, but I feel it is a bit too strong. To the point where if you take a drink of water while chewing, you are blown away."
"Drinking cold water was almost painful!"
"Flavor was really too strong at first"


Texture & Consistency: 3.00
Jay - 4
Adam - 3
Kevin - 3
Jeff - 2

Comments:
"A little hard at first."
"The gum was incredibly hard at first, but softened quickly."
"The gum is very hard at first (to the point it could cut your gums). Once you start chewing, it becomes very easy to chew, but again due to the smaller portion size, it is almost like chewing air. It gets lost in your teeth. Portion is too small."
"Hard as a rock to start, quickly became too mushy"


Refreshment: 4.00
Jay - 4
Adam - 4
Kevin - 4
Jeff - 4

Comments:
"My mouth feels cool, not extra thirsty. After having pizza for lunch, I can’t tell."
"It is refreshing and moist, and my mouth does feel refreshed when chewing."


Overall Score: 3.80

Welcome to the blog!

Welcome to the inaugural post for Now, Chew On This...

This blog started up from a discussion at work after a particularly nasty gum chewing experience. It was decided to start a gum rating blog for two reasons:
1) I have been looking for a blog topic.
2) To help people decide what gum to chew.

The Now Chew On This... crew is comprised of 4 guys who work technical support. Jay, Dan, Adam, and Kevin. We will also have guest chewers to help review every now and then.

Here is our process:
We must chew the gum for at least 20 minutes

We will rate the gum on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the highest), and will have comments (in no particular order) on the following factors:

Flavor Longevity (How long does the flavor really last? We will knock a point off for gum that claims to be extra long lasting flavor and are not.)

Taste (How does the gum taste? Does it match what it claims to be? Was it "good"?)

Flavor Strength (How strong is the flavor? Too much? Too weak?)

Texture & Consistency (Is it too dense to chew? Like chewing air? Too soft?)

Refreshment (Does it refresh your mouth? Does it moisten or dry your mouth?)


For special gums (such as gel gums, bubblegums, blow pops), we will have additional factors that apply.