Quench Gum Still Exists and it is Still Awesome

Think of this, but in gum form

A few weeks back, when my son's school year ended, he told me wanted to go to a comic book store and the candy store as his "treat" for finishing out the year. I was pretty happy about this because it meant we got to go to The Loop here in Saint Louis. The Loop is a cool little strip of wacky and vintage clothing stores, art stores, record stores, great dining options, the best movie theater in the state, and of course, a comic book store and a candy shop. We went and did the comic book thing, and he was stoked. Me, I'm not a big comic book guy, but he loved it. After we finished up there, we headed over to the candy store. The place in The Loop is called Rocket Fizz, and it has all different kinds of candy. It has new stuff, old stuff, crazy sodas, with flavors like buffalo wing and bacon, it is just a cool, old school candy shop. They also sell old school concert posters, movie posters and they have those big cut outs of characters from popular movies that they sell as well. My son picked out a bag filled with a bunch of different salt water taffy, a solid choice, and my daughter wanted some Dots, an even better choice. I figured since I was there, I would indulge. I got myself a fancy root beer, some Altoid cinnamon mints, my favorites, and then I spotted something I thought I would never see again.

When I was a kid playing little league baseball, I used to chew Big League Chew gum. It made me feel like a major league baseball player. But, as I got older, I started to dislike the taste, and the powdered substance it left on my face was just ridiculous. I was in a local sporting goods store when I was about 10, and I saw this new gum called Quench Gum. It was essentially Gatorade in gum form. As I 10 year old that was all I needed to hear. I wanted that gum. I needed that gum. And my parents, being as great as they are, obliged and bought me some. I was hooked. It really did quench my thirst, I thought, and I chewed it all the time. It was so sweet and delicious and perfect for chewing during one of my games. I used to have packs and packs just stuffed into my baseball bag. My teammates loved it too, and we all started to choose Quench over Big League Chew.

By the time I was playing high school baseball, Quench Gum was gone, replaced by sunflower seeds. That was all I chewed for all 4 years of high school baseball. It was all about sunflower seeds. But, from time to time I would go to that same sporting goods store and ask if they were ever going to get any Quench Gum. I was almost always met with a blank stare.

This brings me back to Rocket Fizz. Not only did they have my favorite flavor of Quench Gum, orange fruit punch, they had all the flavors. I was so extremely happy. Now, I didn't go nuts and buy one pack of each, I just bought the orange fruit punch. The moment I got home I had to try it immediately, and I did, and I had the total opposite reaction as to when I ate that Hostess chocolate pie. Quench Gum was just as juicy and wonderful as I remembered it when I was 10. I was so happy. It was perfect. I chewed and chewed until it lost its flavor, which happens in about 5 minutes. But, those five minutes when the flavor explodes in your mouth, it is amazing. It really does taste like a sports drink. It really does quench your thirst. It does what it promises. With the losing its flavor after 5 minutes, so what. Fruit Stripes gum, which I also love, is the same. So is Big League Chew. Same with Bubble Tape or the single wrapped Bubble Gum flavored Yubba Bubba. The only gum that keeps its flavor is minty gum because it is supposed to. Gum like Quench Gum is meant to give you that immediate pleasure, go away, and have you coming back for more. It achieves that goal tenfold. I am chewing some while I type this, and I will probably chew some more when I go for a run later today. I love this stuff.

It was such a great surprise to see Quench Gum sitting on the shelf at this candy store. I will definitely be going back to get some more in the very near future. I do have to try all the old flavors now since orange fruit punch was such a hit. For now though, I will just enjoy this very delicious and wonderful and juicy and thirst quenching orange fruit punch gum. I am so very happy that Quench Gum is back in my life. What a treat.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was also looking for some candy cigarettes for his kids. He found none so he just sprang for the real thing.

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