Flavor Express RY4 Double
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 RY4 Double, 1 and 3%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 18 days.
Flavor Description: Sweetened coffee? Maybe the "dessert" part of a dessert tobacco, but I'm struggling to find any actual tobacco here.
This tastes a lot like coffee. I'm sure there are some combinations of tobaccos that come across like coffee, but I'm not getting any smoke, ash, or even a clear leafy flavor. It's a dead ringer for a medium-dark roast drip coffee with some added sugar. There's a very slight cocoa edge which starts to come out at higher percentages. Coffee has just a slight burnt taste to it that conceivably could be where some kind of tobacco is slotting in, but overall effect just tastes like coffee. Sweetness here has a little bit of a caramel taste, but comes across more like a baseline sweetness to to the entire vape rather than a specific sweet component.
The mouthfeel is relatively full for a super concentrate type alcohol-based flavor, with some actual volume to it. Not nearly as thick as TPA, JF, or HS, but I seem to have issues with texture on alcohol-based flavors. This is still fairly sweet, but that lack of body actual keeps it from getting too sticky and cloying. It's almost a granulated sugar kind of sweetness but it fades out pretty quickly.
Off-flavors: A whole lot of coffee. Not much in common with the other RY4 flavors I've tried beyond a general lack of tobacco.
Throat Hit: Moderate, dry harshness to this. Doesn't seem to have that warm, scratchy throatiness of other RY4's but it still has a bit of bite.
Percentage testing: At 1%, I'm getting a pretty full helping of that coffee kind of flavor. Medium dark and just slightly burnt. Moderate caramel sweetness without a heavy stickiness. Texture feels a bit thin. Moderately harsh and a bit dry.
At 3% I'm getting about the same amount of coffee out of this, but it seems to be picking up a bit of cocoa. Caramel has filled in just a bit, but the texture feels functionally identical and still a little thin. Hasn't gotten much sweeter, but the harshness and dryness has picked up for me.
Just based on these tests, I'd probably be around 2% with this flavor. I've tried mixing super concentrates with PG based concentrates, and the super concentrates tend to get pushed into the background of mixes. So I think this is probably going to work better in an accent role, unless you want to go full super concentrates.
Uses & Pairings: I'm not sure about this about a tobacco flavor. I think you could use it as a component in a desert tobacco, but you'll want to pair it with a more aggressive tobacco and this is just going to bring a sweet coffee vibe to the mix.
Taken on it's own terms, it's really not a bad, sweet coffee. This could use some cream to thicken it a bit, but it doesn't need much beyond that.
Second Opinions: I can't find much substantive out there.
Here's the product page from ECX. Their description: "RY4 double brings twice the unique and delicious flavor of tobacco paired with hints of caramel and vanilla to your DIY recipe. If you are a fan of RY4 and are looking for a bit more out of your mix, then RY4 Double by Flavors Express is the perfect choice! Try pairing it with vanilla and other creams!" One 4 star review by "Ken": "While this is good it has little to do with RY4 imo. Has a very heavy coffee tone to me. Coupled with its slight sweetness it should be relabeled as an espresso. Perhaps it will change over time but this is my impression with shake and vape and a couple days of sitting."