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!
5 Likes
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.
15 Likes
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.
10 Likes
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.
8 Likes