Capella Apricot
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.18 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Capella Apricot, 4 and 8%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 17 days.
Flavor Description: Pretty solid, if weak and soft, slightly artificial apricot flavor.
This is pretty much just apricot. It tastes just a bit artificial but not wildly oversatured like a candy flavor. It reminds more of something like a fruit leather, where the flavor is a bit concentrated over the actual fruit. It doesn't have the yellow peach kind of base like TPA or FLV.
This is a softer flavor. There isn't anything really bright or overwhelming to it, kind of like an actual apricot. It's soft, fruity and sweet. I'm not getting anything dry or spicy here like FA's apricot. No real hit of vanilla or anything else odd for a fruit here. No dry peel spice.
Stickier mouthfeel to this. Down low it's pretty much just some of that almost gelatinous lip stickiness, but as the percentage increases it gets a bit more unctous and slightly jammy. It also seems to get a bit warmer at higher concentrations, does a fairly good job of selling in that jamminess while maintaining a bit of juiciness. Probably a bit sweet overall for a realistic fruit flavor but it isn't candy sweet. I'd point to the whole fruit leather thing again.
Off-flavors: Not really, It's a bit thin and dry too low and a bit floral too high, but nothing really stands out in the usable range.
Throat Hit: Light. Can get a bit dry before the flavor really get's saturated but pretty mellow overall. No sign of that whole peach/stone fruit linalool thing.
Percentage testing: Seems a bit weak, even for a CAP fruit. At 4% I'm getting some sweet apricot flavor, but it feels kind of thin and hollow, without much flavor in the base. Also feels a bit dry. Mouthfeel is a little bit sticky but not really warm and jammy.
This flavor fills in quite a bit at 8%. That dryness from the base tapers off quite a bit, and there is something that feels a bit warm and juicy bordering on jammy. That sticky mouthfeel also feels a bit fuller and almost comes across as a gummy type flavor. Still tastes recognizably like an apricot, although with the heavier saturation it starts to go fruit leather. Light floral notes, but nothing really overwhelming.
I did test this up higher as a S&V, and it does seem to get a bit floral at 10% and above. I'd probably be around 7% with this. Like actual apricot, it's a bit of a softer flavor, so mixing this with brighter fruit is going to move this into the background. Since it's thinner at low percentages, I don't think this one will work all that well as an accent at a lower percentage, which fits with most of the capella fruits.
Uses & Pairings: Doesn't really have the presence to stand up in bakeries, but this actually seems like a pretty good apricot to use with creams for a sweet, fruity kind of base. Nothing really green or aggressively spicy to clash with the cream.
Mellow enough to fit in with just about fruit you want to throw in. Brighter fruits are going to take center stage, but would end up being a soft, sweet kind of background for a lot of fruit mixes. Go bright with strawberry or kiwi, dark with blueberry or fig, or even tropical fruits. Good sweetener for darker peach mixes, should pair really well plum.
Probably a bit too mellow and still juicy enough that it's not really work as a pairing with tobaccos.
Second Opinions:
Also kosher to pick over FOTW threads, right? Only one note on CAP Apricot by "CranberryMarcus": "CAP version of the FOTW is a fresh and light one, little bit of the pulp, little bit of the kernel, with a feeling of an underripe apricot, including the skin part." They are using it at 3.8%, so maybe that's part of the difference in takes, or I'm just wildly off-base.
Here's the ELR Page. User "acoda" writes: "I've really been enjoying this as a single mix. The taste isn't artificial and not overly sweet. I think this could be improved but not sure what to mix with yet. 10% was a little to strong for my liking. The flavour came through really chemically, quite harsh. Give 9% to just see but I think 8% is the sweet spot.
As usual, the reviews on ECX are borderline useless. Two reviews by "emsmom" and "Enaid" calling this weak, one by "sarah" calling it "very good and strong." Two 4-stars by "steven" and "shellany" calling out pairings with apple and cinnamon and creams and vanilla.