It’s not easy to find innovation in mints nowadays. How many different round mints in rectangular tins can the market sustain, really? That’s why I was so pleased to stumble on the “Great Bite” product line. They have some of the coolest packaging and product shapes I’ve come across in a while. The tins, the round sour packs, the Tic-Tac-like packs – all have a “bite” taken out of them and so do the candies themselves.

The mint tins are your typical Altoids tin shape and size, but the top left portion of the tin is bitten off. Each mint inside is about the size of a Life Saver (with no hole) and a portion of the mint is bitten off too. This theme continues across the whole product line. The mints (and tins) come in peppermint, spearmint, and orange and all taste great except the peppermint – it has a strong licorice taste to it that even my seven year old daughter picked up on (which isn’t good if you dislike the flavor of licorice). The orange was especially tasty and hits you immediately with a strong orange kick.

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When I opened a package addressed to me at Candy Addict, I expected the usual assortment of sugary treats sent by most candy manufacturers. Instead, a bright blue box with the words “Cavity-Free Kit” shone up at me. I wondered if the delivery was my dentist’s idea of a joke. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want rotten teeth, and have only had one cavity in my entire life (in a baby tooth!) – but as a lover of sugar, I was hoping for a box of sweet stuff.

Curiosity was definitely beginning to overtake disappointment, so I opened the box to find out exactly what a Cavity-Free Kit really is. Inside, I found boxes of gum and mints, a tube of toothpaste, and a bottle of mouthwash. Directions were included with the kit, and after poking through all the boxes to check out the gum and mint flavors, I read about Epic’s ideas for a healthy mouth. Apparently, the sweetener xylitol is key.

Problem number one that I have with Epic is that the directions for obtaining a healthy mouth include using Epic products six times per day. Yes, six. The manufacturer stresses that you can choose the combination of products to add up to six, but I don’t like requirements on my gum and candy. I do, however, love sugar-free gum, especially in pellet form, and was quite excited to give the four flavors a try.

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If I’ve learned anything about gum recently it’s this: gum isn’t just for chewing anymore. No, nowadays it freshens your breath, entertains your taste buds, even sends caffeine coursing through your system. X-it Sugarfree is no exception. In addition to X-it Sugarfree Gum, I also received several different types of mints and bonbons. I have enough gum and mints to keep my breath fresh for a decade.

What’s my favorite thing about these X-it products? Honestly, its the packaging. Each product comes in an attractive tin that tucks easily into your purse or pocket, guarding the lining against spillage. Even better, the tiny mints come in tins with black plastic lining that dispenses a couple at a time – even more protection against spillage!

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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.

• Oral Fixation Mints website
• Buy a 6-pack at Amazon

Tags: candy – mint – mints – mojito – lime – review – reviews – spearmint – peppermint – chai

Does everyone remember Jolt Cola – the cola with all the sugar and twice the caffeine? I remember people in college pulling all-nighters to study for exams and they used Jolt and NoDoz to stay awake (NOT recommended). I tried NoDoz once and I truly felt like I was addicted to drugs. Never again.

Anyway, back to Jolt….the makers of Jolt thought they would spread their love of caffeine into the realm of gum and have created Jolt Gum, so just for kicks I thought I’d try it out. The package says “2 pieces of Jolt Gum = 1 cup of coffee”. Now I’m not a coffee drinker – I’ve always been afraid I would get addicted to it like my wife and mother are. I do drink Mountain Dew though, so I am no stranger to caffeine. I wanted to wait to try Jolt Gum ’til I was sleepy one morning but the morning I decided to try it I wasn’t any sleepier than usual.

I popped 2 pieces of Jolt Gum around 10:30AM on essentially an empty stomach. The gum is of the “chiclet” variety – the rounded rectangle shape as opposed to sticks of gum. The gum comes in both Spearmint and Icy Mint flavors and I tried one of each (separately). They both had good, strong minty flavors and the flavor lasted a long time – much longer than most gums last, though I didn’t actually time it.

About 15-20 minutes after putting the initial piece in my mouth I got a serious buzz – I felt a little light-headed and just slightly nauseous – I am attributing that to the caffeine kick the gum gave me (and it could have been the Ginseng and/or Guarana it also contains). To someone who drinks coffee frequently, the caffeine from a single cup of coffee could have little or no effect, but I definitely felt it.

So overall, the gum tastes good, the flavor lasts a long time, and I believe it truly does have the caffeine kick that it says it does. Drop by the Jolt Gum website to learn more or even to order some Jolt goodies – gum, cola, T-shirts, hats, etc. Be sure and check out the Jolt Gum FAQ – it has some really funny stuff in it like this:

Do you guys hang out with the 5th Trident dentist who wouldn�t recommend sugarless gum for his patients who chew gum? And shouldn�t they survey more than 5 dentists?
- Jeamie C., NY
A little known fact is that the 5th dentist is either a really really bright dentist or a hypochondriac…
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Jolt Gum website

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