happy:blissful!

Why I’ve become a Connoisseur of Gum…

First, gum makes me happy… It truly does. And, gum’s fun- you can make annoying sounds with it, create some amazing bubbles, and keep your breath smelling yummy.

And, to boot, there are some great health benefits to chewing gum, including:
-Improving Concentration (Ah yes, definitely.)
-Eases Tension (Nothing better than using gum to ease that tension headache.)
-Freshens Breath (We can all attest this is true.)
-Provides a Low-calorie Snack (And, I’m always craving a high-calorie- so, why not easily subside that craving with a small, low-calorie stick of gum?)
-Helps Fight Tooth Decay (Damn the cavities!)

I’ve been a gum chewer for 23 years, 313 months, and yes, 9311 days (give or take the days that I wasn’t able to chew gum). And, I am proud to say, that I have found some of the best gum for everyday chewing, flavor, sweetest piece, and best bubble.

How did I find this amazing brand of gum? Well, if gum were cigarettes, I would be considered a chain smoker… So, needless to say, I have completed countless experiments with many different brands/flavors of gum.

So, over the next week or so, I will be analyzing my favorite gum for different reasons... My findings will be detailed here. (Lucky you! You'll never have to second-guess that the gum you purchase wasn't a wise one.)

First up: Best Bubble-Blowing Gum.

For me, it all started with the sweet smell of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Gum. (You remember it- .25 for 5 pieces- yellow packaging.) Can’t you remember that smell? Heaven! Only problem- the elasticity of the gum became very hard within minutes of putting a fresh piece in my mouth. So, yes, although Juicy Fruit subsides a mean craving of something sweet, it becomes too difficult to chew, and thus, bubbles are difficult to create.

Next- Pink Bubble Tape. If you were a kid, your first pack of Bubble Tape was something extraordinary. This was definitely a step-up in packaging. You could pull out the amount of tape you wanted and use the packaging to cut the piece for you- genius! And, the chew of the gum helped create some worthy-sized bubbles. But, again, the flavor ran out too fast. And, the taste became an insatiable craving- once the current piece ran out of juice- it was a necessity to get the next piece in your mouth as soon as possible. For me, a pack of Bubble Tape only lasted 4 hours, at the most. And, the bubbles fell flat too fast.

Dubble Bubble. Wow, what an amazing piece of gum. To this day, Dubble Bubble is one of my favorite sweet pieces of gum. It’s all in the sweet, potent, almost creamy, taste that defines Dubble Bubble. There’s nothing better than first putting a piece of Dubble Bubble in your mouth. The first 5 chews are what the gum chewing experience should be! And, the types of bubbles one can create- I’ve been known to create some spectacular bubbles with a couple Dubble Bubble in my mouth.

But, again, the chewing soon becomes achingly painful for the jaw. And, that amazing flavor first experienced? Quickly, it is gone. So, because the gum becomes too hard to chew, it is not the best gum for Best Bubble-Blowing. (Another fascinating fact about Dubble Bubble- it’s great to chew while working out. Many different times I have found my little sister working out with a bag of Dubble Bubble- workin’ the jaw and the body, all at the same time.)

So, after all of these amazing, sweet, pieces of gum, what’s the best for bubbles?

Orbit’s Bubblemint. Orbit has created some amazing flavors (which, will appear in the next categories) of gum, and the packaging was also dynamic. (Dynamic enough to make Trident change their packaging to something quite similar to Orbit.)

So, what makes Orbit’s Bubblemint the best? Well, it’s the taste, the chew, and the bubbles. The taste is overwhelmingly new and refreshing. It has a very lite/minty taste to it. And, the next crucial element- the chew- is first-rate. I can have a piece of Bubblemint last in my mouth for up to 1 hour, without worry of the gum dissolving, or becoming hard. And, most importantly, the bubbles! The bubbles are easy to create, are surprisingly thin, and grow to be a healthy-sized bubble. And, it’s easy to create the perfect bubble repeatedly, as this gum stays juicy for a long time.

Tip: Chew 1 full piece at a time. Perfect for a beginner bubble creator.

Best Bubble-Creators I Know:
- Camie ‘Bucky’ Petersen
- Autumn ‘Bottom’ Ure
- Pam ‘I don’t smack my gum’ Carlson

What’s your favorite gum for blowing bubbles?