I was so surprised by this one! Probably the best authentic natural banana I’ve tried. I’ve only tried a handful, but I liked this one! The banana candy surprised me as well!
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@SessionDrummer may I ask how long it will be until you test Watermelon?
The noted crew split their Nomnomz show into 4, and alphabetically, so I have a while to wait.
I’m really hoping that you will review their WM a bit sooner? I’d really love to hear what you thought of it, and what strength you mixed it at. I’m still having issues, and I’ve tried 2%, 1.5%, 1%, 0.8%, and 0.5%.
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Tell you what @IggyZ let me finish up with Blueberry, and I’ll hit it. Remind me, what issues are you having ?
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Woohooo!
My issues are just that, my issues. 
I am tasting more honeydew than watermelon, and at 1% or less, it IS a watermelon, but isn’t ripe or sweet. I’m leaning towards fresh, but there are also some confusing candy-ish notes. Weeks after my package from Nomz came, and I am still confused after a few testers at a few different %s.
I’m hoping that your experience will differ from mine!
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Been trying out the nom nomz marshmallow. Its very different. It took me a while to figure out what it was. It tastes more like some kind of candy then marshmallow but what it is just hit me . Its a overly candied lucky charms marshmallow. Its not bad but not really usuabke as a marshmallow. Will work pretty much only as a lucky charms cereal recipe
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Didn’t realize you reciewed that one lol yup sounds like we getting the same thing. For a few days im like what candy does that remind me of and then it hit me. Duh its lucky charms marshmallow just like a lil more sugared/candied. It didnt hit me until i accidentally dripped some nomz puffed rice in the same rda and it toned the candied down a little. The puffed rice btw is really good. No crackle pop really but good flavor
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Its really good with some fa merange and the noms puffed rice dripped together. I smell a new lucky charms recipe coming. Maybe add in a touch of sugary cereal with that
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Blueberry (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-23-24) – I decided to spend some extra time on this one, as it was proving to be rather hard to completely nail down. This is because it WAS pretty complex, especially for a Blueberry. I got all KINDS of notes, and nuances from this one. For starters, it didn’t seem to delve as much into the darker notes of the BB, but more so the mid-dark, mid, and brighter notes. At times I felt it leaned more artificial than natural, and other times not. Some times I got more of a sweetened almost candy-like nuance from it, but not candied like you would think, but more of a blueberry rolled in sugar crystals. Some times I even picked up on a VERY natural tasting musky-ness, which often times is a BAD thing, but in this case (and some other BB’s), was a PLUS, and added to the natural-ness of it. Basically, this one was a very good BROAD spectrum BB, which covered all of the things mentioned above, and did it actually, quite well. Because of where it fell on my “BlueBerry Spectrum”, it seemed like it would be stellar in Milkshakes, Muffins/Bakeries, and def. in Cheesecakes, to name a few, with numerous other uses. Although it didn’t delve into the deeper, darker notes, it covered most of the “must haves”, and presented differently at times, which made it all the much better. This one really covered a LOT of bases. I finally had to place it, and doing so at a high(er) 9.6/10.
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Watermelon (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-24-24) – By POPULAR demand, well kinda, hehe, diving into the Watermelon. I knew when mixing this one up, that it would be a "different’ watermelon, and that continued during the testing. The big take-away (for me at least), was it was not centered around the “red” juicy watermelon much at all. It did taste more like a mashup of the “white” part of the watermelon, along with some fairly present honeydew, and almost cantaloupe notes. In order of strength and ratios (guessing), I’d say 60% white watermelon, 30% honeydew, and 10% cantaloupe. There were some very light “red” wm notes, but the “white” and other melon notes were far more domiant. If I’d tested it without knowing the name, I probably would have thought it was a “Melon Medley”. It was a mix of natural and artificial, and did have some lighter candied notes. This was interesting as it was below mid-level sweet. It was very smooth, with no reat tart-ed-ness, or sour, and no overt off-notes, but there was a just ever so slight perfrumy-ness to it. Now, it was soo minor, that I almost didn’t think it necessary to mention, or take down for it, but just ever so slightly, it was there. It was so light that in a mix it would disappear. Overall, not a bad “Melon Medley”, but as a stand alone Watermelon, not so much. Not terrible, and still very useful, just not a stellar stand alone. It seemed like it was in the 5.0-6.0 range for my personal rating system, so I finally settled on the higher score, and left it at a 6.0/10.
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@IggyZ I couldn’t read your notes until AFTER I tested it, but now that I have, yours seemed pretty on track with what I got. I got more of a white watermelon flavor, with some honeydew, and a light cantaloupe mashup more than anything else. A VERY slight perfume-y note, which would easily be buried in a mix. Not a stand alone WM, but still pretty useful in fruity, melon mixes with some help.
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Banana (Candy) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-25-24) – I had ASSUMED this was just going to be a full on Banana Runtz candy before testing, BUT, that didn’t prove entirely accurate with this one. There was some LIGHT runtz notes in there, but overall it seemed more like a relaxed mashup of the OG Banana, and a bit of the Banana Flambe. It was somewhat sweet, but still below mid-level. At 1.5% it tasted a bit less present that both the previously tested nanas from Nomz, and did have a creamy undertone. No off-notes, but I can’t say that it completely took off as a banana candy. It was somewhat candied, but never took shape as a candy. Tasty, very different than expected for sure. You could use this IN a runtz / candy mix, but it wouldn’t be the driver in the mix. No off-notes, and again, a nice different approach, just not sure if it hit the mark. Probably about the best comparison I could make would be a somewhat smooth artificial/natural, lighter banana. Tasty, but can’t give it the high marks for a candy banana. It was good enough to still drop at a 6.9/10.
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I agree with your review completely. I know from your previous notes that our tastebuds are quite similar, so I usually wait until you’ve tested something before buying it. In this case, I saw a new WM flavor from my favorite flavor vendor, and took a shot in the dark. I’m still not giving up hope that maybe someone else will come up with a good recipe for it, as this flavor definitely has potential, so let’s just wait and see.
Thanks as always for all your hard work, @SessionDrummer!
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Well I appreciate that @IggyZ, and you stated we do appear to have similar tastes. I’m always a little apprehensive to have anyone definitely buy or not buy a flavor based solely on my reviews. I would hate to have anyone NOT experience a flavor that they might taste differently, BUT, I understand where you are coming from.
Ahhh now you’ve hit on the “One Big Thing”, and I’m glad you did. I always Single Flavor Test in a vacuum, meaning I focus solely on the flavor and how it presents by itself. This does NOT guarantee how it can, or will perform in a mix.
You’re very welcome, and thank you.
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Blackcurrant (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-25-24) – “Darker”, and “Complex-ified” were the two take-aways with this flavor. While this flavor might not have 100% of the tart kick that real BC’s have, it was def. in the ballpark. With just below mid-level sweetness, and just enough tart on the finish it was a tasty one. While hard to classify, it’s core revolved around a darker berry, with slight earthy tones, and just a hint of floral-ness. I know, I know, “But florals are bad” !!! In this case they were minimal, and added to the authenticity. Hints of dark(er) raspberries, blueberries, and light wine notes, kept this one mysterious, dark, and complex. At 1.5% it felt like 85% of the way there strength wise, so not overly strong or overpowering. If you like delving into the darker, more mysterious berry blends, this one will work for you. Having very few “eaten” BC’s to compare this to, it was fairly convincing, and authentic. I struggled with the final score, but with no off-notes, take-offs, or “wants” I decided to leave it fairly high at a 9.0/10. Dark and mysterious.
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Raspberry Wafer (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-25-24) – When mixing this one up, I had two thoughts. “Wow, this smells great”, and “I know this flavor”. Turns out that the Wafer was stronger, but almost identical to the OG Wafer from Chefs that I had tested previously. As was, and still was the case with it, I still didn’t get a lot of “wafer” from it, but that’s probably a matter of wafer opinion, but I got much more of a FW Waffle Cone, some other bakery/ies, and maybe a touch of AP. Now, having NOT tested the four OTHER Raspberries from NomNomz yet, I can only assume that one of them was in here. AND, the two profiles paired perfectly together. With the whole wafer/biscuit/cookie debate aside, the Raspberry had JUST enough sweetness, and tartness to break through the bakery elements, It tasted mostly natural, with some jammed, and candied accents. The two main profiles did pair very well, and it was damned tasty. No off-notes, or complaints other than the definition of “wafer”. Minor take-offs for that, but that was it. Too good to mark down much, and decided to leave it super solidly at a 9.5/10.
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Excellent review SD I have the same feeling on this flavor. I tested slightly higher @2%, but I got similar results. The Wafer is very reminiscent of the CSC Wafer just slightly turned up. I think due to the nature of the wafer being a super light bakery (almost like a rice cake type of texture) that it needs a little bit of assistance (body). And yes the raspberry is really good, to me it’s a really good raspberry cream. Almost a raspberry meringue type of flavor. I will wait to see your reviews on the nomz raspberries to see if there is one in particular one that can assist in boosting that raspberry note.
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French Vanilla (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-26-24) – As most of us know, French Vanilla isn’t about a specific vanilla bean, but the inclusion of egg yolks, and a rich custard flavor. Yeah, NomNomz got this one right !!! Some vanillas are very flavorful but are also fairly thin, and light, NOT with a true FV like this one. It had all of the typical vanilla bean goodness, BUT, just ladled in a rich eggy, custardy bath. Rich, rich, and more rich. This one was rich, and dense enough to really have some mouthfeel. Custard lovers rejoice, as you could almost solo this one, and get your fix on. The vanilla wasn’t overshadowed by the eggy custard, but it DID play second fiddle to it. Not so much that it was imbalanced, but I’ll crudely place it at a 45% Vanilla, 55 % eggy custard ratio. This one had quite a bit more “weight” than a thin vanilla, so much so that I wondered if there was a light bakery in there, lower in the mix. Tasty, somewhat creamy, not a full on custard, but with plenty of eggy notes, this one just worked. No off-notes, and at about mid-level sweet. Although I don’t typically migrate towards eggy-er custard type flavors, this one was too good to ignore. Again, very close to perfect, and it’s not always about what I PREFER, but what i TASTE !!! Another 9.9/10 here folks.
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