Flavour Monks OMGin
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.17 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FM OMGin @ %3, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 15 days.
Flavor Description: More of a mixed berry flavor with gin, as opposed to a straight gin made with berries. Slightly artificial but well-balanced berry flavor with some interesting juniper top notes and a complicated gin finish.
Inhale starts light, with juniper top notes. Turns moderately dense with a deep berry sweetness building through the inhale. Exhale has a mixed berry flavor up front, with a candy raspberry kind of vibe and juniper top notes. Overall effect tastes just a bit artificial, but with a nice warm sweetness and moderate density. Juniper takes over on the tail end of the exhale with just a touch of the herbaceousness you get from FM Pure Gin. Lingering sweetness and high green and astringent top notes.
Off-flavors: Berry flavor here does taste a bit artificial. More of a flat "mixed berry" than a mix of actual berries.
Throat Hit: Light, mostly from the berries strangely enough.
Uses & Pairings: This will definitely work as a solo flavor at 3-5% depending on how sweet and strong you want your vape. The one thing I feel like this is crying out for solo is a bit of carbonation and a lime twist. FA Aurora at .25 to .5% will give you both. In the same vein, could use just a bit of cooling, either from a low percentage of Koolada or a more natural mint. I push it a lot, but I really like INW Natural Mint with this, reinforcing some of the herbal notes and adding some light cooling.
Mixing this, you could definitely try /u/HocusKrokus/ 's Grape Germaine. That mixed berry flavor bolsters the grape and utilizes that artificial note to give a fuller grape candy. Adding some other fruit is probably a good idea just to take it away from that artificial flavor. Just as a S&V, something a little more realistic like FA Raspberry or more vibrant like FA Blackcurrant does wonders.
Notes:
S&V concentration testing, 1% is pretty heavy on the berry flavor but light overall. That herbal note at the back ends up tasting fairly bitter. 2% has the gin notes pick up a bit, giving some weight to that thin and bitter back end while the berry stays fairly subtle. At 3% that berry picks up quite a bit. At 4%, the berry gets a bit syrupy and flat, which helps the gin out a bit. Fairly sweet overall by 5%. Usage percentage on this is pretty versatile and going to depend heavy on application. If you want this as just an interesting berry component in a mix, I'd use 2%. If you want a gin-forward mix but want to use additional fruit flavors I'd mix with this at 3%. As a primary flavor, with either some citrus or cooling to cut the syrupy-vibe here, I'd mix at 4 or 5%.
Flavourmonks says this is a mix of their forest fruit flavor and gin base, and I think their forest fruit mix might be the limiting factor. I love the idea, but I'm not 100% sold on their berry mix here. Still fairly good, but that artificial note kind of kills it for me a bit.
Second Opinions:
So, /u/HocusKrokus is definitely a fan. In the comments for FM Pure Gin he states: "I like OMGin a touch better, I think because OMGin doesn't go as Juniper forward at slightly higher percentages, and I pick up a hint of bitters/vermouth that I really enjoy." and in that Grape Germaine recipe describes this flavor as: "Hands down my favorite gin from their line. It's simply super versatile. At 3% it stands out just enough to cut through some of the thicker sweet notes in the grape base and support those light floral notes in the FLV Elderflower. For those unfamiliar with Flavor Monks Gin line I highly recommend FM OMGin. It's a very bright, clean gin flavor that tastes of fresh juniper berries, and absolutely no awkward pine/cheap shitty fin flavors. It's an excellently realized top shelf gin flavor."