Dulce De Leche (CSC) 1.5% (7-24-22) – I remember the FIRST time I used a DDL, it was for the “Grant’s Custard” recipe. I use it from time to time, but NEVER solo’d it, so HERE goes !! Think that DDL is just Milk and Sugar ?? Think again. Some have vanilla, and others cinnamon. This one presented as a very accurate DDL, with an almost light cinnamon sugar kiss. Very complex, very good, and very authentic to my tastes. Just below mid level sweet, and surprisingly rich, and full at 1.5%. Some milky undertones, caramel-ish notes, but the cinnamon sugar kiss off on the end really made it unique. Nothing off-putting, and I had a hard time putting this one down, and I think you will too. I could see numerous uses including baccos, deserts, bakeries, etc. Right up my alley, and just too damned good to not 10/10 this one.
I’m listening, sounds right up my ally!
Confirmed!
Forest Fruits (CSC) 1.5% (7-25-22) – Of COURSE I was thinking of another brand’s FF when waiting for this to steep, wondering, would they be similar ?? Absolutely NOT !!! Chefs billed this one as a mix of black and rasp berries, currants, and plum berries ? I’ve no clue about plum berries, but I can tell you this was a DELICOUS new take on Forest Fruits for me. Any time you consider picking up a new one, it’s helpful if they are unique, and not like others on your shelf, and this one will probably fit that bill. This one presented with the main notes of both currants on the top, but there was something else going on beneath the surface, and I assume maybe the black, rasp, and plum berries, bu they remained fairly hidden, but their impact in the overall mix was still there. Tart, punchy, somewhat sweet, this one really WAS a good, newer take on a fruit medley. Perfectly strong at 1.5%, and with no off-putting notes, this one’s complexity is what kept it interesting. It leaned towards a more red-ish berry flavor, but tempered with the darker berries. Wow, smartly done, very interesting to taste, and it stayed that way. It’s really a perfect pairing of red and black currants, with some subtle darker berry undertones. Easily a 9.8/10.
Grapefruit Pink (CSC) 1.5% (7-29-22) – As soon as I got into this one, the first thought was, “Wow, Chef’s is really getting these fruits right”, and that feeling never waned during this test. Smelling it first, just screamed “authentic”, and you could almost literally taste the oil from the skin. NOW, I don’t mean it was oily, but when you peel one, it releases some of the oils and zest from the skin, and THAT was what revealed during smelling it. Testing it revealed that aspect, and even more. It really did convey a delicious pink grapefruit, that leaned slightly to the sweet, but had just enough tart backing to round it out. Much like a real Pink Grapefruit there wasn’t really any sour or bitter notes, but just a few ticks above mid level sweet, tart, and about everything grapefruity you could want. At 1.5% while full, still felt slightly relaxed, and there were no off-notes, or anything that remotely resembled artificial. I don’ think I’ve ever tested a “pink” before, and if you need one, this one is the one. Minor take-offs for slightly relaxed-ed-ness, and NO take-offs for flavor comp. Take this one to the bank, @ 9.25/10.
Hazelnut Cream (CSC) 1.5% (7-29-22) – If you’ve ever eaten, or used, a great Hazelnut, you know that they can have very nice creamy undertones throughout. This one actually improved on that, by adding MORE creamy-ness into the mix. The hazelnut note(s) were on point, BUT, lacking any of the sometimes unwanted bitterness. The creamy-ness carried through from beginning to end, and was about perfectly balanced, to accentuate the hazelnut, but without overpowering it in any way. Chefs stayed just below the threshold to where it would turn into an ice cream, or milkshake, which worked perfectly, as the hazelnut stayed the star of the show. Throughout the test, I continued to get almost chocolate-y undertones, and that just made things even better, more enjoyable, and interesting. This one could DEF. be used as a choco booster/enhancer. All in, it was probably one of, if not THE, creamiest Hazelnuts I have ever tried. It was below mid-level sweet, and felt perfectly full at 1.5%. If you could use a deliciously creamy hazelnut, with zero bitterness, delicious chocolate-y undertones, you may want to add this one to your racks. With only a very slight dry-ness at the finish, this one had no off-putting notes. Easily placing this one high @ 9.75/10.
Now that I’ve COMPLETELY emptied the tester on Chef’s Hazelnut Cream, not only do I think it’s going to be a STELLAR booster/enhancer for all things Chocolate, I now think it will ALSO work similarly for Graham Crackers.
Lemon Custard (CSC) 1.5% (7-30-22) – I know I had more than a few people waiting for the review on this one, and I was as well, as who doesn’t love dah Kustad !!! OK, this one was kind of a mystery to me, as I couldn’t always tell what it was trying to be. More often than not, it presented almost as a Creamy Lemon, or almost a lemon cream filling. Perhaps I expected a heavier, more IYF (In Your Face) Custard. The custard-ish notes were much lighter than expected, and somewhat comparable to FA’s Custard. The lemon favored more of an FE Lemon, but not entirely, but it was heading in that direction. It took quite a bit of testing to try and determine that it leaned more towards an artificial lemon than natural. It DID however hold it’s own in this flavor, and stayed front, center, and present throughout all of the testing, and at 1.5%, the flavor as a whole felt plenty strong, without any off notes of fatigue. At times, the custard was almost more pudding like, as there were no heavy/ier eggy notes, which I typically associate with custards. Now obviously YOUR tastes will decide for you, not mine hehe, but was it a show stopper ?? Not really. Not terrible by any means, and I could see countless uses for it. Sweetness was at about mid level, and it suited the flavor perfectly. If your Lemony Custard needs fell more into a lighter custard style, similar to FA’s custard, with slight pudding notes, and with a solid mostly artificial Lemon, this one will work for you. For my tastes, it seemed pretty solid at 7/10.
Madeleine (CSC) 1.5% (7-30-22) – I wish I’d ever tried an actual Madeleine cake so I would have something to compare this to, but I have not. Going by taste alone, this one presented as a somewhat generic yellow cake-ish cake/cookie. The bakery elements were very nice, and had an almost grainy-ness to it, that added to it’s authenticity. Maybe some light butter, maybe some light vanilla floating around in there, but fairly light. Having never tasted them, I had to do some research and found that they were indeed a fairly generic cake with almost cookie / darkened edges. Not burnt, but you could really get the darker outer edges in this flavor. Sweetness was at about mid level, and it felt perfectly strong at 1.5%. All in, it was a very good, yellow cake-ish cake/cookie, that perfectly portrayed the slightly darker edges. It felt solid at 7.1/10.
Man Pi (CSC) 1.5% (7-31-22) – OK, I’ll admit it, the whole time this was steeping, I WAS thinking about Custard PI. This however, was NOT a custard LOL. According to Chef’s it is
Strong raspberry red fruits with a touch of citrus and lychee.
That was pretty spot on. The red raspberry took the lead, with NO florals or off notes common to raspberries, with the lychee playing second fiddle, and finishing with a light citrus punch. Now, the Lychee MAY add just a smidge of funky-ness at the end, and that may be a decider for you, but to my tastes, it just worked. It was an interesting flavor medley, and not a profile I have tried before. The citrus finish was very light, but just strong enough to provide an interesting kiss-off at the end. The raspberry/red fruits were very clean, natural tasting, and tasty, and the lychee was accurate, WITH, a slight amount of funky-ness. All in, this was an interesting combination, and probably not like anything on your racks currently, and could find a unique place there. It tasted nice and full @ 1.5%, and sweetness was a few ticks below mid level sweet. I struggled over the lychee slight funky-ness as to the rating, and throughout two full testers, I decided that little “twang” just worked, and therefore, this one felt great @ 9.0/10.
Mango (CSC) 1.5% / 3.0% (7-31-22) – Not EVERY one can be a winner, right ? Well, this one, rather underwhelmed at 1.5%, and it did so in a CURIOUS way. Now it’s POSSIBLE that doubling this MIGHT fix some issues,. This one didn’t have much smell when smelling, and on the inhale, had a very rich, “yellow-ish”, sweet, and tart-ish taste, but upon exhale, it was BLANK. Yes, tested, and re-tested, and the same effect. Very LITTLE taste on the exhale. Doubling this to 3.0% did improve it SOMEWHAT, but it was still a “low lier”. Fairly fresh, nicely sweet, with some good fleshy notes, BUT, it was still very, very relaxed, even at the doubled rate. Not terrible by any means, but if you were looking for the Mango ONRUSH, it wasn’t here. Felt fairly placed at 5/10.
Meringue (CSC) 1.5% (7-31-22) – Wow, this one WAS a wow-zer right out of the gate, but let’s see why. Could this be the ONE, that could UN-perch FA Meringue from it’s Ivory Tower ?? Maybe, just maybe. There are plenty of Meringues out there, and much, much fewer GOOD ones. This one did present as almost THE most spot on Meringue out there, BUT, for one thing. There was a distinct almost cereal note thoughout, and during the finish. Very diminished, but it was always there. I typically don’t read other reviews before testing, but I did this time, to see if anyone else got this note, and only ONE person did. The cereal note was a faint, almost looper-ish note. Overall it was fairly low, did not distract, and added some weight, and almost grainy texture to the Meringue. Light, fluffy, accurate, and with some mid-bodied heft (the cereal note), it was VERY hard to mark this one down. After extended testing, I think the cereal note DID work in it’s favor, and that kept this one, in a very rare air space, with maybe only ONE other, possible two. With lower than mid level sweetness, no off notes, and a almost grainy aspect, this one was literally JUST almost perfect. Leaving it at 9.9/10.
Let me ask, If a person had both Tpa and FA would one really need this ??
Lately i buy new flavors because they bring sonwthing new to whats already out there . This is just a personal choice. Example ; I wouldnt buy CSC Lemon Custard bc it sounds like it is close to WF lemon custard
I was literally about to ask the same question 
@fidalgo_vapes I think if you solo’d this against FA’s you might be surprised. Need is such a relative term though. I wouldn’t say go to Chef’s and JUST order this one, but if you’ve got others in the cart, I wouldn’t hesitate to get it. The almost cereal note, and slight grainy-ness sets it apart from all others.
True…Iol
Hmmmm
Same. But i usually fail at the end. Can’t resist.
Its tough to not buy new flaves …Ive been doing good though