Flavor West Beetle Juice

Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.16 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.

Testing: FW Beetle Juice, 3 and 6%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 5 days.

Flavor Description: Another mysterious flavorwest fruit blend, this time made famous by CaptainCannibal's mythic Shurb Clone. If I had to guess at the flavors in here, I'd probably say pineapple, some kind of citrus, and raspberry or cherry... but that's a just a guess. It kind of tastes like a combination of FW Magma Current and FW Big Stick but somehow measurably better than either. Thicker mellow base, but most of the brighter fruit flavor seems like it's top notes. Seems like a good candidate to adsorb other bright fruit flavors. The fruit here tastes artificial, but in a brighter, artificial fruit flavoring way as opposed to a duller candy flavor. I'd either this relatively low around 2-3% to add some complexity and interest to bright fruit mixes, especially tropical flavors. I'd start cranking things up to 6-8% for a primary note, either accented by another bright fruit flavor or as a candy base.

Inhale is pretty heavily sweet with tart and bright pineapple and citrus top notes. Sweetness builds really quickly. Some thicker mouthfeel to this as well, but I'm not really picking up a distinct flavor to it, more of a just smooth neutral base. Exhale seems to have a sweet raspberry or other bright red berry up right up front, with that tartness coming back in after. Some of that white gummy bear pineapple candy flavor, and maybe some sharper lemon or orange citrus top notes. Fruit fades a bit on the middle of the exhale and that thicker neutral base kind of takes over. Seems to need a slightly stronger base flavor, and it feels just a bit hollow after that really intense opening. I pick up some of that plastic-y cherry off note on the tail end of the exhale, and that lingers for a while. Pretty heavily sweet. SDS has no sugar syrup or anything untoward and I don't really taste sucralose, but the sweetness is definitely reminiscent of it. That neutral base keeps the entire thing from feeling too one-dimensional, but definitely feels like it's a bit top heavy and the rest of the vape is struggling to catch up to bright, artifical fruit top notes.

Off-flavors: Feels like there is a light benzaldehyde cherry / plastic off note in here. Also doesn't taste much like beetles.

Throat Hit: Light. Those fruit top notes have a bit of a bite, but that thicker base smooths things substantially.

Uses & Pairings: Maybe just mix up that Shurb Clone? That seems flippant, but it basically does a lot of what what would probably work well with this flavor. I think this would go well any fruit that isn't really floral or grassy. I could see this with any of that raspberry, cherry, pineapple, citrus, or mango that's already in there. That recipe also bolsters the thicker neutral base in here with some added whipped cream and vanilla swirl.

Outside of slavishly riffing on that recipe, this seems like it would be a decent basis for a slush flavor, as well as a good base flavor for some kind of mixed-flavor candy where you're getting a handful of different colors at once.

Also, I could see vaping this solo. Maybe a bit "blah" in the middle but otherwise pretty solid.

Notes: Concentration testing, this varies a bit on percentage. At 2%, there's a decent amount of sweetness and some generic fruitiness, but it's really non-descript. It's even harder to pick out individual fruit notes this low, and has sort of generic juicy fruit gum kind of vibe. 4% is already a lot clearer. Most of what I'm getting tastes like candy pineapple, but there's some syrupy red berries in there as well. Very light cherry off-note to it. At 6%, it's on the sweet and bright side, and there's actually a little bit of definition to that fruit blend. I'm picking up some more clear citrus-y notes here. It's getting pretty heavily sweet. The weird cherry twinge to it hasn't really kicked up from the 4% test. At 8% it's pretty heavily sweet, bordering on over the top. The lack of definition on that smooth base is getting a little odd as well. 10% is personally too sweet for me, and 12% is starting to push chemical.

Second Opinions:

So I realize I've linked the recipe for the Shurb clone twice already, but the reddit post with the development notes are pretty interesting. Light on info about the concentrate, but a good read.

Matthewkocanda has a lemonade recipe up using this. He writes that beetle juice "is fruity, candy sweet, and imparts a slight mouthfeel reminiscent of sherbet. It adds a smoothness to the recipe that I can't get enough of. After 2 days of steeping, this flavour punches its way to the front and brings amazing notes of orange, sweet lime, and maybe even a touch of strawberry."

Postive reviews on BCF. User "Ali" says it "tastes like raspberry mixed fruit cordial...a bit like the soft drink Vimto." User "Kendar" calls it "raspberry, mango, pineapple, and strawberry."

You should totally watch a 15 year old with a protank review this in 2013. Bonus points for having to use a flashlight and whispering so his parents don't hear.

DIY_eJuice Flavor Reviews

Shoutout to ID10-T for suggesting this for review.