Nature's Flavors Malt
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.33 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Nature's Flavors Malt, 1% and 3%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 29 days.
Flavor Description:
Seems to be more of a malt syrup. Nothing really bready or beer-y to this. I do get a really light nuttiness and some moderate warmth, but no really aggressive malt liquor type taste. The sweetness here seems like something between a soft caramel and fake maple "pancake" syrup. The maltiness is pretty subtle, tastes more like a softer vanilla. Reminds me of the malty parts of Lorann's Cream Cheese Icing or DIYFS Holy Vanilla. Lighter caramelization, nothing burnt or too crispy.
Mouthfeel and sweetness level here is definitely syrupy. Despite the softer caramel notes, no chewy caramel body or any of the associated cardboard taste that usually comes with that. Moderately dense overall, but the finish seems to get a bit watery. Intense sweetness, even at low percentages. I've vaped quite a bit of this solo, and I'm not really noticing my wicks getting crispy or any coil gunking. Seems suspiciously easy on the coils for something this sweet.
Comparing this to FW Malt, the NF version is a whole lot more pleasant. FW Malt is sort of green, more aggressively funky, and much less sweet. This doesn't have anything earthy or vegetal and is much sweeter and smoother. I'll be interested to see how this compares to Vape Train Golden Syrup.
Off-flavors: None that I can find. I mean, it's not an aggressive malt so if you're looking for powdered steel reserve look somewhere else. Nothing chemical or off-profile.
Throat Hit: Not really, seems pretty smooth overall.
Percentage testing: At 1%, this is still really sweet overall. Lighter caramel notes, nothing off or weird. Manages to taste heavily sweet without being cloying.
At 3% this is getting maybe too sweet. Caramel starts to feel a little dark. Starting to get some weird vanilla notes. Not really unpleasant but pretty intense.
Just based on these tests, this is definitely an accent flavor. I'd use it primarily as a sweetener with some bonus malt and caramel. I'd probably start lower at .5% for a lighter sweetness and top out around 2%.
Uses & Pairings: I think this has some real potential in fixing a couple of problems I've had with recipes. This seems a lot like some of the slightly more robust sweeteners like sorghum, agave, "maple" syrup, or even honey. I think it'd make a good take on agave with fruit profiles and sorghum with bakery profiles pretty much as is. I've traditionally tried hack FW Butterscotch Ripple into the body of a pancake syrup or a honey, I think this would do a better job. The flavor is a little more neutral and subtle than the ripple. You could use a lower percentage of a stronger maple or honey flavor as the top notes and let this fill in the syrupy body.
Also seems like a good bakery sweetener. Good way to get sweetness into a mix without some of that heavy sucralose mouthfeel and dryness. Might be a bit dark for fruits without a bakery component, but should pretty well disappear in heavier bakeries.
And you could probably use this to get closer to malted milk or ovaltine. Not really malty enough for a strong candy malt, but adding some of this to a cream would move you a bit closer to a sweetened, slightly nutty malted flavor.
Second Opinions: We've got a HIC sighting in the Bull City product page reviews. 5-star review: "The flavor of barley malt - which is a very common sweetener in packaged sweets (also the major ingredient in Ovaltine plain malt powder). Read ingredient lists for sweet stuff in your cupboard to get ideas for DIYing with Barley Malt. Just 0.5% will sweeten a recipe; more adds barley malt flavor. Extremely versatile and belongs in your flavor collection if you're a DIYer who likes sweets, especially sweet bakery flavors."
There are a couple of older ECF threads about this flavor. In the first, OP was expecting beer and got caramel. Was less than psyched. In the second, OP's asking about malted milk and then gets suggestions to use this with tobacco and peanut butter.