# My Mastic Gum Has No Flavor



## JTBorton (Aug 1, 2013)

I have been obsessed with experimenting with Mastic gum since I first learned of the spice - but man is it expensive and hard to find!!  I picked up my first ounce in an Indian market in Houston.  Thrilled and excited, I immediately tried using it in breads and sauces.  I also tried making spice blends with it.  But it wasn't long before I realized that it was doing essentially nothing to change the flavor.  I bit into some of the raw crystals only to find a bland chalky flavor.  It was at this point that I realized I had been bamboozled.

So again I set out to search high and low for this mystical spice.  I finally decided to try ordering some from a notable online spice supplier, one I use often for other spices, but I had to bite the bullet and buy 4 oz at once (OUCH that was expensive!!).  But I was confident in this supplier since I, and many others like me, had proven them many times before.  Once my package arrived I promptly chomped down on a mastic crystal hoping to discover what the true flavor should be.  Expecting a rich, piney flavor that I had read so much about, I was considerably disappointing to find that yet again it was bland and chalky.  Except this time it did have a very faint piney undertone - _very faint_ - suggesting that it could actually be some sort of mastic gum or a relative there of. 

*So my question is*: How strong _should_ the flavor of these crystals be?  Mine seem to be very faint, mostly tasteless with a slight touch of pine.  Does the flavor improve with grinding our cooking?  How much of it do I have to use to make an impact on flavor?


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## FrankZ (Aug 1, 2013)

I have no experience with it but the reading I just did seemed to indicate it would not be a strong flavor.


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## salt and pepper (Aug 1, 2013)

At $18.00 an oz and the mild, bitter, woody flavor I don't see why you would expect much of such a spice.


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