Vso Raw SFT

@Lucas_James_Holden I didn’t have any issues with any of the OG flavors I tested, nor the few Raws that I got my hands on. I think these were from at least two years ago, so I can’t speak to newer flavors, versions, or the extremes …

8 Likes

Amaretto, Apple Raw, Apple Xtreme, Barbarian Cream, Black Walnut, Brandy, Butter Cookie, Butter Rum, Cafe Mocha (one shot), Cilantro, English Toffee, Fig, Green Apple, Guava, Jalapeño, Lime, Milk & Toony, Pecan, Red Chili, Sabayon, Walnut, Wheat. These are the VSO flavors I have and have used all of them. I do not do reviews as there are others here much better at it than I would ever be. I’ve had mostly good to great results. These are OG versions, but I now have most of these in their newer versions and for the most part have had very similar results with them. Cilantro I will not purchase again, because it had an almost soapy flavor to me. I have several favorites out of this list and use them often, the top ones for me are; Barbarian Cream, Brandy, Amaretto, Butter Cookie, and Milk & Toony. The Apple Raw and Apple Xtreme are absolute go to’s for my daughter’s favorite mix, I truly like it as well!
I have not with the exception of Wheat had fading or muting experience with any of these flavors, there have been a couple that actually developed into a balanced, rich, full, and authentic flavor profile; Brandy, Amaretto, BUTTER COOKIE, Sabayon being the ones that come to mind right now. By the way, if you like Danish Butter Cookies then get yourself some of this flavor right this instant, then thank yourself, you won’t be sorry!
These are solely my opinions based on my own experiences and taste preferences and that’s ok for me just as it is ok for someone not to like something based on their own experience and taste preferences.
Vape on my friends! :dash:

9 Likes

Do you like Cilantro in real life. My wife and I do, my daughter always tastes soap.
Usually if you SFT and get soapy it’s a sign that the % is too high.

3 Likes

I LOVE cilantro, this flavor just had that soapy almost chemical taste I sometimes get with real cilantro that is not fresh and been sitting too long in the store or in the fridge at home.

3 Likes

10 VSO flavors. Had high expectations due to all the noise in the community and i was hardly waiting that NN finally gets them, but i have to say i’m quite disappointed overall; had too high expectations i guess. These were my last VSO for a while. I might buy one or two someday for a test in a distant future (but only if at normal price) and those will most certainly be RAWs if fruity flavors.

Majority of these flavors will not be used at all in my recipes (will keep them just for recipes of others; but i don’t mix recipes of others often). I don’t regret buying 3 of my 10 flavors; i would probably re-buy just one of these.

It’s not only that they are not delivering at all for me, it’s also that they are difficult to work with (by far the worst brand in this aspect and definitely not something i would ever suggest to newbies). You simply don’t know whether you should use 0.5% or 2% or 4% or 10% so it requires lots and lots of testing and figuring out your ideal percent in your recipe (while this might work for some who have their ADVs, this is a huge annoyance for me since i rarely make the same recipe twice). So much easier to work with SSA when you always know what to expect at 0.5% or 1% or 3%…

Another thing is that these flavors are not suitable to be your main flavors (due to their weakness, lack of taste, often lack of smell too), but they are rather just supporting flavors (to say the truth sometimes they work much better than any other brands; probably because of different manufacturing process that results these flavors often fill the blind spots of your prime flavors).

Generally, my main problems are their fruity flavors (which supposed to be the best at VSO) while other flavors are workable. Lack of taste and smell and very relaxed top notes (as SD would say) are totally annoying in fruity flavors to me. One of the issues i also have with these fruity flavors is that i don’t taste them as ‘natural’ as i’d wish and that’s because some sort of artificial sweetener used (Shane says they don’t add any sweeteners, but i don’t know… they just don’t taste natural as i’d wish and it’s not that natural sweetness you’d want to get (fructose type sweetness); maybe that’s a PG used, maybe manufacturing process, but something is distracting).

My advice to newbies is to skip them (or buy RAWs which are way better as they say) and most certainly don’t buy more than 10ml of unknown flavor. Same advice is for those who don’t have ADVs. I wouldn’t place any of these flavors in the first 100 flavors one should buy, despite some are workable and even great.

.

My ratings:
:full_moon: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: Huckleberry – terribly parfumey for me (but this might just be me; have similar, but not so violent experience with Loganberry SI or Blackberry FM which people apperently love). I doubt i will ever use it again; in case i will it will be at up to 0.25%, probably less (but i’ll have to figure it out why would i).
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: Blueberry V2 – ok, but it will not be my prime BB and it definitelly isn’t a must have. I wish i have bought V1. Smell is fine, taste is lacking, i regret buying it.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: Blackberry – lack of taste and smell to the point i’d have problems to recognize it clearly when testing it solo (not to even mention in a mix). Miles away from FLV and i will hardly ever use it even as a supporting flavor.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :last_quarter_moon: Raisin – Workable, i like what it does and there’s not many alternatives on the market, plus it’s one of rare VSOs that are not difficult to use/you know what to expect and it delivers. I don’t regret buying this one and 10ml will be enough for my life-time since it’s not a flavor i use often.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: Apricot – was really hoping for this one; sadly is not there. I wouldn’t recognize it in a solo blind test. I doubt i will ever use it in my recipes.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :new_moon_with_face: :new_moon_with_face: Strawberry – same, just a bit more recognizable, but i will not use it in my recipes. Might be my SB blindness.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: Barbarian Cream – pleasant and workable. I wouldn’t say it’s a must have, but i see myself using this one often.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: Espresso - not perfect by any means and not even my best coffee, but it’s by far the best supporting coffee flavor; one that i will use in nearly every coffee mix i make except in bakeries; it fills the blind spots of other coffee flavors perfectly. Get this one. I would buy it again (but that won’t be necessary - my 10ml will last forever since i don’t make coffee recipes that often).
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :last_quarter_moon: Cheesecake - great as STF, but it seems delicate in recipes; have to use it more.
:full_moon: :full_moon: :full_moon: :last_quarter_moon: :new_moon_with_face: White Chocolate - mediocre flavor and it would deserve 2.5 as solo, but it seems to be a really good mixer with another mediocre flavor WC FLV; combining both would give a solid 4 WC rating, even 5 in some recipes). I wouldn’t buy it again.

9 Likes

Thanks for that information . All I know is he changed things after we tested them twice. Pricing went down and recommended percentages went up. That’s all I know. VSO is a thing of the past for me. My reviews are honest. I’m all set with this whole thing. :face_exhaling:

8 Likes

In all honesty I don’t watch your show or any other mixing shows so I have no idea of your reviews. I watch 1 reviewer, Todd who is routinely 20 minutes and hardware only. I only put the current info for the benefit of the community that might stumble into here.

I have zero VSO and zero Chef’s flavors as both were just too small and new as a vendor to me.

6 Likes

I do think something definitely changed in the formulation process since you tested those flavours back then for the results to be so different for many people that are trying them now.

6 Likes

Holy shit, there is a blast from the past. I loved Todd back in the day, his reviews were on point and super fun to watch with subtitles turned on!

6 Likes

Honestly it wouldn’t be the first time in the history of man that they make a decent product, to only get blinded by revenues so a little tweak here and there and hope it goes unnoticed. When i purchased the the flavors, i paid more then. The raws where listed at $15.99 and up for 15ml. Now raws are $6.99 for 30ml. Im leaning towards them really thinning the hell out of them to make as much money as possible. If they came out with a great one i wouldn’t buy it. I think as someone who uses a lot of flavorings i just cant trust them. I don’t regret trying them. Just wish i bought them now to save a little money. Its a learning experience on why i usually shouldn’t buy from a company i have no experience with.

3 Likes

Roger that @Lucas_James_Holden.

3 Likes

Thanks a lot for that post @Mikser, I appreciate it.

4 Likes

@Ken_O_Where, @big_vape who is this Todd ??

3 Likes

Just some dude in a shed. Scottish. Chilled. Lotsa mtl or high end gear reviews.
https://www.youtube.com/@ToddsReviews/videos

6 Likes

I had no idea he still did reviews, thank you.

6 Likes

Wow, thanks for that @big_vape, I thought I knew most of the sane reviewers out there. Chilled is exactly what we need more of. Get BACK to the products, and less of the other crap.

6 Likes

My sentiments exactly mate. :+1:t3:

3 Likes

I have Vso flavors from ,4 years ago, & I have Vso flavors from a month ago. Nothing changed :joy::joy:

3 Likes

Well, your percentages are just way off, IMO. Some RAWs are ridiculously strong, but then some are really weak. Huckleberry Raw, as an example, needs under 1% (0.3-0.6%) to be totally noticeable, if not prominent in the mix. Lemonade Raw, on the other hand, is really weak. I have to mix it at 5%+ to remotely recognize it in a mix.

For SFT, I would recommend going to ELR and clicking on the flavor, and then looking at what % people are preferring to SFT it. If it’s a VSO Raw, and you see most people using it at say 4%, then you know it’s a weak one. If you see the average being a low one like 0.7%, then you know this is a really strong flavor.

Personally, I like most of the VSO Raws I have. The only one that I really disliked was Buddha’s Hand Citron Raw. That one tasted like a urinal cake no matter what percentage I used it at. I ended up making a 5% dilution in PG, and use ONE DROP to accent a watermelon mix, as it does something magical there. But if I was to mix a lemonade with BHC as the star, it would go right in the bin.

Lastly, I just want to say that Shane is a great person to talk to about his products, as he will explain everything and will do everything in his power to help you out. But as with every flavor house, there are some good, and some bad. Luckily here you have Shane to help guide you in the right direction.

Edit: sorry for my rant, but i didn’t realize this post was an old one. Apologies :sweat_smile:

4 Likes

I am truly scared by this… did you really vape a urinal cake? :astonished: :scream: :nauseated_face:
:crazy_face:

6 Likes