Vape Train Australia Green Mango
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for this, shoutout to Vape Train for sending this to me.
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.33 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Vape Train Green Mango, 1%, 4% and 8%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 44 days.
Flavor Description: Hey, so you know that green mango peel note that everyone is always complaining about with mango flavors? That’s pretty much what this is. It’s a very piney, slightly sweet and tart, underripe mango with a distinct basil accent.
The top notes here are really piney and remind me of the terpenes from hops or their really close and very popular botanical cousin. Fairly accurate to a green mango although those piney top notes are maybe just a bit more prominent then they would be in a green mango. Definitely tastes green and fresh though. Light fresh cut grass underneath it all. There also seems to be a thai basil kind of flavor that really shows up on the tail end of the exhale. A little sharper and more anise-y than sweet basil. It could just be flavor association from mostly eating green mango in thai restaurants, but it seems to be pretty dead on to thai basil for me. Less peppery than holy basil, but still has a really interesting presence to it.
The base of this is a pretty heavily tart mango flavor. Still some of that sweetness, but not nearly as sweet and thick as you get from something like FLV Mango. Tartness actually seems have a bit of astringency attached to it as well. That mango lends some extra body and sweetness to those pine and basil herbal notes. Feels fairly crisp and slightly juicy. I could be losing my mind, but I’m also getting some of that underripe mango chalkiness here too.
And it’s not really a deal-breaker or anything, but my testers with this are really cloudy, so maybe don’t be surprised about that.
Off-Flavors: Well, it’s a green mango so caveat emptor. Seems to have a pretty heavy basil hit to it though.
Throat Hit: Light. Pretty smooth overall, at least steeped this long.
Percentage testing: At 1%, I’m getting a pretty heavy tartness out this. Seems to be a bit more versatile here, with the pinier notes a bit more toned down. Definitely still there, and I’m still getting some basil, but might be workable without calling too much attention to itself here.
At 4%, that tartness is more balanced out by sweetness. Relatively heavy piney and basil notes. Pretty unmistakable here.
At 8%, there isn’t anything unpleasant tasting, but those piney notes and especially the basil is getting pretty aggressive. Doesn’t feel like much more mango base than 4%.
Vape Train again suggests mixing this at 1-5% or standalone 5-9%. Just based on these tests, I’d use this lower as a relatively onubtrusive accent from .5-2%. If you really wanted to lean into the green mango here, I’d probably start around 6% for a primary flavor.
Uses & Pairings: Overall a really well done, but fairly left field flavor that is probably going to be exactly what a small percentage of people are looking for.
So, if you were let down by decidedly undank TPA Mary Jane or the more juniper heavy FA Reggae Nights, this may actually be a pretty viable alternative. Still feels a bit grassy and fresh, but that terpene top note is at least moderately dank.
If you’re just a fan of herbal or hop flavors, this could provide some really interesting backup for FLV Pink Guava or FLV Yakima Hops. The tropical fruit notes would work really well FLV Pink Guava, and this could bend the more straight ahead Yakima Hops into something a bit fruity like a citra, simcoe, or cascade hops.
You could always pair this with more mango if for some reason your mango doesn’t have enough peel on it, but should be interesting with apple, cherimoya, grapefruit, guava, and pineapple. Probably easier to bounce this off sweet juicy fruits. If you can deal with the pine, the basil here would work really well with strawberries and that tartness would just bump the entire profile up a notch.
This is going to be a bit unpleasant with anything involving dairy notes, not so much because of the pine kind of thing but also because the underlying grassy basil flavor… but feel free to add some coconut if you want to roll with that creamier, richer take.
Or hey, get weird with it and break out some FE Sweet Rice or something spicy.
Second Opinions: I’m not seeing anything via google.