ABSOLUTELY @Gazza7, I very much look forward to it.
Yes, I have to agree, the Luzon, as well as a few others, were “WTF” when smelling them. I’m testing the Grape now, and it was one that smelled like it COULD be poison in the bottle, BUT, has now settled out into a great flavor ONCE diluted. Am HOPING the Luzon is the same.
Grapes (Duomei) 0.2%/0.4% (1-8-23) – This one was one of the stronger smelling ones in the bottle, and because of that, I decided to start it out @ 0.2%. At this weight, it was clearly a “purple” grape. Not a deep, rich, dark concord, but still a purple grape. Not candied, not jammed, and it was actually a few ticks below mid level sweet. It felt like it needed a boost, so I doubled it to 0.4%. It increased, but still tasted a little restrained, and I’m not sure if increasing it any further would yield any real increase in flavor or saturation. Because it was less sweet than expected, and had an almost dry-ness at the very end of the finish I wondered if some sweetener would help wetten that up, and maybe make it pop a little more. Despite my normal, “Don’t Alter The Flavors” rule, I did add a couple of drops of TPA Sweetener, and sure enough, the slight dryness at the end was eliminated, AND, it did help out, as it started to pop JUST a bit more. So, your tastes will dictate whether or not to boost this one or not. Having it below mid level sweet was actually nice, as then you could CHOOSE to sweeten, or leave it as is, as opposed to a heavily artificial and sweet grape like FW Grape Soda. It presented as fairly natural, and had no off notes, with the exception of the slight dryness on the tail end, AND, the somewhat relaxed nature of it. All in, it was a mostly natural tasting, purple grape, that was somewhat relaxed in it’s presentation. It felt good @ 8.5/10.
Green Grape (Duomei) 0.4% (1-8-23) – Fresh off of the Grapes which did indeed impart a “purple”-ness, this one was VERY similar, minus the “purple”. You could INFER that it was a green grape, but the best way to describe it, was just a grape, missing the “purple” if that makes sense, not because of any true “green” notes, or aspects. Like the Grapes flavor before it, it was not candied, or soda-like, and favored a natural green/white grape. Unlike the Grapes flavor, this one did not have a dry finish, nor did it seem like it needed any sweetener to help it pop. While still not a forward flavor, it worked pretty nicely @ 0.4%, and didn’t seem like it was lacking, or needing increased flavor levels. At almost about mid-level sweet, there weren’t any off notes, and like so many other Duomei flavors, it actually tasted, authentic, and natural with no artificially overt notes. While admitedly not using Grape(s) very much, this one would work nicely if you were in need of a green or white grape, and/or NOT a concord or purple grape. Scoring it slightly higher than the Grapes, due to the lack of any dryness on the finish @ 8.75/10.
Juicy Peach (Duomei) 0.4%/0.8%/1.2% (1-8-23) – Probably my most used Juicy Peach, is still TPA’s DX Juicy Peach for comparison. Right out of the gate, I could tell this one was NOT a sweetened, yellow, or canned peach, but an almost white peach WITH some juicy juiciness to it. Paler, and drier than a succulent yellow peach, but still a pretty good peach none the less. I mentioned a dryness, and it wasn’t off-putting, and it did seem to work with the “juicy” aspects of it, so it wasn’t really a negative in this case. Without altering this one, I DO think that a smidge of sweetener might help it “pop” a little more, as it was a few ticks below mid-level sweet. Starting out at 0.4% it was fairly present, but felt like it needed more, so I doubled it to 0.8%, and this seemed to be the sweet spot for this one, with increased presence, but with no aftertastes, or folding. Increasing again to 1.2% it was obvious that the flavor was folding, and I do not recommend going above around 0.85%. At the 0.8% sweet spot, it worked really well, with plenty of fruity flesh, with some skin, and you could almost taste the “fuzz”, hehe, but not quite. Very convincing, and without anything standing out, it tasted really natural. I have to give credit to Duomei, as they seem to have really nailed down the “natural” replication. All in, for a mostly white peach, with some minor yellow peach aspect, that was juicy, and slightly dry, this one worked really well, and stayed convincing to the end. Giving this one a 9.1/10 for @fidalgo_vapes.
Kiwi Fruit (Duomei) 0.2%/0.4% (1-8-23) – Right out of the gate, I could tell something was wrong with this one. YES, it happens, believe it or not. A muted Kiwi-ish, with a citrusy oil and bandaids ?? Uh Oh. OK, maybe the initial 0.4% was too high, so I reduced to 0.2%, and it was about the same, with less intensity. I could pick out the Kiwi, but there is/were fairly substantial off notes, some of which were def. band aid-ish. The kiwi that was in there was actually pretty good, BUT, it was fairly heavily shrouded in the back/off notes, so it really put a damper on the party with this one. Sadly, I cannot recommend this one, or at least @ 0.2%-0.4%. As always, I strongly encourage you guys to try it, and base your OWN opinions, as they are the ones that really matter. Sadly, no Kiwi party here today, and leaving this one substantially down @ 1.5/10.
Yeah, very much agreed @fidalgo_vapes. Like I always tell people, “If I taste it, you’ll know about it”. I always have to DOUBLE check myself to make sure it’s not on MY end, or mixed too high, or too low, especially with flavors like this, where there are virtually NO good notes on. The funny/odd thing is the bandaids didn’t carry over to actually finger test tasting, but vaping it, they sure did.
Kiwi is not a fruit I like anyway, but I am curious to know how YOU know what a bandaid tastes like as in all my years I cannot recall having an opportunity (or need) to eat one… just sayin’
Lemon Lime Sprite (Duomei) 0.6% (1-9-23) – I remember when I first got these flavors wondering how they could get away with using the name “Sprite”, but they did it. I can see why they chose it, because this wasn’t JUST a Lemon Lime, but it did kind of favor that WITH some Sprite mixed in. I wouldn’t call it a soda per se, but it did have an almost low level fizzy-ness. The lemon and lime were paired nicely without the lime taking over as can often be the case. It was great at 0.6%, and I didn’t have to urge to increase it at all. It was surprisingly a little below mid level sweet, and it felt just a little bit lackluster, AND, maybe it could benefit from a little sweetener. Breaking my cardinal rule (again), I added 3 drops of TPA’s sweetener, and SURE enough, it started to pop. Your mileage may very on the sweetener induced pop, but it was pretty evident to me. Both the lemon and lime tasted fairly natural, and I got no candied, or other artificial-ness from them, which left this fairly refreshing, and easy to vape. I was also surprised after two tanks, it wasn’t fatiguing or boring. For a really nice lemon/lime combo with an almost fizzy (but not entirely) Sprite-like finish, this one gets it done. Solidly a 9.5/10.