Decadent Vapours Crystal Blue
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for this, shoutout to Decadent Vapours for sending this to me.
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.30 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Decadent Vapours Crystal Blue, 5% and 10%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 60 days. Flavor Description: Blue berries and anise with a minty finish and a whole lot of blue dye.
Fruit forward flavor. Decadent Vapours calls out juicy forest fruits and grape in the description for this, and that seems like a pretty good place to start. I do get some artificial grape from this on the front end, especially after coming back to it after a while. That grape impression fades for me pretty quickly though, and I’m thinking it’s mostly blueberry and raspberry after that. The blueberry is aggressive and fairly artificial. It reminds me a lot of HS Blueberry, and not really a tarter realistic blueberry like FA Bilberry. The raspberry here mostly shows up after that blueberry. Blends fairly well with that bright blueberry but I do get some more ketchupy TPA Sweet Raspberry-esque notes that show up closer to the tail of the flavor. I’m also getting sort of weird blue raspberry peachy or pineapple note to this that sort of comes and goes. Feels a bit reductive to try to start picking all the fruit apart though, because it does come across as a fairly cohesive candy “berry” flavor without suffering from that medicinal generic mixed berry flavor.
Light aniseed accent here. I wouldn’t call it full on to a black licorice flavor, it’s subtle enough to mostly complement that candied berry flavor as opposed to really stick out as an individual component. I’m not anti-anise so YMMV, but for me, at least, this isn’t overpowering. I also pick up a good amount of something like spearmint. Moderate menholation at 10%, not painfully cold or anything like that. Light hint of an actual green spearmint flavor in here.
Sweet overall. Toes the line on cloying for me at 10%. Seems to be pushing “commercial” juice levels of sweetness but I haven’t been noticing any heavy sucralose buildup on my coils, so seems to be implemented fairly well. Full, thick mouthfeel in general, and the mentholation seems to clean up the exhale a bit keeping everything from getting too sticky.
It’s blue though. Like really, really blue. There is a lot of dye in here.
Off-Flavors: Sure, it tastes like a crystal, but there is no reason this has to be neon blue. The food coloring is stupid and serves no conceivable purpose here. Otherwise, fits the profile and nothing that tastes chemical or subjectively unpleasant, at least to me.
Throat Hit: Not really? I mean the mentholation hits like it should, but nothing that really stings or feels like it’s unduly harsh.
Percentage testing: At 5%, this maybe seems relatively heavy on the grape. Feels more like a combo of Grape, Sweet Raspberry, and Spearmint. Anise accent is pretty mellow here. Still relatively full and sweet.
At 10%, This tastes quite a bit “bluer” than 5%. Grape seems to be taking a back seat to that heavy blueberry and the raspberry is getting just a bit ketchup-y with extended vaping. Anise is present but not overwhelming. Cool but not cold, mentholation is still pretty pleasant. Sweet, almost syrupy mouthfeel.
I tried this up at 20% and it was a bit overwhelming. Too sweet, too cold, and that anise was making everything bitter. Just based on these tests, I’d probably stick closer to 10%. I feel like I’m getting more than enough out of this flavor at 10% but it’s still pretty bold. If you wanted it a bit less intense though, 5% isn’t a bad place to start. Don’t worry, it will still be hella blue.
Uses & Pairings: I mean, this is a pretty good solo flavor. Sweet, full, smooth, and minty with a bit of an interesting anise twist. Seems really well balanced and pretty satisfying by itself.
HocusKrokus aka Kopel is something like 98% sure this is the basis for Vampire Vape’s Heisenberg, He has a pretty rocking beard, so I’d believe him.
But yeah, I’d probably stick to this solo. I don’t think it would taste bad with additional berries, grapes, mint, or even a more over peach or pineapple, but this seems to be pretty well balanced by itself.
Second Opinions: Youtube reviews mostly.