I had a bizarre craving for grape Big League Chew out of nowhere. Super weird, since I've only had it maybe twice before in my life, ever. My 30+-year old body just decided that we needed it. I could only find original at Five Below, my least favorite flavor, but the foodie gods shined upon me. Because Lidl had a cardboard display at checkout with tons of flavors. I guess they have really expanded since I was like, 9. I grabbed grape, strawberry and the new-to-me blue raspberry. (I left original and sour apple on the cardboard stand where they belong. Apparently there is also watermelon, cotton candy, and hot cocoa versions?!)
Time for a jaw workout!
For those of you overseas, Big League Chew is a shredded chewing gum inside baseball themed pouches. Similar to candy (or bubble gum) cigarettes, it's a play-candy version of a tobacco product, in this case, chewing tobacco.
Chewing tobacco, which is gross, but was commonly seen being used by baseball players. They'd take tins and bags out of pockets, put a lump of shredded tobacco inside their lip, and spit it out throughout the game. It was a way to get a nicotine fix without smoking during the game. I was never into sports, or smoking, so the whole sports and tobacco origin was lost on me as a kid. I just freaking loved bubble gum.
I'm still not a sports fan, but as of typing this post, the Philadelphia Phillies are in the World Series. I work in Philadelphia, so even though I had my craving and bought these pouches for my own snacking more than a month ago (hence why they are open and nearly empty) I thought, why not write these up for a seemingly topical review!I don't think chewing tobacco is used by players anymore, or at the very least, it seems to be a lot less popular, but this gum-alternative is still going strong (Yay!)
Unfortunately, it looks like these have fake sugars (not-yay) but that didn't stop me!
Blue Raspberry - Very blue, and it smells like the 90's. This one was less powdered, so it sticks into clumps rather than shreds, but that made it easier to eat. The flavor is bright, tangy, and wonderfully artificial. Immediate nostalgia for blue raspberry flavored-everything. Sadly, you get maybe a minute of full blue-flavor, and then ghostly raspberry remains with a artificial sweetener chaser. It blows small, thick, bubbles with a satisfying pop, but once it tastes like the fake stuff, I tend to spit it out and grab a new clump. The flavor that is there, is great, I just wish it lasted longer.
Strawberry - There's a girl on the bag! When I was little, all these beefy baseball dudes with necks thicker than my entire body were on the bags. I love this. These shreds were fresh and nicely powdered, perfect for snacking. And the flavor? Again, instant nostalgia. This is the strawberry flavoring of my childhood. Bubble tape used to have the same, sweet, artificial strawberry flavor. It's amazing. Like the Blue Raspberry, the flavor is is bold and bright, but after a minute, it fades into a muted version of itself with the artificial sweeteners stepping up to the plate. (See, I know baseball stuff! I've seen The Sandlot!) I love it, but once it fades, it's outta here!
Grape - The flavor I craved, and it did not disappoint. Immediate nostalgia. I normally hate grape flavored things, they remind me of Dimetapp, but this is different. This leans a little concord-y, like grape fruit snacks. It wasn't as shredded, more clumpy, but it still chews just the same. The flavor on this one seems to last a bit longer, but once it does fade, it gets into that fake sugar territory where it feels more chemical than candy. I feel like the fake sugar coolness is stronger here than with the other flavors, so once the grape-y goodness is gone, into the trashcan it goes.If they ditched the fake sugars (sucralose & ace-K specifically), these would be absolutely perfect, but, as is, I would give these an 8/10.
The flavors are great, you have a satisfyingly stiff chew, and you can blow decent bubbles. As long as you're ready for a bit of a jaw work-out, and have a trash can near by, these are perfect.
Let's hope the Phillies win today, otherwise work is going to be pretty sad next week.
Fans of this would also like: Nerds Candy Corn, Barbarian (2022 now on HBOMax), Mystery Incorporated with Hot Dog Water, or Candy Corn flavored Red Vines
No comments:
Post a Comment