Chewing Gum Flavors

Here's some nonsense, or filler, or whatever, but it had been lodged in my head for a while.

I came to the conclusion of what I would consider my favorite gum flavor, and then I went down the rabbit hole about it.

I like some of the minty gums, like the blue planks, and the light green planks, but not so much the white ones, that Wrigley white stuff that likely originated the mint-gum idea. Sometimes the blue planks can get a little overbearing, which is how the light green Wintergreen flavor probably tops out my favorite mint flavor gum.

You know what I mean about "planks" right? Not the trident chubby sticks, nor the fruity cubes, nor the other weirdness (shredded or balls or tape).

But I probably prefer the fruity gums to the minty gums. I do find those cubes a little big, and they lose their flavor too fast, and they're a little too sweet. And I like blowing bubbles, so it helps if my gum allows for that. For practicality purposes, I almost never buy them; I see them as more a candy than a nervous-habit-fulfilling device.

Let's just say that's a hard No to cinnamon flavored gums...clove gum at least has some novelty.

And then I realized that my favorite flavor was actually "bubblegum" flavor. In gumballs it fades within minutes, in those dried out planks in baseball card packs ditto, but as an essence, as a flavor, I probably like it most. One evening I had an upset stomach and chewed up a couple of Pepto Bismol tablets, and it was like they were flavored with the essence of bubblegum. It was then I realized it was my favorite gum flavor...and I had to do some research.

I don't know why those Pepto tablets tasted like that; the box didn't say anything about bubblegum flavor.

Bubblegum flavor came about when a flavor scientists mixed two fruit flavors together: strawberry and banana, maybe then a pinch of mint and one of cinnamon (like 4 parts, 4 parts, 1 and 1), and that was it. Four separate esters, with the majority being strawberry and banana.

And now that I know it, I can't taste anything but strawberry and banana.