Real Flavors Caramel SC

Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.15 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.

Testing: RF SC Caramel @ 1% and 2.5%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 14 days.

Flavor Description: Up front, this is a soft caramel bordering on syrup flavor, with some actual buttery cream to it. There's something odd going on in the backend of this, almost a musty, slightly soapy cardboard note, but I don't find it really overwhelming. Even more promising, I'm not getting any burned notes or coil gore while vaping this. Because of that cardboardy note, I'd avoid mixing this with fruits and creams, but I think it'll work better with dryer applications like bakeries and tobaccos. I'd mix with this between 2-3%.

Inhale is medium dense, with a sharper lightly caramelized sugar sweetness and a sort of fluffy base with just a bit of cream to it but a lot of conspicuously neutral body. Exhale starts off really strong, with a slightly buttery caramel up front without any kind of harsh burnt notes. Initially a creamy texture to this, and a wholly appropriate but not overwhelming level of sweetness. Back of the exhale gets a bit weird, as the caramel flavor dies down but you've still got a lot of volume that doesn't have much flavor to it. You've also got a bit of a musty, earthy note and some lighter soapy flavor right towards the tail end. Not a super dense, just a bit airier than I'd like from a caramel, but the finish is relatively clean, with just a bit of that soapy aftertaste lingering.

Off-flavors: All in the back half of the exhale. The caramel flavor tails off pretty sharply, so you're left with some cardboardy volume that picks up some earthiness and a bit of a soap on the tail end. Soapy sounds bad, but I get it in a lot of caramel flavors, and it really isn't that extreme in comparison to some other options.

Throat Hit: Not really.

Uses & Pairings: Despite the weirdness on the back end of this, this may actually be worth playing with. Most of the caramels on the market are either drier, darker, and grittier or they're an absolute nightmare of coil gunk. This has neither of those issues. This also tastes more cohesive than you'd get from just mixing a cream with on of the grittier caramels.

I'd say this is a caramel primarily for bakeries and tobaccos. The weirdness on the back end has some fluffier texture to it, and those soapy notes aren't terribly strong and should be covered up pretty easily by heavier flavors.

I'd personally avoid it for creams and fruits, as I've found those cardboardy notes do weird things to creams and brighter fruits... but you don't have a ton of other options there for softer caramels so you could definitely do worse.

Notes: Concentration testing, this seems to have a drier, darker caramel to it at 1%. I'm getting some gritiness, and that creamy part of this hasn't really come in clearly. I'm also get a bit more soap out of this, which is weird to happen at a lower percentage, but here we are. 2% is better overall, that caramelized sugar note has softened a bit, and I'm getting more richness out of the caramel here at least up front, with some legit buttery cream notes. I'm also starting to pick up that flat cardboard towards the back of the vape. 3% is a bit more aggressive, still has some richness up front but that cardboard volume towards the back is getting more earthy than soapy and picking up a bit of a savory edge. 4% seems like too much, The front end of this is still okay, but the back end is getting fairly earthy and a bit bitter.

Second Opinions:

ELR page for the SC version is actually more helpful than the VG version. User "Kotsos" says "Mostly artificial caramel syrup, nothing that will blow your mind or really help your recipes. Stick with TPA or FA." User "juice junkie lover" has a more negative take with "Mixed at 2.5% and let it sit a week. Oh man I get the sweaty sock taste from this flavor. I can taste notes of a thick caramel but that chemical is back and I taste this earthy mushroom, sweaty sock kind of flavor." User "Lolly" reports that at "1% this is a delicious caramel, not candy like, more like the gooey caramel you get inside a chocolate bar. Happily vape this on its own! " but says they can't really taste it at 3%. So all over the place really. I tend to sort of split the difference here. I could see people complaining about the off notes on the backend, but the front end of this is actually solid for a softer caramel, so much so I'd mix around the weirdness at the end.

Here's the product page from Real Flavors. Their take: "Who doesn’t like the sweet taste of rich, buttery caramel? Now you can enjoy this one-of-a-kind flavor without the sticky fingers. It’s a choice companion for your desserts, cakes and more."

DIY_eJuice Flavor Reviews

H/T to /u/ID10-T for the suggestion.