Adding 2 more Ultimates, and One Shots !!!
Single Flavors:
Ultimate Pink Burst (Jungle Flavors) 3% (2-23-25) – Sweet, Tart, and WOW !!! OK, ok, maybe I jumped the gun here. While I’m not a huge Starburst-er, I have had a few, and yes, this one tasted VERY close to a Pink Starburst Candy. The Strawberry element(s) were fairly complex, and tasted like a couple of strawberries. Much like the candy it seemed centered around a combination of ripe, candied, and artificial strawberries. The sweet / tart ratio was about perfect, and literally gave you JUST enough of each, perfectly paired. The candy profile was no LESS impressive, as somehow, Flavor Jungle figured out how to really mimic the chewy candy aspect(s). Not a hard candy, not a gummy, but somehow, they nailed the chewy starbust-ish candy profile.
At 3% it was very full, and sweetness was just at mid-level, which worked for a chewy candy flavor. As is sometimes the case, it was SOO good, that I literally kept filling tanks up and enjoying it, before realizing I hadn’t written a word LOL. As stated this is not a dedicated or “pure” strawberry, but a chewy SB candy, that was spot on for a SB Starburst. No off-notes, issues, and abou tthe only “thought” was possibly the candy element(s) might have slightly muted the SB’s, but again, just a thought, and it was soo slight, won’t mark it down much at all for it, BUT, something I thought of. All in, if you love “Pink” Starbursts, you might want to pick up a BIG bottle of this one now. Easily just almost perfect, at a 9.9/10.
Ultimate Yellow Cake (Jungle Flavors) 3% (2-22-25) – Finally getting some time to get around to these 2 new Ultimates, and 2 new One Shots. I don’t think ANY YC can be tested without mentioning the OG, Flavor West YC, along with it’s use of sugars which has tempered it’s uses. This one actually worked to capture most of the actual elements in a YC pretty nicely, and (assuming no sugar(s)), might just push it up into the “You should probably get this one” camp. With YC’s being fairly basic with flour, eggs, vanilla, milk, sugar, and baking soda, it’s surprising that there aren’t more good YC’s out there. This one actually had most of the big elements in JUST the right proportion. I personally like it when I can get an almost baking soda-ish profile from cakes, as it just makes them even more realistic, and I did get one from this one. Some weight to the bakery, just some heft or grainy-ness, but not a lot, but just enough to add some weight to it.
Although there were no burnt edges, or darkened notes, it did portray a “cooked” cake, with no batter-y-ness, which was nice, and the vanilla, while present, actually wasn’t the top note, which again, helped keep it authentic. Overall it was a fairly “smooth” yellow cake, and really did taste close to the real thing, and after 3 tanks I really couldn’t flesh out any nit-picks, or “woulda, shoulda, coulda”'s. At 3% it was about a 7/10 on the strength scale, and felt like it could use just a bit more as a solo, and there were no off-notes to be had. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and it suited the flavor nicely. JUST rich enough to be in the cake-y camp without being too thick or dense. All in, a very good showing from Flavor Jungle, and for my tastes, the little baking soda-ish kick really sealed the deal. Leaving this one very high with the only “want” being just a bit more, but that surely could have been resolved by adding a little more. Ultimately, pretty damned spot on, and a 9.75/10.
One Shots:
Cookies and Cream (Jungle Flavors) 12% (3-1-25) – Wow, wow, wow, RIGHT out of the gate. O.k., basically, all this needs to be is TWO profiles, chocolate cookie, and creamed filling. The MOMENT I tasted this one, I knew, it had the MOST accurate chocolate cookie (Oreo) that I have ever had. PERIOD !!! I’ve tested quite a few C and C’s, but this one’s cookie, was utterly SPOT ON. I can’t fully explain it, but basically almost ALL of the other ones I’ve tried, just missed the cookie part. This one, has a somewhat subtle undertone, and I can’t say what it is, but Jungle Flavors nailed it, and completed the oreo cookie. It’s almost an undertone, or when eating them, almost an aftertaste you get from the cookie, and yes, hehe, it’s here.
The Vanilla Creme Filling was in there too, BUT, (hehe, I know, I know…), it was a little lower in the mix, and was somewhat overshadowed (not entirely) by the cookie. I could smell it, but when test tasting it, it was just a bit low(er) in the mix. It too, was very accurate, but not as completely as the cookie. It’s possible if it was raised up in the mix, it might turn out JUST as good as the cookie profile. As it stood, with the two main profiles, I’d give the cookie a 10/10, and the vanilla creme filling a 9/10 for accuracy reference. At 12% if was just about perfect strength wise, and would 10/10 it on the strength scale. Sweetness was just at mid-level, and perfect for an Oreo cookie. No off-notes, no complaints other than wanting JUST a hint more of the filling. All in, one of the best Oreo Cookies I’ve tried, and hands down the best Oreo Cookie profile I’ve tried to date. Marking down only slightly for the slightly light(er) Vanilla Creme Filling, and leaving this one sky high at a 9.9/10.
Sweet Apple Crumble (Jungle Flavors) 10% (3-1-25) – This one was hard(er) to really quantify, so I spent some EXTRA time with it. The apple(s) were what really made it hard to nail down. Despite extended testing, I really kept coming up with TWO different apple profiles. One was more Apple Pie Filling-ish, and the other seemed to really present as more of a brighter Fuji. Throughout the entire test, I couldn’t decide if the two of them really worked or not. Combined they WERE a very interesting combination, but at the same time, not entirely constructive. I did get some fairly decent crust from this one, but the crumble seemed to be lighter at least, or lost in the mix. What’s even stranger, is even WITH all of the aforemention, it was actually a really good mix overall.
At 10% it was very full without needing any boosts, and even being billed as “Sweet”, it was actually just below mid-level sweet. No off-notes, or complaints, except for the previously mentioned apple pairings. The profiles combined were fairly thick (i.e. not watery or thin), and pretty rich, which may have been an Ice Cream layered in there somewhere. All in, I would probably have just billed it as a Country Apple Pie. Literally as I finished the last tester, I finally decided that although the two apple profiles (pie filling, and bright fuji) didn’t fully support each other, they DID lend to an interestingly unique apple pie approach. Marking this down ever so slightly for that, and more for the “where’s da crumble”. Still a great one-shot IMO, and leaving it still high at a 8.75/10.
