Capella Hibiscus
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: CAP Hibiscus @ 4%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 10 days.
Flavor Description: Flat but not muted. Light inhale with building sweetness. Exhale with quite a bit more sweetness. Light bitterness and some light floral notes on the exhale. These aren't real dominant perfumey floral top notes, not aggressive or unpleasant. They come out a bit more at higher heat. Actual hibiscus flavor shows up in the exhale. Hard to describe beyond "hibiscus." Almost a tropical essence. Flavor association here, but almost a humid, sweet, tropical atmosphere. Kind of like overripe fuji apple flesh. Seems to have a lot in common with apple note from INW Cherimoya or FLV Soursop. Lingering sticky sweet mouthfeel, again more pronounced with higher wattages. Almost like the way the syrup in a slurpee sticks to your mouth long after you take a sip.
Off-flavors: My basis of comparison is limited, but nothing unpleasant.
Throat Hit: 3/10. Some light throat hit that builds over time.
Uses: Base/Emulstifier for tropical fruits. Counterpoint for sharper tea flavors. Body for floral mixes.
Pairings: Pineapple, Orange, Guava, Dark Berries. The only fruits I'd stay away from are sharper floral fruits like Peach and Green Apple. Teas, especially green. Thin florals like Jasmine. Sweeter, bright citrus. Harsh citrus would exacerbate the floral notes and be a bit unpleasant. Cherry Blossom is a popular pairing. It also looks like people use the sweetness as a feature with CAP Blue Raspberry Cotton Candy.
Notes: This is an interesting concentrate. The flavor itself reminds me of something like passionfruit. It's sort of a vague tropical note that really supports almost any fruit you add it to.
It also reminds me of FA Oba Oba, not in the way it tastes but the way it works. I'd be hard pressed to figure out a way to make this a top note in any juice you mix it with. It sort of sits under your other flavors and bridges some of the gaps. Like Oba Oba, it won't ever be a star, but it makes everything around it better.
Actually, come to think of it, I think it would be a close analogue to something like TFA Honeysuckle, with less pronounced floral top notes.
Percentage is tricky with this. 4% seems like a solid main note, but adding brighter and sharper flavors will stomp all over it and take the flavor in some unpleasant directions. The sweetness can quickly become overwhelming when paired with another strong sweet flavor at a high percentage. I'd stick to 1% to 2% as an accent and emulsifier.
Second Opinions:
There's a variety of the plant named "Turk's Cap Hibiscus" so my google-fu is basically wrekt.
u/HocusKrokus/ gets a much stronger floral note from this than I do but still enjoys it.
5 Stars all the way on ECX. Another couple mentions of Cotton Candy. That might be a thing.