Tuesday, August 12, 2014

PUR Sugarless Gum - Coolmint & Cinnamon

Pur Sugarless Gum - Cinnamon & CoolmintI’m a bit of a picky chewer, when it comes to gum. Part of it may be that I’m just such a minority in my tastes that it’s not profitable to make the kind of gum I might like.

I mostly chew gum made with sugar, not because I necessarily want sugar in my gum, but because it’s so hard to find sugar free gum that’s not made with artificial sweeteners like aspartame (NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda), acesulfame potassium (AceK) and saccharine. It’s very rare to find a gum like the PUR line that is sugarless but also made only with xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol. Xylitol has been around for years and is often used in sugar free mints and gums, though usually in combination with artificial sweeteners. It has a light ans sweet note to it, but like most sugar alcohols, it also has an odd cooling effect on the tongue (which is usually a desirable feature for mints).

The PUR Gum is is gluten free, nut free, dairy free, vegan and free of GMO ingredients. I’ve tried the other flavors that were introduced when the gum line launched about three years ago:  Peppermint, Spearmint and Pomegranate Mint. I liked them quite a bit, though they’re not easy to find.

Coolmint Pur Gum

The pieces are simple chiclets, rounded rectangular pieces, a little rustic and uneven, measuring about 3/4 of an inch long and about 1/3 of an inch wide. A serving, for me, is two pieces. (With actual Chiclets it’s usually 3 pieces at a time.)

The chew is very soft at first, with a very cool note on top and a strong sweetness before the other flavors kick in. The sweetness is not the same as sugar, it’s less round, cool on the tongue and rather slippery.

The flavor is very odd. At first it was a bit on the wintergreen side, which some people find medicinal ... or repulsive. There are other notes to it, a little hint of eucalyptus and then another more balsam note, it reminded me of mastic, which is a resin that’s also used a chewing gum in the Mediterranean. (If you’ve never had mastic, it’s also similar in its flavor profile to tea tree oil, which is not meant to be eaten but is found in many natural personal care products.)

The wintergreen notes dissolve away and all that seemed to be left was that sort of resin note with a hint of something like jasmine tea. It’s pleasant, at least for me and did definitely freshen my mouth after eating some curry for lunch.

Cinnamon Pur Gum

Cinnamon is predictable and comforting. It’s woodsy and a little on the clove side of spicy, but has a wonderful warming hotness to it. The intense and rounded flavors dissipate pretty quickly, but the lingering flavor is just sweet and with the lightest tough of cinnamon.

There’s no weird bitter note, either, which I think is often caused by artificial colors. There are no colors here, so it’s all about the gum flavor. The xylitol sweetness lasts for a while, I’d say the pieces are satisfying for about 15 minutes. After I tossed the gum, I still had that lingering warmth of the cinnamon for at least a half an hour. It definitely cut through coffee breath.

I’d probably still stick with the Peppermint (from the original review) for a gum to keep in my desk, but for travel, I think I would go with the Coolmint because I really felt like chewing the pieces longer than the other flavors. It’s a little expensive and the packaging takes up a lot of space for such a small amount of gum. (I might like it if the blister pack was scored so I could just tear off a few of them to keep them in my little case that I take on airplanes.)

The gum is not easy to find, and not cheap. I’ve seen it at natural food stores and grocers, such as Sprouts and Erewhon.

Related Candies

  1. Oak Leaf Refresh Triple Mint Chewing Gum
  2. Glee Sugar Free Gum
  3. Tree Hugger Bubble Gum
  4. Hollywood Chewing Gum
  5. PUR Gum: Xylitol Sweetened
  6. Wee Glee Gum
  7. Mentos Cinnamon
  8. Classic Gums: Black Jack, Clove, Beemans & Teaberry
  9. Canada Wintergreen


Name: PUR Gum: Coolmint & Cinnamon
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Frey
Place Purchased: samples from Pur Gum
Price: $1.75
Size: .44 ounces (9 pieces)
Calories per ounce: 101
Categories: Candy, Frey, Gum, 7-Worth It, Canada

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:04 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewFreyCinnamonGumMints7-Worth ItCanada

Comments
  1. I am really glad that I was able to find a chewing gum that was gluten free, and dairy free! It doesn’t sound too bad either as far as taste so I’ll have to check it out!

    Comment by Greg Greenwald on 8/13/14 at 10:42 am #
  2. is there any way i can send you some sexy Turkish candy because nearly none of your candies reviewed by you sell in our country:(

    Comment by Bora on 8/14/14 at 5:17 pm #
  3. Hi Cybele, cool post :-3
    I just wanted to let anyone who’s into this gum, that it’s available at Low Carb Canada and the Low Carb Grocery. The former delivers products to your door, just google their e-store and you’ll be able to have that tasty, long lasting, non artificial and “juicy” chew of Pur in the comfort of ur own home!! Obvi I enjoy this product…. Review is dead on.

    Comment by Mr. Claxton on 8/23/14 at 8:45 pm #
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