Unusual, exotic, interesting chewing gum?

February 4, 2009 7:03 PM

I quit smoking after 15 years. Now I'm looking for suggestions for some unusual, exotic, interesting chewing gum.

I quit smoking in April 2008 after 15 years. I have no desire to ever begin again but I still periodically crave... something. So I've decided to take up chewing gum. However, the normal brands at the grocery don't taste very interesting and a lot of them contain all kinds of awful chemicals to boot. So I'm hoping to find more exotic kinds of gum to special order online. It'd be ideal if they were natural/organic. I've tried glee gum but it disintegrated too rapidly. I love spicy and strange flavors and am not at all concerned about it being a "traditional" gum flavor. Google pulls up a lot of links and blog posts about creative stuff (often Japanese) but finding it for sale online hasn't been as easy.

posted by groovinkim to Food & Drink (23 answers total)

My favorites are Teaberry which is pretty easy to find and Choward's Scented Gum which is vaguely violet tasting.
posted by jessamyn at 7:06 PM on February 4, 2009

BlackBlack is the strangest gum I've ever had. It's caffeinated, the taste is.... unusual, to say the least. Yay, chewing!
posted by kpmcguire at 7:08 PM on February 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

Asian grocery stores usually have a wide variety of "untraditional" gum flavors including coffee, ginseng, and perfume. Congratulations on quitting!
posted by defreckled at 7:11 PM on February 4, 2009

Black Jack.
posted by box at 7:15 PM on February 4, 2009

Beeman's and Clove.

Check the Vermont Country Store or Hometown Favorites.

Also try Sen-Sens -- not a gum, but unique.
posted by jgirl at 7:21 PM on February 4, 2009

You can't get clove or blackjack or beeman's until may of '09, and then they're only a limited supply and aren't made for like 5 years.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:47 PM on February 4, 2009

I get gum at the local Asian grocery store. It's pretty guess and check since I can't read any of the writing on the packs but there is a cola flavored one I adore. Chances are if you have any local ethnic stores they have the local flavors of gum.
posted by magikker at 7:53 PM on February 4, 2009

Bacon gumballs.
posted by mattbucher at 8:15 PM on February 4, 2009

I came here to suggest Teaberry and Beeman's but I see people already have. Go try them though, Beeman's kind of tastes like birch beer to me.
posted by rmless at 8:29 PM on February 4, 2009

You can order a variety of Japanese gum from J-List, many for a mere $0.50, and they will deliver it right to your house. If you try it, let me know how you like the Glamatic Vanilla flavor gum.
posted by CoralAmber at 8:39 PM on February 4, 2009

I've purchased from this website before and, although they're located in Japan, had my items in about 8 business days with no problems. I really want to try the Bourbon Peach gum now that i'm looking around.
posted by Ugh at 8:45 PM on February 4, 2009

I just had some Tangerine flavoured Glee Gum. The initial flavour was OK, but it disappeared very quickly and I was left with a lump of strange tasting rubber and wax in my mouth.

In conclusion - Glee Gum is not the answer to your question. But seconding Japanese HaiChu gum - that stuff is good.
posted by awfurby at 9:42 PM on February 4, 2009

I second the vote for Black Black but must say the fact that it contains caffeine is a common misconception. None the less, Black Black packs quite a punch which will no doubt wake up your mouth. It's commonly found at your local Japanese grocery store (assuming that you have one) or can also be ordered through Uwajimaya at Amazon.
posted by cjw333 at 10:41 PM on February 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

Some things to chew on: mastic and spruce gum.
posted by parudox at 10:45 PM on February 4, 2009

Seconding BlackBlack. It's a Japanese gum, and marketed at truck and taxi drivers in Japan. It has caffeine and is maybe eqivalent to a cup (a sip?) of coffee. Strong minty/menthol flavor.
posted by zardoz at 11:13 PM on February 4, 2009

Wriggleys Airwaves, standard blue flavour is the only one I care for anymore.
posted by lundman at 12:21 AM on February 5, 2009

Nthing ethnic markets of all types. I found a mango gum at an Indian market and a rosemary one at a Polish market once that were completely balla and I wish I'd been able to find them again. I also buy green tea, black tea, oolong tea and lemon tea chewing gum from the local organic store.

If you're up for a project, you could always make your own chewing gum (seriously) and then add oddball flavorings of your choice.

The world will end having become perfect on the day that I find a Stilton-flavored chewing gum.
posted by jeeves at 1:06 AM on February 5, 2009

Oh, and congratulations on kicking the butts, it's not easy. Have a piece of tomato soup-roast beef-blueberry pie gum, my treat. (Scroll to chapter 20.)
posted by jeeves at 1:15 AM on February 5, 2009

The BlackBlack myth is that it contains nicotine, not caffeine.
posted by soma lkzx at 5:19 AM on February 5, 2009

Lotte ginseng chewing gum.

Friends of mine say it tastes like dirt, I say it tastes like heaven.



Unfortunately, ginseng gum is hard to find here in the UK, so I make do with Lotte Flavono, which has this lovely minty/green tea flavour.

My husband loves Lotte Blueberry gum, which you can get from J-List.
posted by Katemonkey at 5:54 AM on February 5, 2009

Seconding magikker: If there is a Chinatown in your area, the asisan grocery markets are always fun places to get gum and candy. Bonus points for bravery if you score some with a completely untranslated label - (is it tamarind? is it tea? is it pork? i'm not sure if I like it, even, but I am going to keep eating it until I figure out what the damn flavor is!) Also: Hello Kitty gum can be found there.

And good job on quitting smoking.
posted by 8dot3 at 8:04 AM on February 5, 2009

I used to really like Stimorol Chewing Gum. (link)
Not always easy to find. Some specialty stores carry it in the US.
posted by Drasher at 10:54 AM on February 5, 2009

Response by poster:
wow, thanks for all the tips! good point about the asian stores... i should really go back to uwajimaya. i just get intimidated 'cause i can't always tell which ones have chemicals/ingredients that i'd rather avoid, but a lot of them do have english sticker labels.
posted by groovinkim at 11:32 PM on February 7, 2009