Sasami Gooseberry
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.13 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Sasami Gooseberry, .5% and 1.5%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 20 days.
Flavor Description: Somewhere between green grape skins, tomatillos, and cactus with way more sweetness than seems appropriate. I've never had a real european gooseberry, and trying to figure out how they are supposed to taste has been... difficult. I'm assuming this is modeled after Eurasian gooseberries and apparently the flavor on those varies wildly based on cultivar. Basically, I've been able to ascertain that it should be tart / sour and sweet, and that it's somewhere closer to a grape / apple / pear flavor than a more recognizable berry. I could dig a sour grape flavor... this doesn't really taste like sour grapes. It's pretty odd.
Inhale is green and astringent. Underripe fruit here, but pretty heavily sweetened. That astringency is actually scary accurate to underripe fruit. It's very tannic and dry. I'd say tannic like dry red wine, but it feels like more a of a green grape flavor. A bit on the airy side. Exhale has a pretty intense savory flavor up front. It doesn't really feel like it belongs in there with that sweetness. It's hard to describe but that tannic green grape skin in the inhale picks up more of a green aloe note and starts to push even further into savory and gets a bit of an acidic tomatillo. There's some sweet fruit in there, but it's pretty generic. I could see maybe apple-ish or white grape fruityness, but that greener flavor is pushing that fruityness into just being a background sweetness. No real distinct floral notes, but that vegetal green has a sharper edge to it. Sweetness feels really cloying to me based on that green flavor. I don't think I would mind this nearly as much if you got more sour and tart than that heavy sweetness.
Off-flavors: Again, not acquainted with actual gooseberries, but there is a whole lot here that doesn't really taste pleasant, at least to my big dumb 'murican palate. It seems oversweet, and very green with some weirdly savory notes.
Throat Hit: Lightly harsh. That astringency does weird things to your throat though.
Uses & Pairings: I feel like I've editorialized quite a bit, but this is going to be a really hard flavor to use if your preferences in a vape are anything like mine. I can see maybe using this at a small percentage as an additive for a realistic apple or grape skin note. The taste isn't too far off from grape skins coated in sugar, and that astringency really is impressively accurate.
The intense sweetness might make it a decent sweetener for really green, herbal mixes.
If you like INW Cactus, but complain it doesn't feel enough like shoving raw cactus in your mouth, then knock yourself out with this.
Notes: Concentration testing this was unpleasant. At .5% it's mostly sweet astringency. Less complexity, but less savory. There are still some green notes, but it feels relatively light. At 1.5% it doesn't feel that much sweeter or astringent, but all of those green notes come in hard. Sasami recommends mixing this at 3-5% and I apparently have a death wish. Vaping this at 3%, it's very green. Stealing one of the second opinions, I can definitely see the tequila comparison here. It feels really close to the agave notes from blanco tequila and that sweetness makes me think of cheap tequila. At 5% it's actually a surprisingly well built flavor, that sweetness and those green notes feel pretty well in balance. It just tastes gnarly.
Second Opinions:
Bonus video review link with a first take on this flavor. For what it's worth, I've come around a bit on this flavor. I feel like it's unique and actually put together really well. Still don't like it, but if you're into this profile it's worth a shot.