Flavour Art Black Currant
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.17 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FA @ BlackCurrant %2, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 7 days.
Flavor Description: Dark berry syrup with a tart tang. Deep sweetness, with a lingering gummy mouthfeel.
Inhale is syrupy sweet. Dark marionberry/boysenberry type of flavor that isn't quite a blackberry but definitely isn't a raspberry. Good volume without feeling too creamy or dense. Exhale has that same dark berry note but with some really interesting tarter top notes. Not green or tannic like you'd expect from a small berry with so much surface area, but a true tart kind of apple cider vinegar note. Tartness isn't distracting and well balanced enough, but definitely tart. Sweet throughout the exhale with that same fluffy mouthfeel. Sweetness builds and the overall mouthfeel ends up being pretty much a gummy kind of flavor. Exhale is mostly clean, but that gummy mouthfeel lingers and coats the palate.
Off-flavors: That tartness is a bit weird, but in a good way. I can't really place a concentrate with the same kind of tartness to it.
Throat Hit: Not much, tiny bit of the harshness on the exhale but nothing out of line.
Uses & Pairings: You know what this kind of tastes like at 2%? A cross between swedish fish and a dash of ketchup. Wikipedia says that the flavor of swedish fish is rumored to be lingonberry, so we aren't too far out of the ballpark. You could run with that, and give your swedish fish vape an edge by staying the hell away from TFA's swedish gummy flavor. Quick S&V mix of 2% Blackcurrant and 3% CAP Jelly Candy, and it's pretty close if a bit dark. Should work well with all of your normal candy texturizers, and that tart note does a good job of replicating that brighter acid hit you get in hard candies or gummies.
Used in a lot of fruit mixes to add tart top notes, sweetness, and darker depth. Good complement for darker berries and a good counterpoint for brighter fruits.
Good stand-in for that lingonberry swedish berry type of flavor you get with a lot of crepes and stuff. Little syrupy for any drier bakeries, but should work well in a recipe that calls for more of a syrup on top.
Lower percentages should work well with whipped creams and heavier custards that already have a lot of body. I can see this being used to back up blueberries or blackberries.
Notes:
S&V concentration testing, 1% and under is mostly just tart. Not a whole lot of fruit going on. 1.5% is still a little floral and tart. 2% is better, and seems to give me most of what I need from the flavor. 3% has a deeper sweetness and fuller berry flavor. Gets awful ketchup-y for me with that tart note at 4%. I'd use this at 1% for an additive for other dark berries, 2% as a subtle primary note or strong accent for fruits or creams/custards, and 3% as a dominant note in fruit mixes or candies.
Another flavor where I don't have much actual reference so I can't comment too much on realism. Seems too syrupy for a dead-on take on a real fruit, so probably more of a candy take. /u/queutetue/ , of course, apparently grows the damn things and this doesn't taste much like the real fruit (but apparently that's not a bad thing. More than willing to defer here. Call it a bonus this doesn't taste like "chicken soup mixed with berries."
Second Opinions:
Lots of discussion on the sub, just missing the actual flavor review. Lots of comparing the various available blackcurrant concentrates: Try this, this, and this.
Absolutely no agreement on what people are tasting, but they seem to like it on ECX.
HIC Notes... are less then helpful:
"Here’s a gem, and a flavor no other brand does near as well. This is similar to a berry flavor with sweet and tart notes. It sweetens dark berry flavors; try it with Bilberry. It adds tartness to some berries; try it with Raspberry.
Small additions of Blackcurrant can be added to other fruit flavors for extra interest, without distracting too much."