I LOVE bubble gum. I am somewhat of a bubble gum connoisseur. A few years ago my dentist forbade me from chewing gum. DEVASTATION!!!

Well, I cheat...a little. I chew when I fly. It is one of my guilty pleasures (that and daily coffee, of course). You can imagine that I'm not about to waste my rare chewing with just any old gum. Nope, I go for bubble gum and I go straight for the hard core gum. No sugar free gum for me. No fresh breath, namby pamby gum. Nope, pure, unadulterated bubble gum. Oh, and no flavors. Bubble gum is like beer: No additives, please.

As a connoisseur I had to try every type of bubble gum known to western (wo)man. It took a lot of flights (yes, and some cheating in the car) but I found a winner...hands down.

Bazooka and Double Bubble are made stale from the minute they roll off the production line. They seem proud to be stale. And they lose their flavor quickly. Worse, they taste terrible when they lose their flavor.

Carefree et al: Nope, I want sugar when I chew and these don't offer any real chewing. To thin.

Big League Chew: Jim Bouton was a great pitcher and a better gum man. While Big League Chew stands up to most of my testing, I don't like that it goes in pink and comes out gray. Ewwwww. I don't like the lack of portioning (I always wind up with too much). A little rubbery but overall a good chew. I like it in case I can't find Bubble Yum.

That leaves Bubble Yum and Bubblicious. No contest. Bubblicious just doesn't have the taste or consistency to compete on the same chewing teeth as Bubble Yum.

Bubble Yum offers the perfect chewing satisfaction.

[Note: The red dye number 2 scare of the 1970'swas ridiculous and I am glad that over 1.3 billion pieces of Bubble Yum are now chewed each year in the United States.]

Make bubbles of your own when you run out of actual Bubble Wrap on National Bubble Wrap Day. Bubble-fy your life!