Flavorah Graham Cracker
ConcreteRiver
This a a pre-release flavor, which was provided to me solely for the purposes of review.
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 Graham Cracker, .25, 1, and 3%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 7 days.
Flavor Description: More fluffy than crisp, not a ton of texture here but I'm getting a lot of volume. Overall seems like a relatively light flavor. A little top heavy and thin in the base.
Once you get to actual graham flavor here at higher percentages, it's okay. More of a lighter graham flour kind of taste without too much darker honey sweetness behind it. Missing some of the carmelized-ish sugar taste I associate with graham crackers.
I'm not picking up a cinnamon spice note in here. In terms of graham crackers, it definitely steers closer to a straight up graham cracker, and not the cinnamon kind. It does seem like there's some kind of bakery vanilla in here. Still seems like fairly subtle, but it's like someone used a heavy hand with vanilla extract before baking these off. At high percentages it can pick up a bit of an icing type note, but that's pushing 5%.
Off-flavors: On the whole, doesn't really jump out as a graham cracker. Nothing offensive or bad, but it seems to be lacking some texture and depth. I don't think the vanilla is completely out of line, but there isn't a ton going on around it so it sticks out.
Throat Hit: Little bit of throatiness here and a bit of dryness. Nothing major, but it does seem to have just a little bite.
Percentage testing: At .25% there's a lot of texture, and not much flavor. Definitely needs more flavor here to come through clearly.
At 1% still feels a little light for a graham cracker. Some graham cracker top notes coming through but it still feels soft. Vanilla is starting to show up as an accent, not unpleasant but high for a graham cracker.
At 3% there's some texture here, but it feels powdery instead of crispy. Graham flour top notes are clearer. Vanilla is stronger but it hasn't crossed into full on icing territory yet. Still tastes light, I'm missing the honey if this supposed to be a honey graham cracker. Actually feels maybe a little undersweet.
I'd probably mix with this around 2% when I'm after more of the graham cracker top notes and not a full graham cracker, probably pairing with a heavier base. If I was going to try to force some texture in here I may go up to 3-4%, but the mix will have to accommodate the vanilla.
Uses & Pairings: Comparing this other graham crackers, it definitely doesn't have much in common with CAP Graham Cracker. The CAP has a pretty solid cinnamon hit to it, and a crisper, heavier texture. This is also less buttery and textured than the TPA version. Seems to resemble a fluffier version of FW more than any of the others. Maybe a bit lighter in flavor and with less texture. I do get a bit of plasticy-vanilla note out of the FW, but the vanilla in the FLV seems a bit less weird to me. Personally, the Capella version tastes the most like an actual graham cracker to me, but I kind of like the cinnamon note in there. If you're anti-cinnamon, this may be worth a shot if you're after a lighter graham cracker without the butter of TPA and FW has that same weirdness to you.
In terms of filling this out, I could see some trying to bring in some texture. It would work well to dial back CAP Graham Cracker a bit and for a lighter graham cracker. If you have something working as a bit of emulsification in a mix, like TPA Dragonfruit or FLV Cream, should work with a heavier AP note from something like Cookie for a deeper graham flavor or INW Biscuit for some buttery snap. Flavorah bakeries tend to have less texture and usually require a bit of extra help to get crisper and more up-front.
I can't come up with too many use cases where this is going to be hands-down the right graham cracker for a specific profile. The top notes here might do a better job of showing up over heavier creamy bases, but generally those graham base flavors actually work really well with creams. I'd see it more as another option if you've got an issue with existing graham flavors, knowing it's a bit lighter and fluffier.