Dessert Chocolate (SSA) 0.85% (9-16-20) ā FIRST ONE on deck, and I chose a DARK ONE at that. Donāt be AFRAID, just because somethingās dark, hehe, but you might change your cotton more often, depending on the flavor. Upon FIRST vape, I KNEW this was a KNOCK OUT flavor. Chocolates are hard to get right, whether itās Band Aids in Milk Chocolates, or Dark and Bitter/Dry in Dark Chocolates. This one had NO off-putting notes whatsoever. I canāt think of a direct comparison, but at first FLVās Red Velvet came to mind, as it had some very good almost cake elements to it. No Band Aid, no dryness, no bitterness. At this testing weight, it was very nice, rich, and full. It could even be used lower if needed, so we are talking Ultra concentrates at this level and lower. Tested this at 65 watts, with no scorching or burning that I could detect, which was another plus. The chocolate leaned darker, but wasnāt a full āDarkā chocolate, and the cakey-ness could not be denied, and it really pulled it into a desert type flavor. You could almost solo vape this IMO, because of the great pairing of the choco and cake. The cake notes (or whatever you deem them to be) really pulled this into a unique category all itās own, much like Wonder Flavorās Smores Cupcake did. All in, this first one, was far better than I expected, AND, at a very low mixing rate. Because of the added richness (cakey-ness) I could DEF. see this in quite a few desert, smores, etc. recipes. While not a āpureā chocolate per se, itās damned good, and should be on your āmust tryā list, if you are new to SSA flavors. 9.9/10.
Hehe, nice @muth. Maybe thereāll be a giveaway someday. Youād have to check with the maker though, Iām not affiliated with the thing at all.
@SmokeEatsMan if you look closely AT the cat, you will see what initially appears to be paradiddles, are actually double strokes.
True dat!
Long time i believed reading all the reviews and watching all those videos will save me lots of money, but frankly itās the opposite. Even worse, itās becoming an addiction (but thankfully it rarely happens flavors end in the garbage bin these days). I think iām becoming a flavorholic.
That IS a real condition. Your mileage will vary depending on whether or not you share the same palate as the reviewer.
Woo-hoo! You are a maniac, man. I mustāve read over 300 of your Single-Flavor Tests over the past few monthsā¦ Thank you for covering the weirdo flavors and obscure companies nobody else covers.
TFA? Been done.
FW? Zzzzzzzz
Sobucky? Hell yeah!!
I canāt believe it. Now I have to start exploring the world of chocolate for the first time in my DIY history. I already got the Chocolate Mousse (VTA). I rarely even eat the stuff, geez!
Yeah, and you canāt go to jail for it. And thereās no 12 Step meetings either.
Placing blame on others is a sign of flavorholicism.
Raspberry Syrup (SSA) 1.0% (9-17-20) ā As sometimes happens, the moment you start a new flavor, you get an impression, that you canāt shake throughout the entire test, and it happened again. First thoughts were INW Raspberry Malina meets MF Wild Raspberry. Letās start out with what this one wasnāt. I didnāt get a huge āsyrupā-ness from this one, BUT, thatās about the ONLY bad thing I COULD find with it. At 1% it was nice and full, and probably COULD be run lower, but in no way was it hitting the ceiling @ 1%. Super damned delicious, with about ZERO of the issues that Iāve had with most other RBās. It centered around a mid and somewhat dark raspberry, with surprisingly low sweetness (hence the āwhereās the syrupā). It had a really nice tart-ish finish that really drove an already GREAT raspberry flavor, all the way home. Tasted very natural with zero off-putting notes or characteristics, and almost seemed to have a smidge of seeds in there. Currently (but not with MFās Wild Rasp) I have to combine multiple players to get a great RB, but this one, can really hold itās own, and leave you wanting more. Second one from SSA that Iāve tested, and thus far, VERY impressive. If you have tried MF Wild Rasp, and INW Malina, then invision the two of them combined, and that will get you very in the ballpark of this one. Despite being named a āsyrupā, the lower than expected sweetness would allow far greater uses of this one, and you could spike the sweet up if needed. I hate to say it so early in the testing here, but this one also, could/should be on your must try list from SSA. Very clean, accurate, and natural tasting Raspberry, that encompassed almost everything youād want FROM a Raspberry. 10/10.
Shortbread Cookie (SSA) 2% (9-18-20) ā Oh Nooo, another cookie ?? Think again. Thatās what I thought going into this one, āDo we need another cookieā ?? Well, after trying this one, I think we DO. This review directly followed my review of SSAās Raspberry Syrup, and I immediately wanted to mix the two of these. At 2%, this one was right on track, rich, full, buttery, and somehow, really captured the Shortbread aspect(s). Not sure how they did it, but it is clearly NOT a cookie, or biscuit, but lands smack, dab, in the middle of Shortbread city. One could say it is āsimilarā to Jungle Flavorās biscuit, which presented almost as a pairing of INW Bicuit, and FAās Cookie, but this one is much more than that. SSA apparently spent some time really nailing the shortbread aspect of this, and it shows. You almost get a grainy bakery in this one, coupled with some buttery goodness. Not topped out at 2%, and it felt great at this weight. Sweetness was almost mid level, with no real take-offs. Surely it could be push/pulled if needed, depending on your American vs. European bakery needs, but you might just find after testing it, that you wont. All in, this is an outstanding, and perhaps the best shortbread cookie (type) that I have tested. Didnāt really pick up any vanilla per se, and not 100% sure if Iām getting a smidge of almond or not, but possibly so. If youāre in the market for a great shortbread cookie, and/or love your bakeries, youāll have to add this one to your list as well. Sorry guys, Iām trying to go critical on these flavors, but after 3 in, Iām having a hard time finding any faults thus far. I kept teetering on a rating, because you just canāt rate everything at the top, but I emptied an entire tester tank on this one as well, and was left with no negatives. A great bakery shortbread cookie here, with butter elements that just canāt be denied. 10/10.
Apple Strudel (SSA) 1.5% (9-18-20) ā Sugar, and Spice, and everything Nice is what this one had. As far as the strudel portion, your take on a strudel will dictate what you think about itās inclusion here. I got a solid bakery from this one, that paired perfectly with the sweet and full, slightly spiced apple. The apple(s) were of the āfilingā type, and similar to FLVās Apple Filling, but with less spice. There were some spice notes, but very low in the mix, and in no way obtrusive. At 1.5% it was very even, full, and satisfying with little to no concern of over or under flavoring. The bakery element did waver to and from a strudel-ish note, but was so evenly paired with the apple it was hard to nit pick it.
Sweetness was right about mid level, and expected in a desert type flavor. Pretty good one here, with not much to take off for. If anything might need to be boosted, it might be the strudel, but that would be a toss up. For a very natural tasting (not artificial) Apple Strudel that is mid sweet, and quite full at lower percentages, this one can get it done for you. Far better than most of the āApple Piesā out there.
9.2/10.
Youāre always one step ahead of me. Just visited āāChefsāā to see if they have re-stocked VSO Strawberry ( they havenāt) and came across a new line they are selling. SSA. Never heard of them, I thought. I wonder what they are like? And here we are .How do you do it? Thanks for helping me spend more of my money, SD. They are relatively cheap for such highly rated flavours, so I canāt complain too much, lol. Cheers, as usual, youāre a star.
Iām sure I will. Youāre a man of taste. Thanks. They have a lot of flavours. Their Strawberry (ripe) has already sold out in 10ml bottles.
Compote Cherry (SSA) .75% (9-19-20) ā Letās admit it, cherries are the DEVIL of DIY IMO. I have had, and been let down by MORE cherries than I can remember. Weāve all had them, the medicinal, soapy, perfumey, and just plain baddies. Is there reluctance every time I try one ?? Ummm, YES. Sniff tested all of these while trying to decide on the strengths to test as, as there was LITTLE to no info on them. Settled on 0.75% for this one, and ā¦ (suspense) ā¦ it worked out GREAT. NO of the aforementioned cherry issues were found here today. Whew, what a relief. At this testing weight, it was very full, BUT, with none of the ceiling hitting side effects, so Iām going to go with a 0.50-0.75% rec. on this one. As it stood, a very unique cherry, which just means, it tastes like none of the other ones Iāve tried, and the ācompoteā may be partially to blame for that. A compote is where whole fruit is cooked down in sugar/water, unlike a jam wherein the fruit is typically cut up. They DO taste different, and am trying to decide if the uniqueness of this one is the compote. The cherry was very broad spectrum, and didnāt reside in just one specific cherry, but I think the overwhelming profile leaned towards maraschino, but itās more than just that. Didnāt really pick up on a black cherry, but letās just leave it at a full bodied mara for now. There was this little peppy BURST that I got on every finish on this one, that was very interesting. Almost like a sharp little Fuji Apple kicker on the tail end, but I donāt want to pigeon hole it to that specific, but itās LIKE that. Sweetness was a click or two above mid level (duh, compote), and it did not appear too high, for the flavor. The overall profile was exactly as it was named, with no change throughout the tank. Having been wacked (possible over flavoring on my part) by many cherries before, this one was a welcome relief on my quest FOR the cherry. Iām QUITE sure, if this one was overflavored there COULD be some issues, so GO LOW, and I suggest a 0.50-0.75% starting point. It might not carry ALL of your cherry weight in mixes, but it damn sure could, and I think Iām going to let @alfredpudding know about this, as his Cherry Bomb was utterly brilliant, and insanely good. What an impressive Cherry this was to try, and if youāve been hurt by cherries before, you def. want to add this one to your list. Something feels unholy in giving a cherry a 10 out of 10, so for religious reasons, I will cap this off @ 9.9/10.
Crisp Waffle (SSA) 1.0% (9-19-20) ā When smelling in the bottle, this reminded me of the original INW Waffle YC. Having never soloād that one, I could not directly compare the two. Vaping this one, revealed a very rich, and full waffle, BUT, with no distinct butter or maple syrup, which was GREAT. That way you could use it in far more recipes, but alter with B and MS if/as needed. Outstanding. I wasnāt sure where to test this one, and itās POSSIBLE that 1.0% may have pushed it too far, but read on, and you decide. At the testing weight it did not feel like it was hitting the ceiling, but the ātoastedā or āburntā notes that I was getting, along with a peanut were emerging on the back end of the vape. Now thatās not to say that they got in the way OF the waffle in any way, shape, or form, they did not, but they were present. I will probably have to re-test this lower at maybe 0.50%, just to see. Even with the very small (not offensive, but present) alternate notes, this one WAS indeed a super delicious waffle. It had some dark, rich undertones, which may have been from the burnt/toasted element, but overall it did not taste burnt, like burnt toast, but merely had some of it, in the finish. Belgian, American, Wheat ?? Hard to say, but it leaned mid to darker, and away from a lighter, and not towards a wheat, so weāll settle on a mid-dark waffle. Sweetness was just below mid level, and despite looking HARD for any butter or maple syrup, it was not to be found here. There was a certain richness/fullness that almost implied butter was in there, but you couldnāt pick it out. Even at 1.0% with some of the burnt/peanut push at the end, it never left focus on the waffle, so your tastes will dictate the effect of them, and/or if lowering the rate would reduce them further. All in, for a naked waffle, with some impressive almost bakery grainy-ness, this oneās got it. I will amend this review if I get time to test lower, and at this testing weight, it feels good at 8.5/10 .
Ice Cream (SSA) 2.0% (9-20-20) ā I had to finish TWO tester tanks on this one, to try and nail down what was going on here. First things first, probably the BEST Ice Cream flavor I have tried to date. Not vanilla, not chocolate, no pepper, no BA, none of the typical creamy aftertastes that most of the other players have, BUT (aināt there always a BUT ?), it was fairly subdued. I smelled this one in the bottle, and knew Iād have to mix it higher, and I did. Even at 2.0%, it was still very laid back. You could say weaker, but it felt laid back. As it stood, a delicious sweet ice cream, with no offensive notes, no heavy creameries, and very neutral. Now, despite this being as great as it was, it would be easy to overpower this in a mix, so mixing wise, some caution would be need to be used. It reminded me of a Chic Fil A (for you US members) ice cream. Very natural tasting, sweetness was a tick above mid level, and had an absolutely clean finish. Because SSA has a Vanilla Ice Cream which I have not tested, am wondering if it was as good, but stronger, maybe a pairing of the two to solidify, and anchor the base might work. Minor take offs, but ONLY for itās laid back nature, NOT the flavor profile. Two tank fulls, and havenāt found an off note yet. 8.0/10.
No cloying custard mouthfeel?