Flavor Revolution Honey
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.18 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Flavor Revolution Honey, 1,3 and 5%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 14 days.
Flavor Description: I've never had anything by Flavor Revolution so why not start with a flavor that can turn into a trainwreck pretty quickly? Feels like a less concentrated version of FA Honey.
This is a floral honey, rather than the squeeze-bear type. The floral note here is a bit warm and relatively full, more like wildflower honey than just sweet perfume. All of the honey flavors have at least some degree of ammonia to them, and on a scale of 1 to litterbox, this is pretty mellow.
Behind that floral note, you do get some actual honey. Sweet, sticky, and warm... pretty much just honey. These are suggested at 2%, but this feels like it's taking more flavor to really fill out. At relatively higher percentages I get some slightly sticky texture and mouthfeel, and a pretty accurate honey sweetness. At 5% I get a moderate fullness, with just a bit of a raw base taste poking through. The flavor around it actually feels relatively full, it just has an almost under-flavored aftertaste. It may well be the flavor of the concentrate instead of a concentration issue, but the thinness on the tail end of the flavor is a bit odd.
This actually tastes a good deal like FA Honey, which is also not awful. Just tasting the two side by side, they have that same not too-perfumey wildflower kind of vibe. I'd say the FA at 1% actually tastes a bit fuller and sweeter than the Flavor Revolution at 5%. In general, the Flavor Revolution feels a little thinner and noticeably less concentrated.
Off-flavors: Floral, but not off-putting for a honey flavor. Some watery sweetness at the tail end of the flavor. Maybe just a hint of a brighter green vegetal flavor, but pretty subtle. Light ammonia.
Throat Hit: At lower percentages this feels a bit dry. Lighter as the sweetness fills in at relatively higher percentages. Seems to have a bit of an extra bite, but nothing crazy.
Percentage testing: At 1%, I'm not getting much out of this beyond sweetness. Some very light floral notes, and a sort of dry, warm neutral sweetness. Doesn't remind me much of honey here.
At 3% floral note tastes a bit like wet flowers. Not perfumey or incredibly floral. Fairly sweet and warm, but without much body. Sweetness still feels a bit thin and watery. Less dry here.
At 5% the florals a bit more pronounced but not a deal breaker. Beginning of the exhale is thicker and a bit warmer, doesn't feel too much sweeter than 3%. Sweetness is starting to pick up some darker honey as opposed to straight sugar notes. More recognizably honey here but still a bit thin on the back end.
Increasing the percentage as a S&V, this doesn't seem to require some crazy huge steep. The flavor I'm getting as a S&V is maybe a bit sharper and the sweetness feels a bit dry, but it's reasonably close to the steeped version. Trying this at 7%, there's maybe a bit more ammonia, but it's nothing too crazy. Mouthfeel is a bit thicker and warmer. Sweetness still feels a bit watery and thin on the end. 9% is probably too floral.
Just based on these tests, I'd be around 4% and using this an accent. The flavor does get sweeter and the floral notes aren't overwhelming at higher percentages, but it doesn't really fill in the back of the flavor by just increasing the percentage. Pretty generically sweet at low percentages, decent sweetener for floral or light mixes at 2%.
Uses & Pairings: Not sure if there are specific applications that wouldn't be better served by using less FA. Taste is very close, and I dig the fuller sweetness of the FA.
If you do have this, the floral edge is going to make this hard to work into bakeries, but it should work well with tobaccos.
Workable with creams or yogurts at relatively lower percentages before those florals really show up.
FW Butterscotch Ripple or natural butterscotch would fill in the back end of this and give it something closer to a squeeze-bear blandness.
Should pair well with fruits in general.
Second Opinions: Nah.
AFAIK, these are only available through Nicotine River. The product page is here. Not much info besides a description: "A unique tasting Honey, floral smelling and straight from the beehive! Great as a subtle sweetener as well! Suggested starting percentage: 2% and adjust to taste." DAAP Free, and via the SDS the flashpoint is >200F, so it's probably not primarily ethyl alcohol based?
I can't find a manufacturer website, or any real notes.