I mention this any time I review a gum product, but it’s been a while for me, so here’s a refresher: I chew gum almost every day at work. If I forget to bring some, I actually feel panicked, because it’s become such a habit for me. I especially enjoy chewing a piece after I eat lunch, and since I’m prone to taking naps on my lunch break, I make sure to have a piece ready when I wake up. Hey, I’m looking out for everyone around me just as much as I’m looking out for myself here.
Because it’s such a constant thing in my life, I usually go through a pack of gum every two weeks, or so, depending on the size of the pack. I’ve always liked Aldi’s chewing gum, because most of the flavors that I’ve had taste really good, and are also dirt cheap. Well now they’re even dirt cheap…ier, because there’s “now 50% more!” pieces in each package…and all for just $1.19. How can you go wrong with that? There’s only one way, and that is if the flavor sucks. Thankfully, Excitemint doesn’t fall into that category.
My actual favorite flavor of gum is spearmint, but I got the Sub-Zero once on a whim a couple of months ago and have been on that kick ever since: it comes closer to the feeling of a “just-brushed” mouth than any gum that I can remember. A lot of minty gums, especially in the “chiclet” form, as this is, tend to have an overload of flavor at the beginning, only to quickly die down, with the flavor completely disappearing by the one-hour mark, or so. But this gum has in insanely long lasting power—chew times of two hours (or even more) aren’t out of the question, with the cool flavor still being released that far out. Of course, it gets weaker the farther out you go, but it’s still enough to leave your breath feeling refreshed even at the two-hour mark, whereas most gums become a gloppy, tasteless mass of putty by then.
But I’m an oddity in that I don’t know that many people who chew gum for that long. I feel like if you’re just a “casual chewer” (have we really gone so far as to have to categorize everything these days?), then I’m not sure that this is the gum for you—you’ll be wasting a lot of flavor and not really getting your money’s worth. On the other hand, “money’s worth” in this case means $1.19 for a whopping 54 pieces, so you’re not really wasting a whole lot.
The packaging is a little weird in that it’s three double-packs, rather than the single packs it was before. Why it’s done like this, I have no idea, but it must be a cheaper method of packaging. It actually took me a while to figure this out, as I was lugging two packs around, unaware that there’s a perforation that allows for easy separation. The idea behind it is that this is a pack to share with others, with “a pack for me” on one, and “a pack for you” on the other of each set. I don’t understand why it’s necessary for people to need to be instructed on how to share with others, or the concept of sharing, but whatever. It’s cute, I guess, even though I just keep all six packs for myself.
The other curiosity piece is that each pack looks like it’s missing one piece of gum…so each pack has room for 10 pieces, but the last slot is just empty and unused. Would the inclusion of six extra pieces push the cost up so far that Aldi would have to charge more for the pack? It’s obviously not a big deal, but it’s the difference between offering 60 pieces, and offering the current 54; at any rate, the extra space just looks kind of odd.
Regardless, this is still an outstanding value for some excellent gum.
Overall: 9/10. Random complaining aside, this is an absolutely fantastic gum that provides ridiculously long-lasting flavor (chew times of two-plus hours are not at all uncommon) for those that are interested in extended chewing sessions. I still prefer the flavor of spearmint outright, but this works as kind of a blending of mints, giving you something that’s not as strong as peppermint, along with a “just-brushed” feeling that doesn’t tend to happen with spearmint, which is too soft. It’s a great gum, and with each 54-pack retailing for a scant $1.19, value is here in spades. Where else are you going to find close to 100 hours of potential chew-time for so little money?
