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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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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New Improved Flavor! Companies everywhere seem to think that changing their products will increase sales. From the “new” Coke to putting purple horseshoes in Lucky Charms, big businesses love to change. And doesn’t it seem that the best tasting treats get changed the fastest?

In the late spring of 2008, the 117 year old Wrigley company – best known for its gum – was purchased for $23 billion by Mars, Incorporated. Mars is well known for making candy (such as M&Ms, Snickers, and Starburst) but also markets rice, coffee, and pet food.

Since acquiring Wrigley, Mars has made quite a few changes. Doing away with the traditional five-sticks-per-pack narrow rectangular package, they now offer Wrigley’s gum in a Slim Packâ„¢ – a larger rectangle that now contains 15 sticks. Anyone could live with the new package, but the new “improved” flavor? Well, let’s just say I wish I’d stocked up on gum prior to the Mars acquisition.

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I’ve been chewing Wrigley’s Spearmint gum forever, and Wrigley’s has been making spearmint-flavored gum forever – at least since 1893 anyway. When I picked up a pack a couple weeks ago and saw “NEW Improved Flavor!” emblazoned across the top, I was scarcely worried at all. After all, Wrigley’s wouldn’t dare change the sweet spearmint flavor that has brought them success for over 100 years. Maybe they’ve made it longer-lasting, I reasoned.

When I unwrapped my happy little stick of gum, I felt a shocking jolt – my delicious off-white gum had morphed into lime green! What? White was good enough for my great-great grandmother, why not for me? Fearless, I began to chew and at first things seemed the same as always. A sweet juice filled my mouth, mmmm.

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Gum has been many things to me during the course of my life. Satisfying my sweet tooth was the main goal of chewing gum when I was younger. In my teen years and beyond, gum started taking on a more practical function of freshening breath. I still wanted something tasty, but I gravitated more towards sugarless gum… preferably spearmint. As gum also continued to evolve, more and more brands were offering smaller pieces of sugarless gum packed with a ton of flavor in order to freshen your breath as much as possible.

The problem is that sometimes these ultra-flavored gums can be a little too strong. Biting into a piece of minty gum should not accompany a breathtaking burn for the first few moments you are chewing until the salacious shock subsides. A happy medium can be achieved and this is where Orbit White Bubblemint comes in.

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