Candy Hunting - New Stride and Trident Gum

Stride Sour Patch Kids Watermelon Gum

Release: January 2015
SRP: $1.29 for 14 pieces

Trident Black Raspberry Twist Gum

Release: January 2015
SRP: $1.29 for 18 pieces

Trident Pineapple Twist Gum

Release: January 2015
SRP: $1.29 for 18 pieces

Candy Hunting - New Products at Target

Starburst FaveREDs Minis

Place found: Target
Price: $2.49 for 8 oz

Skittles Flavor Mash-Ups

A combination of Wild Berry and Tropical Skittles. 

Place found: Target
Price: $2.49 for 9 oz

Trident Unwrapped

Flavors: Peppermint ("Original") and spearmint
Place found: Target
Price: $2.99 for 50 pieces

Extra Pumpkin Spice vs. Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice

This Halloween/fall season, both Wrigley (Extra) and Mondelez (Trident) introduced new pumpkin spice flavored gum. Here is a gum stick to gum stick battle of the pumpkin spice gums. 

Seasonal Edition Extra Pumpkin Spice Gum

Place purchased: Meijer 

Price: $1.00 for one pack of 15

Number of reviewers: 6

Appearance - 6.2

The stick of Extra Pumpkin Spice gum is very light orange with a white dusting coating the gum. 

E3: Light orange - good color. 
J: Looks like Juicy Fruit gum. I would like it to be more orange. 

Flavor and Taste - 6.2

The Extra Pumpkin Spice gum is very sweet with hints of clove, cinnamon, and creamy vanilla.  

D: I just don't think gum should be this flavor. Not bad, but not refreshing. 
E: Very clove-like! Nice, fall-like spices but not particularly pumpkiny. 
E2: Sweet, honey, slight hint of cinnamon and allspice. 
E3: Tastes like pumpkin spice, slightly orangey. 
J: Fruity and clove tasting. The cinnamon is present but low. Very sweet. 

Texture - 7.2

As the consensus shows, the Extra gum has a typical elastic gum texture. 

D: Like gum.
E: Like normal gum.
E2: Like normal gum.
J: Like normal gum. 

Aftertaste - 6.0

The aftertaste is mainly lingering sweetness with a hint of the spices. 

E: Warm and clove-y. 
E2: Sweet, a little sucralose metallic. 
J: Fruity and cinnamon flavor dominate in the aftertaste. 

Overall - 6.5

Overall, the Extra Pumpkin Spice gum is a good representation of pumpkin spice. Although, the gum is somewhat too sweet. 

D: Maybe as a drink, but not as a gum. 
E: Pretty good and very seasonal. 
E2: Surprisingly decent. 

Limited Edition Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice Gum

Place purchased: Target 

Price: $2.80 for three packs of 14

Number of reviewers: 6

Appearance - 5.7

The Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice gum has two layers of orange, pumpkin spice gum adhered together with an opaque white layer. Having never tried Trident Layers gum, I was expecting the center layer to also consist of a gum base. Nope, it is a sticky, viscous layer instead. In this case, the center looks like sticky icing or glue...

D: Too dark and sticky filling. 
E: Very orange.
E2: Looks like someone hot glue gunned two pieces of gum together. 
J: I like how this gum is actually orange. The filling is a strange opaque color I'm not digging. 

Flavor and Taste - 2.5

The first piece I tried, I chewed three times and then spit it out. The flavor is SO STRONG. It is a combination between a bunch of spices, bread or popcorn, and some sort of coolant. The gum is like chewing a pumpkin spice candle with added menthol. I hate it. 

D: Waxy, reminds me of Jelly Belly buttered popcorn. 
E: Plasticy! There are some faint spices in there, but I mostly want to spit this out ASAP. 
E2: Tastes like a candle. Like taro bubble tea. Weird menthol cooling. 
E3: Menthol, tastes like a candle.
J: Blech, tastes like I'm eating a seasonal candle. I don't even know what flavor is dominating, but it's not pumpkin. It's slightly cooling. 

Texture - 4.7

The texture is a bit denser and less elastic than normal chewing gum. 

D: Sticky filling and more dense than I would like in a gum. 
E: Plasticy! Rubbery! 
E2: Unpleasant. 
E3: Gummy. 
J: Normal gum. 

Aftertaste - 3.7

The aftertaste is sweet and oddly cooling. 

E: Cinnamon plastic. 
E2: Menthol, but still so much candle! 
E3: Artificial. 
J: Cooling candle flavor. 

Overall - 3.3

The Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice gum is plain gross. It is an overwhelming spice flavor with a strange cooling effect. I highly recommend not wasting your money on this. 

E: Wouldn't buy or try again. 
E2: Bleeck! 
J: No thanks. #pumpkinspiceproblems

Winner: Extra Pumpkin Spice Gum! 

Extra Pumpkin Spice defeated Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice on all levels. This was a clear victory for the Extra gum. 

Candy Hunting - New Chewing Gum

Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice (Review)

Place found: Target
Price: $2.80 for 42 sticks

Extra Pumpkin Spice (Review)

Place found: Meijer (Thanks, David!)
Price: $1.00 for 15 sticks

Extra Apple Crisp

My guess is that this flavor is the same as the discontinued Extra Dessert Delights Apple Pie gum. 

Place found: Meijer
Price: $1.00 for 15 sticks

Extra Sweet Orange

Place found: CVS
Price: $1.37 for 15 sticks

Orbit Citrus Remix

Place found: Target
Price: $2.29 for 42 sticks

5 Tempo 

"A Rhythmic Fruit Punch"

Place found: Target
Price: $2.99 for 45 sticks

Cadbury Crispello

Place purchased: Wise Choice British Foods, Gifts & Candies, Dayton, OH

Number of reviewers: 3

Appearance - 6.7

The package contains three Crispello pieces. Each piece looks like a tall, chocolate coated pillow with a chocolate base. The Crispello is comprised of three layers. The majority of the product is the chocolate flavored filling, which is encapsulated by a thin wafer coated in milk chocolate. 

E: Cool! Like a rectangular mushroom. 
E2: Looks like a big chocolate diamond. 

Flavor and Taste - 1.7 

Despite being mostly chocolate, the Crispellos hardly taste like it. The chocolate coating is sweet, but does not taste like chocolate. The cream by itself just tastes fatty. No chocolate flavor or sweetness, just fat. The wafer does not contribute much flavor while eating the Crispello, so the flavor is just sweet and fatty. 

E: Blech! Some of the worst chocolate I have ever tasted.
E2: Sour dairy more than chocolate. 

Texture - 5.0

The outer chocolate seems too soft and ended up melting all over my fingers. The wafer is crispy and light, akin to the texture of a cake cone. The filling is thick and soft, but also coats the mouth. Together, the Crispello is initially crispy but then gives way to the soft fattiness of the filling.  

E: Crunchy wafer and creamy filling. 
E2: I like the crispy wafer - reminds me of a cake cone. Inside is chalky. 

Aftertaste - 2.3

The cake cone-like flavor of the wafer comes out in the aftertaste. The Crispellos are also unexpectedly astringent, which I assume was caused by the filling.  

E: Sour dairy. 
E2: Sour dairy, banana, oat. So strange. 

Overall - 2.7

Overall, Cadbury Crispello is a dismal product. While the front of the package reads, "Double Choc," the chocolate flavor is undetectable. Instead, the Crispellos are sweet and fatty with a strong astringency. I am shocked this was released under the Cadbury brand. 

E: Really bad. The chocolate tastes almost rancid. 

Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint

Place purchased: Canada

Number of reviewers: 7

Appearance - 7.7

The Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint bar is segmented into different sized bubble-shaped pieces. The bar has an aerated milk chocolate base below a white, mint-flavored layer and another coating of milk chocolate. The thickness of the mint layer in each piece differs due to the variation in height of each piece. 

E: Really bubbly! Intriguing, but mostly weird. 
J: Cool raised and interesting aerated appearance. 
S: I really like the bubbly chocolate bar.

Flavor and Taste - 7.1

At first, the flavor is mostly just sweet milk chocolate. The mint flavor develops as the chocolate is chewed and the milk chocolate flavor dissipates. The mint flavor is slightly cooling from the menthol in the peppermint oil.

C: Nice minty flavor, reminds me of Andes mints, but a little bit creamier. 
E: Disappointing. Way too sweet, kind of sour, and ultimately lacking in punch. 
J: Great cool mint flavor. Sweet chocolate.
L2: Minty is good, not too much. 
S: Soft mint, blends well with the chocolate.
Y: Overall yummy. A little sweet to me, though. 

Texture - 7.2

The mint layer is thick and creamy in comparison to the aerated chocolate, which is rather crumbly. While this does provide textural contrast, it is not a pleasant one. 

C: Nice and creamy, soft.
E: Crumbly and chewy simultaneously. 
J: Very smooth and creamy chocolate. The air bubbles aren't doing much for me. 
L2: Smooth mouthfeel.
S: Interesting when you let it melt on your tongue. Creamy. Top half is creamy, but thicker.
Y: Smooth and soft.

Aftertaste - 6.8

The aftertaste is pepperminty and slightly sweet. 

C: Minty chocolate. 
E: Weird, medicinal minty aftertaste.
J: Mostly mint.
S: Mint is stronger in the aftertaste. 
Y: Clean. 

Overall - 7.2

Overall, I enjoyed the flavor of the Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint bar and how it transitions from milk chocolate to mint. I do not think the aerated chocolate works well in this application, however, as it gives a crumbly texture when chewing. 

E: Really not a fan. 
J: Great candy!