Chios Mastic Gum: My Story

I first tasted Chios mastic gum when I was eleven, in a dusty spot in front of a small shop on the corner of Zaimi and Karaiskaki streets in the Stavroupoli district of Thessaloniki. It was my first time in Greece, and the atmosphere of the Greek summer and free life had a strong effect on me, even as a child…

Chios mastic gum: have you tasted a truly unique natural chewing gum?

Among many other things, I loved chewing gum — and in that respect too, Greece felt like paradise. From home I knew Pedro, the pricier Donald with a picture inside, and fruit and mint slices in packs of five. And here, on every corner, dozens — maybe hundreds — of varieties and flavours! I went to that shop on the outskirts of Thessaloniki with my aunt just to try more.

This is the gum the ancient Greeks chewed

My aunt bought chewing gum and I had pockets full of ION in bizarre flavours. I was reaching for the cherry-vanilla when she stopped me and told me to try something better — she dropped a few yellowish gems from a small box into my hand. "This is real chewing gum. It's called mastic." And, because she knew how I devoured myths, legends and hero stories, she added: "This is the gum the Greeks chewed in antiquity."

At first the mastic stuck to my teeth. After a while I could chew it, and I still remember the strong taste that filled my mouth. I chewed while my aunt went on: about a mysterious place on a distant island where mastic flowed from the trees, about the miraculous powers people believed mastic held, and about an evil sultan who seized all the mastic and the pirates who stole it from him.

Its taste

To this day I still can't quite describe the taste of mastic. Is it woodsy, tree-like, fruity? Back then I didn't appreciate the taste or the stories much, and to my aunt's disappointment I went straight back to chewing Chiclets, ION, Wrigley's, Dubble Bubble, Hollywood…

And 20 years later?

But Auntie — do you know how successful your little educational mission turned out to be? What a good promoter of mastic you were? The memory of your gems and your stories stayed firmly in my mind — so much so that, 20 years on, I longed to taste mastic again.

And it wasn't easy. Mastic was hard to buy. But while searching, I discovered that the mysterious island is called Chios, that mastic is a resin, and that confectioners use it as an ingredient. Eventually I got a half-kilo bag from one of them.

The Masticlife brand

The history of the Masticlife brand begins with that bag of mastic. In 2008 we signed an agreement with the Chios Mastic Growers Association. We added:

• ELMA chewing gum
• toothpaste
• cosmetics
• and Auntie's gems — raw tears of Chios mastic

Above all, we wanted to make the most of Chios mastic as a food supplement that contributes to the normal function of the digestive system, so we began producing supplements from original Chios mastic under the Masticlife brand — from the same Chios mastic my aunt gave me, and the same mastic chewed in antiquity.

FAQ: Masticlife and Chios mastic

Fancy trying "Auntie's gems"? These are the same raw Chios mastic tears the story began with.

From the story of the founder of Masticlife, recorded by Sonia Michailidou. Editor's note: for raw mastic in Greek cuisine, see the recipe for mastic ice cream.