Mintia Breeze – Fresh Grape
It’s been a while, but I’m still sometimes surprised that I’ve ended up this deep into Mintia as a product. On the face of it, it’s a mint and I don’t like mints. But then they reeled me in with some real crazy (but interesting) flavours like Calpis and grape. I guess if you look it from that perspective, it’s less of a mint product and more of a candy tablet product. Like Rockets, or PEZ. Except these don’t have any sugar so they’re slightly healthier. Slightly.
Mintia Breeze is the line of mints that are somewhat larger, and supposed to last up to five minutes. I don’t know how I would have to put this in my mouth to make it last 5 minutes. Maybe if I tucker it away under a cheek like a squirrel and in that time it’s gone? I tend to move things in my mouth, as my tongue gets bored and restless. Sometimes I get impatient and also bite, which speeds up the process too. I should also mention that this package is slightly larger than the standard mini pocket sized packs. Which makes sense, considering these are thicker, and the pack contains 30 tablets.
First off, the smell of these is super strong. I can smell the package from about 3 feet away, which should give you an idea of how strong it is. If you don’t want people stealing your mints or asking you what that smell is, maybe hide it. The smell alone is enough to make my mouth water a bit.
The flavour of this is very similar to other Japanese grape flavoured candies. It is most likely based on the more common and widely available red grapes in Japan, which can be best described as being similar to concord grapes you find out west. If you’ve ever had a grape flavoured candy or grape juice even, you’ll know what this tastes like. It’s really quite pleasant, and is a nice change from all the super minty flavours that aim to freshen your breathe but potentially taste awful (if you don’t like mint). This one has a slight hint of a cooling aftertaste, which I assume is due to xylitol. Whether this actually freshens your breathe is another matter. What I can say is that it’s refreshing, and not overly so. It’s just right.
Being a mint, the texture is usually not the most important part of the experience, as ideally you would let it sit in your mouth as the flavour slowly dissolves and percolates on your tongue. While I personally can’t vouch for the supposedly 5 minutes that it lasts, it came pretty close for me, clocking in at about 3.5 minutes. I guess the only noticeable thing about these, apart from their size compared to regular Mintia pieces, is that they have a nice big M emblazoned on the top of each piece.
All in all I would do these again for sure. They are a bit on the pricier side, but when you consider how much more you’re actually getting, and how long they last, I feel like these might be better bang for buck. But again that depends on how much you’re paying for it.
