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Coffee Gum – Love It or Hate It

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By Veron Ang

My name is Veron, and I’m a coffeeholic.

There’s something magical about coffee. A whiff of it is enough to perk me up. My morning begins with sipping from a chewed styrofoam cup of piping hot coffee, with added evaporated milk. This love affair with coffee started when I was just a kid. It’s one of those things that I cannot even think of giving up. Perhaps this is the same way smokers feel about cigarettes?

Coffee gum

A friend that recently came back from China passed me these unusual coffee gum, the creations of two companies, Wrigley and Lotte. Now, there’s coffee chocolate, coffee ice cream and coffee buns. There’s even a coffee edition of Kit Kat. So obviously there’s a strong consumer interest in coffee-flavoured products.

But for me, coffee-flavoured chewing gum sure is a first!

Wrigley's Coffee Gum

Wrigley’s Coffee Gum

Upon unwrapping the stick of gum from its silver wrapping, the unmistakable aroma of coffee immediately wafts through the air. It is surprising that something so small can produce an aroma this strong. Brownie points for that!

The gum is a lovely shade of coffee colour, sprinkled with tiny specks of dark brown. When I put it into my mouth, it’s a pleasantly sweet coffee taste. Because real coffee powder is used, there’s even a minute amount of caffeine in this.

Wrigley’s coffee gum was first rolled out in China in 2005. I think that’s the only country to have it even up to today. There is an American equivalent of it though — the Doublemint Kona Crème coffee-flavoured gum.

Lotte Coffee Gum

Lotte Coffee Gum

Another caffeinated chewing gum for coffeeholics is the Lotte coffee gum. If you’re curious, the ingredients are as follows: sugar, chewing gum base, corn syrup, glucose, glycerin, instant coffee powder, coffee flavouring. For these coffee gum, the coffee flavour was strong while it lasted, which wasn’t that long.

At this point, I’m starting to think that coffee gum may be suitable for heavy coffee drinkers that want to wean themselves off the beverage.

The product has its fair share of haters, with some proclaiming it to be “one of the worst ideas of the world”. After all, “don’t you chew gum to get rid of coffee breath?” I think it’s pretty clear that coffee gum is targeted at people that actually love coffee, and wouldn’t mind having the taste of it. If you want minty fresh breath, there’s already a whole range of mint-flavoured gum.

But having said that, I would never substitute this for my favourite coffee beverage. Sipping and savouring a cup of joe is a wonderful experience and culture in itself that no coffee-flavoured product can replace.

(Someone would mention it anyway, so yes, Singapore has the infamous chewing gum ban. But that doesn’t stop us from stashing some into our bags when returning from overseas.)

Tags: coffee

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Responses Leave a comment

malique
12 comments

My name is Malique and i’m a caffeine addict.
Wow this is unique! Coffee is, to me, a very ‘easy’ flavor. It can go well with so many things. Bread? Milk? Sweets? ice cream? The possibilities are endless!
Reply
Posted June 20, 2008 at 3:49 pm
GaMerZ
13 comments

Wha that looks good. When I go Msia next month, I shall check it out!
Reply
Posted June 20, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Holly
3 comments

That’s bizarre! I’d definitely try some, but I’m another coffeeholic and I don’t think I’ve ever take it up as a replacement!
Reply
Posted June 20, 2008 at 8:02 pm
py
183 comments

This coffee-flavoured chewing gum rather unique. It’s very nice of your friend to get these for you.
I would give it a miss though. I prefer not to drink coffee..
Reply
Posted June 20, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Vampire Bats
2 comments

haha … interesting, i think i would actually hate it, but i know someone who would love it … this could be a way to appease coffee addicts , when they can’t get coffee !
Reply
Posted June 21, 2008 at 5:29 am
Veron
3438 comments

malique: In some ways it’s like chocolate. It’s loved by all and appears in so many different forms!
GaMerZ: I think they only have this in China! I might be wrong though, so let us know if you could find it in Malaysia!
Holly: Definitely not a replacement :)
py: Yup it’s an acquired taste. I started drinking coffee since I was a little girl, and grew up loving it.
Vampire Bats: Exactly! It doesn’t really give that much of a kick as a cup of joe would. But it beats having no coffee at all!
Reply
Posted June 22, 2008 at 12:08 pm
jasmine
23 comments

Hey veron,
I’d tried these sort of gum in China last year.
Unfortunately, even though I love coffee, I didn’t like the gum. :(
Reply
Posted June 22, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Veron
3438 comments

I didn’t -love- the gum, although the taste and aroma were pretty decent. But I love my coffee beverage too much to love another :P
Reply
Posted June 23, 2008 at 12:13 am
Valerie
14 comments

wow!!! look so yummi. I am a coffee lover also. Same same as I will always have a cup of sipping hot coffee everymorning.
Reply
Posted June 23, 2008 at 10:42 pm
EJ
1 comment

Hello Veron. It’s really lovely blog!
Anyway, I know lotte coffe gum. that’s a Korean gum. It’s nice to see Korean product on another nationality person’s blog.
Because I’m Korean :-)
(That’s why I’m not so good at English.. T_T)
Reply
Posted June 25, 2008 at 2:51 pm
prettygeeky.com
24 comments

I use to be such a coffee addict as well…3 cups a day at the least and just the smell of it was so intoxicating. lol, but I finally realized my insomnia was probably due to that fact alone and so sadly I had to cut it out of my diet completely. =( The good thing is I don’t crave it anymore, yipee…freedom at last! ahah
Reply
Posted June 25, 2008 at 4:53 pm
TeReNcE
14 comments

the coffee gums look pleasing.. but i cant take coffee lor.
anywhere selling tea gums instead? :)
Reply
Posted June 26, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Veron
3438 comments

Valerie: Yes, mornings just don’t feel right without coffee.
EJ: Is the Lotte coffee gum available in Korea too? From what I’ve read, it seems that it is sold only in China.
prettygeeky: Wow, I wonder what my life would be like without coffee. I’m already immune to caffeine. I can down a cup at night and still fall asleep soon after.
TeReNcE: Now THAT would be another interesting product. Actually, there’s already green tea gum on the market.
Reply
Posted June 27, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Princess
1 comment

Hi Veron… just want to say ur blog is packed with great foodies! and i must say the coffee gum certainly interest me! :-)
Reply
Posted July 2, 2008 at 3:53 pm
stardropx
19 comments

try the coffee ribs from zhou’s kitchen! i tried them at the branch in far east square. it smelled funny. the coffee smell was so strong. but when you it eat, the coffee taste isnt that strong anymore and it’s sweet! hahaha. interesting. oh and the ribs are rather crispy too! really an unique dish which goes well with rice! actually i would think zhou’s kitchen is a great place to go for chi food! my boss treated us lunch there and we tried sooooo many dishes and every dish was good! i absolutely love the mini egg tarts too! =D
Reply
Posted July 4, 2008 at 12:16 am
Veron
3438 comments

You totally had me at the coffee ribs. What an intriguing (if peculiar) combination! I’m adding this place to my list of must-visits.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Reply
Posted July 4, 2008 at 12:28 am
jerlin
11 comments

I’ve tried this gum before too. Tastes pretty good to me (:
Reply
Posted October 12, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Angel
1 comment

Hi I had tried the gum to be honest with you I have never tried a gum that tastes as good as this I just to buy it in Mexico but it’s been a while since I last got it by any chance does anyone knows how to get some?
Reply
Posted January 29, 2010 at 10:54 am
marion lian
1 comment

please can you tell me where i can buy the coffee flavoured chewing gum .
Reply
Posted May 18, 2010 at 1:48 am
robin
1 comment

i love coffee gum where can i find it now best gum ever
Reply
Posted November 12, 2011 at 3:00 am