Greek Chewing Gum

A synonym for Greek chewing gum is mastic. It comes in two classic forms: ready-made ELMA mastic chewing gums, and raw mastic tears you chew straight from the resin.

ELMA mastic chewing gum

ELMA mastic chewing gum contains only natural sweeteners in addition to mastic. They are among the few chewing gums on the market with no artificial antioxidants BHT or BHA.

ELMA stands for ELliniki MAstiha (Greek mastic). Because the gums contain a high proportion of natural mastic, they differ in taste and texture from industrially produced gums.

Every ELMA flavour

Mastic gum tears

Raw mastic in its original form is the resin crystals harvested from the mastic tree. The resin drops are poetically called mastic tears, and the tree the weeping tree. Mastic crystals are the original form of “Chios mastic”: collected from the trunk and the ground beneath, then cleaned and sorted to be used directly, or processed into powder or oil.

What mastic tears look like

Fresh resin on the bark is soft and clear; it gradually hardens and darkens in the air. Once cleaned, tears are usually amber — from brown to golden to almost transparent with a yellowish tinge. The largest resemble small flat lumps; the smallest are like smooth beads. Sizes range from a few millimetres to pieces over 3 cm across, and mastic is packed by crystal size.

The three size fractions (there used to be seven):

1. Small — 3–5 mm in diameter
2. Medium — 6–8 mm
3. Large — larger than 8 mm

The texture is like other resins: some pieces are soft and sticky, others hard and brittle. It softens in heat, and cooling significantly reduces stickiness.

Choose your mastic tears

Small tears

3–5 mm. Great for grinding and cooking, or easy chewing.

Cooking or grinding?

Buy small

MOST POPULAR

Medium tears

6–8 mm. The perfect balance of soft and firm — ideal for everyday chewing.

Not sure where to start?

Buy medium

Large tears

Larger than 8 mm. Substantial drops for experienced chewers or processing.

Want the biggest crystals?

Buy large

What can you chew instead of gum?

Looking for an alternative to commercial chewing gum? Mastic is the way to go. Chewing pieces of mastic is the original use of this resin — and mastic is the only truly natural chewing gum. Not only is mastic a 100% natural product, but its growing and harvesting are traditional and natural too.

Mastic has a woody-to-fruity flavour, with a rooty-sweet aroma. If you’d like to try it, start with medium-sized pieces. Chewing mastic isn’t complicated — it’s just not the commercial gum you’re used to. See our guide on how to chew raw mastic.