Food & Drink Which Chewing Gum Lasts the Longest? We Timed 14 Brands.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

Your favorite childhood chewing gum says a lot about you, but in adulthood, cartoony packaging and huge bubbles are less of a priority than taste, texture, its ability to keep breath from smelling like pizza, and most importantly, how long the flavor lasts. To find out which brand lasts longest, we assembled a panel of three experienced gum chewers, each tasked with comparing the mouth-life of 14 different varieties of gum. The times listed are the overall averages, but it's important to note that there was almost no variation between chewers. Since there's no codified scientific method for judging gum flavor, we decided a stick of gum was finished when all the flavor was transferred from the gum into the mouth, which typically coincided with hardening texture, apathy towards chewing, and eyes wandering towards the underside of nearby desks. Obviously most people chew gum for longer, but our tasters concluded that this is a consequence of residual flavor coating the mouth long after the gum itself becomes a lifeless waste of mouth space. Next time you're in the candy aisle, chews wisely.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

14. Chiclets - 1:20 minutes It's generous to call Chiclets gum because they're mostly just candy shell. Once that sugary exterior was fully smashed, there was little flavor left to chew.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

13. Bubble Tape - 1:33 minutes Although Bubble Tape has enough chalk on it to be an acceptable pool table accessory or the official gum of pommel horse gymnasts, it simply couldn't compete with the other gums when eaten in equal quantities. The caveat is that most kids are probably eating more than just the typical 3in serving.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

12. Juicy Fruit - 2:05 minutes No one would argue that this isn't juicy, but which fruit it tries to emulate is up for debate. Mango? Grapefruit? Orange-colored Starburst? Regardless of variety, the fruit flavor isn't ripe for long.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

11. Trident Layers Swedish Fish - 2:10 minutes This pink-and-yellow gum sandwich tasted remarkably like Swedish Fish, and even more remarkably, not at all terrible. But the bright punch of sugary flavor could barely tread water for two minutes.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

10. Extra - 2:22 minutes A truly disappointing result for a gum with the tagline “long-lasting flavor."

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

9. Big Red - 2:30 minutes Apologies to Sweden and their national fish, but Big Red was the most unique gum on this list. The tingly cinnamon tail is a flavor punch, even though it went out in the early rounds.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

8. Trident Mint Bliss - 2:32 minutes Trident comes in a buffet of flavors, and while testing a traditional spearmint was an option, it seemed stupid to turn down a chance at bliss, even if it was an ambiguous mint version of it. In reality, this doesn't taste as much like mint as it does generic white cake icing. Reactions were far from blissful and mixed at best.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

7. Stride - 2:52 minutes With a name like Stride, you'd think the flavor would stretch a little longer.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

6. Bubble Yum - 3:10 minutes The first thing to know about Bubble Yum is that it is massive. It's the biggest gum on the list, by far. The second thing to know is that talking while chewing is next to impossible because saliva glands react to it like a sprinkler system to a five-alarm fire. Last point, its flavor lasts way longer than it reasonably should, which is laudable.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

5. Orbit - 3:20 minutes Solid no-nonsense gum right here. Upstanding balance of sugar, mint, and longevity. If this gum were a person, you could count on him to pick you up from the airport, but sadly, his car would run out of gas before you got home.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

4. Doublemint - 3:33 minutes Doublemint is no slouch in the flavor department, but more importantly, it has the greatest commercials in the entire chewing gum canon. Luckily a single stick offers 213 seconds to fondly remember montages of twins hanging out on park benches, trying on hats, and pointing at zoo animals.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

3. Dentyne Ice - 5:35 minutes Dentyne Ice is the first member of the five-minute club, but while the other two finalist have steady-wins-the-race flavors, this gum is a full sprint from the moment it hits the tongue.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

2. 5 Gum React2 Mint - 6:05 minutes The mint flavor tasted the most mature of anything on this list, and it lasted twice as long as most other gums. Its success, though, still doesn't diminish the fact that this package is mostly found in the pockets of bros who reek of thunder-scented body spray.

Dan Gentile/Thrillist