Anna1013

Hmmm - more medicinal tasting then? It seems Americans have much more of a fasincation with mint flavored products...something I never would have thought about. The random things one learns on Fodors

belken22

As an Australian, now living in the US and married to an American, I can vouch that the smell of Wintergreen gum does indeed evoke memories of sports linaments such as Deep Heat (and a fascination as to why my husband and others would want to chew on the stuff!).
Likewise, I cannot stand any sweets flavored with grape or cherry as they remind me of flavours used in childhood medicines when I was growing up in Australia.
PalenQ - this theory sounds perfectly plausible to me!

RM67

Belken - you've bought back some appalling childhood memories for me:-

Minadex - some godawful bile tasting vitamin supplement (no, mum, I don't have scurvy or ricketts!).

Vicks Vapour Rub which was slathered into your chest, jimjams and pillow so you couldn't get away from the smell no matter what.

Cough medicine - bright red and foamy, like some sort of hideous lung haemmorragh. What was the point of that - it never stopped anyone from coughing - you'd be hacking all night.

And worst of all travel sickness tablets. I read a hilarious report a few years back that concluded trying to make kiddies swallow a horse-pill sized travel tablet was more likely to make them puke than giving them nothing at all!

specs

The smell and taste of wintergreen is not as strong and cool as pepperment, nor is it sweet like spearment.

As mentioned above the Lifesaver candies come in Wint-o-Green and they spark in the dark. Not a #1 bestseller.

Wintergreen is not to everyone's liking, even if you enjoy the flavors of other mints. To my taste, there is a mintiness, but there is also a clove-like flavor, a bit of a bite. It is a sharp taste and smell, almost more peppery than sweet. I like the taste, however.

The smell in sports linaments and Vick's vapo rub is usually menthol, or eucalyptus. Eucalyptus seems to be universally repellent to all but koalas. Menthol, however, seems to have an attractive smell to children. Vick's Vapo Rub was widely used in the U.S. during the 1950s,as a chest rub when you caught a cold. Altho' it is meant to be applied on the chest, most baby boomers can tell you exactly what it tastes like. Likewise, there were always a few children in every classroom who found the menthol-scented white paste irresistable.
Don't laugh. Its probably a lot tastier than Vegemite.

alya

hetismij,

I would say that wintergreen always reminds me of germolene.

As does root beer - my son loves root beer, it turns my stomach

audere_est_facere

So the yanks eat sweets that taste like deep heat and they have the temerity to diss Marmite?

Mad as a box of frogs the lot of 'em.

Mucky

When I was a young footballing Mucky, in the depths of the Welsh Winter I would usually cover my legs with Wintergreen to protect from the cold and help with aching muscles, bit like the Deep heat as Audere says.

The problem was that I had to make sure I had the pre match pee before I got any on my hands from rubbing it on the legs or I would have been in big trouble.


But I agree with PQ, the smell is horrible.
Muck

caroline_edinburgh

Hm, yes, I can imagine finding sweets/chewing gum that tasted like liniment smells liniment not very nice.

"Out of curiosity, is there "Spearmint" chewing gum in the UK? Just wondering if there are any mint flavored gums in the UK" When I were a lass, all chewing gum was peppermint or spearmint flavour ! I believe there are now fruity flavours and all sorts now, but I'm sure spearmint must still be available.

BoniseA

This is really interesting to me. Last spring, in Germany, I bought some gum. (I'm Americam) The package said "professional." It was awful. I don't even know how to describe the taste.

I gave the rest of the pack to my 5 y/o German granddaughter. She kept saying "why you give me this gum?'