Gum Extender review: Tiny Size Chiclets

As you may have learned from previous posts, "gum extender" is my own personal made-up phrase to describe any kind of candy or other gum that helps EXTEND the life of your "base" gum (obviously I've put way too much thought into this.)

At any rate, Tiny Size Chiclets are my very favoritestist gum extender that ever was. First of all, it's crunchy - and crunchy is usually a top priority for a gum extender. I don't know why - it just is. Secondly, it has a delightful fruity taste that I haven't found in other gum or gum extenders. Third, when you finish the package of Tiny Size Chiclets, the paper bag rips open to serve as a nice "gum repository" for when you are eventually finished.

Negatives? There's just so darn little in the bag. It takes at least a whole bag to even constitute a decent mouthful. This isn't as big a deal if you are using Tiny Size Chiclets as a gum extender - but if you're just chewing it alone, you better really stock up. Along with my favorite gum, Dubble Bubble Original 1928 Sweet & Spicy, Tiny Size Chiclets can be purchased at Cracker Barrel.

My Gum Obsession: It's A Family Affair

So, as far back as I can remember, I have ALWAYS loved bubble gum. I remember riding my bike to the drugstore without my mother's permission (er..., SURPRISE, Mom), and purchasing my very first gum obsession, which was the regular bubble gum flavor of BubbleYum. I have also always liked to couple my favorite bubble gum with "gum extenders" - that's my term for any kind of candy or other gum that mixes well with gum and "extends" the gum flavor (I'll give you a sample list of gum extenders in a future blog, but for now, an example would be lemon drops.) At some point, I graduated to Big League Chew when it first came out, and the flavor of that gum makes my mouth water to this day (although it always stuck to my retainer, so I didn't chew it very often).

My father was also a gum-aholic. I remember as a child PRAYING that he would look up from his newspaper at night long enough to toss me a piece of his gum (his "drug" of choice was Bazooka). Also, vacations were not complete without the requisite bag of gum, which Mom would dole out judiciously (one - MAYBE two pieces at a time - that's it. Tightwad.) Sometimes, we got lucky, and Daddy somehow managed to commandeer the bag of gum from the driver's seat, and he would ALWAYS start chunking pieces to the backseat for me and my brother, usually followed by my mom shouting "Jim!!!!!", horrified at the profligate gumming of his children.

I remember in high school, coming home from dates on Saturday night, and staying up late, reading a good book, and eating more gum than you could imagine a sweet little 16-year old girl could shove in her mouth. I used to dread the day that my mother would wander into my room, see all the bubble gum wrappers behind my bed, and give me what-for. But my passion for chewing gum was always worth that risk.

So...here I am, 40-something, and I have never outgrown my passion for gum, which is evidenced by the fact that I am even blogging about it. But I just know more of you are out there: those of you who are secret "closet chewers"; who buy bags of gum at a time and feel a compulsion to tell the check-out clerk that it's for your kids (especially embarrassing since I don't have kids), who have perhaps ordered gum in BULK online and had it shipped to your house, and who have had to tell your dentist that you grind your teeth really badly so he won't learn of your gum addiction. I am one of you. I share your shame - in fact, I EMBRACE your shame. As long as I don't have to share my last box of Dubble Bubble.

GrownupsNgum review: Dubble Bubble Original 1928 Flavor Sweet and Spicy

This is truly the greatest gum that was ever gummed. No, I really mean it. There are many reasons why I think this gum is great, but first - let me give you a history of how I learned to adore this very satisfying gum.

You've probably already read about my family's long history with gum, so by now you know that my gum obsession is hereditary (sorry to get all scientific on you.) In August 2001, I decided to quit smoking after 17 years. Like most smokers, I had tried MANY times in the past to quit, and for one reason or another, I always started back. My biggest trigger was usually that first cup of coffee in the morning - you know, the one when the coffee's still steaming, and you go sit out on your back porch, and the morning dew sparkles on the grass, and everything looks like a wonderland, and then you bring the cigarette to your mouth and flick your lighter and then deeply inhale......excuse me for a moment while I compose myself.

Ok, I'm back.

ANYWAY - back to me quitting smoking in August 2001. There was no question I would wear the patch to help myself quit. However, I knew that it would take more than a nicotine patch for me. Around Halloween of that year, I bought a bunch of candy to give out to the kids in my neighborhood, and one of the bags I picked up and threw into my buggy happened to be Dubble Bubble Original 1928 Flavor. Of course, once I got it home, I sampled everything, because I am all about the safety of our country's children. However, once I tasted the bubble gum, I knew that there was no way I could hand out that gum to those little brats!!! After Halloween and for the next subsequent few weeks, I went back to that same drugstore and ended up cleaning them out of their supply of this gum.

Well ... and this is the dramatic part of the story ... once I could no longer find the gum, I started doing some research, and I learned that ... DUBBLE BUBBLE WAS NOW BEING CREATED WITH A BRAND NEW FLAVOR! Apparently in taste-tests, kids liked this new gum flavor better, this...this ORDINARY fruity-tasting bubblegum without the hint of spiciness characteristic of the original gum. So once I ran out of my stash of the "original" Dubble Bubble gum - I was pretty devastated. I went from store to store, looking to see if anyone still carried the last of the bags that were on the shelves, but sadly, they were gone. Gone like the cigarettes (and waistline) of my youth.

Then, I got braces, and for a period of time, I didn't think about my beloved Dubble Bubble. Until one day, I was browsing the internet, and ran across an on-line store that sold "nostalgic" candy - and I realized that once again, the ORIGINAL Dubble Bubble 1928 Sweet & Spicy gum was being made! Instead of being little pink mounds wrapped and twisted in waxy paper, they are now packaged, square, "Bazooka-style", and placed 25 to a box. And you can find them at Cracker Barrel as well.

I have a one box a week habit, and no other gum even comes close to satisfying my cravings.

(Anybody know if they make a sugar patch?)