Flavorah Moscato
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 Moscato, .25, 1, and 3%, others noted, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 5 days.
Flavor Description: Sweet white grape. I'm not getting much in the way of booze out of this, but it's a pretty solid, bright white grape flavor. I'd probably use more in a interesting fruit mix, but I think it would make some really solid sweeter champagne flavors with some additional help.
The white grape here reminds me a lot of less floral FA White Grape. It has that same sort of sweet, bright, and almost sticky grape note. Very bright, with some slightly sharp lychee notes to it. The florals here, at least 5 days out are pretty mild and they don't do the hairspray thing that FA White Grape does.
This doesn't really taste boozy to me, at least not a recognizable wine boozy. There is a bit of a greener note to the back end of this gets a little of a wine astringency but it stops short of the profile for me.
Off-flavors: This gets a little green when you start to push it. Closer to 3% I'm getting something that tastes a lot like INW Rhubarb in the mix.
Throat Hit: Light. Just a bit of throat hit, but nothing too aggressive or out of line for a fruit flavor.
Percentage testing: At .25%, I'm getting a clear white grape flavor. It's not all that vibrant, it's a bit light overall, and maybe a bit floral. Feels undersaturated at this percentage.
At 1%, this is quite a bit brighter. I'm getting a fuller, juicy mouthfeel. Definitely getting white grapes. There's a bit of a lychee floral note to it, but overall it's a clear, solid white grape. I'm not finding too much in way of a boozy wine note, the finish has just a bit of an astringency that kind of evokes a desert wine though.
At 3%, the grape is strong and bright, but I feel like that astringency has crossed over into something more like a green, bright rhubarb note. At least solo, the astringency is starting to push this flavor in a weird direction. It seems to be moving away from just a white grape, but I dig how weird it's getting. That's pretty personal though.
Just based on these tests, I'd probably keep this around 1.5% as a primary note unless you want to chase that interesting green note. This is pretty present at low percentages, and should work as an accent note at around .5%.
Uses & Pairings: I think this could be taken in a more wine-forward direction. I'd want just a bit more sourness and booze of it, so maybe pairing with something like FA White Wine. I think it might be easier to make a sparkling moscato or even a prosecco using one of the champagne flavors. FW Pink Champagne has a pretty heavy "carbonation" effect, and the grape there is going work well for a sparkling wine. You could also probably pair this a bit of FA Brandy for a boozier reddish wine. Also should blend well with FLV Sangria for a similar effect.
As a straight fruit flavor, this should work as a fairly realistic white grape when mixed with other fruits. I'd pair with apples, strawberries, and melon particulary. I also think it could work well with some citrus like oranges or limes. I know FLV just put out a Sangria, but I think this would make a better chilled sangria base. Since this seems to have a bit of INW rhubarb thing going, I also want to throw raspberries at it.