Chocolate Dubai (CAP) 4% (7-19-26) – A slight delay in finishing this one due to the World Cup !!! Luckily for you guys I would live on Chocolate Dubai if I could. Having eaten quite a bit of it, I was really looking forward to seeing how Capella would pull this one off, because it was a complex profile to pull off. Out of the gate, the chocolate was almost perfectly suited for a CD with it’s creamy, and smooth texture. Not a dark chocolate, or a milk chocolate, but more of a smooth Belgian. No dryness or bitterness in this one. Next was the superbly delicious pistachio cream. I wish it atomized like it smelled in the bottle as it was more present when smelling, but in the mix, it sat below the chocolate, and added a very good extra layer of complexity. The pastry element was lowest in the mix, and while present and accurate, seemed like it was overshadowed a bit by the choco and pistaschio notes.
At 4% it was perfectly strong and at about a 9/10 on the strength scale, with sweetness being just below mid-level, which was accurate to the real thing. Zero off-notes, or complaints with the exception of wanting just a bit more of the shredded phyllo dough (pastry), but even that, was a small want. Increasing it, might have thrown off the delicate choco/pistachio balance. All in, a deliciously accurate Chocolate Dubai, that managed to pull off a complex profile with a smooth Belgian choco creamy pistachio, and light phyllo dough pastry, with only minor markdowns for a light(er) pastry note. Leaving this one at a higher 9.5/10.
I remember you talking about this one. I might have to try both. In the past I was huge into Coconut then that hankering faded. I think I’m ready for a coconut resurrection.
Cheesecake Graham Crust (CAP) 4% (7-22-26) – Alright, testing Cheesecake Graham Crust flavors it not exciting, BUT, hehe, I do it for you guys. Out of the gate I could tell Capella did use Gamma-octalactone in this flavor, which has a very distinctive creamy, coconut overtone, and it used in quite a few Graham Crust flavors. It was very similar to TPA’s CGC, with very light and slight Cheesecake notes, with much more predominant Graham Crust notes. No sour, or cheesy cheesecakes here, just hints of a creamy cheesecake. The graham crust profile was good, and accurate, and for my tastes, I’ve never really been a fan of the coconut notes, BUT, they’re more common than not in a lot of similar flavors.
At 4% it was about a 7/10 on the strength scale, and tasted good, with sweetness a few ticks below mid-level. There was a slight dryness on the finish, which could easily be covered up in mixes, so it was really a non-issue. My personal preferences may not be yours, but for mine, I knocked it down just a bit for the coconut notes, again, very common in graham crust llavors. All in a good accurate Graham Crust with light hints of a creamy cheesecake. If you really wanted a full on cheesecake and crust, you would have to step up the cheesecake profile. Leaving this one at a 8.25/10.
Island Mango (CAP) 4% (7-28-26) – After a little TDB (Too Damned Busy) break, hehe, back into these with the Island Mango. My experience with mangos has varied quite a bit, some are just bright, others darker, even funkier, and this one kind of straddled TWO types. It has some nice juicy, punchy bright notes, but it also had some of the mid, and mid-darker notes. Overall, it did taste very accurate, fresh, and somewhat juicy. It presented at fairly natural, with no real off-notes or complaints. At 4% it was nicely strong and at about an 8.5/10 on the strength scale. Sweetness was just below mid-level, which actually benefited it, and allowed more of the notes to shine through.
One of my current fav Mangos is a SUPER bright, and puchy Mango, and you’d almost swear it had some Sprite or 7up in it, as it was a zinger. While great, bright, and punchy, it didn’t work in all of my Mango recipes. This one while sharing some of those same bright punchy notes, would work in more recipes with it’s mid, and darker notes. With the below mid-level sweetness you could spike it with a little sweetener if you needed a little more POP, but, very nicely, they didn’t bake it in, and you could decide. All in, a good, fresh, multi-layered, natural mango that will/would work in a lot of different recipes. My only “ehhh” was a slight dryness on the finish, but very slight, so minor deductions for that. 3 tanks in, I finally decided on a 9/10 for this juicy little gem.
Pandan (CAP) 4% (7-30-26) – I spent some extra time with this one, as it had me stumped lol. I have never actually tasted Pandan, so I could not directly compare. It was reported to be vanilla-like with grassy undertones, hints of coconut and nuttiness. I didn’t really get that, from this flavor. Throughout the first tank, it just didn’t seem to be in my wheelhouse, but I didn’t put it down. The two main notes I got were a very prominent earthy-ness, followed by a strong nutty-ness. There COULD have been a light grassy undertone in there, but if so, it was very low in the mix. Slight hints of vanilla, and somewhat creamy.
At 4% it was very forward, and left an earthy lingering aftertaste. I’d rate it at a 9.5/10 on the strength scale, and sweetness was a few ticks below mid-level. Off-notes will be hard to quantify here, as it was a fairly dark, earthy, nutty, slightly bitter flavor with some vanilla and creamy-ness, so which of those would be off-notes, hehe, you decide. I love matcha, which can be grassy, but I just didn’t get much of that here. It WAS an interesting vape, and I’m not personally sure where it would fit best in mixes, but a very interestingly different flavor than I was used to. Squarely NOT in my wheelhouse, so keep that in mind. I felt like I had to push it down somewhat due to the very prominent earthy/nutty (slightly bitter) profile, but the slight creaminess and light vanilla did save it somewhat. I finally gave up, and slapped a 6/10. on this one.
There is a gelato place near me that does a great coconut and pandan flavour. I’ve had it lots, but I still don’t know if I could actually pick out the pandan flavour. It is a hard to quantify creamy, nutty, earthy, grassy thing.
Yeah i can see them now, thats awesome, you really didnt have to change it though you already do enough as it is without me adding to the workload .
Appreciate it though & all the work you put in in general .
I know you’re not a big fan of minty flavorings, but i’m excited to see what you have to say about the xs spearmint! Have you gotten to the newest fj ultimate mints by chance? Much love Session!
XS Alpine Strawberry (CAP) 1.25% (8-9-26) – With the XS line being stronger than the normal CAP flavors, I gave these some extra steep time, just to let them settle out. This one had a surprise in store for me, as it actually had some jam, and light butter notes in it ? Yes, I changed out the cotton JUST to make sure. The expected bright top end, almost sparkly notes were present, along with, some unexpected jammy undertones, and I’d swear I got just a hint of buttery richness in there. It actually tasted more like a juicy strawberry jam, with nice Alpine highlights. Overall it was very red, WITH the brighter Alpine notes on top.
While not as super concentrates as FLV’s, this one was spot on strength wise @ 1.25% and was about a 9.5/10 on the strength scale. Sweetness was just at about mid-level, and no real off-notes or complaints. NOW, with that said, it was NOT a pure Alpine SB, BUT, having those notes paired with some nice red jammy notes, really worked well. Your uses may vary because of the included jam notes. I think a better name would have been Alpine Strawberry Jam. Can’t really deduct FOR the jam, so be advised, it’s IN there. Tasted very good, authentic, and with the darker, jammier notes on the bottom, and the brighter Alpine notes on the top, it widened the spectrum it covered. All in, it felt good at a 9/10.
XS Golden Pineapple (CAP) 1.25% (8-22-26) – Having used CAPs Golden Pineapple forever, and never testing it, made getting into the XS version a nice bonus for me. At first taste, and throughout the testing, it stayed pretty consistent, and was a sweetened wide spectrum pineapple. Meaning, it had some of the bright top notes, more of the middle body notes, and actually some of the lower, darker notes, which presented as almost “baked”. It shouldn’t be a secret that VTA kind of hooked me on their Sugarloaf Pineapple, which is much brighter, and more focused on the high end bright notes. This one I think will have more uses, as it covered more of the full pineapple. At 1.25% it was strong, but felt like it might need just a pinch more, so maybe 1.55%'ish. Having the mid and some darker notes in this one really added depth, complexity, and opened up it’s uses.
Sweetness was about mid-level, and after 3 tanks, I gave up trying to find any complaints, or off-notes. At the tested weight of 1.25% it felt like about a 6.5/10 on the strength scale. Smooth, sweet, and with almost hints of canned pineapple chunks in syrup, BUT, not a syrup’d pineapple hehe, just hints. A great full spectrum pineapple with some bright/high end notes, more of the mid/darker notes, with hints of even darker, almost baked pineapple notes near the bottom. All in, it covered all of the bases, and felt great at an 8.5/10.
XS Fresh Watermelon (CAP) 1.25% (8-22-26) – Having tested both CAP’s Juicy Watermelon, and Succulent Watermelon, I was curious to see where this XS variant sat. It was different than the aforementioned, and has a lot of freshness to it. It was an interesting take on a watermelon with an almost “syrup’d” profile to it. It had both natural and some lighter artificial notes, which I put at about a 70% natural, and 30% artificial. It was not candied, but literally had a syrup undertone. Sweetness was a tick or two above mid-level which played to the undertones.
At 1.25% it was plenty strong and at about a 8.5/10 on the strength scale, and zero off-notes or complaints. About the only slight negative was that the syrup undertones, may have diminished some of the juicy aspects. Not dry by any means though. As far as the body/flesh notes, it was centered more around the juicy red, but with some lighter white, and a hint of rind, so it had the WM pretty well covered. Because it didn’t fully present as a natural, that might change your usage, but even as it stood, it was a good full package watermelon. Fairly sweet, plenty of red, white, with a touch of rind, and with a 70/30 natural/artificial ratio is what you got with this one. And yes, hehe, it was fairly fresh as well. Leaving it high at a 9.3/10.
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