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content/blog/nathan-and-sons-underbrush-remineralizing-gum-review.md

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+---
+title: "Incense Gum? Reviewing the Viral Nathan and Sons Underbrush Remineralizing Gum"
+description: "You know I had to try a chewing gum made from incense ingredients."
+date: 2026-02-23
+tags:
+ - Incense
+ - Incense Review
+ - Other Review
+ - Food and Beverage
+synopsis: "You know I had to try a chewing gum made from incense ingredients."
+imageURL: "/img/nathan_and_sons_underbrush_remineralizing_gum/nathan-and-sons-underbrush-remineralizing-gum.webp"
+imageAlt: "A tealight cup containing a melted puddle of gum on an MHP30 mini heater. Beside it are packages of the gum."
+mastodon_id: "116122384966857793"
+---
+
+Maybe this is just my algorithm, but I just can't escape
+[Nathan and Sons Underbrush Remineralizing Gum](https://nathanandsons.com/) on
+[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/nathan.and.sons/). In case your feed
+isn't absolutely inundated with Underbrush content like mine, Underbrush is a
+chewing gum brand that uses natural botanicals rather than the, well,
+[plastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum#Microplastics) that is
+commonly used as a gum base. Instead, Underbrush contains chicle, mastic,
+spruce, and acacia gum, myrrh and other natural ingredients. Are you beginning
+to see why I'm interested in the stuff? Some of these ingredients might sound
+more at home in an incense build than something you put in your mouth, but the
+truth is that plant gums have been chewed for centuries. Hell, people died over mastic in antiquity, such was its acclaim as a herbal medicine, flavoring,
+and chewing gum. Native Americans used spruce gum in this way, and frankincense
+has also traditionally been used as a chewing gum.
+
+Naturally, I *had* to try a gum made, essentially, out of incense materials. The
+price deterred me for a while, but my curiosity eventually won out. I elbowed
+my way through the aggressive salesy cruft on the Nathan and Sons website and
+put in an order for the berry variety (the only vegan option).
+
+[![A tealight cup containing a melted puddle of gum on an MHP30 mini heater. Beside it are packages of the gum.](/img/nathan_and_sons_underbrush_remineralizing_gum/nathan-and-sons-underbrush-remineralizing-gum.webp "Of course I put the stuff on my dusty wee heater.")](/img/nathan_and_sons_underbrush_remineralizing_gum/nathan-and-sons-underbrush-remineralizing-gum.webp)
+
+## Underbrush as intended: gum
+
+With a texture nigh-indistinguishable from any gum you might find on a
+supermarket shelf, I found Underbrush pleasantly sweet with a mild berry flavor
+as I began to chew. Unfortunately, this only lasts for, quite literally,
+seconds before settling down into an ashtray meets lapsang-souchong smoky black
+tea flavor. It's genuinely pretty shocking how quickly the flavor changes. I
+can only assume that the lingering note comes from the myrrh. It really is
+quite unfortunate that this is the only resin with any flavor left in it—myrrh
+is [infamous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrrh#Etymology) for its bitter
+flavor[^1].
+
+In the ads for this gum, they show the resins being heated in order to mix them
+together, and I can't help but wonder whether that's the culprit here. With
+plain old frankincense or mastic, the pronounced flavor of the resin lasts for
+just about as long as you can be bothered to chew. As an incense maker, I am
+well aware of how quickly heat can evaporate out all of those lovely aromatic
+volatile compounds—even now I'm grinding some costus root twenty seconds at a
+time, ensuring that the temperature of the material doesn't rise beyond 100°F
+with an infrared thermometer. I don't really care about the berry flavor, but
+it seems like abject sacrilege to have all of these nice, rare, and expensive
+tree resins in a product with their flavor cooked out of them.
+
+After spending close to $40 for 36 pieces of gum,
+[my disappointment is immeasurable.](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/my-disappointment-is-immeasurable-and-my-day-is-ruined)
+That said, I didn't buy the stuff just to chew it all anyway. If it's no good
+as a gum, how will it fare as incense?
+
+## Underbrush as not intended: incense
+
+At 185°C the gum presents a candy-like sweetness and a fruity acidity with *maybe*
+a tiny hint of mastic? Imagine a bag of skittles left in a hot car. The
+fragrance didn't change at 250°, but at 300° a toasty note enters and the
+acidity ramps up before it begins to darken in color and smell burned.
+
+Even as incense, the resins are practically nowhere to be found. What a shame.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+I'm not at all enamored with this stuff. While the gum circumvents the usual
+issues inherent to chewing resin with its excellent texture, all of those
+beautiful natural ingredients present little to no flavor. The added flavoring
+disappears so quickly that it may as well not be there. I can't speak to
+the health claims made by Nathan and Sons, but in purely sensory terms, I prefer
+the stuff on an incense heater. And I don't like it much there.
+
+On an emotional level, cooking the flavor out of these beautiful
+resins—precious materials that
+[wars have been fought over](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chios_massacre)
+—feels like an
+[Ecce Homo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(Garc%C3%ADa_Mart%C3%ADnez_and_Gim%C3%A9nez))
+moment. Continuing on the religious theme, perhaps more apt is the famous line
+from the Gospel of Matthew: "…neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
+they trample them under their feet…." Whether you're looking for something to
+chew or a fragrance to enjoy, my recommendation would be to use a chunk of mastic instead.
+
+[^1]: Honestly, it's quite difficult to make myrrh smell nice in incense too.
+

content/now-burning/Now Burning_2026-02-18_14:15.md

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+---
+title: Sumire
+manufacturer: Tennendo
+date: 2026-02-18 14:14:00
+time: 2:14 PM
+---
+I've heard it called “soapy,” but I quite enjoy this violet incense.

content/now-burning/Now Burning_2026-02-20_08:59.md

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+---
+title: Excellentia (Shira-giku)
+manufacturer: Shoyeido
+date: 2026-02-20 8:59:00
+time: 8:59 AM
+---
+With a 7-8 hour burn time, this coil is a bit of a commitment!

content/status/Status_2026-02-17_15:47.md

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+---
+date: 2026-02-17 15:44:00
+emoji: 🫠
+comment: Mefjus’ *Manifest* is a hell of an album. No one puts out such pristinely produced tracks as Drum and Bass artists.
+---