Altoids – the name frightens me. I immediately get an image of my head bursting into flames as a small white tablet of destruction sears the inside of my mouth and then wreaks its havoc on the rest of my body. My husband and my mother love Altoids. They laugh at me because I am afraid of them don’t care for them.
Of course I’m talking about the dreaded peppermint Altoids. Whoever created those things must have been a sadistic former Gulag prison guard. Imagine my inconsolable weeping hesitation when I received two packages of Altoids in the mail to review.
Fortunately, they were not of the peppermint variety. Instead I’ve been able to sample the wintergreen and cinnamon flavors from the new Altoids Smalls Sugar Free line.
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You know, I had always heard that Wintergreen LifeSavers would “spark” when chewed, but I don’t think I ever actually tried it. Evidently, it is true (and my wife says she has verified it). So, why does it do this? According to exploratorium.edu,
When you crunch on wintergreen candies, you are making light with friction. The scientific name for this process is triboluminescence, from the Greek word tribein, which means “to rub,” and the Latin word lumin, which means “light.”
[read more]
Here is another interesting site where someone crushed Wintergreeen LifeSavers with needle-nosed pliers and took some pictures of it. Pretty cool.
I’m going to have to figure out a way to work triboluminescence into a conversation. “I witnessed triboluminescence while eating my Wint-O-Green LifeSavers in the dark.”
Explanation from exploratorium.edu
Explanation from howstuffworks.com
Pictures of Wintergreen flashes
candy, wintergreen, science, mint, mints, lifesavers, lightning
Altoids was the first to make mints trendy with their curiously strong mints and their cool tins. Now, there are dozens of mints on the market and you have to stand out to be noticed. Enter Oral Fixation mints – they come in extremely stylish tins and come in some great flavors. The mints come in minimalist brushed metal tins, reminiscent of 1920s cigarette cases. The tins are quite thin and perfectly sized to hold credit cards or business cards. The tins look like mini DVD cases and the 6-pack comes in cool case that looks like a mini boxed set of DVDs.
All flavors are sugar-free except for Night Light which is sweetened with brown sugar. I can really appreciate a sugar-free mint. If I’m going to suck on a mint, it’s nice to know it won’t be rotting my teeth away (I get enough of that eating candy). The mints come in six varieties:
- 7 Deadly Cinnamon (Hot Cinnamon)
- Night Light (Caffeinated Chai Mint)
- Mojito Mint (Lime Mint Cocktail)
- Sugar Free Tibet (Sugarless Wintergreen)
- Classical Peppermint (Strong Peppermint)
- Spare Mint (Spearmint)
The one thing I did noticed that these mints are more of a treat than a breath freshener. The minty freshness did not last long at all. The flavors of each aren’t as strong as Altoids (though sometimes I think Altoids are too strong). So, how do the mints taste? Let’s look at each flavor individually:
7 Deadly Cinnamon: One of my favorite flavors of candy is cinnamon candies, and 7 Deadly Cinnamon is quite tasty. Not too strong, just a good cinnamon taste.
Night Light: This was the only flavor I really didn’t like. I have never liked licorice flavor, and to me this tasted too much like licorice and reminded me of the brown and black Necco Wafers. It does have caffeine in it, so it has that going for it.
Mojito Mint: I don’t think I’ve ever had a lime mint before. A Mojito, for those that don’t know, is a mixed drink made with sugar, mint leaves, lime, and rum. The Mojito Mint is a minty-limey mint that is really good. Definitely something different.
Sugar Free Tibet: Did I say cinnamon is one of my favorite flavors? Well, wintergreen is too. I can eat a whole pack of Wintergreen Life Savers in no time flat. These wintergreen mints are good too…they are a bit more minty and less sweet than a Life Saver.
Classical Peppermint: Peppermint is probably my least favorite mint flavor, probably just because it’s so common. Having said that, I liked these mints better than Altoids peppermint, simply because it wasn’t as strong.
Spare Mint: I definitely like spearmint better than peppermint. This was a good minty mint- lots of spearmint flavor and not overly strong.
Overall, Oral Fixation Mints are very good. As I mentioned before in my Top 10 Candy Gift Ideas, I would definitely recommend picking up a 6-pack as a gift for someone that enjoys mints – it would make an excellent and unique gift. You can get some at Amazon or check out their store locator to find a retail outlet near you.
UPDATE: We just reviewed four new flavors from Oral Fixation.
Tags: candy – mint – mints – mojito – lime – review – reviews – spearmint – peppermint – chai
