Flavor Express Passion Fruit
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for these, shoutout to ECX for sending them to me.
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.31 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Flavor Express Passion Fruit, 1% and 3%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 26 days.
Flavor Description: More passion fruit nectar than fresh.
For me, at least, fresh passion fruit tastes a bit like a mixture of bright raw pineapple and citrus acidity with a sweeter guava base with hints of yellow peach. Commercial passion fruit flavors are heavier on that very "red" type of fruit sweetness like guava, and have a much milder version of that tartness.The passion fruit here is relatively easygoing. There's some tartness here, but it's more accurate to a sweeter passion fruit flavor rather than the pretty intense fresh version of passion fruit. Given that profile, I think this is fairly accurate. It tastes like a passion fruit you'd find in one of those fruit nectar drinks or some other kind of canned beverage.
The off-notes here are interesting. Despite this being more passion fruit nectar than fresh passion fruit, it still has something that tastes a lot like a peel (even though I'm pretty sure you don't get any peel anywhere in actual passion fruit.) There's a slightly green, muddy note to the finish, especially at higher percentages. I'm also getting some some perfumey bitterness above 1%. Starts to pick up a bit of laundry detergent soapiness after prolonged vaping.
This is fairly sweet overall. Not quite passion fruit syrup, but seems artificially sweetened. Doesn't get too sticky or cloying to me at the percentages I tested. Not a ton of texture or body here either. Just thick enough to not come off as astringent with that soapier note.
Comparing this to some of the other passion fruits I've tried, the FE Version doesn't have the fresher, tarter hit of FA. FE doesn't have that pretty intense throat hit, though. Much closer to the CAP/PUR/FLV end of the spectrum. This has less flat greeness than CAP. Seems closest to FLV Passion Fruit, even down to that Super Concentrate kind of thinness. The flavor of PUR is also really close to the same profile, but I don't get that light soapyness out of PUR, and I feel like the body on that one is a touch more solid.
Off-flavors: Light floral and slightly bitter top note. Slightly green peel note almost like a more restrained mango peel. Tastes just a little soapy, at least solo.
Throat Hit: Moderate, but it's still a lot less intense than FA... so that's something.
Percentage testing: At 1%, this is recognizably passion fruit but it tastes a bit muddy. I get more sweet guava than anything bright or acidic. Florals and soapiness hasn't really shown up yet, but I'm not getting a completely distinct passion fruit.
At 3%, some of that tartness is starting to show up. Sweeter, a bit fuller, and with a better flavor saturation. I am getting some of those floral and peel notes though, and the bitter florals and greener notes make this taste a bit soapy.
Just based on these tests, I'd be using this as an accent around .5-1%. This should work better as an accent flavor, it gets too soapy and floral at the kind of higher percentages you'd need to use to really get it to come across as a primary flavor.
Uses & Pairings:
Should work well for some vaguely exotic tropical sweetness in fruit mixes. I'd watch out for overdoing this against guava with that heavy sweetness, papaya with that muskiness, or mango with some of the peel notes in there. I'd proably stick with orange, banana, or a heavier pineapple flavor like CAP.
Passion fruit works a lot like Guava with strawberries, sweetening and supporting them.
I also like passion-fruit with sweeter stone fruit like peaches or plums.
You don't see a ton of bakeries or creams with passion-fruit, but this would be a decent choice for something like a pavlova.
Solid choice for beverage passion fruit flavors when you're going after that heavier, sweeter artificial passion fruit.
Second Opinions: I can't find much substantive out there.
Here's the product page from ECX. Their description: "Enjoy the fragrantly piquant taste of Passion Fruit by Flavors Express in your next DIY recipe! Passion Fruit is a bold tropical flavor that pairs very well with creamy and sweet flavors." Fragrantly piquant, huh?