Flavour Art Cardamom
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 Cardamom @ .5% Solo, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 7 days.
Flavor Description: Green cardamom. Flavor is like a cross between ginger, lemon peel, pink peppercorns, sage, and eucalyptus. Warm and thin overall, with a citrus-like tartness. No real extra sweetness here. True to profile, if a bit too herbal.
Inhale is sour, gingery lemon peel. Exhale opens up into a really clear green cardamom. Gingery spice with some fruity pink peppercorn notes. Almost a juicy lemon in there as well. Back half of the exhale turns green. I get something dark and herby like sage, and a eucalyptus back end. Thin mouthfeel, and that spice note is definitely on the warm side. Tastes like the spice note is cooked, but there is some actual raw plant in there as well. Really interesting how much this stuff shifts around depending on where you are in the vape.
Off-flavors: A bit more vegetal than the spice itself. That leafy eucalyptus throws me a bit.
Throat Hit: Light, but completely expected from something this assertive. It may be a feature, and not a bug.
Uses & Pairings: Works well with more than you'd think.
Traditional use in chai tea, and blends really well with lighter creams in general. I've had a cardamom lassi and it was delicious, but I'm not fan of yogurt concentrates so YMMV when it comes to the vapeable form.
In terms of fruit pairings, I'd stick with smoother, creamier fruits like bananas, coconut, or guanabana/cherimoya. You see some culinary use with mango or papaya, but you'd need a cream to smooth it out in vape form. Also tends to pair well with squash, but your options are pretty limited there.
Used in a lot Mediterranean deserts. Good all-around bakery spice, with a lot of the positive qualities of ginger and clove, without being nearly as sharp. Would be a great addition to a baklava or a spice cake. Blends well some of those stereotypically Persian flavors like pistachio, almond, rose, and honey. It's also apparently a thing in Scandinavian baking, so have at it if you want to go full IKEA and get you some cardamom yeast rolls or something. /u/Queuetue/ 's Dumbo Ears is an awesome way to get into cardamom pastries.
Notes: Very strong, and super distinctive. This is again one where you want to start very low and work up. Legitimately a 1 drop per 10ml flavor for a lot of applications. You get something like a gingery rose down low. Increasing your percentage, the spice note ramps considerably and that rose sharpens allowing you to pick out of some of the other nuances in there. It tastes a bit more vegetal and herbaceous to me at .25%. Noticeably tart as well. .5% gets you closer to a dry spice note and that warm, bordering on ginger spiciness. I'd mix this into something floral really low, at around 2 drops per 10 ml or .05%. I'd start at .2% for a coconuts or creams, while .5% seems like a good fit for heavier chais or baked goods. I can't imagine having a use for this over 1%.
Second Opinions:
"No other company makes this spice flavor, and FA did it perfectly! This tastes just like sweet green cardamom powder (not black cardamom), a sweet spice related to ginger. It's the distinctive flavor in real Indian chai. If you vape coconut, fruit flavors, chai/tea, or spiced bakery recipes, you need this flavor.Cardamom adds a great touch to many fruits. If you use coconut in any recipe, try it with Cardamom. They are a perfect pair; cardamom sweetens the flavor of FA Coconut, especially noticeable when you exhale. Of course you need Cardamom for authentic flavor in chai. It's also used in many Indian desserts and Scandinavian cookies.Addd 0.25-0.5% Cardamom to a recipe for an exotic, sweet-spice touch. If you really can't stand ginger, you should probably avoid Cardamom - but otherwise, give it a try"
Remember that thing with the potential Cherimoya pairing? I stole that from /u/CheebaSteeba. He left a recipe in his review for INW Cherimoya that uses cardamom:
"Cardamom: This flavor makes the Rabri. It brings this slightly sweet, spicy tone to the party and really brightens up the Cherimoya and makes him the star. Without it, this flavor is really hard for me to work in to a recipe. You can take this lower, prob .25% if you don't like it as spicy, and I wouldn't bring it higher than .5% or it will take over." Worth noting, the final percentage is .125%.
/u/HocusKrokus provides another spot-on quick rundown in the FOTW Spice post:
"FA Cardamom: Very authentic and true to it's name. It can make a home anywhere where cinnamon or ginger could fit as well. A great addition to holiday themed recipes, spiced teas, or just zesting up some bright berries. Best results at .5% or less IMO, but can still be good up to 1% if it's competing with some heavier flavors."