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Verve Inc

Friday, January 16, 2015

Glee Lemon-Lime and Spearmint

I was traveling earlier this week. I went to San Francisco to the Fancy Food Show. Though I drove, I still carried some gums with me, as driving over a few of the passes make my ears pop and the drive can be monotonous.

Glee Gum is made with natural chicle and natural colorings, quite rare on the market these days.

DSC_7665rb
Glee Sugar-Free Lemon-Lime Gum

The chew is soft, the candy shell has a crispness that doesn’t last long. It’s not a thick shell that makes little crunchies in the gum, it dissolves quickly. The flavor is sweet with a mild but indistinct citrus note to it. It’s kind of like a lemon chamomile tea. The sweetness fades quickly, though it is rather cool on the tongue for a while, as most xylitol candies and gums are. The zest continues, and gets a little more intense after about 4 or 5 minutes ... then I think the gum is done as far as the flavor goes. The chew is still good, in fact, I prefer the chew of the sugarless Glee to the sugared kind ... it’s slightly stiffer and doesn’t stick as much.

After chewing the gum, about a half an hour later, I thought my mouth was still rather fresh feeling. Not a lingering mint, but just a sort of jasmine tea freshness. The citrus doesn’t go well with coffee, but for getting rid of coffee breath, it’s pretty good. Xylitol, as a sweetener, is actually good for dental health, so I’m trying to get into the habit of chewing in the afternoon to freshen up my mouth.

DSC_7666rb
Glee Spearmint Gum

Spearmint is a largely underutilized flavor in the confectionery world. Peppermint is the default, though as herbs go, spearmint is far more ubiquitous and easier to grow. The dark green pieces are naturally colored and quite appealing. They don’t smell like much, it’s not like sticking your nose in a half-emptied packet of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum, which always smelled so fresh.

The shell on the sugary variety is a little crunchier, though not by much. The flavor of the spearmint is mild and pleasant, but not overt like an Altoid. The chew is soft, though it stiffens up and gets a little bit sticky at times as the minutes pass. I was able to manage some moderate bubbles at time, though I was much better at cracking my gum with this version.

The sugar faded away within minutes, though the herbal and grassy spearmint notes hung around for quite a while after. After discarding the gum, the minty freshness dissipated within about 5 minutes.

When I first tried Glee Gum years ago, I didn’t care much for it. It’s certainly grown on me and it’s become my go-to gum for traveling. Partly because of the natural ingredients and partly because I like the chiclet style and simplicity of the boxes.

Related Candies

  1. Simply Gum: Fennel Licorice
  2. PUR Sugarless Gum - Coolmint & Cinnamon
  3. Tree Hugger Bubble Gum
  4. Wee Glee Gum
  5. Eat with Your Eyes: Black Licorice
  6. Choward’s Spearmint & Lemon
  7. Mentos Xtrm: Mint & Spearmint
  8. No Time & Black Black
  9. Glee Gum: If You Like Stuff Stuck to Your Teeth


Name: Lemon Lime Sugar Free Gum
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Verve
Place Purchased: Cost Plus World Market (Farmers Market)
Price: $1.25
Size: 1 ounce
Calories per ounce: 62
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Verve Inc, Gum, Kosher, Sugar Free, 7-Worth It, United States, Cost Plus


Name: Spearmint Gum
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Verve
Place Purchased: Cost Plus World Market (Farmers Market)
Price: $1.25
Size: 1 ounce
Calories per ounce: 90
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Verve Inc, Gum, Kosher, Mints, 7-Worth It, United States, Cost Plus

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:44 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewVerve IncGumKosherMints7-Worth ItUnited StatesCost Plus

Friday, October 5, 2012

Glee Sugar Free Gum

As I mentioned in some recent reviews, I’ve been chewing more gum lately. It’s hard to find gum that’s doesn’t use artificial sweeteners, but the market has expanded in the past few years as consumers have searched for alternatives to aspartame.

I picked up this package of Glee Gum Sugar Free Peppermint before a recent plane trip but then forgot to take it with me. So I’ve been munching on it at the office.

Glee Sugar Free Gum

Unlike sugared gums and other sugar free gums, chewing gum made with xylitol has an amazing cool feeling on the tongue. The candy coating on the Glee chiclets only enhances that.Glee is also made with all non genetically modified ingredients (including sunflower lecithin) and a natural gum base made from real chicle.

The flavor is a mild peppermint, it’s clean and not too overpowering but also lasts quite a long time. The chew is smooth, and while I’ve had problems with the chicle sticking to my teeth before, I don’t have that issue with the sugarless version (it could also be that I’ve had some of my fillings replaced since I started Candy Blog).

Sometimes I find sugar free gums have a strange, metallic flavor, but in this case I got no strange notes. It was refreshing and simple. Xylitol is not a no-calorie sweetener, it’s a sugar alcohol that has a fraction of the calories of sugar. But mostly it has either no effect on the bacteria that cause cavities or, in some studies, can effectively combat it (but it takes more than just a couple of pieces of gum a few times a month). Xylitol, like most sugar alcohols, can cause stomach distress when consumed in large quantities by some people. Gum is usually not an issue, unless you’re chewing more than one package a day if you happen to be one of those sensitive people.

This is pretty much my go-to gum now. I still prefer real Chiclets because of the satisfaction of chewing the sugar out and then going for three more pieces. But this is probably better for my oral health, the flavor lasts longer and is made with all natural ingredients. Now I’m hoping they’ll come out with more flavors, like cinnamon.

Glee Gum does come in little single-serving boxes for Halloween treating, however, the sugar free varieties are not available yet. As far as I can tell, this would be the perfect item for folks who are nut-free, gluten-free and sugar-free to give out without seeming like stick-in-the-muds. (But it would help if it also came in the bubble gum flavor, too.)

Related Candies

  1. Tea Forte Minteas Lemongrass Yuzu
  2. PUR Gum: Xylitol Sweetened
  3. Wee Glee Gum
  4. Three Pink Bubble Gums
  5. Roca Buttercrunch Thins
  6. All Sugar Free Week (May 5-9)
  7. Glee Gum: If You Like Stuff Stuck to Your Teeth


Name: Sugar Free Gum (Peppermint)
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Verve
Place Purchased: Erewhon Grocery (Park LaBrea)
Price: $1.25
Size: .62 ounces
Calories per ounce: 61
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Verve Inc, Ethically Sourced, Gum, Mints, Sugar Free, 8-Tasty, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:39 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewVerve IncEthically SourcedGumMints8-TastyUnited States

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Wee Glee Gum

I don’t chew a lot of gum because I prefer gum made with real sugar, not artificial sweeteners. Glee Gum is not only made with real cane sugar, it’s also one of the rare gums made with authentic chicle.

Wee Glee Gum

Today most gum is made from synthetic gum base. But if you’re ever curious about what early gum was like, check out Glee. I recently picked up this box of one of their newest products, Wee Glee Gum.

The little pieces are bigger, more rounded than Tiny Size Chiclets. I found that four or five was a good portion for chewing.

It’s a stiffer chew. The shell is crunchy but not thick or hard to get through - it incorporates quickly. But it’s not so sugary that it becomes soupy or sticky. But as more sugar goes away, the gum does get thick and hard to chew, especially in cooler conditions (such as chewing gum outside in the spring).

The pieces come in four flavors and colors, all of which are mild and blend together pretty well.

Tangerine (orange) is a mild orange flavor. Orange has never struck me as an ideal flavor for gum, and that’s coming from a huge fan of citrus flavors. This tangerine is all sweetness and little else than a hint of fragrant citrus peel.

Banana (yellow) is sweet and a great soft flavor for gum. It doesn’t have that chemical note to it, though it still feels cooler on the tongue than the other flavors. It goes well with the other flavors, just like a banana thrown into a smoothie is usually a welcome addition.

Triple Berry (dark red) is fragrant and does have a mild berry note to it, which berries I’m not sure but I suspect they’re of the raspberry variety.

Bubble Gum (pink) is just a flavor, not an attribute. I didn’t get many of these in my assortment, but I can say that they’re pretty worthless when it came time to try a bubble. However, I liked the smooth, mild flavor. It was clean but still had that note of “not quite a natural flavor” that the combination of flavors that bubble gum is made from evokes.

The chew does get softer as the sugar goes away. The tooth-sticking issues I had with Glee Gum when I bought it and reviewed it years ago have gone away for the most part, not due to any action on Glee’s part. At the time it was my fillings that were made from dental amalgam (those dark metal fillings) which I’ve slowly had replaced with dental composites. I have less of an issue now. Still, the chicle is like a cross between the modern synthetic gum base and the old chewable wax lips.

Related Candies

  1. Musk Beechies Chewing Gum
  2. Ball Gum Balls (Football & Tennis)
  3. Classic Gums: Black Jack, Clove, Beemans & Teaberry
  4. Three Pink Bubble Gums
  5. Gold Mine Gum
  6. Bubble Roll Message Maker
  7. Glee Gum: If You Like Stuff Stuck to Your Teeth


Name: Wee Glee Gum
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Verve
Place Purchased: Samples from ExpoWest
Price: $1.00 retail
Size: 1 ounce
Calories per ounce: 110
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Verve Inc, Gum, 7-Worth It, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:29 pm     All NaturalCandyVerve IncGum7-Worth ItUnited States

Friday, May 6, 2005

Glee Gum: If You Like Stuff Stuck to Your Teeth

Name: Glee Gum (Tangerine)
Brand: Verve, Inc.
Place Purchased:
Price: $.33
Size: 18 pieces
Type: Gum

The package says “Finally! An All Natural Gum!” Yes, but there are reasons that we improve on nature sometimes.

Maybe it’s that I have dental work (crowns & filling) that I find this gum unappealing, or maybe it’s that it’s bland.

Made from natural chicle (the original ingredient in gum), this is gum the way our ancestors chewed it. The flavor of this batch is orange. I expected it to taste like aspergum and luckily it tasted more like orange candles. It’s slightly waxy, very sweet but has a good chew (if you avoid your repaired teeth). The flavor fades quickly and leaves a bland beige gummy material in your mouth. I have no idea if real chicle can be digested.

I’ve also tried the standard mint flavor, which has a longer lasting flavor but the same stickiness.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:51 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewVerve IncGum5-PleasantUnited States

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