Flavorah Smore
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.13 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FLV Smore @ 1% and 1 drop per 10 ml (about .25%), 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 10 days.
Flavor Description: Toasted marshmallows and milk chocolate. I don't get a noticeable amount of graham out of this, but I can kind of taste it around the edges of the more dominant chocolate/marshmallow combo. Fluffier, marshmallow mouthfeel. The chocolate part of this and the toasted part of the marshmallow end up having an almost boozy note, like a chocolate liqueur, especially over 1%. Fairly strong for me, I'd stay at 1% and under, using this as a bridge flavor to build smore type deserts around, accentuating where you want stronger flavors or more definition. FWIW, despite the chocolate note here, I'm not getting any real noticeable coil gunking or crunchy wicks.
Inhale has darker chocolate notes with a interesting kind of sharpness to them. Almost a boozy kind of bite. Sweet, fluffy marshmallow base. Moderately dense overall. Exhale opens up with a marshmallow flavor. Pretty normal white marshmallow, with a building chocolate top note. Chocolate note really pushes forward in the middle of the exhale. I think I'm getting a kind of slightly bitter toasted note with that chocolate. The combination of the chocolate and toasted still tastes vaguely boozy for me, a lot like a richer chocolate liquer. Marshmallow comes back on the tail end of the exhale. Mouthfeel on the exhale is fairly thick and a bit fluffy bordering on gritty. I maybe get just a bit of graham cracker, but it's more in the mouthfeel and not an explicit graham cracker flavor. Sweet, but not overwhelming. Lingering dark chocolate note.
Off-flavors: The toasted flavor is a bit odd. Not as aggressive or warm as TPA Toasted Marshmallow, but seems like the same kind of thing. Mixed with the chocolate here, it's a bit boozy. Doesn't quite go full bore into chemical, but it has just a bit of astringency to it.
Throat Hit: Not really.
Uses & Pairings: This is a good base for a smore flavor. I think this does a pretty good job on the marshmallow and chocolate part of a smore, but it doesn't have much in the way of graham flavor to it. Texture is pretty close out of the gate, but It definitely needs an extra shot of your favorite graham cracker.
The chocolate note here is pretty interesting, and I could see some use in a cocktail application where you want a chocolate liqueur. I'm thinking backup for an Irish Cream or something like that. It also kind of tastes like the fudge ribbon in mid-grade ice cream, and the fluffy mouthfeel should work fine with an ice cream base if you're not after a super thick ice cream base. I could also see it as the fudge syrup on a banana split kind of recipe, or in a milkshake recipe.
Notes: S&V Concentration testing, at .25% I get more marshmallow than toasted or chocolate. It's still there but it doesn't overwhelm the more mellow marshmallow. I think I can pick out a bit of graham cracker here as well. .5% is heavier on the chocolate for sure. Still pretty well balanced, with a full mouthfeel but the flavor seems just a bit thin. 1% is pretty chocolate/toasted forward. Definitely getting some that boozy/chocolate liqueur flavor. 1.5% is getting even heavier on that chocolate. It's getting to be a bit dark for a hershey's chocolate bar kind of smore. 2% is getting a bit astringent for me. That toasted note gets a bit weird, and the dark chocolate is pushing around the marshmallow. Some people have claimed this gets good again at 3% (cough Kopel cough) but it'll definitely need a pretty hefty steep, because I'm getting an unpleasant bitterness from that toasted and chocolate combo.
Second Opinions:
Nah, not really.