Orbit Mist Gum

When I saw Orbit Mist gum advertising itself as “a hydrating sensation” with strange things they called “micro-bursts™”, I was intrigued. Regular Orbit gum professes to leave your mouth with a feeling of cleaniless, so I was curious if their Mist variation did the same or if it was made solely for the purposes of keeping my mouth wet.

Orbit Mist comes in three flavors: Peppermint Spray, Watermelon Spring, and Mango Surf. I tried the Watermelon Spring flavor. It comes in a pack of fourteen and costs about $1.50. It’s also sugar free and claims to be only two and a half calories per piece. (Considering you actually burn 11 calories per hour of chewing, I think that’s a moot point but there’s the information all the same.) The packaging for the Mist gums are more stylish than regular Orbit gum’s is. The box is blue and has a metallic sheen with an overlapping circle pattern. The inside of the package is pink with the same circles and the individual pieces are wrapped in a white wrapper with the same motif. Very attractive

The gum itself is less so. A pale lime green color with little red specks in it, the “micro-bursts” I assume, it has little spots of… not shine, exactly but just a difference in color that seems to suggest that there is some sort of granulated something or other in it. I picked one of the red specks out to see if it did anything on its own. I expected it be something like the little blue balls in Extra Polar Ice, which have an extremely minty liquid inside. These red bits are hollow and feel like plastic, however, and have a slight fruity taste that disappears very quickly. The “hydrating” effect does not come from the “micro-bursts”.

Popping the piece of gum into my mouth, my suspicions about it having something gritty in it are confirmed. It’s also one of the hardest pieces of gum I’ve ever had. I’m almost concerned that it’s bad for my teeth. My mouth is indeed hydrated, though. I think this may be because the gum’s flavor is sour and makes my mouth produce more saliva.

After a while, the whirlwind of grit and sour flavor calms and I’m chewing away at a piece of bright green goo. The flavor is good, but I’m not sure watermelon is the first thing it would make me think of. Fruit, yes, but not watermelon. The texture is a little loose for my liking. I try to blow a bubble but the gum is too thin for that. Pulling it out and stretching it, I find it’s really sticky too. I do not recommend giving this gum to small children. Unlike bubble gum, this gum will bond to anything within seconds, giving you no time for crisis aversion.

All and all, it’s a decent gum, but the flavor didn’t last as long as I would’ve liked. It’s also too soft to do anything but chew without making a mess. Nor did it leave my mouth with the Orbit standard “good, clean feeling”. It is novel, however, and that’s always worth at least a try.