3.85 - Eclipse: Spearmint

So, I have this condition. When I pop a piece of really minty gum into my mouth, the mint blast causes me to sneeze. Just once and then it is done. This is the first time one of our gums has caused this to happen.

Now that I think about it, the gum that makes this happen to me on a routine basis is Eclipse as well. Anyway, that speaks to the strength of the flavor, at least to start.



Participating in this review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, & Adam.


Flavor Longevity: 4.25
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 5

Comments:
"Lasts a while."



Taste: 3.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 4

Comments:
"Mintabulous!"
"The spearmint isn’t very sweet...almost a sour."



Flavor Strength: 3.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 4

Comments:
"Very strong at first – but tapers off and lasts quite a while."
"Too strong to start and it doesn’t really settle to a good point. It goes from strong to weak with nothing in the middle."



Texture & Consistency: 3.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 4

Comments:
"Good Stuff."
"Pieces are too small. Typically when I get these kinds of gum, I have to chew two."



Refreshment: 3.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 4

Comments:
"I feel like I just licked a mint leaf – mouth feel clean and & minty."
"Not really."



Overall Score: 3.85

3.35 - Eclipse: Winterfrost

Eclipse: Winterfrost is the first Eclipse gum we have reviewed. It comes in the foil bubble packs. Not super convenient for transport, but okay if you have a handy drawer at work you keep it in, just using that as an example. Not that I have a drawer filled with every kind of gum imaginable or anything, all unlocked and unsecured, so anyone can just take some.

Oh, uh...right. Winterfrost. Here's the review:



Participating in this review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, & Adam.

Flavor Longevity: 3.75
Jay - 4
Kevin - 2
Dan - 5
Adam - 4

Comments:
"Not bad."
"Your ‘loving sessions’ will stay minty-fresh throughout!"



Taste: 4.25
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 5

Comments:
"A little strange tasting, but overall a decent mint."



Flavor Strength: 3.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 2
Dan - 4
Adam - 4

Comments:
"Starts too strong and then drops to too weak."



Texture & Consistency: 2.25
Jay - 2
Kevin - 2
Dan - 3
Adam - 2

Comments:
"Very small portion. I almost lost it in my mouth."
"I find myself needing two pieces to be worth the chew."
"Gum is ok, but I could use a bigger piece. Really, feel free to explore the SPACE of your mouth with this gum. I’m gonna need more gum."



Refreshment: 3.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 4
Adam - 3

Comments:
"Not bad, but not very refreshing."
"If I had other mint gum, I would choose it, but in a pinch, it will do."
"I’d give it a 5 if the piece was bigger."



Overall Score: 3.35

4.23 - Wrigley's: Big League Chew: Bubble Gum Flavor

The #1 requested gum has finally been reviewed. Big League Chew comes to "Now, Chew On This..." and we couldn't be happier. The gang was all smiles and rip roaring to get to it. We had two pouches to make sure there was plenty to go around and even shared some with others. Everywhere I went, people would say "Big League Chew!", "Where did you find it?", and "How come you never see adds for it anymore?"

For those that don't know, Big League Chew comes in a pouch and is shredded into thin strips so you can take as much or as little as you want.

Regardless it was worthy enough to push it's way up to the #4 Top Gum position!



Participating in this review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, & Adam. Special guest reviewer: Dan2.


Flavor Longevity: 4.20
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Dan - 4
Adam - 5
Dan2 - 4

Comments:
"Just over 30 mins and the flavor is still there. It is disappearing slowly, but still there."
"The flavor drops, but still hangs out 40+ minutes later."



Taste: 4.40
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Adam - 5
Dan2 - 4

Comments:
"Always loved Big League Chew. After awhile, it does develop a bit of an after taste, even while still chewing, but not bad."
"Some of the best bubble gum flavor...and it is made with real sugar, not artificial sweeteners."
"Solid bubblegum taste."



Flavor Strength: 4.60
Jay - 5
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Adam - 5
Dan2 - 4

Comments:
"Perfect delivery on long lasting flavor."
"Not sure if you can make bubble gum flavor too strong, but it definitely is not weak!"



Texture & Consistency: 4.00
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 4
Dan2 - 4

Comments:
"The gum is very soft from the get go and stays soft even after some time. At first, it is hard to blow bubbles, but after about 20 mins, the gum develops the perfect consistency to blow small-medium sized bubbles."
"You can’t blame anyone but yourself if the amount is too little or too much. But, it starts out way too soft, but as time goes on, gains consistency."
"Really, really soft at first. Incredible mouth-feel."



Refreshment: 4.20
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 5
Dan2 - 4

Comments:
"Gotta love Big League Chew!"
"Being a sweet gum, it doesn’t refresh, other than mentally. It just makes people happy."
"This is the epitome of all bubblegums. Just chewing the thing is bliss...blowing bubbles is almost a nice extra touch."



Bubble Ability: 4.00
Jay - 4
Kevin - 3
Dan - 4
Adam - 4
Dan2 - 5

Comments:
"Bubble blowing ability gets better the longer you chew the gum."
"Too soft to blow bubbles until about 10 minutes in, and then watch out! Bubbles as big as your head!"
"Pretty good, although it can be difficult to blow super-huge bubbles given how soft the gum is."



Overall Score: 4.23

2.80 - Stride: Mega Mystery

Stride: Mega Mystery is one of the new gums from Stride. Along with the Shift gums (see previous blog entry), this gum is one of Stride's attempts to break the mold of the standard mint and fruity gums. A try at something new...and that is something. We weren't looking forward to it, when the wrapper reminded us of Fruit Stripe, but luckily it was quite a bit better than that.




Participating in this review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, & Adam.


Flavor Longevity: 3.00
Jay - 4
Kevin - 2
Dan - 3
Adam - 3

Comments:
"I hate having to give this shitty gum a high score of 3 for something, but this taste just does not go away."
"So-so, but not as long lasting as I would expect from Stride. No pack of ninjas were deployed to make me spit out my gum."
"Lasts fairly long."
"Lasts way too long."



Taste: 2.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 1
Dan - 4
Adam - 1

Comments:
"Ohh man, the initial taste is horrid! Stride should package this gum with another piece of gum that actually tastes good so as to allow someone a chance to get rid of this just horrible taste."
"Not half-bad. Kind of a tropical/Hawaiian Punch flavor."
"I wasn’t the biggest fan. It is kind of a pineapple like flavor."
"Blahhack!"



Flavor Strength: 3.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 2
Dan - 5
Adam - 3

Comments:
"Not sure that is a good thing..."
"The flavor is mild the entire time."



Texture & Consistency: 3.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 4
Adam - 3

Comments:
"It’s easy to chew, not too soft, not too hard."



Refreshment: 2.25
Jay - 3
Kevin - 1
Dan - 4
Adam - 1

Comments:
"I cannot award any points for refreshment, but the minimum is a 1, alas."
"Pretty decent – the mystery flavor did not disappoint."
"Not really. It isn’t bad, it just doesn’t really refresh me. But, I don’t have to put in a minty gum right away...I can wait a bit."
"Refreshment was the extra large glass of water after spitting out the gum after the required minimum amount of chewing time."



Overall Score: 2.80

4.10 - Stride Shift: Citrus > Mint

Stride Shift: Citrus > Mint is a new type of gum experiment by Stride. This gum is supposed to change from one flavor to the other. It does that and more. The gang was so impressed by this gum, that it is now tied for the #5 rated gum in this blog.




Participating in this review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, & Adam.


Flavor Longevity: 4.75
Jay - 5
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Adam - 5

Comments:
"Lives up to it!"
"The flavor does last. I can still taste the Citrus and the Mint and I am going on over 30 minutes."
"Almost 45 mins in and the flavor is still here!"



Taste: 3.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 4
Dan - 3
Adam - 5

Comments:
"Very strange. Starts out as ‘chemical citrus’, then fades to mint, then reverts to a regular citrus after the mint goes away. The resulting citrus flavor is ok, but the initial citrus/mint flavor is bizarre. I guess my mind isn’t ready for the Shift."
"Not sure, it is strange. I spent a lot of time wondering how long the Citrus flavor would stay before giving away to the mint."
"Impressive – both the citrus flavor and the mint."



Flavor Strength: 4.50
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Adam - 5

Comments:
"Could have been a little more powerful."
"Not too overpowering, but not weak either. Perfect balance."



Texture & Consistency: 3.50
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 3
Adam - 5

Comments:
"Starts out horrible. Very tough to chew. Loosens up eventually and finishes ok."
"A bit strange. It seemed a tough at the beginning."
"Very easy to chew, even after all this time."



Refreshment: 4.00
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Dan - 3
Adam - 5

Comments:
"A tale of 2 gums, and I’m not talking about the Citrus/Mint thing. Initial gum is crappy – tough to chew and bizarre flavor. After a while, it chews much better and flavor improves. We’ll average the 2 and end up in the middle on the ratings scale."
"It blew my f*****g mind!"
"Refreshes and moistens - this gum is the shit!"



Overall Score: 4.10