Flavorah Yam
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for this, shoutout to Flavorah for sending it to me.
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.33 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Flavorah Yam, 1% and 3%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 18 days.
Flavor Description: Cooked orange sweet potato, headed toward candied yams.
What is, in fact, the yams? I've never had a true yam, but the stuff usually branded as yam in the US is basically an even sweeter and orange sweet potato. Not having the actual basis of comparison for a true yam, I'll say this does taste a lot like the American colloquial yam. The yam here tastes surprisingly orange. It's probably a function of the sweetness more than anything else but it sells the garnet yam kind of profile. Some contrasting savory and slightly nutty earthy notes start to balance out some of the heavy sweetness, but this tastes sweeter than anything raw or even just baked.
That sweetness makes me think of candied yams. It's a bit sticky and almost cloying. This feels like they've already added some of that brown sugar if not the marshmallows on top. There's also something buttery here, lending a creamier mouthfeel and some richness. The butter seems to be a bit more prominent at lower percentages before that yam flavor really saturates.
With all that candied yam, I still do get some hints of tuber in there. There's a slightly leathery kind of dry peel note that shows up and gets more prominent at higher percentages. Strangely accurate to a sweet potato peel, but it's apparently been thoroughly washed because I'm not getting anything distinctly dirty tasting.
Moderately dense overall with some starchy, almost chalky notes. Doesn't quite have the body and graininess of a baked sweet potato, but seems fuller than just a candied yam top note.
Off-flavors: Can taste unpeeled with just a bit of earthy leather at higher percentages. Pre-candied, but that's probably on profile. Seems to get tarter at higher percentages. Dairy / Butter notes start to taste a bit sour against that tartness.
Throat Hit: Light, especially at 1% and under. Gets a bit tart and dry by 3%.
Percentage testing: At .25% I'm getting a good deal of sweetness and some accompanying dairy richness. Very light tartness here but nothing too intense. Moderate density, but no grainier, starchier texture. I don't pick up much peel.
At 1%, this is basically candied yams minus the marshmallows for me. A bit denser, a bit more textured, and heavily sweet. Buttery notes are still present and start to stick to your palate and linger after the exhale. Peel note is just a bit more prominent. Still has a light tartness, but not more noticeably tart than .25%. Peel is a bit more prominent but still working more as an earthy accent that feeling unpeeled.
At 3%, this actually seems a bit less candied. It's still sweet, but I'm getting some raw peel notes. Tastes slightly earthy and leathery without any less-pleasant dirty off notes. Seems substantially tarter than 1%, and that tartness is cutting through a lot of the richer, creamy notes and making it taste more raw. Texture doesn't seem noticeably thicker than 1% but those buttery notes get almost sticky on the tail end of the exhale.
Just based on these tests, I'd say this is relatively flexible on percentage. It's not a FLV flavor like Rhubarb or Fried Dough where an extra drop is going to be a major issue. Very yammy though, so if I was going to use this an accent flavor between .25-.5. If I was chasing texture as a primary note, I'd probably start at 1% and work up until it got too much of that peel and tartness.
Uses & Pairings: Again, big dumb 'murican palate so I can't really touch on whether this could be hacked into something like an asian or african yam in desserts. Just tastes like sweet potato to me.
Good fit to fill in pumpkin pie recipes. Used low, should add "orange" depth and richness without dragging in too many of those peel notes. Should finally turn HS Pumpkin Pie into something thicker and richer for the actual custard base there.
Also, seems like a natural fit for sweet potato pie or candied yams. Add a marshmallow that sits on top of a recipe like FA's, and go to town. Also, if you find the texture lacking, adding some FE Sweet Rice and wait a week for it to stop actually tasting like rice but still give it some starch.
This already tastes fairly cooked and buttery so it'll be hard to pair outside of those kind of profiles. Sweet potatos work well in fruit juice blends, but the buttery notes are going to make this hard to use in a non-savory profile.
Also, when in doubt, just claim that it would work in a tobacco recipe.
Second Opinions:
Mophead, of mixing with mophead, has a youtube video up. Just some quick notes from his take: "Pretty good." More of a sweet potato flavor than TPA Yam. Pretty prominent at .5%. Starchiness, thicker mouthfeel. Slightly on the savory side. Use in pumpkin pies, tobaccos, bakeries. Pair with citruses. Funky at 1.5%. Starts to pick up squash notes. Keep under 1%.
No product page or DAAP testing out from FLV yet, but hey... here's a blog post. "This is a Yam flavor that has a good rich buttery note as well as some sweetness to it, suggested usage rate is between 1-3% depending on its intended use... Yam has a variety of uses whether it be a Sweet Potato recipe or using it with Pumpkin Spice, Tobacco flavors, or even to help create an Ube Cheesecake mix."