Candy Review: Oral Fixation Peppermint Mocha Mints

Oral fixation Peppermint Mocha

My go-to dictionary, the Canadian Oxford, defines “oral,” in part, as “of or concerning a supposed stage of… (infant) development in which the mouth is of central interest.” If this is the case, it would seem that many of us who write for this site never really outgrew the infant stage of development – we’ve never stopped trying to find as many interesting (and hopefully delicious) things to put in our mouths as possible. And apparently, neither have the good folks at Oral Fixation, who continue to provide us with new and increasingly unique flavors of their signature mints.

With flavors like chai, herbal jasmine, and mojito, Oral Fixation keeps pushing the envelope. The lineup has recently been joined by this new Peppermint Mocha flavor, which Oral Fixation’s website describes as providing “the caffeine jolt of a chocolate-covered espresso bean cut with cooling natural mint oil.”

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Candy Review: Altoids Smalls Sugar Free Mints

Altoids Smalls Wintergreen Mints

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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Candy History: Orbit Gum, Then and Now

Orbit Gum Tattoo Package

Image from Gasoline Alley Antiques

I’ve always enjoyed studying history, especially U.S. history. When I learn something new I’m amazed at how ignorant and totally clueless I can be, even when it comes to something as simple as gum.

For years I thought Orbit gum was a relatively new product from Wrigley. Wrong!

Orbit has been around since World War II when Wrigley began shipping all of their gum production overseas to the Armed Forces. With no JuicyFruit, Spearmint or Doublemint available for civilians in the U.S., Wrigley introduced Orbit.

After the war, in 1946, Wrigley brought the big three back to the States and phased out Orbit. It wasn’t until 1976 that Orbit returned – only to Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands – as the first sugar-free gum ever released under the Wrigley name.

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Gum Review: Orbit Mist

Orbit Mist Gum

Orbit Mist is a new line of gum from The Wrigley Company. It’s touted as a premium gum and contains little crystals – called Micro-Bursts – that the Orbit website says will “deliver a hydrating sensation to consumers.”

Now I can only assume that it means “to consumers who purchase and chew Orbit Mist.” When I first read the description, I had a vision of Orbit Mist boxes shooting “hydrating sensation beams” at random consumers in the grocery store. “Hello, ma’am, welcome to Food Land. How are you?”

“I’m good, tha-” (*Hydrating sensation beam fires.*) “Ohhh, I suddenly feel so… moistly healthy…”

Oh, ah-hem, I’m supposed to be writing a review. Sorry…

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Gum Review: Search for Spearmint Mini-Roundup Part 1

Spearmint Leaves

Spearmint leaves image from katrinket at Flickr

Some time ago, I bought a package of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum only to discover that the flavor had been changed dramatically. To put it mildly, the spearmint flavor I knew and loved had careened downhill and crashed into a muddy, mucky river. I wrote a review of it and a review of Wrigley’s other “improved” flavors. Since then I’ve been on a search to find a spearmint gum that matches my expectations of a good, mellow, sweet spearmint.

I’ve been slightly overwhelmed by the number of brands and varieties of spearmint-flavored gum. Without even looking very hard, I’ve found nine different varieties. Who knew spearmint could taste so many different ways? Trident alone makes three kinds of spearmint gum. It’s mind boggling.

It has been quite an adventure tasting all the varieties and thinking about the nuances in their differences and similarities. I’m feeling like quite the gum expert lately. And I have the freshest breath in the county.

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