Jacote Plum (FA) 1.5% (6-6-21) – Upon first testing this one @ 2.5%, I was getting some strange boozey notes, and strong overtones, re-tested @ 1.5%, which was MUCH better. At the lower 1.5% weight, this Plum revealed itself much better, and without the strange overtones. Having never eaten a Spanish Plum I had no direct comparison, but that didn’t stop this one from being good. A nice, authentic, fresh plum with plenty of main body, and a hint of skin was where this one was centered. Fairly dark, with a spattering of high notes, but the majority were mid and low notes. About mid level sweet, and with some minor tartness, it was an interesting, and different one to taste. It was a different approach than the other Plums I’ve tried, so that pushes it into the unique category again, which is never bad. At this lower testing weight the boozeyness was gone, but it still had an almost slight red-wine contour, which again, made it interesting. Because it opened up, and I lost some of the strange notes I think the lower weight of 1.5% is far better to use this one, and no off-putting notes could be had, at this lower rate. Def. a tester finisher for me, and despite not being one of the more forward flavors, it was very good. Leaving it at 1.5% and 9.1/10.
Another for the shopping list. You need to try more strange fruit.
Hehe, yeah, fair enough. Glad that I reduced from 2.5% to 1.5%, as there were some STRANGE things going on at the higher rate.
Longan Fresh (FA) 2.5% 6-6-21) – Continuing on our interesting fruit travels is the Dragon Eye, aka. Longan. True to the fruit, this was similar to Lychee, but more restrained, with an almost 7-up kicker, and a musky afternote. The muskiness, just like in the fruit wasn’t overbearing, and just worked here as well. The 7-up nuance(s) persisted throughout, and I’d swear when smelling it in the tank, it almost smelled like beer hops. Now, hehe, I get it, sounds crazy, but, as a solo flavor, it DID work, and was very close to the actual fruit. The beer hops was really only present when smelling it, not tasting it, so fear not. @2.5% it felt really solid, sweetness was below mid level, and all in, another unique fruit offering from FA, and if you like Lychee, you’ll probably like, and want this one as well. Interestingly set @ 9.3/10.
Lulo (FA) 2.5% (6-6-21) – I’ve never Lulo’d have you ?? With another exotic from South America, the Lulo presented as a super fresh and juicy pairing of and orange and a lime, BUT, there was something MORE going on here. There was an almost watery juicy-ness to this one, and not in a cactus sort of way, so I obsessed on it, until I could figure out how to explain it. It’s almost the watery juicy-ness you’d get from Celery. I know, I know. Now, before you go running screaming, “What the hell, celery ??!!”, it was not high up in the mix, as the orange/lime took center stage, but sure enough, there was that other element, that the best way I can describe it was like celery. It strangely help bond the two main players together, and tie the flavor together. Despite recognizing the use of cactus for it’s juicy qualities, I’ve not been able to use it because of the taste, and I’m wondering if THIS one could be used (in recipes with citrus) to impart that same juicy-ness. The flavor was laid back @ 2.5% but didn’t taste lacking, it had a certain light, and freshness to it as well. Not heavy, below mid level sweet, and almost a refreshing vape. Wow, this is now becoming a trend here with FlavourArt’s exotic fruit offerings, as this one was another wow-er, and I’m not even really a “fruit guy”. A very unique citrus with an even more unique juicy-ness is what you get. Refreshingly nice @ 9.5/10.
Papaya Indian (FA) 2.5% (6-7-21) – Here was yet another fascinating fruit roll out from FA, and one I’ve never tasted before. Unlike most papayas I’ve tried before, this one was almost UN-ripe, and was missing a lot of the more typical almost creamy body notes. I kept trying to put my finger on what profile I was getting from the un-ripe-ed-ness, and sometimes it almost presented as a slight wintergreen ?? Not 100% sure, but there was a distinct note in there, and once I tasted it, I couldn’t shake it. If you’re looking for an unripe Papaya, this one is it. Is it better, than a fully ripened, full bodies Papaya ?? Perhaps not. Uniquely placing this at a 6.5/10.
Thnx, got me sold on a few. Sure like it if all my bottles came with a date on them too!?
I have a nice mango and nisperos ice cream going on at the moment using the FA Ice Cream Italian Premium and there are no pepper notes that I a sensitive to so that is a big win.
@Ericsgreen thank you, and I think these were pre-shipping bottles, which is why the labels look different from the regular retail ones.
Pina Colada Brazilian (FA) 2.5% (6-11-21) – Most times, Brazilian Pina Coladas differ from standard PC’s with the addition of cream, and fermented sugar cane, in addition to coconut, rum, and pineapple juice. This one turned out to be a lightly refreshing drink, with MOST of the profiles, but missing the big one, Coconut. The biggest players I could detect, were a light, bright pineapple, and with a hint of lime, and a nice cream element. The coconut, if there, was so low in the mix, it was barely detectable, if at all. To my tastes, it kind of pulled it OFF target, as far as a Pina Colada, but it was still a nice summer time drink profile. The rum was present, and just low enough such that it didn’t overwhelm the flavor, or overshadow the other elements. You could easily overcome the lack of coconut by adding your own. The pairing of the pineapple and lime, was actually done quite nicely, as lime can be a steam roller in mixes, but here, it was kept fairly balanced and in check. At 2.5%, it was actually quite good, light, refreshing, and tasty, just NOT 100% nailing the Pina Colada due to the lacking coconut. Almost mid level sweet, and was great @ 2.5%, with no out of place flavors. Despite it being a quite tasty lime/pineapple/cream flavor, minor take-offs due to the missing coconut. Felt right at 6.5/10.
Strawberry Green (FA) 2.5% (6-11-21) – RIGHT out of the gate, this one impressed me, but was it a GREEN strawberry ? That’s going to be hard to say, for everyone. Some yes, some no. I might just be in the no camp, BUT, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. My immediate thoughts were directly “Kiwi meets Strawberry”. Throughout the entire test, I couldn’t shake that assessment. I know what FA was trying to do, and in many ways they succeeded. The Strawberry was deliciously bright, punchy, and and a very sparkly high end finish to it. As far as the “green”-ness, to my tastes, it just really presented as more of a Kiwi. Some people may perceive it as more of a “green”, so this one will REALLY be up to you guys to decide. As it stood, it was just damned good. Juicy, accurate, and at 2.5%, felt really centered, and good. It leaned heavily towards a natural SB with only slight undertones otherwise. What made it interesting, was it didn’t singularly lean towards a ripe, or a fresh, or even a candied, but had multiple elements swirling around, and kept it interesting throughout. While it may not be an FLV Alpine killer, it was certainly a new-ish take on a SB, and might not be a bad addition to your racks, even if you already are flush with SB’s. I tend to gravitate to SB’s that have a nice bright, almost sparkly finish, and this one has them, so possible fading aside, it would be able to punch through, and hold it’s own even when surrounded by creams, etc. While I’m not 100% on the greeen-ness of it, and despite really getting an almost Kiwi from it, it’s hard to mark this one down, as it did, what it did, well. Even within a crowded Strawberry field, this one, breaks new ground, and that’s not an easy thing to do. Handily a 9.3/10.
When we got those bottles the name was Amarula but they did just change the name to Creamy Liqueur Special lol.
@wllmc Oh DID they now ?? !!!
I always like it when you stop in brother. @Drew1 did me a solid in shipping these out. Setting up the LAST one for testing now.
Vanilla Cookie (FA) 2.5% (6-11-21) – LAST ONE on deck. As these were steeping, this one caught my nose, as different than expected. My current go to Cookie is CAP’s Sugar Cookie for reference. Upon first taste, it felt somewhat familiar to me, and it took a second to figure it out (yeah, I test a LOT of flavors LOL). Luckily for you guys, I placed it. This has SOME similarities to …
Molinberry's Butter My Biscuit
Butter My Biscuit (Molinberry) 6% (1-26-20) – FIRST Molinberry out of the gate, and what the HELL is this one ?? !! Do I have your attention LOL ?? OK, the moment you vape this, you get literally SMACKED by the Butter. Not a smidge, a dab, a bit, literally right between the eyes. Wow, didn’t see that coming from a “non-triangle” formulation. Once you get past the shockingly good butter, the biscuit starts to reveal itself. This is not an INW Biscuit which is more like an American Bisquik, but more like Jungle Flavors biscuit which is more of a European biscuit. It has some sweetness, but lower in the scale, with a convincing bakery finish, which has a subtle note, perhaps a slight almond maybe ?? Now I’m quite sure not many of you, just go out and single flavor test a biscuit, but that’s why you’re reading this LOL. As a SF it is an interesting one, and even with the slight sweetness and probably almond-ish undertone, the overwhelming buttery nature of it, will lead to a LOT of uses for this one. For a buttery biscuit, or a really buttery biscuit, Molinberry nailed this one. Easily 9.5/10 .
Now in comparison to the aforementioned, this one had a much more relaxed butter note, and a FAR less biscuit note, which to me, started to drop it into more of a cookie profile, but the similarities, still existed. The bakery/texture in this one REALLY came through, and almost added some grainy-ness to it, which is really hard to do IMO. While there were some buttery elements in here, they were NOT high enough to push this into a butter cookie status. The vanilla aspect(s) were present, but somewhat relaxed, so it was IN there, but it didn’t SCREAM vanilla at the same time. The bakery, and texture just kept really impressing me throughout the entire tester, and the buttery notes, and about mid-level sweetness kept it interesting. Wow, always nice when you can run out a series with a BANG. Your tastes on cookies vs. biscuits will vary, especially if you’re US vs. UK, but this one really seemed to almost bridge the gap of BOTH, and did it with a buttery undertone, and a texture-ous-ness that really drove it home. This one is yet another, that should probably end up on your racks, as it really bonded the cookie/biscuit, and tasted great. Going to finish out this great new series from Flavour Art leaving this one at a smoking hot 9.8/10.
As always, huge thanks out to @drew1, @wllmc, and the entire crew @Bull_City_Flavors for making this run possible, and the continued support.
@authormichellehughes if you end up picking up FA’s new Vanilla Cookie, please let me know what you think.
Nice review. I have a number of favored recipes that use cookie and biscuit so this one is a must try.
The Vanilla Cookie has currently taken pole position when reaching for cookies.