2.64 - Wrigley's 5: Swerve

Wrigley's 5: Swerve is a "tangy tropical". Fairly orange in color and definitely Tangy, as in, it smells like Tang.




Participating in this review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, Thea, & Jon.


Flavor Longevity: 2.60
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 3
Thea - 3
Jon - 1

Comments:
"Taste lasted throughout the test time, but at weak levels."
"The flavor lasts a decent amount of time."
"Just like most of the 5 series gum, the flavor lasts as long as I do... (ed: WTF?)"



Taste: 2.00
Jay - 2
Kevin - 2
Dan - 1
Thea - 3
Jon - 2

Comments:
"Taste matches the description but is too tangy for me."
"I think the name Swerve came from the fact they tried to avoid hitting the taste and killing it, so they swerved. Unfortunately, they missed. The Taste is rotting and revolting. It tries to be orangey, but the overabundance of battery acid (chemical flavor) is too much."
"It starts out very artificial and kinda gross, mellow to tolerable, then alters into a bland pathetic fruity chemical aftertaste."
"Tastes like an orange that has had all of the juice squeezed out of it, or one of those vitamin water zero calorie orange drinks; either/or."



Flavor Strength: 3.00
Jay - 3
Kevin - 2
Dan - 4
Thea - 2
Jon - 4

Comments:
"Too strong at the beginning and too weak after chewing for a few minutes."
"Unfortunately, this is too strong for a gum like this."
"The strength actually is bad, and not just because the taste mostly sucked."
"Considering it doesn’t taste great, it’s best that it doesn’t taste like much of anything for any length of time."



Texture & Consistency: 3.60
Jay - 5
Kevin - 2
Dan - 5
Thea - 3
Jon - 3

Comments:
"Chewing on this is like a workout for your mouth."
"The best thing about this gum. Unfortunately that isn’t much."



Refreshment: 2.00
Jay - 3
Kevin - 2
Dan - 1
Thea - 2
Jon - 2

Comments:
"Not terribly refreshing and kind of dried out my mouth."
"Not pleasant. If you like to pop your chewing gum, it won’t be a pretty feeling with this gum. Every time I pop the gum by sucking in the bubble, the flavor hits my taste buds like a colostomy bag."
"Hardly."
"Not refreshing."



Overall Score: 2.64

3.33 - Wrigley's 5: React 2 (cool)

Wrigley's React (2) (cool – minty): This is the sequel gum to the minty React (which rated pretty good), not the fruity React (which rated pretty poorly).




Participating in this MEGA-review: Jay, Kevin, Jon, Thea, Adam, & Mark.


Flavor Longevity: 3.17
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Jon - 2
Thea - 2
Adam - 3
Mark - 4

Comments:
"This is what gum should be like!"
"You know how cough drops leave a taste, so does this…"
"Good longevity."
"After about 5 minutes, I just have that cold feel in my mouth."
"Flavor was mostly gone after about 5 minutes."



Taste: 3.17
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Jon - 2
Thea - 3
Adam - 1
Mark - 5

Comments:
"Strong like my banking pin."
"Seriously, it’s like Wrigley decided, let’s make a gum version of a shitty cough drop."
"I little fake mint flavor, but overall not too bad."
"After the 5 minute mark, I have that not so good mint aftertaste that makes drinks suck."
"Tastes like menthol, which is indeed cool and minty, but not something I want to chew on for any length of time."



Flavor Strength: 3.33
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Jon - 3
Thea - 3
Adam - 3
Mark - 4

Comments:
"The minty stays for a while."
"The flavor started out surprisingly well."
"The cool quality is pretty strong, but the mint flavor is really lacking."



Texture & Consistency: 3.67
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Jon - 3
Thea - 4
Adam - 3
Mark - 4

Comments:
"A little soft for me but it has some substance."
"The gum is gray, so it’s kind of like chewing on death."



Refreshment: 3.33
Jay - 4
Kevin - 4
Jon - 3
Thea - 3
Adam - 1
Mark - 5

Comments:
"Indeed!!"
"Interestingly, cough drops are usually refreshing, but not in gum form."
"I got a little bit of cotton mouth after I spit it out. While I was chewing it, I got some refreshment."
"Refreshing, but now I want to get rid of this taste."



Overall Score: 3.33

3.25 - Trident: Cinnamon

Trident: Cinnamon is one of few plain flavors we have tried recently. Most of the recent gums have been made up flavors and combinations. K.I.S.S. Did they?




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


Flavor Longevity: 3.50
Jay - 2
Kevin - 4
Dan - 4
Mark - 4

Comments:
"Fades fast."
"Ok, I guess. Kind of hard to screw up cinnamon longevity though."



Taste: 3.25
Jay - 2
Kevin - 4
Dan - 3
Mark - 4

Comments:
"Cinnamon is too sweet."
"This is the classic 'rip off is better than the original (Big Red)' situation."
"As far as cinnamon gums, it’s ‘eh’. Similar to Big Red. Not that great, not horrible. Just ‘eh’."



Flavor Strength: 3.50
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Mark - 4

Comments:
"I expect a bit of burn with Cinnamon gum, but with this one? Nothing."



Texture & Consistency: 3.00
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Dan - 3
Mark - 4

Comments:
"The Michelin Man must of pooped these out, it is so rubbery."
"Has a slightly weird chew feel in the mouth at first – somewhat rubbery I guess."



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

Comments:
"Nope."
"I gotta say, this gum doesn’t blow my socks off. I’ll chew it if nothing else is available, but there’s so many better gums out there. Given how well Trident does spearmint, you’d think they’d have a capable cinnamon, but this frankly doesn’t cut it for me."



Overall Score: 3.25

2.80 - Trident Vitality: Vigorate

Trident Vitality: Vigorate is one of those gums with a completely made up name, because it comes with something a little extra. In this case a citrus & strawberry flavor with Vitamin C.




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


Flavor Longevity: 3.00
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Adam - 2
Thea - 5

Comments:
"Lasts for hours with diminishing intensity."



Taste: 3.00
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Adam - 2
Thea - 4

Comments:
"Good taste and you can definitely taste the citrus and berry notes."
"The minty citrusy flavor while not horrible, is nothing to write home about."



Flavor Strength: 2.75
Jay - 2
Kevin - 3
Adam - 2
Thea - 4

Comments:
"Bursting with intensity at first chew, lasts for hours at a lower level."
"It is pretty weak. Mild and unimpressive."



Texture & Consistency: 2.50
Jay - 4
Kevin - 2
Adam - 2
Thea - 2

Comments:
"Too soft for me."
"A bit too soft, but overall not bad."



Refreshment: 2.75
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Adam - 1
Thea - 4

Comments:
"Moisten and refresh, with a bit of cooling."
"Somewhat...that is all there is to say."



Overall Score: 2.8

3.50 - Stride: Nonstop Mint

Stride: Nonstop Mint is another nondescript minty gum. Some random minty flavors put together to cool and refresh. In addition, we welcome Thea to the review team.




Participating in this mega-review: Jay, Kevin, Dan, Adam, Liz, & Thea.


Flavor Longevity: 3.83
Jay - 3
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Adam - 3
Thea - 4
Liz - 4

Comments:
"For a gum called 'Nonstop' I would expect it to last longer."
"Stays minty for quite some time. I had some lingering mint flavoring after about 2 hours, so I’d say that passes the test."
"Nonstop Mint is kind of a powerhouse. I’m about 40 minutes into chew time and it’s only now starting to dwindle on flavor."



Taste: 3.17
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 1
Thea - 3
Liz - 4

Comments:
"The gum smells strange before you even start chewing. The mint is actually very mild, almost to the point of being weak."
"A fairly strong spearmint flavor and somewhat sweet. Pretty decent for a spearmint."
"Minty Suckness."
"Taste is decent and reminiscent of spearmint, but a little too fake tasting for my personal preference."



Flavor Strength: 4.17
Jay - 3
Kevin - 4
Dan - 5
Adam - 3
Thea - 5
Liz - 5

Comments:
"The strength of the mint is weak. And since it doesn’t last long, it doesn’t have the opportunity to build upon itself."
"The downside of being a powerhouse is a way too intensely flavored gum."



Texture & Consistency: 3.17
Jay - 4
Kevin - 2
Dan - 3
Adam - 3
Thea - 2
Liz - 5

Comments:
"The chew is fantastic."
"Gets a little tough while chewing – about the only downside to this gum."
"Not awful but too soft for my taste. I like a gum with more bite (er, “chew”) to it."



Refreshment: 3.17
Jay - 3
Kevin - 3
Dan - 5
Adam - 1
Thea - 3
Liz - 4

Comments:
"Somewhat. The refreshment will last a little while, but I will probably use a different gum later on."
"My mouth feels like it just went through a dental cleaning. Ahhh!"
"Moistens and feels refreshing but I can’t wait to get this taste out of my mouth."



Overall Score: 3.50

A Review Of Disgust, part 2...The Bottom 5 Gums (so far...)

So far, this blog has reviewed over 60 gums. It is time to update list of gums that are the most disappointing, gross, pointless, and a waste of your $1.25.

So sit back, relax, and remember, do NOT buy these gums for any reason. Ever. (Well, unless you buy it for someone else who you hate and wish they would die.)


Coming it at #5 Worst Gum with a score of 2.05 is:
Wrigley's 5: React (warm)

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Flavor Longevity: "It’s gone on vacation and didn’t even set its Out Of Office voicemail!"
About Refreshment: "The flavor is not refreshing...and another thing: the color of the gum. I need to comment on the grey/black color. It would be a good color only if you wanted to coordinate your gum with your handbag."


Coming it at #4 Worst Gum with a score of 2.04 is:
Hubba Bubba Max: Cherry Lemonade

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Flavor Longevity: "The best thing about the flavor of this gum is that it disappears within minutes."
About Taste: "Ug. Not sure what the crap this is supposed to be. More like Cherry-Lemonade-SourCrap."


Coming it at #3 Worst Gum with a score of 1.88 is:
Wrigley's Hubba Bubba Glop: Strawberry Gush

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Taste: "Flavor was so-so with the initial gush part. The after-taste when then the flavor leaves is not good though. Not good at all. Had to wash out mouth with a much better gum after wards."
About Bubble Ability: "It is a real PITA to try and blow a bubble with this shitty gum."


Coming it at #2 Worst Gum with a score of 1.84 is:
Wrigley's 5: Vortex (Green Apple)

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Taste: "This is an extremely vile taste. It is vaguely like apple, but I am pretty sure there is some anthrax and rotting battery acid too."
About Refreshment: "I might just pass this gum out to my kids as punishment rather than washing their mouth out with soap."


Coming it at #1 Worst Gum with a score of 1.70 is:
Fruit Stripe

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Flavor Longevity: "Flavor disappears after about 60 secs of chewing...to maintain flavor, you must keep adding pieces of gum..."
About Refreshment: "This gum sucks and almost made me hate life. I really hated it and threw it out after just a few minutes."

A Review Of Delight, part 2...The Top 5 Gums (so far...)

So far, this blog has reviewed over 60 gums. It is time to update the top 5 gums, so you know which gums were the most delightful, tasty, and worth your hard earned money.

So sit back, relax, and remember, if you don't heed the warnings of the next post (to NOT buy those gums), run out and get one of these to cleanse the disgust. That is what we do.

There are two new comers to this list since our first review

With no further delays, here is the list of the top 5 best gums!:
Coming it at #5 Best Gum with a score of 4.23 is:
Wrigley's: Big League Chew: Bubble Gum Flavor

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Refreshment: "Being a sweet gum, it doesn’t refresh, other than mentally. It just makes people happy."
About Bubble Ability: "Too soft to blow bubbles until about 10 minutes in, and then watch out! Bubbles as big as your head!"


Coming it at #4 Best Gum with a score of 4.25 is:
Wrigley's Orbit: Maui Melon Mint

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Taste: "The sweetness of the Maui Melon (whatever that is) is balanced pretty well with the Mint."
About Refreshment: "Better than you would think, given the name."


Coming it at #3 Best Gum with a score of 4.35 is:
Trident: Splashing Mint

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Longevity: "Flavor lasted to the 2 hour mark."
About Refreshment: "A really good gum. If they dialed back the sweet department a tad, it would be perfect."


Coming it at #2 Best Gum with a score of 4.50 is:
Wrigley's Orbit: Sweet Mint

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Consistency: "Even after an hour, this is still an easy to chew gum."
About Flavor Strength: "A little wuss on the power side, but not too bad."


Coming it at #1 Best Gum with a score of 4.60 is:
Trident: Spearmint

Here are a couple choice comments from that review:
About Flavor Strength: "Very strong flavor. If any stronger, I would probably puke. (ed - But it would be great tasting puke!)"
About Refreshment: "All in all, a solid gum. Taste wins here... there’s a reason why there’s an open invite to my mouth right now."