The Flavor Apprentice Chili Mango
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.33 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: TPA Chili Mango, 3% and 6%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 9 days.
Flavor Description: Underripe and slightly soapy mango with some light pepper spray.
This leads with the mango. Overall fairly artificial and slightly soapy. Probably closest to TPA Philippine Mango of the mangoes I've tried, but soapier than that. Almost a fruity shampoo kind of vibe, with some floral weirdness there. Not a lot of realistic juicy body or a heavier artificial mango flavor. Almost like a painfully underripe mango without much sweetness or flavor and a tiny bit of dish soap.
Chili here is mostly just plain capsaicin spiciness. I don't pick up much in the way of an actual chile flavor here. Maybe some slightly earthy and smoky notes, but I think it's just the throat hit from the spiciness. Overall, could actually be a bit spicier? Maybe normal pasilla hot, nothing intense. It's just a bit of stinging spiciness but nothing particularly full that lingers.
Moderate fullness for a fruit, but this actually feels a bit undersweet for a full mango flavor.
Off-flavors: Just the spice from the chili, mango is soapy and underripe.
Throat Hit: Well, "Chili" so there's a pretty aggressive throat hit. More spice than normal sting though.
Percentage testing: At 3%, the mango here is a bit swamped by that spice. Lighter mango flavor but some of the soapy notes are pretty well masked by that chile. Seems to work relatively well here.
At 6% the mango tastes more soapy and floral. Not much spicier than 3%.
Just based on these tests, I'd probably start around 4% with this a primary flavor. I'd use as an accent around 2%, where you're just getting some of that spicy and some mild fruitiness
Uses & Pairings: Interesting, but not really pleasant solo flavor.
You could theoretically through some CAP golden pineapple at this to try to mask some of that soapy weirdness and use the spiciness against that. Would also bend into a spicy cactus flavor with enough INW Cactus. Would also go well with a brighter citrusy flavor to stand in for something like tamarind. Or a realistic watermelon like FW Red Summer or FLV Watermelon and try to turn it into more of a melon. Or just go nuts and add some FLV Candy Roll or TPA/FW Sweet and Tart and go for some kind of weird, powdery mexican candy thing.
This doesn't really deliver on the chile part of the equation, you could probably get a similar effect with a better mango and some FW Capsicum or FLV Heat. Still need to try INW Shisha Chili Hot spice to see if there's a better actual chile flavor available.
Second Opinions: There is actually an ELR Page up for this. User "VoyagerVapor" writes: "A nice, sweet mango with a touch of heat. I’ve mixed it at 7% with FLV Mango (1%), WF Sour Gummy Candy (2%), Nude Nicotine’s Tamarind (3%), INW Strawberry Shisha (.5%) and INW Cactus (.25%) for a delicious Mexican candy inspired vape. I could also see this flavor being useful in a punch or cocktail application."