Ice Breakers Ice Cubes White Mango Kiwi Cooler

For the record, I had a great April Fool's Day joke I wanted to do, but unfortunately, the idea didn't come to me until about 12:00 PM that day, and that wasn't enough time to make it happen. Maybe next year. On with the review!

In the past, I was unimpressed with Ice Breakers Ice Cubes gum, but I couldn't resist the lure of a new variety and just had to check this one out. It cost me about $1 US, and I saved about 20 cents because it was on sale.


The pieces looked like they do on the box - white with a faint orange stripe down the middle. The first thing I noticed when I started to chew was the feeling of liquid oozing out of the gum. It was bizarre, but not unpleasant. It definitely took juiciness to a new level!

Once the oozing stopped (sounds grosser than it was, really), I examined the flavor. I could taste mango more than kiwi, but it was a stretch. If the box hadn't been labeled, I don't think I could have picked out distinct flavors. The texture of the gum was not my favorite, as it was a little hard (and hard on my jaw), but maybe that's because it's whitening gum.

I didn't write down how long the flavor lasted, but I want to say it was between 5-10 minutes. Once the initial burst of juice was over, what remained was a fruity and cool gum, but the excitement was over. The beginning was definitely the best part.

B

Ice Breakers Website

Morinaga Golden Kiwi Hi-chew

Numerous sources have told me that golden kiwis are better than the regular variety, and that this Hi-chew tastes very authentic. However, I have never had golden kiwi, so I have no point of comparison.

I bought these at a Japanese grocery store, and they came highly recommended. I was really impressed with the pineapple flavor, so my hopes were high. Maybe they were too high?


I love that the bars are wrapped in gold foil. It makes them look like little bars of solid gold and reminds me of Fort Knox, as seen in cartoons. They smell strongly fruity. The taste reminded me of strawberry kiwi Starburst, because it didn't taste specifically kiwi. Kiwi was there, but there was something else. That must be the golden kiwi.

The pineapple Hi-chew screamed pineapple; it was dead on. Kiwi is a little harder to pinpoint, but there was just something missing from these. Having said that, they were delicious and I had no trouble eating half the package myself in one night.

B+

Morinaga Website (Japanese)

Ice Breakers Kiwi Watermelon Ice Cubes

Mmm, artificial flavors. Oh well, it's kind of expected in gum, especially sugarfree gum. Ice Breakers Ice Cubes are an interesting kind of gum where you pay more for novelty than quality. There are only 10 cubes in the box, but for the $1.20 or so price, you could get more gum for the money with other brands.

The cubes themselves are frosty and matte white with dull reddish-pink and green flecks (not as sparkly as portrayed on the box), roughly a cubic centimeter in size. I realize now that I took a picture of the back of the box, but I really wanted to capture that "Whoa!"

On to the flavor. The "Cooling Xylitol" hits you immediately, but it really didn't make me say "Whoa!" It's no different from any other minty gum. The fruit flavor here is decent, but it's pretty much 100% watermelon. Maybe my palate isn't sensitive enough to pick up the kiwi. I suppose it sort of smells like kiwi, but maybe it's just because so much of the kiwi experience is tied up in the texture that they just couldn't emulate that in gum form.

The "Cooling Xylitol" is gone pretty quickly, as are the flavor crystals for which the Ice Breakers brand is known. The watermelon taste does hang around a while, so I'd have to say it's one of the better melon gums I've had. However, I wish there was more gum in the package.

It's a cute idea, but I'll probably stick to Orbit. I have a pack of Maui Melon Mint ready for review, so we'll see how it stacks up.

A-

Ice Breakers Website