Inawera Lime
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: INW Lime @ %1, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 15 days.
Flavor Description: This may well be a lime for all seasons. Solid but not overwhelming zest note, bright sweet lime, and no real cleaning product vibe. Somwhere in between the realistic and zest-heavy FA Lime Cold-Press and the neon green FLV Lime but more balanced than either. This actually might be a better key lime flavor than TFA Key Lime, with a slightly creamy finish and a pretty balanced sweet to tart ratio.
Inhale is mostly sharp lime zest right up front. Exhale opens up with a softer, slightly sweetened but still very tart lime juice and fairly realistic lime zest. Moderately dense exhale, with just some pretty manageable citrus harshness. That lime note starts to really smooth out towards the back of the exhale and I get a much smoother lime flavor with just a bit of a vanilla creaminess towards the tail end of the finish, like a lime sherbet. Some lingering lime zest bitterness.
Off-flavors: If you really push it, you can a bit of the sharp lysol vibe, but no real off-flavors at usable percentages. I also get just a hint of creaminess right towards the back end. Not unpleasant by any stretch of the imagination, but not quite in profile for just a straight lime.
Throat Hit: There's a light to moderate throat hit there, but it's pretty mellow for a strong, bright, citrus. Definitely doable without anything else in the mix to specifically mellow the throat hit.
Uses & Pairings: So this is my favorite lime for fruit mixes. I think it has the right balance of tartness, brightness, and sweetness to work really well with just about anything on the fruit side of things. It's also not a harsh flavor, so you have a good deal of latitude in what you pair it with. I mean, this and peach would still be a bit intense, but other than anything noticeably harsh you should be fine.
I really like the way this smooths out towards the end. This should be a solid bakery lime, especially for key lime pies and the like. You get enough realism to really push the profile, but it's manageable and smooth enough to work fairly well with creams or custards.
I'm having a harder time thinking of a lime recipe where this would be well and truly out of place. I think for beverage vapes, the fizzier FA Lime Distilled is probably a better match, and FA Aurora does a much better job at working like a citrus twist.
Notes: S&V concentration testing, this is definitely on the strong side. I get a pretty clear lime at .25%. Not terribly sweet, and the lime zest is relatively heavy. .5% is fuller, bringing more sweetness and body, but with a bit more harshness. By 1%, this is pretty well maxed out. I'm picking up more of that creamy finish, but the lime is about as high it can go without tasting too astringent. At 1.5%, I feel like this is too strong to be pleasant. For fruitier mixes, I'd start with this down at .25% and work up. For bakeries I'd start at .5%. If you have a really creamy base, you may get away with 1% comfortably and work up from there.
So tastes will definitely vary, but I love this stuff. I like how it takes some of the more palatable aspects of available lime flavors and mashes them up without being super harsh or candied. I've described it before like a really fancy kind of snow-cone syrup. It's not just unsweetened lime but it has a body and nuance that is really interesting next to a candy lime.
Second Opinions:
INW Lime Notes:
"... WOW, now that's a lime!! I can't get over how bright and "limey" this is, now that sounds like something the good Doctor (Who) would say after taking a vape! The lime starts bold and stays there! It's in your face crisp fresh lime...Overall Rating - 9/10 - Limetastic!"
Plenty of love for INW Lime in a thread suggesting a Fresh Lime Flavoring.