Wrigley's Orbit Spearmint - bag

Wrigley's Winterfresh Fusion Peppermint Berry

Mint or fruit? Conventional wisdom suggests that fruit makes a welcome change from the tyrrany of mint, but that fruit flavours disappear quickly. Hence Wrigley's decision to extend the Winterfresh range with some fruit-mint fusions. Here we have the peppermint - berry bringing chewers the best of all worlds. Flavour lasts as long as mint, yet the taste is quite intriguing.

Trident Splash - Raspberry & Peach

Another treat from the Trident Splash range. This time Rasberry meets peach, and don't they get on well together! Taste-wise this variety of gum is slightly better matched than the strawberry and lime combo (just a tad), but again, the taste itself wears off just a few minutes too quickly for any serious gum chewer's demands. And of course the packaging is not quite as exciting as the ovular tub of the strawberry and lime...However, if you're a fruity fan, you're bound to make this gum a regular pallet tingler.

Old school

Found a pack of distinctively nostalgic Wrigley's Spearmint gum in the UK a few weeks ago. Just like it used to be when I was in short trousers. Flavour lasts a shorter time than pellets, but I gather that this 'classic' gum is only available in sticks. Still, the reminescences come flooding back! According to Wikipedia, it was launched in 1893, making it older than the car number plate. It's trad, dad.

Mentos Pure Fresh Lime Mint

This must be the current King of the chew. Mentos Pure Fresh Lime Mint takes gum to new levels, and beyond. Not only is the chewee met with a powerful, fresh, citrus taste medley, but then finds that after 15 minutes of solid chewing the taste is as strong as ever - a very rare accomplishment for what is essentially a fruit gum.
Mentos Pure Fresh Lime Mint comes in a handy sized pot, cointaining 30 pellets (though it's so good, you'll still run out before you've finished your usual pack of 11 pellets!), and scores top marks on taste, texture, flavour sustainability and stretch. The only downfall - it's very difficult to find in stock!

Trident Splash - Strawberry & Lime Flavour

Trident, as stated on the innovative and original ball container, really is a "splash" of flavours. As you take your first chew into the strawberry shell, an intense lime note bursts into play.
And added to all that flavour intensity is the great packaging! What a treat!
The minus is that the lime and strawberry taste wear off almost as soon as they start....but still, worth a chew or two!

Fruit or mint?

For years, chewing gum has been available in but a few flavours. Two mints (spearmint, doublemint) and Juicy Fruit. Since 2000, the chewing gum market has literally exploded with a wealth of flavours. Mentholated chewing gums, fruit/mint hybrids, chewing gums with a liquid centre. And where the packaging was once limited to sticks or pellets, today's chewing gums are sold in traditional packs as well as bags, pots or tubs.

The future of chewing gum is functional - brain food, oral hygiene, pharmaceuticals, mineral supplements, vitamins - the market is unlimited!