Inawera Mix Mint
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.16 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: INW Mix Mint @ .5%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 11 days
Flavor Description: A fairly potent mint without a whole lot of body. I get mostly peppermint out of this, but without an overwhelming candy-cane kind of sweetness. They call it a mixed mint, but I'm not getting a ton of spearmint in here. Maybe just a hit of greener spearmint towards the back end of the exhale. Moderately mentholated, with some strong peppermint flavor beyond just the menthol coolness.
Inhale is icy cool with a lighter body. Some sharper straight menthol notes in there, but not a lot of actual flavor. Exhale is really smooth. Smooth peppermint right up front. Some higher, sharper spearmint on the tail end of the exhale. Minimal sweetness here, just enough to keep the vape smooth and round out the sharper mint. Light mouthfeel overall, without much body. Menthol is relatively subtle on the exhale, pretty well balanced overall. I'm not getting anything too creamy, or any kind of vanila here, so it stays away from the tic-tac thing.
Off-flavors: Nothing weird.
Throat Hit: Nah, i mean theres some menthol in here, but that's kind of what you want.
Uses & Pairings: This seems like a good jumping-off point for roll-your-own peppermint flavors. Since this is thinner without a ton of sweetness or body, you get to bring your own cream and sweetness to the party. The straight menthol here is light enough that you'll be able to mix this lighter creams and thicker vanillas without anything getting too weird. Sort of the same vein, a good base for a punchier creme-de-menthe as well as mixing with chocolates.
This is also thin enough to work in tea flavors, either black or green, for all of your relaxing peppermint tea needs.
With fruits and stuff, this'll work like CAP Cool Mint's slightly angrier sibling. Good way to add a softer peppermint flavor to brighter fruit flavors like melons, apple, strawberries, and kiwi. I personally don't dig peppermint and darker or tropical-ish fruits, but thats on you.
Notes: Concentration-wise, this is fairly potent. For fruit mixes and non-peppermint forward juices, I'd really just start at 1 drop per 30 ml and work up. Something like .1%. If you're looking for something peppermint-forward, this stuff is relatively linear. I get a strong peppermint at .25% and it's pretty overbearing by 1%. I'd just work up from that .25% and adjust to taste.
Second Opinions:
Here is the ELR Page. Repackaged notes about this not being too menthol-heavy or sweet.
Here is an older FOTW on Mint. Includes a quick breakdown of the INW Mints.