Loading up the One-Shots to finish the BIGGEST entire series ever tested. This was a LONG series. As with the FLAVRZ Flavor Shots, all mixed and tested at the listed percentages, in a 70v/39p/3mg carrier, on the SteamCrave RDTA v.1, running dual vertical kanthal 24 ga. coils, with dry burned coils, and fresh cotton before every test. All tested at 65 watts.
Apple Pie (FLAVRZ) (One Shot) 25% (8-21-23) – Sometimes you can add ALL the right ingredients, and still the recipe just doesn’t mesh. This MAY be one of those, but read on, and YOU decide. What I could directly pick up on was a semi bright apple, some apple filling, some crust, a light cinnamon or spice, and a main creamy carrier (maybe whipped cream, but tasted more like ice cream). There, ALL the perfect profiles all in there, yet somehow, it tasted a ilttle “fuzzy”. Fuzzy ?? Yes, fuzzy. It seemed to lack focus, or a clear lead profile like the Apple for example. 3 testers in, I kept thinking of what it needed to be better, and I finally settled on a more pronounced apple filling. The crust was actually very good, and present, as was the creamy whatever it was (thinking ice cream), but the apple/apple filling got someone lost in the mix, which is interesting, as MOST times Apple Pies are tested, they seem to need MO CRUST (with FA’s Apple Pie being the exception). At 25% it was rich, creamy, and actually damned tasty, BUT, the apple/filling fell so far behind the crust and creamy-ness, it just didn’t sell it all the way. I am a lover of FLV’s Apple Filling, and FA’s Fuji, and I almost wanted to “dose” this One-Shot, JUST to see, but, hehe, I can’t get distracted. No off-notes, but just fuzzy and out of focus overall. I’d love to rate it very high JUST for the delicious crust, as it was flaky, almost spot on, BUT as a whole, I’ll have to apply some take-offs, specifically for the low apple/filling, and overall lack of focus. A tasty flavor, BUT, it would need to be boosted up, and spiked to really shine. All in, it felt fairly placed at a 6.5/10.
Boysenberry Cheesecake (FLAVRZ) (One Shot) 25% (8-20-23) – This flavor (One Shot) brings ANOTHER great dilemma for the reviewer (me, hehe). What exactly MAKES the Cheesecake for the “every person” ?? Creamy, Cheesy, Crusty ?? You get the idea. SO, without further ado, let’s get into it. This was a pairing of a GREAT Boysenberry, and Cheesecake. The Boysenberry was really the star here, as it was just jammed up nicely, and I could see it PACKED into a filled donut, and I wouldn’t be able to resist it. The Boysenberry really did present JUST as a jammed/sweetened/thickened filling for a donut. There’s just no better way to describe it. FLAVRZ did a great job with it, as it didn’t seem to meander into Raspberry territory, and had a really great “thickness” to it, hence my “donut filling” description.
Now, onto the Cheesecake. It was very creamy, and had a great mouthfeel, and was very light on the “cheesy” notes, and without much crust. This was why I lead the review, the way I did. It was very similar to LA’s Cheesecake, which is/was very creamy, but without much cheese or crust. When smelling this one, I did get some cheese, but when testing it, it seemed to go dormant. I felt like it could use JUST a pinch of TPA Graham Crust to really sell the cheesecake better. Your own tastes, will decide better than I can, or could. The smooth and creamy-ness of the cheesecake could not be overstated, and it was good. There were no off-notes, BA notes, florals, etc., and it was delicious at my 25% mixing weight. Sweetness was at about mid-level, and with the exception of the very light cheese, and missing crust, I couldn’t nit-pick it. I think going lighter on the cheese may have been to appeal to a wider audience. All in, it was almost worth the purchase JUST for the Boysenberry. All in, a very good one, and could easily be “spiked” if you needed it. With minor take-offs for the light cheese and missing crust, I’ll leave this one squarely on a 9.0/10.
Grape and Berries (FLAVRZ) (One Shot) 25% (8-19-23) – The MOST value in reviews (including mine) is from accurately explaining EXACTLY what was experienced when testing, even IF, it doesn’t make any sense, hehe. Well, there was some NON-sensical going on with this one, or it seemed. Some flavors need to break in when first loading them up, others don’t. This one slammed me with what I thought was a BOOM of cooling agent on the first few tries, but then later seemed to subside, sometimes completely, and other times somewhat. Pretty strange ehhh ?? Throughout MOST of the tester tanks, I was pretty sure thee WAS some cooling in this one, and you guys KNOW, I hate the cooling. On the third and final tester now, I’m still getting enough of it, to state that there is some in here. It was VERY odd, as I got more of the TASTE of a cooling agent, than the EFFECT of one. Confused ?? Good, me too.
The flavor(s) ranged from somewhat obscured by it, to lightly obscured by it IMO, and again, strange. When I could best taste them, they landed squarely in a deep purple grape with some light berry (non-descript) undertones. The grape tasted fairly artificial with some natural notes tossed in. The berries were light enough to completely avoid identification, but they were there, and they paired nicely with the Grape. At 25% it was about where you would need a mix to sit, and sweetness was just above mid-level. Flavor-wise, it was actually pretty good, BUT, for the mysterious kooling that kept creeping in and out. I (being a hater of all things cool EXCEPT beer), really wish it hadn’t have been added, so I could have better enjoyed the flavor profiles, BUT, that’s me. No off-notes (except for the you know what), and am deliberating on how to score this one. If I was just rating it on flavor I’d probably have left it at about a 9.0/10, but the cooling kicker, kind of dropped it down a bit for me, because at times, it almost did seem to obscure some of the flavors, and I’ll place it fairly at a 7.0/10.
Pineapple Custard (FLAVRZ) (One Shot) 25% (8-18-23) – I decided to skip RIGHT to the Custard in this group, because it smelled too good not to. I’ve made, tested, and tried a LOT of Custards, but this one was going to be a new take on it. Right out of the gate, I did like it. I can’t remember the FIRST random thought I had, maybe it was something like “Yeah, this is a pleasing vape”, or something like that. Pleasing ?? Yeah, hehe, I know. Now as I ALWAYS do when reviewing custards, I have to put the disclaimer in, that everyone’s tastes for custards vary WILDLY, from the Super Eggy, to the almost Pudding-like, so keep that in mind. This custard DID lean more towards MY desired profile which was light eggy-ness, and more pudding-like-ness. If I had to REALLY nail it down, I’d have to put it at a 35% Eggy, and 65% Vanilla Pudding-ish. Just enough egg was present to verify it was a custard, BUT, not so much that it was heavy handed or overbearing. The vanilla pudding (my words) was creamy, and smooth with a fairly rich mouthfeel and taste.
The Pineapple that was blended in here, was also very good, and seemed to favor an almost “baked” pineapple, with some brighter notes on the finish. I’ve always found that hard to do, especially when pairing with heavy creams/custards, which can obliterate bright/punchy notes. Sweetness was just above mid level, but not cloyingly so. The blending/pairing of the custard and pineapple was very nicely done. After 3 full testers (it didn’t take long), I really couldn’t nit-pick the ratio or blending, and it tasted JUST where it needed to be with JUST enough of each, but without too much of either. Now obviously, if you WERE a heavy egg fan, you could easily push that profile up, or even brighten up the pineapple more, BUT, you would risk tampering with the delicate balance from FLAVRZ. As with the Flavor Shots, I mixed this at 25%, and it was “in the pocket”, and didn’t taste weak, or overflavored. All in, this was a great pairing of a Baked Pineapple with some bright finish notes, with a combination Custard which leaned towards a Vanilla Pudding, but with some good eggy-ness added. Creamy, smooth, good rich-ness and moutfeel, and all around, an interesting, and convincing pairing. As mentioned, I couldn’t really find any easy (or hard) to find nit-picks, and am going to leave it fairly high at a 9.5/10.
Splice (FLAVRZ) (One Shot) 25% (8-22-23) – Wow, this is the LASTEST LAST flavor for me to review in this MASSIVE series from FLAVRZ. 111 flavors, Flavor Shots, and One Shots. It has taken me almost 5 months to complete this. Onto the SPLICE. Up until testing this one I had never heard of Splice before, but apparently, it is a popular Ice Cream in Australia Vanilla Ice Cream, Pineapple, and a hint of Lime ?? Oh YES, that’s a winning combo. The Vanilla Ice Cream was creamy, rich, and believable, with a good mouthfeel, tempered into that was a bright (almost VTA Sugarloaf) Pineapple with bright punchy yellow notes, and JUST beneath the surface, was a slight hint of lime. Just like it was advertised. BUT, hehe I know, I know, there WAS some cooling, and it was light, to medium light, but I could detect it. As always you have to decide for yourselves, as I am NOT a cooling guy. I felt like it had, or was muting some of the flavor profiles just a bit. At 25% it was full, but it felt like it was almost being held BACK by the cooling. I would LOVE to test this flavor WITHOUT cooling, and verify this. The overall fusion of the three main elements was GREAT. No off=notes, and the pairing of a creamy Vanilla Ice Cream, and a bright punchy Pineapple was brilliant. Even WITH the cooling, I couldn’t NOT blow through all 3 testers before I knew it. No off-notes, except for the cooling, BUT, that will be a personal taste thing. I was glad to have such a great flavor close out this MASSIVE SERIES of tests. I struggled to rate this one, as I couldn’t prove the cooling was tempering down the overal flavors or not, but I felt like it was. Was that final assessment (guess), I decided to kick it down 1.5 to an 8.5/10. You may rate it higher if you aren’t as opposed to cooling as I am. All in, a great overall profile that just plain worked.
Strawberry Milkshake (FLAVRZ) (One Shot) 25% (8-20-23) – I have tasted this “milkshake” compound before in other MS offerings, and sometimes it convinced me, other times not, so I’m 50/50 on that. It was creamy, with a good mouthfeel, and I didn’t get any overt “malt”-y-ness. The strawberry, was almost lower in the mix than the “shake” components. Because of that, the exact SB composition couldn’t be fully identified. But, when it did peek out, it seemed to be more of a SB syrup, than a ripe, or fresh SB. This did seem to work in this profile overall. At 25% it was rich and full, and didn’t leave you wanting. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and there were no off-notes, except for (personal preference), the “shake” compounds. I know that what defines, or exactly what tastes like a MS can vary from person to person, so your mileage will vary depending on what YOU think. For my tastes, I felt like it sold the “shake” at about 75% of the way there. All in, it was NOT a creamy SB, or SB cream, so that pushed it up a bit overall in my scoring. I finally settled on a 8.5/10 for this one.
