Decadent Vapours Crème Anglaise

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 Creme Anglaise, 5% and 10%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 60 days. Flavor Description: Moderately thick vanilla custard with caramelized brown sugar.

So a crème anglaise is essentially a thinner, sauce style of custard and I think that fits here. It’s definitely in the custard family. Moderately full mouthfeel overall, but not quite as crazy heavy as something like CAP VC1. Probably a bit lighter than INW Custard as well. This is apparently Diacetyl and Acetyl Propinyl free, so all things considered it’s fairly rich but it doesn’t have a thick, buttery punch to the bottom end. Light egginess, and something that tastes like a heavy cream accent.

Pretty solid vanilla accent to this as well. Maybe a bit brighter than a bakery vanilla. DV calls out brown sugar and caramel in the description for this, and it seems to be adding some depth and darkness so it doesn’t come across as too much like a frosting vanilla. Those molasses brown sugar notes seem to come out on the back half of the exhale. The caramel here feels more like a marketing thing, and I’m not really getting anything like a caramel sauce to this. I do get some caramelized sugar though on top of that molasses.

There seems to be something a bit smoky in the finish. It’s a bit hard to really nail down, but it feels maybe just a bit burnt. I’m guessing it’s attached to either the brown sugar or caramel. I’m not sure if an overly aggressive brown sugar note, or too deep of a caramelization to the caramel, but the very tail of this flavor is a bit jarring. It sort of pulls the concentrate out of a straight custard and into a crème brulee. It almost adds something a little spicy to the back end, sort of like a light cinnamon.

Sweeter concentrate overall. Pushes cloying for me, but I do have a joyless DIY palate, so YMMV.

Off-Flavors: Tastes smoky on the back-end.

Throat Hit: Light. Starts fairly smooth but that brown sugar can read a little harsh, at least solo.

Percentage testing: At 5%, the brown sugar is working a fairly subtle accent for the custard base. Vanilla is in pretty well check. Good balance here, but it feels a bit thin.

At 10%, that brown sugar seems a lot more prominent, and it’s getting a bit dry. Solid custard base with a moderate density. Vanilla is strong but not overwhelming.

DV has their 20%, but that brown sugar note seems to be picking up substantially as this goes higher. Just based on these tests, I’d be using this a primary flavor around 8%, and an accent around 3-4%. I think as an accent you’ll get more custard and brown sugar flavor than actual custard mouthfeel and texture.

Uses & Pairings: Hey, a custard without too much butter. Why not just run with the crème anglaise thing. More of a custard topping than a custard base. Would work well with brighter fruits like strawberries. I could also see this working with bakeries fairly well, but I’d watch out for that brown sugar picking up harder, darker notes from crispier bakeries. Seems like a really interesting pairing for a desert tobacco mix with that brown sugar.

Second Opinions: Again, we head to the well of youtube reviews. You can watch some if you’d like.

Here is one.

And here is another.

It’s dangerous to go alone! Take an additional review.

Here’s a link to a UK Vapers post with some quick takes. User “john smith” writes: “a very rich rice pudding flavor with brown sugar and possibly a hint of caramel or toffee for me very nice but will mix about 12 % next time. at around 65-70 watts I'm getting an after taste of cinder toffee.” User “thribble” writes: “ there's a demerara note there. I mixed at 20%, and at present the demerara is all I'm getting. There's quite a pronounced rice-pudding like creaminess on the aftertaste, but the inhale is rather bland for me.

And here’s the product page from DV. Their description: “A sumptuous, smooth custard vape with a with a full vanilla flavour that is sweetened with brown sugar and a hint of caramel. An absolute must for all custard fans.”

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