Liquid Barn Pina Colada
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for these, they were sent to me by Liquid Barn. Shout out to Liquid Barn
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.14 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Liquid Barn Pina Colada, 8 and 16% @ 1g/ml, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 41 days.
Flavor Description: Plastic jug pina colada mix, with a bit of extra banana and nary a drop of rum in sight.
This feels pretty heavily coconut forward to me. The actual coconut is thick and slightly waxy. This feels really similar to Liquid Barn's straight coconut milk. A realistic coconut base with some more aggressive suntan lotion artificial notes. I am getting a bit of that weird spiciness I got from the coconut milk solo, but it's relatively light and the pineapple helps distract from it a bit.
The pineapple here actually feels a bit more vibrant than straight LB Pineapple. I'm still getting a light acidity and tartness out of it, but there seems to be a bit more actual body to it. It's still kind of somewhere between realistic and candy, but the added vibrancy works to make it a bit more interesting.
I'm not sure if it's just the pineapple, or the combination of the pineapple and the artificial parts of the coconut, but I kind of get a banana-ish flavor out of this. It's not completely overwhelming with the coconut going on underneath it, but it gets in the way of the pineapple for me.
This has a thicker, denser mouthfeel. I'm not picking up anything like cooling. I'd say it's sweet but not cloying. Seems like a good fit overall for that pina colada mix type of profile.
The sort of vague pineapple and those banana notes, the thickness and waxiness of that coconut, and the complete lack of rum remind me more of a jug of pina colada mix rather than a pina colada made with fresher ingredients and precious, precious booze. It's still probably a fit for the profile, but overall it just tastes a bit artificial.
Off-flavors: Some artificial banana nestled in there. Coconut has a weird bit of spiciness attached.
Throat Hit: Light to moderate, at least steeped. I do pick up some throat hit from the pineapple and that weird spice note, but that coconut is thick and smooth.
Percentage testing: At 8% I'm getting a good amount of coconut out of this. It doesn't quite have the crazy, thick waxiness but i doesn't have some of the more aggressive artificial coconut notes. The pineapple is a bit tart and sharp up front, but there isn't too much sweet body to it. That banana thing seems a bit less pronounced as well. Overall mouthfeel is sort of thick but one-dimensional. The middle of the flavor feels a bit thin.
At 16% the coconut is definitely thick and heavy. It's fairly waxy, but the denseness is nice. The pineapple is still a bit tart up front, but I'm getting more of that sweet body. I'm getting quite a bit of artificial banana here as well. Seems a bit over-flavored, and I'm getting some issues with muting after a couple of drags.
Liquid barn suggests a whopping 16% with this, and while it doesn't taste bad, it's probably overkill. Just based on these tests I'd probably be closer to 10% as a base or solo flavor.
Uses & Pairings: Totally competent as a single flavor. It would probably be better with some rum, although FA Jamaican Rhum is probably going to end up making this even sweeter. Some cooling would help thin this out a bit and get closer to an actual beverage. You could also chuck some additional fruits in here. Strawberry would work well. LB Orange Banana would probably play up the orange julius kind of vibe.
Second Opinions:
This one's fairly new. Here are a couple of Youtube reviews: JFM and DIY Vapor.