Coconut Macaroons (CSC) 1.5% (6-13-21) – Many people don’t actually even know what’s IN a Coconut Macaroon, and they’re not complicated. Coconut, sweetened condensed milk, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Did Chef’s nail this flavor ?? YES !!! —END of REVIEW----. Kidding. Wow, talk about an IMPACT from merely 1.5% of a flavor, this one has it, and it’s great. I think many times, peoples tastes regarding coconuts vary wildly, so keep that in mind any time you read a review of coconut flavors. For my tastes, this one had a perfect pairing of both a creamy-ish coconut, and almost a raw coconut. A tick above mid-level sweet, with a super delicious sweetened creamy back end. The coconut had no “greasy-ees”, or “oily-ees”, and at the very end it finished with a nice astringent, acidic note, which really carried the entire flavor home. Had the coconut been purely creamy, this wouldn’t have been there, and it WOULD have been missed. Tasting this flavor, really had a beginning, middle, and end. Quite interesting, and super delicious, and despite emptying two testers, I could find NO fault with this one. If you like coconut, this one might just end up on your short list. Unquestionably 9.8/10.
…and ofc i couldn’t resist… I just made an order when i saw there is only one 10ml bottle left…
Crazy Rainbow (CSC) 1.5% (6-13-21) – As a general rule, I do not use any cooling agents, and despite trying them all, have never enjoyed them. This is a disclaimer, as this flavor HAS cooling in it, so please keep this in mind. It’s a shame, because the flavor(s) are actually quite good, BUT, if you are an anti-cooler like me, the cooling can just get in the way. I would wish that Chef’s would carry this exact flavor, but without the cooling as an option. As far AS the flavor/profiles, they’re actually quite good, but somewhat obscured from me due to the aforementioned. I checked Chef’s product page, and didn’t see any mention of the cooling but they billed it as a Lemon, Black Currant, Red Fruit medley, and that sounds about right. The lemon, and red fruits are the two main profiles, with possibly some currant in there. The cooling is fairly prevalent and persistent throughout, and your like/dislike will obviously come into play here. The red fruit/lemon pairing is actually really good, and felt perfect at 1.5%, and with below mid level sweetness, was interesting, non-fatiguing, and damned fine tasting. It would be nice if Chef’s stated the cooling on their page, and I’ll contact them about that. As it stood, from a flavoring perspective, the pairings, were quite unique, fresh, and damned good, so I’ll rate on that aspect of it. If you’re a “no cooler” like me, stay away, but if you’re not, and you’re in need of an interestingly unique pairing of Lemon, Red Fruits, and a smidge (maybe) of currant, you should try this one. 9.1/10.
SNIFFER ALERT – 6-13-21 !!!
When loading up the 2nd batch of these new Chef’s Super Concentrates, the Waffle was the last one I mixed up. As is often the case, I smell them in the bottles, just to get an initial assessment, and something very SURPRISING happened. I thought the Waffle smelled familiar, and I ran to my Inawera rack, and WHAT do you know. Smell wise (haven’t tested it yet), but smell wise, this new Waffle smells an AWFUL lot like my Inawera Waffle-YC !!!
I even smelled it side by side with my remaining INW Waffle-YC, and wow, they were REALLY close. Since Inawera discontinued a few of their flavors, many of us, have been on the prowl looking, so I’ll keep you guys up to date on the WAFFLE TEST !!!
Creme Brulee (CSC) 1.5% (6-13-21) – A rich custard base, topped with a crisp, caramelized sugar, who wouldn’t like that ?? !!! The first thing that struck me with this one, was how well Chef’s did the caramelized sugar. Custards are plentiful, but a good caramelized sugar, almost burnt, but not bitter can be hard to get right, and they did. Underneath it, was a nice somewhat relaxed vanilla custard. Eggs and vanilla were present, but it wasn’t overly eggy. The sugar topping was ALMOST the star of the show here, but not entirely. The custard held it’s own, and worked flawlessly with the topping, and what a one-two punch it was. Above mid-level sweet, and it tasted nicely full at 1.5%. Nothing off-putting, just a great tasting experience. The overall creamy level was about a 6/10, so it was not a super dense creamy flavor, but honestly, after you start tasting it, that won’t matter. Further testing revealed that the vanilla did take front seat from any egg notes, which was nice as opposed to a heavier egg-centric custard. Again, perfect pair between the custard and topping. More than rich enough to get your attention, but not oppressively so. All in, this might JUST be the best Creme Brule I’ve tasted. I could find NO faults with this one. Handily a 9.9/10.
@authormichellehughes paging Michelle …
Custard (CSC) 1.5% (6-14-21) – If anyone knows how to completely ignore DAAP concerns, and dive RIGHT into the Custard pool, head first, it’s me. Matter of fact, I still need to try @woftam’s Custard Slut now that I think about it !!! OK, what in the hell do we have here. Hero / Zero ?? I’m leaning towards HERO people !!! Now, we don’t have to re-hash all the “What type of custard do you like” conversations, as we ALL have different tastes. I’ve got hundreds of uses for Custards thus far, and I use a wide array of them. I prefer a LESS heavy eggy custard, most of the time. This one presented as a rich, semi dense, not overly eggy custard, paired with an almost delicious pudding, BUT, there was something else. What in the hell ?? It’s almost like a lighter donut/fried dough profile. I thought I smelled donut when smelling the bottle, but wasn’t sure. Yup, that’s what I’m getting, BUT, at a much lower ratio, as opposed to the Custard/Pudding. At first I wasn’t sure, but now, I think it just works. I stopped focusing soley on it, and the sum total of the profiles, and it just works. Simple, lighter, but still heavy enough to grab your attention. Nice and tasty at 1.5%, and at about mid level sweet, having a hard time finding issues with it. For you numbers people, it was like 40% Custard, 40% Van. Pudding, and 20% Donut, and that’s what you get. If you like those three profiles, and ratios, you’ll love this flavor. For MY palate/tastes, I can’t go lower than 9.75/10.
Donut (CSC) 1.5% (6-16-21) – Of ALL the donuts I’ve tested over the years, it seems like there’s really only THREE things that come into play. Yeasty, oily (fried dough), and frosting. It’s much harder than it seems to get it right, or there’d be MORE good ones. Chef’s donut seemed to lean more heavily to the fried dough side, as opposed to the yeasty side. Right there, that may define it as a hero or zero already, but that’s for YOU to decide. The FROSTING on this one, was STELLAR, and really stood out during the testing. I did NOT get any Play-Doh which was a huge plus (Glazed Donut you know I’m talking about you), and I struggled to come up with a describe-able fried dough to yeasty ratio. It leaned so heavily towards a fried dough, that I barely got any yeast notes. Maybe 80 fried dough / 20 yeast, if even that, maybe even higher. Regardless of the exact ratio, suffice it to say that if you prefer a fried dough donut, you will like this one, if not, well, hehe, you know the deal. The frosting was almost really the star here, as it would appear that I prefer a more yeasty base, than a fried dough, BUT, those are MY tastes, not yours. At 1.5% it was very strong, and could PROBABLY be dropped to 1.0% with ease, at least for SFT, mixing weights will always vary depending on your goals, and supporting flavors. To try and sum up the THREE parts with this one, I would have to guess at 60% fried dough, 30% glazed/frosting and 10% yeast. Continued testing verified that to be pretty close. I did not get any off notes at this testing weight, and sweetness was above mid level, and the frosting/glazed and I became fast friends during this test. While preferring a more yeast based approach, this one was fairly convincing, and felt good at 8/10.
Lemon (CSC) 1.5% (6-18-21) – For me, lemons always fall into one (or more) of the basic three types Natural, Lemonade, or Candied. The lemonade style would be half way between natural and full candied. Chef’s was a pretty interesting Lemon, because it seemed to straddle all three. At 1.5% it was fairly full, and didn’t taste overflavored, so you won’t have to worry about micro drops LOL. Sweetness and tartness were both on point with just enough of each, but not too much of either. Because it kind of straddled the fence on the three types, it was an interesting flavor, as sometimes it shifted around to more of one or another, but stayed true to all 3. Depending on your needs this one should prove to be very versatile, and allow for broad usage, as it wasn’t pigeon holed into just one category or profile. It was actually surprisingly good, on it’s own. All in, for a broad spectrum lemon this one was pretty good, with nothing out of place. Felt solid @ 9.2/10.
Blackberry (CSC) 0.25% (6-19-21) – OK, this one was STRONG. Started out at 1.5%, 0.75%, and 0.50% and it folded over on itself, and went full soapy. Reduced to 0.25%, re-steeped, and it can NOW be evaluated. Even at this much reduced weight, the blackberry was still present, and just at the very end, I will still getting that off, soapy note. VERY reduced, and almost undetectable but still there. The blackberry itself was a mid to dark berry, that had some nice sweetness and a tart bite at the end. An actual sparkly blackberry of sorts. Because I reduced to 0.25% and I was still getting a lil’ soap, you will have to use caution when using this, and it will have to be used very low. As it stood, at the lower 0.25% rate, with the plusses and minuses, felt fair @ 5/10.
Sounds like it only really has potential for a violet blend.
Marshmallow (CSC) 1.5% (6-19-21) – I was immediately struck by how good this one captured the powdered sugar on the outer layer of a marshmallow, maybe even better than most others. The vanilla twinged mallow followed behind that, with a fairly clean finish. I wouldn’t say it was overly heavy in the mouthfeel dept., but still present. Fairly neutral except for some vanilla notes, and it leaned more towards the smaller “cereal” marshmallows than anything else. Tasted just fine at 1.5%, and COULD even be used a smidge higher if needed. It’s sharp edges tempering will have to be checked when mixing obviously. All in, a very accurate, almost small, cereal type marshmallow that excelled at the outer, powdery finish more than anything else. No off notes, and was actually quite good as a solo. Powderly placed at 8/10.
Milk Fresh (CSC) 1.5% (6-20-21) – Milks, milks, milks, the bane of my testing hehe. Why ? Solo’d they can be fair non-descript, and their true power is in mixes wherein they temper/smooth/cream up recipes. Chef’s as a solo was fairly non-descript, and almost presented as more an almost powdered milk. This aspect could be smelled more than tasted. Just at mid level sweet, it didn’t feel overpowered at 1.5%. Semi creamy, with a slight mouthfeel, and did not have a strong dairy note like TPA’s. All in, this was a relaxed Milk flavor, that had aspects of a powdered milk. 7.9/10.
Mint (Fresh) (CSC) 1.5% (6-20-21) – Whew, we’ve got some cooling in this one (coming from a non-cooling guy). As far as a “fresh” mint, I didn’t get an entirely “fresh” from this one, but also got more of a candied mint, or almost a Wriggley’s Double Mint Gum mint. It presented as almost a 50/50 mix of the two. Initially the cooling was pretty intense, but as the test wore on, it subdued a bit. Sweetness was slightly above mid level, and that might be what helped pull the candied mint profile more forward. Tasted good at 1.5%, and nothing off-putting, and I was continually reminded of Wriggley’s gum. Not a gum flavor, but the flavor profile(s). Minor take offs for the fresh/candy split, but it was good as it stood. 8.7/10.
Mojito (CSC) 1.5% (6-20-21) – Ironically while testing this Mojito, I was HAVING a Mojito, so this was going to be interesting. Having just tested Chef’s Mint Fresh, I had assumed it would be in here, and it was. This flavor had the same nice mint, somewhat sweetened, paired with a great lime. Missing however was the Rum, unless it was so low in the mix as to be undetectable. It tasted perfect at 1.5%, and was above mid level sweet, and the pairing of the mint and lime were nicely done with neither overpowering the other. As a virgin Mojito, wasn’t bad at all, and clearly you could spike up some rum if needed. Minor takeoffs for the missing rum, as the rest was very spot on. 9.1/10.
@SessionDrummer So, did you have one vape, then one sip? Or was it two vapes, two sips? Or 3 vapes and drain the glass? 
Another for the shopping list. “But why is the rum Gone?!”
Hehe, well, I lost count of the ones in my glass, and the Chef’s was pretty good, just not sure where the Rum went.
Good reviews!!
lol like this one too…everyone…
Oats (CSC) 1.5% (6-20-21) – I think it’s safe to say I was COMPLETELY unprepared for this flavor. Not a lot of oats out there, because it’s HARD to get right. I assumed this would be some general bakery with grains, passed off as a “kinda close” flavor. Boy was I wrong. FULL on, OATS !!! No puffed wheat, not corn, not AP, OATS !!! It made me immediately think of Quaker Oats, no questions, no hesitations. Below mid level sweet, and the best part, it wasn’t FLAVORED. Blank slate, spot on oats. That’s it, that’s all. Was delicious at 1.5%, and man, the opportunities to use this one will be endless, and you could tweak to your hearts content. This, ladies and gentlemen is an impressive flavor, and I’m glad I added this one to the list. If you want some spot on oats, nicely sweetened, this is the one you should get. Full stop. 10/10.