FA cheesecake Olympus blends nicely with the WF Bavarian for added richness and a really nice mouthfeel. I should say irl I don’t enjoy thick pudding or custard either but do seek out rich creamy notes without the “thickness”. I agree I would only recommend this to who prefer lighter mouthfeel but still want rich tasty cream notes.
2 Likes
I really liked Almond Cookie too. I’ve gotta do something with it soon. Their Shortbread flavor was pretty impressive as well. I couldn’t taste it right away but after a couple of weeks, it was great (Really accurate). I tried it along with Inawera Shortbread but didn’t care for their version. It had a weird spice element that I didn’t enjoy.
4 Likes
Cream Custard (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-13-22) – I don’t know what YOU think about when you hear “Custard” but I think typically of a egg-ish, maybe pudding-like, buttery, and rich, well … Custard. This one proved to be somewhat of a mystery, and you’ll see why. First off, it was good, … very good, BUT, not sure if I’d call it a anything custard. Missing were much/most of the heavier buttery, and eggy elements, which left, a fairly rich, creamy, “something”. Def. creamy, def. fairly rich, and it almost seemed devoid of any vanilla, but I thought it was peeking through every once in a while. It had a very unique almost powdered sugar / confectioners sugary type finish which was unexpected, and seemed to REALLY work. Richer and denser than a whipped cream, so it was pushed out of that category, but def. in the rich cream category. Pretty interesting to say the least. @ 3.5% it was as full as it would probably get. Hard to exactly quantify beyond what I’ve done so far. No eggs or vanilla, but a fairly rich cream/creamery with an almost powdered sugar finish. If you’re in the market for a great rich cream, but don’t want the egg, sign yourself up for this one. Despite it being named “custard”, it didn’t feel fair to down mark it too much for that, as it was a great flavor. With that said, it felt good and fair @ 9/10.
Keep in mind what @Letitia said above on the WF Bavarian Cream review, as this one was similar, and many people may NOT want the overtly, in your face aspect that many flavors deliver, and this one was similar in that respect.
8 Likes
So would this cream work well for rounding out the Bavarian without getting cloying/too thick? What I like about the Olympus is it enhances the Bavarian notes rather than burying them and it really isn’t cheesy so much as rich used lower.
3 Likes
@Letitia In a word …
ABSOLUTELY !!!
I honestly struggled on how to classify it during the test. Heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, heavy cream with powdered sugar !!!
I think it would work perfectly in that regard. Rich, but not thick, creamy, but not cloying, No egg, butter and almost completely devoid of nilla. A very good, blank slate if you will.
4 Likes
Awesome, added to the list.
3 Likes
When you get it, you have to let me know what YOU think. Very curious, now that I know some of your preferences @Letitia.
2 Likes
Being lazy here…is it available at BCF?
4 Likes
5 Likes
Crepe (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-14-22) – I’ll start this one by saying it wasn’t entirely “crepe-y”. It was in the ballpark somewhat, but I was constantly comparing it to FA’s Custard with a spicy undernote, which I couldn’t fully identify, maybe anise ?? Either way, it was semi creamy, with a light lemon overtone, and some slight bakery, and spice on the bottom. Not terrible, but not really identifiable as a crepe. Surely it could be use as a “baser” to get to a crepe, but not as the main driver. @ 3.5% it felt as present as it could get, and had no off-notes, except for maybe the underlying spice notes. I didn’t get any real buttery-ness from it, so that subtracted from the desired profile as well. Average, but not great. Good base, not the star of the show. Placing it at a 6.5/10.
8 Likes
French Vanilla (Thick) (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-16-22) – I was REALLY looking forward to getting into this one, and the slight delay in posting was because I couldn’t stop “sampling” it, hehe. It is and was a GREAT French Vanilla, and honestly, it WAS “thick”. I burned through two testers trying to figure out how to explain the thickness, because I was sure the assumption would be that of a milkshake flavor, which this was not. I’m not sure how Wonder Flavors did it, but they made it thick, but NOT into a milkshake. Pretty impressive to my tastes. It had all the characteristics of a good French Vanilla, no overt dairy or milkshake notes, BUT, it did convey a thickness that carried over onto a great mouthfeel. Obviously this would work VERY well in anything where you needed an FV, including anything Milk Shake-y. @ 3.5% this one was very full, fairly rich, and at about mid level sweet. Two testers in, I think I already added a bigger bottle to my cart. No off-putting notes, and it was convincingly accurate, tasty, and clean. The room note, smell, and taste were all spot on, and it was hard to put down. What makes this a real winner is where, and how much you could use it. Nicely done, and placing it @ 9.9/10.
10 Likes
Graham Cracker Pie Crust (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-16-22) – I have been obsessed with GC’s about as long as I’ve been with S’mores, so I’m always on the prowl. This one presented as a “foundational” graham cracker. Wait, what ?? Yes, foundational. It had all the aspect of a great graham cracker, BUT didn’t fully have the impact, even at 3.5% to carry the full freight IMO. Now, it was not bad in any way/shape/form, as it checked all the boxes, and the only minor markdowns would be for presence, and grain. It didn’t really have the grainy bakery nuances that would have pushed it up into the stellar category. Very true and natural tasting, with ZERO off-putting notes, and @ 3.5% it felt at or near it’s top end. Now what I REALLY liked was it was DEVOID of any coconut notes, which would completely open up it’s usage. It wasn’t dry, and I didn’t get much if any buttery-ness to it, but more just a great, natural tasting graham cracker. Until I narrowed in on the lack of coconut notes I was going to rate it @ 7.5, but with the no coconut in play, it felt better @ 8.75/10.
10 Likes
@SessionDrummer
The French Vanilla (Thick) sounds interesting mate. I like both CAP FV and TPA FVD. How would you say it compares to them flavour wise, and is it a SC or a normal concentrate?
6 Likes
@Ianc13 directly comparing to CAP’s is difficult for me, as I get a certain “something” from EVERY one of their Vanillas. This one is devoid of that, so it’s similar to CAP’s, without that trademarked “CAP Vanilla Thing” that I get. I have, but haven’t solo’d TPA’s so I can’t really help with that comparison. As far as the strength(s), I wouldn’t considered it an SC even though it’s billed as such, as @ 3.5% it was great, and wasn’t smashing the ceiling IMO.
6 Likes
Orange (Citrus Tangy) (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-16-22) – Going into this one, I wonder whether or not it would be LIKE Tang, or Tangy. It turned out to be the latter, with a mostly natural tasting orange, with a decidedly “tangy” finish. I couldn’t find any Lemon or Lime, so how they did it exactly MAY remain a mystery. Tang not only has an interesting history, but uses a combination of Ascorbic and Citric acids (plus other ingredients) to give it that punch. Bright, punchy, and I’d say a 75% natural / 25% artificial taste is what this delivered in spades @ 3.5%. Super present, but non-fatiguing, nor hitting the ceiling, and about 2 ticks above mid-level sweet. It’s an interesting flavor to taste, as I had aasumed (again) that it would have been a simple Orange with “Tart and Sour” added, but it actually presented as more complex than that. This one was spot on to it’s name. No off-putting notes, and hard to mark down. Tang-ily placing this one @ 9.2/10.
8 Likes
Orange Juice (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-16-22) – I intentionally wanted to run this one back to back with the Orange (Citrus Tangy), so I could really A/B compare/contrast them. What do you know, everything BUT the PULP !!! This one was exempt from much of the “tangy” that I got from the aforementioned, but it was still really good. Except for orange creamsicles, I don’t really dabble much in the orange realm but after these two from WF, I think I might change that. This one was more of an even keeled orange, with about the same 75% natural / 25% artificial as the tangy, and it just tasted like it should. Start to finish, it didn’t leave you wanting, and had no off-notes at this weight. Sweetness was about mid level, and much like eating a real orange, the orange citrus notes lingered after you were done. Although this and the tangy presented at about the same ratio of natual / artificial this one would work better where a more tradional orange was needed. Despite NOT being an Orange-Head, I liked this one, and had issue trying to down rate it. For a clean, natural tasting orange, without the pulp, this one gets it done. 9.0/10.
9 Likes
Shortbread Cookies (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-17-22) – Butter, butter, and MO butter is the word of the day with this one. OK, maybe not THAT much, but this flavor, but you get a healthy dose. Now that’s good, because WF kept this one true to a true Shortbread Cookie, which literally has three ingredients. Flour, sugar, butter. All three were present, and surprisingly, not as sweet as I had predicted, with a below mid level sweetness. The “crumbly” aspects of a SBC were captured pretty well, as well as the (duh), butta !!! The butter while predominant, wasn’t dominant or overbearing, and sat well in the mix. At 3.5% it was full, and rich, without any off-notes or signs of over-flavoring. Somewhat relaxed, and fairly neutral, which left it as a blank canvas to build from with enhancers, jams, whatever you needs. I didn’t get a huge amount of grain/grainy-ness, and not sure if that detracted or not. All in, a nice accurate, true to name Shortbread Cookie, which was a blank canvas to build from. Minor take offs for lacking grains, but that’s about it. 8.8/10.
9 Likes
Tangerine (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-17-22) – This one smelled great in the bottle, and when finger testing, but something got lost in translation when testing. It simply presented as an almost dull orange hue, almost like the base body of “Tang”, but missing most of the upper mid and high notes. It’s hard to explain, but it wasn’t muted, but rather just a non-descript orange-ish, sweet flavor with no real direction towards a tangerine. Maybe a sweetened citrus oil of sorts, but hard to identify with specificity. Would surely work in the low end of a base, but def. not the star of the show, or carrying the main freight of a tangerine. At 3.5% it seemed as full as it would ever get, and at about mid-level sweetness. As a base/r only, would leave it solidly at a 5.5/10.
8 Likes
Tahitian Vanilla Cream (WF) (SC) 3.5% (12-17-22) – Ohh yes, HERE we go. YES, this one is a MUST HAVE. There you go, in the second sentence in the review. Stop reading, go clicky, clicky, buy now LOL. OK, I have to give you more than that, right ? OK, for starters, this isn’t what I would call a pure Tahitian Vanilla, BUT, that’s OK, because it is a flavor POWERHOUSE. Total stand alone, One-Shot right here people. Tahitian Van actually has lower levels of vanillin, but if I didn’t know better, I think Wonder Flavors snuck in a smidge of Crumble Topping in here !!! I’m surprised no one else caught this, as I’ve seen NO mention of it anywhere, but I’m convinced. This was super delicious, rich, and full @ 3.5% and it tasted perfect at this level. Rich, but not buttery per se, but very full, complex, and did NOT leave you wanting. Many Vanillas with very high levels of Vanillin can be very Vanilla-y, but can come across as thin overall. Not this one. as it was FAR more than JUST a Vanilla. It did have a nice creamy nuance to it, but it really had an impact, and far more so than JUST a vanilla and cream. As a crude ratio analysis, call it a 50% vanilla, 25% cream, and 25% crumble. Now it that doesn’t wet your whistle, I don’t know what will. Utterly countless uses for this one ranging from everything bakery, to custards, creams, and more, so buy a BIG bottle, as you’ll be using it a lot. 3 full testers down, enjoying it, errrrr, trying to find faults with it and I couldn’t. If you are looking for a strict, or pure vanilla, this one isn’t that, but if you want a deliciously rich, and full vanilla desert, this one IS it. Sorry guys, I can’t go lower than 10/10 on this one.
12 Likes