Flavorah Apple Cranberry
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.16 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FLV Apple Cranberry @ 1% and 1 drop per 10ml (about .25%), 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 15 days.
Flavor Description: Juicy red apple with a bit of a candy sweetness and some harsh cranberry on the back end. The apple is a bit sweeter and softer than something like FA Fuji. The cranberry veers closer to a sharper, floral cranberry like TFA Cranberry, instead of the juicier normal FLV Cranberry.
Inhale is sharp and a bit harsh. Moderately dense, and fairly heavy on a sharper apple sweetness. Base of the exhale has a good take on a sweet, juicy red apple. Higher cranberry top notes, sharp and floral, really showing on the back half of the exhale. Cranberry here is harsh and a bit chemical. Concentrate is heavier on the apple, but that cranberry is really sharp and manages to mar the exhale pretty effectively. Juicy mouthfeel before that harshness comes in. Sweet and moderately dense. Lingering high, harsh sting.
Off Flavors: Sharp, harsh almost rubbing alcohol kind of edge to the cranberry on the back end. It's not too overwhelming overall, but I'm inclined to think it's contributing to the throat hit here. It could be some actual ethyl alcohol or something in here, but it's noticeable at .25% after a two week steep, so I'm calling it part of the flavor. "Breathing" or anything else to mellow it out is going to mess around with the rest of the concentrate.
Throat Hit: The achilles heel here, I really like the way this tastes but it's pretty harsh. I'd say an 8 out of 10 if you want numbers attached. I've tried some EM to calm it down, and it kind of works... but it ruins some of the balance here.
Uses & Pairings: Pretty good start for a cider or something similar, especially when mixed with FLV Apple Cider (Booze) or HS Apple Mix (Non-booze.)
Seems a bit harsh for creams. A higher percentage of a cream may help to smooth out this concentrate a bit. I don't want to sound too much like a shill, but FLV Cream may work. It has a tendency to mute sharper flavors, and it would let more of that red apple come through.
Used as backup, interesting note for a fruit mix. Sweet red apple and a bit of tartness from the cranberry. Mixing with one of the TFA Strawberries should mute out some the sharpness from the cranberry. Also seems like a good paring for raspberries, and FLV Cranberry.
Notes: S&V concentration testing, .25% seems a bit weak. Still getting a good amount of sweetness and the harshness is pretty well in check. Apple flavor is a bit indistinct though. .5% has a brighter, fuller apple. A bit more harsh. 1% has a really solid apple base, but the throat hit of the cranberry is getting intense and getting a bit of an alcohol sting. At 1.5%, the cranberry is getting too floral, and the throat hit is too much solo. I'd use this at .5-.75% as a supporting flavor or maybe 1-1.25% if you want to use this a primary note and you have something in the mix to smooth this out a bit.
Seems like a bit of a missed opportunity, because the apple here is really good... but that cranberry is harsh and has a bit of an alcohol edge to it. This would have been a whole lot better if you had a cranberry effect like the straight FLV Cranberry. That would end up being more a sweeter cran-apple juice thing, as opposed to having to fight the harshness on the back end of this concentrate.
Second Opinions:
Nothing I can find.