Inawera Shisha Bilberry
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.15 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: INW Shisha Bilberry @ .5% and 1.5%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 13 days.
Flavor Description: Before anyone asks, I'm 98% sure this is the reformulated version after their weird sketchy non-notice that they were reformulating a whole bunch of stuff.
Sweet, dark berries with a floral edge. I don't necessarily get a really clear tart and bright bilberry/blueberry, more of a darker, sweet blackberry. Clear berry floral top notes, and a deep base sweetness, but no real syrupy or jammy middle to it. A bit on the floral side to recommend with anything but tobaccos, or heavy creams and custards. On the strong side, Recommended usage between .25-1%
Inhale is sweet and bit dry. Sharper, slightly bitter floral edge (like a really, really subdued FA Blackberry) and a dry dark berry sweetness. Exhale has a bit of tartness in the top notes, but the florals kind of stampede right over it. Definitely in the raspberry/blackberry floral off-flavor kind of family. Deep blackberry sweetness, tastes quite a bit heavier and sweeter than I'd expect from blueberry flavor and not as tart and bright as FA Bilberry. Moderately dense, but missing some body in the middle. Drier mouthfeel, but not harsh. Lingering bitter notes, most likely from the florals here.
Off-flavors: This is pretty floral overall. I don't think I've had a blueberry/bilberry flavor that was this floral. I've never actually had bilberries... so it could well be accurate but it definitely isn't pleasant. Overall, tastes more like a blackberry concentrate than what I guess a bilberry would taste like.
Throat Hit: Light, a bit dry but nothing too harsh.
Uses & Pairings: As an accent, this could bring in some more floral top notes and sweetness to a berry mix, either as straight fruit, or with a cream.
As a primary note, the lack of a middle of this concentrate would probably work with a tobacco. The whole shisha thing I guess. Nothing jammy or wet to mess with texture. I think the florals are going to be a bit weird with a non-aromatic tobacco, I think you'd want something with more of a leaf taste to hide those floral notes.
The floral edge makes this hard to recommend with bakeries or lighter creams. Adding this to a really heavy cream or custard should tone down those floral top notes though.
Notes: Concentration testing, this is strong. I get a clear flavor and sweetness at .25%. Less floral down here, but tastes a bit flat and sweet. .5% is starting to get just a bit floral. Fairly realistic to a sweeter blackberry here. .75% is getting to be a bit floral, with a heavy sweetness. 1% is getting a touch bitter from all of those florals. 1.5% is way too floral for me. This is going on a two week steep at this percentage, and it's still way too perfumey for me here. I'd keep this at 1% and lower, maybe even under .25% as an accent.
Second Opinions:
So I'm pretty sure this is the reformulated version, I received this from BCF and I know they've only been carrying these for a couple months.