It all started with a sample in a salad my father brought home from Portillo's. I'm thinking to myself "ooh, freeibie!" I knew there was a 50/50 chance this gum would taste like crap. I decided to give it a try anyway, thinking just maybe Extra Gum might have the upper hand. They were trying to appeal to the calorie and sugar-conscious masses with their special little treat. Six chews and a tongue roll later, I was disappointed. This wasn't a "dessert delight", it's the kind of gum your grandmother keeps down in her purse for "hard times". Suddenly, there's a reason why the gum was stuck in the bag. It wasn't to spread the word and start a buzz--THIS GUM STINKS! It's not selling, and now they're schlepping it out to everyone to try and catch a sale. I was shocked because Wrigley Gum is usually a bit hit with me. I think this is the first time I can honestly say I'd rather risk cheating on my diet than having such a gross substitute in my mouth.
So how exactly would I describe the taste of this gum? The sugarless factor had nothing to do with it. Most sugarless gum will leave an after-taste. It's tolerable. What bothered me so much was the hype over this gum tasting like a beloved dessert. The berry flavor was very flat and almost too light for my tastebuds to savor. There wasn't even a hint of the "cake" taste associated with strawberry shortcake. No creamy flavor, either. It was just flat strawberry taste all around. This is why I hate the advertisements and the slogans with this gum. I'm thinking there's going to be innovative flavor when there was nothing at all. If I wanted that cheap, generic strawberry taste, I would have just grabbed some no-name gum off the corner store shelf.