Inawera Shisha Apple
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.14 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: INW Shisha Apple, 1 and 2.5%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 6 days.
Flavor Description: Juicy red apple with some extra sour and tart in there. Doesn't cross over to a green apple or even double apple flavor, more like a tart and sour red apple. CheebaSteeba in the second opinions notes that there might be some kind of malic acid in there, but FWIW the concentrate seems to be steeping fairly well without losing too much vividness, at least over 6 days. I do get a decent amount of peel out of this but it seems to settle down considerably on a steep.
I'd say it's one of the more realistic apple flavors I've tasted, at least if you can get past the sour and tart in a red apple. That peel note is probably the most accurate part of this, and it seems fairly well in balance after 6 days. The room note is basically fresh red apples, which is kind of a trip. There's also some syrupy sweetness in here but feels pretty accurate to a ripe red apple.
Concentrate has most of it's flavor up front and starts a bit dry, with a juicier, syrupy body on the back end. The tartness carries through the entire vape but it doesn't seem to be messing with the mouthfeel much.
This is on the sweeter side, but the tartness here contrasts well and keeps the entire thing from getting too cloying.
Off-flavors: The sour red apple thing is a bit weird, but otherwise nothing odd at least up to 4%.
Throat Hit: Light to moderate, but this seems like another one that'll have some pretty sizeable variation for people. I will say that tartness can be a bit harsh, especially at a higher percentage and solo.
Percentage testing: 1% is too weak for this. Mostly a light sourness and some red apple sweetness. Doesn't quite feel juicy so much as watery on the back end.
2.5% is quite a bit better. I'm getting some decent red apple flavor. Tartness and sourness has ramped up a bit, but the flavor is fairly clear. Moderate sweetness here, and I'm getting a bit of peel.
4% is crazy for most Inawera, but I'm actually digging this higher. That sweetness is going fully syrupy, and that tartness is making this really interesting. Clear red apple flavor.
Just based on these tests, this does seem like a weaker inawera concentrate. I'd use for layering with other apples around 1.5-2% and a primary note from 3-4%, maybe even a tiny bit higher.
Uses & Pairings: So assuming this is a one-stop apple flavor for a shisha type tobacco, I can see this having some issues. The apple flavor here should go well enough with non-nutty tobaccos, but I'd be a bit worried about the apple here moistening up the tobacco a bit too much. That tartness is going to be interesting with a tobacco and should brighten everything up.
I'd mostly focus on short steeping fruit mixes. The tartness and sourness here should brighten up the other fruits it's mixed with. FWIW, this would be pretty great in a S&V Strap-On type recipe.
This also seems like it could be an interesting way to bring tartness into an apple mix without killing everything with grassy green apple notes.
This doesn't really seem like a good bakery apple, just because that tarter, sour juiciness would probably mess up the texture there.
Second Opinions: Here's the ELR Page. A couple of notes in here. User "MintyMods" writes "A decent apple flavour almost like apple hubba bubba... Its fresh tasting, no chemical after taste which seems to be the norm from a lot of apple flavours." "Ghettotrout" writes "Tastes exactly like those little green gummy frogs, the green ones with the white bottoms." I'd tend to agree more with user "Citral" who writes "Nice, natural apple, great as a standalone or in a mix. Apple skin at first, mellows after steeping."
Noted did a show on the INW Shisha Flavors. Cheeba covers it at about 31:15. Talks about relative weakness, sourness, possibly malic acid, and dryness down low. More of a green apple than red apple. Not a lot of flavor 2% and under. Smells great but better apples to work with. Does have a syrupy sweetness.