A somewhat vile
chewing gum manufactured by
Lotte in
Japan. Each pack has
Kyoryoku minto de nemuke sukkiri! written on its side, which roughly translates to "Relieve your
drowsiness with powerful
mint!" Powerful is an inadequate term to describe Black Black's flavor, which is somewhere between
licorice and
menthol cough syrup. Powerful is also a
very inadequate term to describe the gum's effects, which fall somewhere between
philopon and
double-shot espresso.
There are a variety of chemicals that go into Black Black, including cacao, oolong tea, chrysanthemum extract, and (believe it or not) nicotine. The gum base even has extra caffeine mixed in. All the legal stimulants in Black Black have made it popular among otaku types, and William Gibson even mentioned it in his novel Idoru.
For those of you on diets, each stick of Black Black contains 79kcal, most of which is sugar.
Black Black is carried at kwik-i-mart type places all over Japan and at some Japanese grocers overseas. In New York, it can be purchased at Daikichi Sushi by (what was) the World Trade Center.