Tuning to the hundredth, when 8.8 is little and 8.9 is a lot… Just kidding SD, thanks for the revisions…
Guava Dark Berry (Flavorah) 1.5% (3-3-23) – This one was one of my favs when first cracking the bottles, so let’s see it it continued to be. At first taste, there was NO confusing you had Guava in here, nice, juicy, pink guava in spades, AND, at only 1.5% Tempered in BELOW that was a very mysterious dark berry medley, that had an almost “jammy” quality to it/them. The ratio between the two main notes favored the pink guava at maybe 60% pink guava, 40% dark berries. At times I almost wished it had been more 50/50 just to help REVEAL what the dark berry medley was, BUT, in hindsight, it kept it more interesting, with it just below clear detection. The pink guava was very juicy, and had a fair amount of “punch” and “tang”, and the dark berry medley, tempered it down just a bit. Although even after 3 testers I was no closer to identifying the black berry medley BUT it’s effect was def. there. If you think that a juicy pink guava, tempered by a delicious dark berry medley is up your ally, this one WILL get it done for you. No off notes, and just at mid level sweet, this one again, was hard to kick down. Solidly placing it @ 9.5/10.
Sounds like an interesting mix, though with 60% Pink Guava in the profile must mean that it’s rather dilute in this concentrate: Particularly as I consider taking it above 0.15% as risking it being too dominate in a recipe.
This definitely one I will play with soon.
@SquirrelSmash the 60% guava mentioned was my approximation of the ratio of guava, to dark berries. I’m assuming Flavorah kept the DBM (Dark Berry Medley) lower on purpose, as it kept it shrouded in a mysterious jammy blend, avoiding specific detection.
Hibiscus Sweet (Flavorah) 1% (3-5-23) – While never drinking, tasting, OR testing anything Hibiscus, we’re going it here today. With no direct comparisons to pull from I’ll just explain how this one tasted. Firstly, it was lightly floral (in a GOOD way), with some fruity undertones, that was both tart, and sweet. That literally sums it up, hehe, BUT, let’s continue. This was a very unique flavor for me, and it proved to be a lighter flavor, but still very interesting. At 1% it was light, yet present, and the florals (intentional) were in no way off-putting, and actually worked to push and pull the underlying fruity-ness. While the fruit/fruity-ness could not really be identified, it’s presence was tasted and worked nicely along side the light florals. Because it was a lighter flavor, it could be run over by heavier flavors in a mix, but it mixed judiciously I think you could really have some great successes. While not sharp or punchy per se, it was a brighter flavor, that would favor fruits, citrus, and maybe even beverages, where it could be blended, and used to accentuate supporting flavors. All in, it was a very good unique flavor, and even while lighter, I could see numerous uses for it’s lightly floral/fruity notes. No off notes, bad florals, or any take offs with this one, other than being a lighter flavor. Surprised me, and it felt great @ 9.3/10.
It sounds like a hibiscus which would lend itself more to candied, gummy and teas when compared Hibiscus (FLV). I’ll definitely be adding this one to my next order and I think it’ll do well in a sweet matcha tea blend.
Jammy Grape (Flavorah) 1% (3-5-23) – This COULD be the SHORTEST review of the bunch thus far. Why ?? Well, this one tasted JUST like a great Jammy Grape !!! I won’t blather on and on about it, and it was quite convincing, and accurate. A really good dark/darker concord grape that was sufficiently “jammed” but not “candied”. No grape soda here people, just jam. @ 1% it felt like it could be run a little higher as a single, perhaps 1.5%, maybe 1.75%. It was not lacking at the 1% testing weight, just felt like it could use a bit more. Accurate, and true were the two thoughts I kept returning to here, and Flavorah did a good job “jamming” this one up. Nothing off-putting, or out of place, and it DID make me want to grab one (or more) of my Peanut Butters JUST to see how it would fare. Despite feeling like it needed just a bit more, it was at about mid-level sweetness, which was expected for a jam. All in, a very good darker concord grape that was jammed up nicely. If you want or need a good grape jam, this one should do it for you. It felt fairly placed at a 9.0/10.
Kudos to you on this one…I really wanted to get Jam with this one but didnt …
One of the HARDER things I find to do @fidalgo_vapes is really TELL the difference between “sweetened”, “candied”, “candy”, “jam”, and “preserves/ed”. It isn’t always very easy. Now I’m 101% sure, they don’t add Pectin to these flavors, but the few that I’ve really gotten a “jam” from, almost had that/those qualities. I also tested it pretty low @ 1%, don’t know if pushing it would eliminate the jammy-ness I got from it or not. I’m putting the PB BACK on the shelf, as I can’t afford to get distracted, … YET …
Lol…OOO SB Jam definetely jammy , this ine reminded ne lot like these fruit snacks my kids love , specifically a handful of purple ones. Gummy , Jammy etc dont translate well for me in Vape. More the candied Gummy i dont get often . WISH I DID
Licorice (Flavorah) 1% (3-5-23) – As IS sometimes the case when testing flavors, you have to test those which you would NEVER use. This IS one of those flavors. I don’t like, eat, or use Black Licorice in pretty much about ANYTHING, hehe, so, let’s see how this goes. Now Black Licorice does have QUITE a history of being used for quite a few things, most notably indigestion. Diving right into this one, and having NO indigestion to speak of, it actually DID taste like a very accurate black licorice. At times, I DID seem to get some molasses wandering in below the anise, and fennel notes. It had an almost “smooth” but not quite reaching anything close to “creamy” aspect to it. Not bitter at all, and at about mid-level sweet. At 1.% it was plenty strong, BUT, could maybe be pushed up another 0.5% for you licorice heads. As mentioned, as a NOT Black Licorice-er, I couldn’t help but notice how accurate it DID taste, and NOT off-putting at the same time, which was quite a mystery to me, being a NON licorie-er. No off-notes, or out of place could be found, with neither the anise, nor fennel being too high in the mix, or any bitterness. From a “this isn’t mind kinda thing” guy, this WAS a great, accurate licorice. I couldn’t go any lower than a 9.5/10.
Pink Lemonade (Flavorah) 1% (3-5-23) – I think finding the perfect Pink Lemonade for EVERYONE is about impossible. One of the best I’ve ever had was Lemonade, Watermelon, and Strawberries. How did Flavorah do ?? Let’s find out. This smelled stronger in the bottle, so like some others, decided to hit it @ 1%, and at that rate it was fairly full, but COULD probably handle another 0.75%. As it stood at the lower weight, the Lemonade came through fairly well, and did have some nice tart/sour sparkle to it, and I could detect SOME “Pink-ening”, BUT, it didn’t seem like it was enough. I needed MO pink in my PL !!! I couldn’t clearly tell what the Lemonade was tempered with, but to say, it did have a pink hue. 3 testers later, I still couldn’t decide if I WAS getting a slight strawberry undertone or not, but suffice it to say, you could boost YOUR pink, and really push this one forward. At 1% it wasn’t lacking overall in the Lemonade department, but I think 1.75% would give it a more solid foothold. The lemonade did remind me of Flavorah’s “Lemonade” (duh, go figure), and rather that overpower the tart/sour WITH sweetness, it felt like they specifically dropped the sweetener down a notch, to allow the tart/sour to push through. Your taste may vary, and I do think that maybe some WM or SB, and possibly some sweetener (depending on your sweet tooth) would help this one out. All in, it was a good Lemonade tempered by some “pink” that you could EASILY boost up as required. Throughout the entire test, I kept thinking, "Yeah, this one’s about 70% there), so leaving this at a solid 7.0/10.
What is the PB that you are referring to?
@KC111 I’ve never made a PB and J, so my first instinct was to grab …
Peanut Butter (CSC) 1.5% (6-22-21) – Good Peanut Butters are out there, but they can be hard to find. Typically PBs fall into two categories, Dry and Salty, or Creamy and Sweet. Chef’s seems to have figured out how to MERGE the two !!! Yes, an almost perfect combination of a creamy, sweet, salty, peanut butter with some dryness which added to the complexity. At 1.5% it was full, present, and delicious, with nothing out of place. It was about mid-level sweet, and leaned slightly towards the creamy sweet, but only slightly. No bitterness could be found, and there was a certain earthy-ness that kept it grounded. Soup to Nuts might just be applicable here, as this one covered a lot of bases, and checked most of the boxes. I think it could be best summed up like a Creamy Jif peanut butter paired with crunchy salted nuts. With it’s authenticity, complexity, and dual personalities I could see many uses for this one. Easily 9.75/10.
Or easily TPA PB.
Thank you for explaining. I thought perhaps FLV came out with a new PB and I missed it.
Well I realize that my Chefs will run out sooner or later, and my previous go to was TPA’s PB. I had some good luck with CAP’s for a sweeter/creamier, but had some minor scalding issues at higher levels. Maybe the sweet spot is basing with TPA’s for the peanuts, and topping with CAP’s, but not sure yet.
Have you tried SSA PB?
With FOUR whole series’s on Sobucky’s how did you pick out one, I haven’t tried ?? !!!
I never solo’d it, but let me see if it SNUCK up on the rack somehow. I did hear good things about it.
I don’t even like PB, so I was just throwing it out there because I heard great things about it,