Choose small tears if you are new to mastic, using it in a hot climate or just chewing a little every day. Choose large tears if you like a harder lump. Melted mastic is best if you are chewing a lot or cooking with it. It is just the pure Chios resin in lump form. Size changes the chew, not the purity.
By Carl J., Owner · Last updated November 10, 2026
Where does chios mastic gum come from, and how is it sorted?
Natural chios mastic gum is produced exclusively from trees growing on the island of Chios (Greece) and classified according to size. Every tin, from the smallest tears to melted pieces, starts as the same resin.
According to the Greek agriculture ministry’s Chios mastic profile, growers score the tree trunks each summer. The resin then lands on pre-whitened ground, where the sun cures it. Next, workers harvest and purify it. Chios mastiha gained a Protected Designation of Origin in 1997, and UNESCO added the traditional growing technique to its intangible cultural heritage list in 2014.
After cleaning, the harvest is separated by size. That’s the whole basis of grading:
- Drops that stayed separate become tears, sorted into small, medium and large
- Drops that ran together on the ground become melted or fused pieces
- Fragments and dust left over are often ground into powder
Because the sort happens by hand and by sieve, sizes always overlap a little. A tin of small tears will hold a few pieces that look closer to medium, and that’s normal for a natural product. What shouldn’t vary is the resin itself, since every piece comes from the same trees and the same harvest season.
You can read more about the process in our post on how Chios mastiha is harvested.
What are the standard mastic tear sizes?
Most sellers will have 3 primary mastic tears sizes with some variations. The following are typical ranges and as natural resin cannot be made exactly the same every time.
| Size class | Typical piece size | How common it is | What it’s usually used for |
| Extra small / fine | Under 3 mm | Common | Grinding, cooking, travel |
| Small tears | About 3 to 5 mm | Most common | Daily chewing, beginners, cooking |
| Medium tears | About 6 to 8 mm | Around 10 to 15% of a harvest | Firmer, longer chewing |
| Large tears | Over 8 mm | Rarest | Chewing, collectors |
| Melted / fused | Irregular clumps | Varies | Bulk chewing, cooking |
The difference between small and large mastic tears is mostly physical. A larger piece will take longer to really get warm which means it will be harder for longer. A smaller piece will soften quickly and feel softer right from the start.
Here at Titans Jaw, we sell Small Tears, Medium Tears and Melted mastic. Medium is the rarer cut, so it’s the firmest tear we stock. For a closer look at the two smaller sizes, see our guide to the difference between small and medium tears.
How does mastic grading actually work?
Mastic grading is a size sort, not a quality score. Both small tears and large tears are just different sized pieces of the same resin.
This does confuse some people. Some listings list large tears as premium and small tears as standard giving an appearance of a purer product. Usually the grade of large tears will be because of how uncommon they are. The grade of a piece of mastic gum will tell you the size of it. And the size will tell you how good it will be to chew.
What actually signals quality sits outside the grade:
- Cleanliness, meaning few bits of bark, soil or leaf in the tin
- Color, with fresher tears usually pale and glassy and older ones turning more yellow and opaque
- Origin, since only resin from Chios can carry the protected Chios mastiha name
- Ingredients, which should list mastic resin and nothing else
Our earlier post on small-size mastic gum grades goes deeper on how sellers label the smallest classes.
Which size fits how you’ll use it?
You will need to find what size suits your use of the product, how much you chew and where you live. For the question how many mastic gums should I buy? Find a size that will fit your main use:
- Daily fresh breath or casual chewing: Small Tears, since they soften fast and feel easy from day one
- A firmer, longer chew: Medium Tears, which hold their shape longer before softening
- Cooking, grinding or baking: small tears or melted pieces, because they break down easily
- Heavy daily chewing on a budget: Melted mastic in the 1 lb bag
- Hot climates or travel: small tears, which clump together less in the heat
Firmness matters more than many people expect. In a small study on gum hardness and the masseter muscle, the 11 adult men chewed gums of three hardness levels. Muscle activity, heart rate and reported fatigue all rose as the gum got harder. So a firmer chew means more work per minute, which is great if you want it and tiring if you don’t.
How should you store mastic tears so they keep?
Store mastic in a sealed tin or jar, somewhere cool, dry and dark. Resin softens with heat and slowly changes with air and light, so storage decides how long it stays pleasant to chew.
A few simple habits help:
- Keep the lid closed between uses, since air exposure slowly dulls the flavor
- Avoid hot cars and sunny windowsills, where tears can soften and stick together
- Separate clumped tears gently after a short spell in the fridge, since they become less sticky when cool
- Keep it away from strong smells, because resin can pick up odors over time
Larger tears and melted pieces tend to stick together more easily in warm weather. Small tears, however, usually stay loose. If you live somewhere hot, our post on small mastic gums in summer heat covers that in more detail.
How do you spot real Chios mastic when shopping?
Real Chios mastic shows its origin, a single ingredient and a believable price. Fake or blended products usually miss at least one of those.
Before you buy, check for:
- Chios, Greece stated clearly as the origin
- One ingredient: Pistacia lentiscus resin, with no sweeteners, wax or fillers
- Natural variation in size and color, since perfectly uniform pieces are a warning sign
- A price in a sensible range for the size you’re buying, as very cheap “large tears” are often something else
Our guides to verifying real Greek mastic gum and reading a mastic label walk through each check with examples.
Where can you buy Titans Jaw mastic tears?
You can buy every size we carry in the Titans Jaw shop. Each tin of Small or Medium Tears holds 28.35 g (1 oz) of pure Chios mastiha, roughly 56 servings, and the melted option comes in a 1 lb bag.
All of our products are pure natural resin from Chios. There’s no sugar or additives. Mastic Gum comes in various breaking points. Simply choose the amount of chewiness you like and start with the softer option and work your way up.
Frequently asked questions
1. What are tears?
Tears are the small droplets of resin that seep from scored mastic trees on Chios and harden in the sun before they’re collected and cleaned. That’s the short answer to what are mastic gum tears: pure Pistacia lentiscus resin with nothing added, sorted into grades by size.
2. Small or large for jaw training?
Medium and larger tears suit most jaw training because the bigger, firmer pieces give more resistance, while small tears are the better starting point for a jaw that isn’t used to resin yet. For anyone asking is large tear mastic better or which mastic tear size is best for jaw training, small vs large tears comes down to matching the chew to your jaw’s current strength and stepping up gradually.
3. Does grade affect hardness?
The grade has no effect on the actual resin but larger tears will give the feeling of being harder due to them taking longer to heat up and soften in your mouth. Tears that are older will be harder to begin with as they will be dryer.
4. How many grams per session?
A good amount to start with would be about 0.5g. This means there will be one portion per tin (28.35g) giving you about 56 portions. Most people will add a bit more once their jaw can cope with the amount without causing any pain.
5. Which grade is best value?
Melted mastic is the best value per gram, at roughly 9 cents a gram in the 1 lb bag, compared with about 71 cents for Small Tears and 74 cents for Medium Tears. Among the tear grades, Small Tears give the most servings per dollar because both tins hold the same 28.35 g.
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Pure Chios mastic gum for jaw training
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This article is general information, not medical or dental advice. If you have jaw pain or a jaw condition, please speak with a dentist or doctor.
