Vape Train Australia Persian Lime
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 @.31 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Vape Train Persian Lime, 1%, 4% and 8%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 16 days.
Flavor Description: A pretty well-rounded lime, mixing tartness, sweetness, and a bit of zest.
The lime here is all over the place, in mostly a good way. Vape Train says this is their realistic lime, and it definitely hits some of those kind of notes. I get a pretty realistic lime zest in the top notes. Not overwhelming or too harsh, but manages to be fairly present, at least before a longer steep. There is also a fairly realistic lime tartness to this. I wouldn't really call it fresh lime juice acidic, but the tartness adds some contrast and feels fairly realistic for something like a limeade. That tartness and zest plays off a sweeter, heavier base. Unsteeped, it's a little less thick than FA Distilled Lime, but it also isn't nearly as harsh. I think the base ends up sweet enough it kind of pulls this off a super realistic lime profile, but it's pretty well balanced.
And what would a citrus be without at least a little bit of weirdness in steeping? While this doesn't completely fade out like some other lime flavors, it does seem to change a bit. Off a shake, this actually seems to have quite a bit of fairly realistic lime zest. It's a bit thin, not terribly harsh, and reminds me a lot of a fuller version of FA Cold Pressed. Understandably, some of those really heavy zest notes start to die down with a steep. At about a week, I was still getting some zest but it was definitely a bit less aggressive.
This also seems to sweeten up considerably on a steep. At a week the uptick in sweetness was noticeable. At 16 days, it seems even sweeter and it's pushing a bit towards a candy or limeade type flavor. It's not that obnoxious bright "green" kind of skittles lime taste like something like FLV Lime, but more of a sweeter, heavier lime hard candy. Still has some pop and acidity like an actual lime, but it's gotten heavier and kind of sugary. It's kind of reminding me of a lime version of what some of the lemon flavors do where they basically turn into a lemonhead with a steep.
Trying to put this in some context, seems somewhere between the sweeter, brighter FA distilled lime and the more realistic FA Cold Press lime. As it steeps, it also picks up some of the sweetness of something like FW Key Lime or TPA Key Lime. It's the utility infielder of the lime world.
Off-Flavors: Nothing un-limeish. Seems to steep out considerably sweeter than it starts out, so that's a bit odd.
Throat Hit: Light. Pretty mellow for a lime or citrus in general.
Percentage testing: At 1%, especially steeped, I'm not getting a ton out of this. Some light tartness, some heavier candy sweetness, but it doesn't really feel fleshed out or filled in at all. I'm tasting a bit of my base through this.
At 4%, this is starting to fill in. That lime zest is coming through a bit more,there is still some tartness, and that sweeter base is definitely deeper and more solid. Balance is fairly good here, and there isn't much harshness.
At 8%, this doesn't really feel blown out. The zest is a bit heavier but it isn't too harsh and the base is feeling pretty heavily candied. While I'm getting most of what I want out the flavor, there isn't really anything that makes me think this couldn't comfortably go a bit higher.
Vape Train suggests using this mixed 3-5% and standalone 6-9%. That actually doesn't seem far off. It's one of the least intense lime flavors I've had, especially with a steep. Just based on these tests, and if you're planning on anything with a steep, I'd probably be using around 3-4% as an accent, and maybe 8% as a primary note but that seems flexible. As a S&V or short steep, I'd probably go at 4-5%.
Uses & Pairings: Kind of a catch-all lime. At lower percentages the zest and tartness are going to come through a bit easier than the sweeter parts of this. Should work well as a lime accent in stuff like fruit mixes or sweeter beverages. I think it's probably a bit too sweet for really heavy cocktail applications.
Should mix pretty well with heavier creams and custards in general, adding some decent lime flavor without coming across as too tart, bitter, or harsh.
Should also work in bakeries or cheesecakes, especially at higher percentages where that sweetness really comes out.