Trident Splash--Citrus Blackberry

Sugar-free dragée gum

Taste: While at first the flavor is just as tart and interesting as its name would indicate, after only about five minutes it mostly subsides into subtle sweetness. It doesn't end with this fine excuse for alliteration, however. Ten minutes into the piece, just as I'd thought the original flavor was all but gone, I started to detect stirrings of coolness, which perhaps shocked me unduly. "Ice" or "mint" taste is not listed on the package, no, but how are you going to believe them when they say it cleans your teeth if you don't spit it out with Alpine freshness on your tongue? Within five minutes of this revelation, the coolness was almost as predominant as the soft fruit sweetness. And it did what it was supposed to--it left my mouth feeling clean, yet not minty-flavored.
Texture: 'Citrus Blackberry," like other Dentyne Blast gums I've tried, starts out simultaneously crunchy (thick candy coating) and soft to the point of squishiness(gimmicky flavor goo inside), then homogenizes into something suitably substantial and, for a while, very slightly gritty. The elasticity is fair enough, too.
Final Notes: As the packaging itself will tell you, this is a mouth-cleaner gum rather than a recreational gum, since the flavor is pretty short lasting. But because of its fruity flavor foundation, it's an appealingly unique alternative to typically mint-heavy postprandial chews.
6/10

Icebreakers "Lift" strawberry gum

sugar-free dragée



Taste: The supposed full name of this gum is "Lift {your spirits}", which is not only a rather unneccessarily cutesy use of punctuation, it's a pretty ambitious thing to ask of a gum. Since gum in general tends to lift my spirits, however, I'd be a pretty easy sell on this point. Or so you'd think. This gum does taste somewhat like strawberries, but they'd have to be very poor, very unripe strawberries. There is virtually no sweetness, but it is tart. It's also very bitter. I think the vitamin C and green tea advertised on the front isn't just a supplement, it's the extent of this gum's flavoring ingredients. On the upside, the flavor goes away after about five minutes--well, except for the bitterness, which stays for about ten.
Texture: Whether because the candy coating on this gum is far too thick or the gum itself is simply brittle, "Lift" tends to crumble at the very first, and much effort had to be made to keep myself from swallowing half my gum before I even got to chew it. The servings are minuscule, even if you have two pieces at a time as suggested in the nutrition facts. (Seriously, why?) Once you get over the crumbliness, it's nice and soft and everything, but when it tastes that gross, who really cares?
Final Notes: If you want a good-for-you, fruity tasting chew, buy a bottle of Flintstones vitamins.
1/10