Real Flavors Grape SC
ID10-T
Setup: Recoil RDA. Dual kanthal clapton coils @ 0.339 ohm. 50w power, Cotton Bacon wicks.
Testing: Real Flavors (Super Concentrate) Grape @ 1.75% and 2.5%, 70/30 VG/PG, Steeped 6 - 13 days.
Flavor Description: Grape cotton candy. This tastes like maltol/ethyl maltol combined with a grape kool-aid flavor. So much EM that it has that spun sugar thing going on, very much like using crushed grape suckers to make cotton candy on my home cotton candy machine. Or mixing 10% TFA Cotton Candy with 2% FLV Grape, maybe.
Off-flavors: Cotton candy. It's just called "grape" - it were called grape cotton candy or just grape candy, you couldn't call it an off flavor. I also got a very light hint of the notorious grape medicine flavor at 2.5% at 6 days' steep, but it is gone at 13 days.
Throat Hit: Very slight itch at 6 days, none at 13 days.
Notes: At 1.75%, or half the manufacturer's suggested use percent, I get more cotton candy than grape. It calls to mind a lavender colored cotton candy with just hints of grape. At 2.5%, more grape punches though and this tastes purple, like the dark spots where bites have been taken from fluffy bunch of grape cotton candy. Inhale is mild, somewhat powdery grape, with a fuller but one dimensional grape kool-aid coming in right at the top of the exhale and giving way to a spun sugar with light grapey finish that's neither offensively dry nor especially juicy.
Uses & Pairings: Other grapes, strawberries and other berries. If grape is your main flavor, this is going to need some help. There just does not seem to be enough grape here in relation to the maltol taste to carry any kind of grape recipe. The concentrate seems to be muting itself, if that makes sense. But it seems like it might be very useful in making other grapes, as well as strawberries etc., more jammy, ripe, or sweeter, similar to adding EM or TFA Strawberry Ripe to get that effect. Might also have use in candy profiles. It's not terribly sweet as a standalone but tastes almost certain to bring out the sweetness in other flavors. Don't recommend buying this flavor, because I think anything it can do can just as easily be done with other ingredients. But if you happen to have it, as I now do, I would probably use it around 2.5% in a mix for these applications and be sure to let it steep a bit to fully rid itself of any medicine flavor or harshness.
Second Opinions:
ELR notes have preferred single flavor mixes 2.5% to 3%.
juice junkie lover: "Mixed at 2.5% and let it sit a week. This is the best grape flavor I have tasted to date. It has no back taste! It reminds me of grape koolaide! I love this one!"
I'm guessing yucky off-notes is what is meant by back taste, and I have to agree that this is not unpleasant and does remind me of grape kool-aid. But "best" grape? Compared to what, I wonder.
louiesquared: "This flavor is a wonderful sweet grape with a bit of a bite on the end. No cough medicine here. Reminds me of Welches grape juice but a little lighter. Single flavor mix at 3% with a 3 day steep and it's very nice."
That bite is probably pretty common among short-steeped RF SC flavors. It is indeed lighter than grape juice to me. Light and fluffy.
TheTinMan: "Mixed at 1.5% in a recipe. The grape really shines. Wonderful flavor with no artificial taste."
No artificial taste? Because kool-aid grows on trees, right? LOL
Be sure to check out all of the other great reviews at:
Video Review: In this video, the third episode of NOTED, I try this flavor for the first time and talk about it and other related flavors with my co-hosts /u/CheebaSteeba and /u/mlNikon.... as well as a SPECIAL GUEST, Mr. Grack Juice himself, /u/Philosaphucker. Check it out!