The 10 Best Chewing Gums, Ranked
Heads up, this is our chewing gum leaderboard, not bubble gums. These are the best chewing gums according to the Bubble Bunch, our tasting committee, ranked by overall score.
For chewing gums, the overall score is the average of taste, flavor duration, and texture, bubble-blowing isn't counted, since blowing bubbles isn't what a chewing gum is for. It's a living list: as we test more gums, the scores recalculate and the order can shift.
- 🥇 Airheads Gum - Watermelon 4.5 / 5.0
Airheads Watermelon Gum has little micro candy pieces baked right into the gum for an extra flavor hit. Cute idea, and the watermelon taste delivers. This gum is soft...maybe a little too soft. Airheads has been making fruity candy since 1986, and the gum carries that same bold, sugary energy.
Taste 5 · Duration 4.5 · Texture 4 - 🥈 Wrigley Extra - Classic Bubble 4.5 / 5.0
This is a chewing gum with bubble gum flavor...should that be illegal? I guess it's fine for those rare occasions where you want the flavor of bubble gum but don't want to blow any bubbles.
Taste 4.5 · Duration 5 · Texture 4 - 🥉 Airheads Gum - Raspberry Lemonade with Micro-Candies 4.0 / 5.0
An intensely flavored, sugar-free chewing gum that tastes like a summer raspberry lemonade on the beach. A fun, fruity chew with an intense opening flavor, just don't expect to blow big bubbles.
Taste 4 · Duration 4 · Texture 4 - 4 Extra Refreshers - Bubblemint flavor 4.0 / 5.0
Bubblemint is exactly what it sounds like: bubble gum flavor and spearmint, blended together in a way that shouldn't work but does. The Bubble Bunch picked this one up in Ireland, where Wrigley's Extra Refreshers is a lot easier to find than in the US. Everyone agreed the flavor is solid. The chew is good. Where it falls short is bubble blowing, which landed somewhere between subpar and average depending on who you ask. A great gum for chewing. Not the one to reach for at a bubble-blowing contest.
Taste 4 · Duration 4.3 · Texture 3.7 - 5 Black Jack 3.8 / 5.0
Chewing Black Jack feels like a trip back in time. The thin stick and plain wrapper are charmingly old-fashioned, fitting for a gum first sold in 1884 as America's first flavored gum. It's made naturally from chicle, and even testers who don't usually care for black licorice came away saying it was "very yummy" and better than expected. There's less gum in a stick than in a modern hunk, which is easier on your jaw. The licorice flavor doesn't last long, gone in about three minutes, and it leaves your breath licorice-fresh and your tongue a touch tingly.
Taste 4.5 · Duration 2.3 · Texture 4.5 - 6 Clove Chewing Gum 3.8 / 5.0
Clove Gum has been around since 1914, which makes it older than sliced bread. During Prohibition, people chewed it to mask the smell of alcohol on their breath. In the 1940s it went into field kits for soldiers at the front. It is, to put it plainly, a gum with a resume. The Bubble Bunch was split: two testers called it the best gum they'd ever had, while another noted the clove flavor was so strong it made their tongue go numb. One important caveat: this is a chewing gum, not a bubble gum. No bubbles here.
Taste 4.5 · Duration 2.5 · Texture 4.5 - 7 Blue Q Chewing Gums 3.8 / 5.0
Blue Q is a Massachusetts-based novelty brand (manufactured in Canada) that's built its cult following almost entirely on its sassy packaging. You'll find the gum at gift shops and places like that. We tried two flavors: the "Scum Gum" cinnamon original and a fruit variety called "Here comes my cool dad." The cinnamon delivered strong, long-lasting flavor, but the real fun was checking out the PG-13 and sometimes R-rated packaging.
Taste 4 · Duration 4 · Texture 3.5 - 8 Airwaves Blackcurrant Flavor 3.5 / 5.0
Airwaves Blackcurrant is the gum equivalent of a cooling lozenge. Wrigley built this one to clear your head, and it shows: our testers described a strong, minty, blackcurrant flavor that hits you right in the face and tastes a bit like a cough drop. We found ours in Ireland, fitting for a gum sold mostly across Europe rather than the US. As a chewing gum, it's not made for bubbles, but if you want a flavor that really wakes you up, give it a go.
Taste 2.3 · Duration 4 · Texture 4.3 - 9 Project 7 Rainbow Ice Gourmet Gum 3.5 / 5.0
A unique snow-cone-flavored chewing gum from Project 7, a do-good brand that gave a big share of its profits to humanitarian causes. The flavor is a nostalgic blast, though it fades fairly fast, and sadly the gum has since been discontinued.
Taste 4.5 · Duration 2 · Texture 4
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