Wrecka/Reka Sparkling Orange
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.14 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Wrecka Sparkling Orange, 2 and 4%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 12 days.
Flavor Description: An artificial soda type orange flavor with built in cooling and sweetener. Pretty much a one shot to accent around.
So a general disclaimer, I'm not at all familiar with Malaysian juices in general. I've just heard them described as intensely icy, usually using ws-23 (or ws-23 and ws-5 in conjunction) and heavily sweetened. I picked these up from Chef's as "Wrecka" but they are apparently rebottled Malaysian Reka flavors.
The orange here tastes on the artificial side. It's a pretty decent artificial orange, not quite as vibrant as an orange crush type soda flavor, but in the same family. I'm not picking anything like a realistic zest note or juiciness. Basically a bright commercial, almost candy orange.
This is there "sparkling" orange, and I do get something that tastes very mildly carbonated-ish. I think it's mostly the sweetener and the flavor kind of tasting like soda, and the cooling making the flavor hit my palate a bit like a soda would. Probably more association than an actual tactile mouthfeel.
Given what I had heard about Malaysian juices, I was expecting straight icicles. I didn't really get that, at least the percentages tested. There's cooling here, but I'm getting it more as a tactile sharpness toward my lips than a heavy cooling sensation. That sort of sensation does line up with what I get from ws-23, and the actual cooling effect feels like a relatively low percentage of 30% WS-23. At 4% of this concentrate, the actual cooling effect seems like it's weaker than .5% WS-23. I'm not sure if WS-23 is the only cooling they are using though. Theres a weird cardboard taste in the base of the flavor I associate more closely with WS-3 (or straight koolada.) It definitely doesn't feel like ws-5. If they are using just WS-23 it doesn't feel like a particularly "clean" cooling like the ws-23 I've been mixing from crystals or the stuff I've purchased from chef's.
There's also quite a bit of sweetener here. Jorakae, in the thread in the second opinions section, is much more familiar with Reka than I am. They said it feels like there is something besides just sucralose going on here, and I could see that. I'm not great with sweetener identification, but just tasting this back of the hand, you notice something that feels quite a bit different from just the thinner, bitter taste of straight sucralose. It tastes a lot more like FLV Sweetness, which is a stevia derivative. I didn't notice any stevia off flavors while using this concentrate, and it seems to be sweeter off a shake than stevia, but I really wouldn't be surprised if this was using both some sucralose, and something that worked more like Stevia. Sweetness level is definitely present, but not overwhelming. At 2% of this concentrate it seemed maybe a bit less sweet than .5% of 10% Sucralose. That cardboard note from the cooling would limit me percentage-wise before the sweetener.
Off-flavors: Besides that cardboard edge to the cooling, not really. I'm not noticing any weirdness from the sweetener, and nothing tastes overwhelmingly odd at 4% and under.
Throat Hit: A bit, but that's mostly the cooling. Nothing that feels like a chemical throat hit though.
Percentage testing: At 2% the orange here doesn't quite feel saturated. There's a decent mid and top flavor here, but it feels like it's lacking some base. Solidly sweet but not cloying. The cooling is also feeling fairly present. I wouldn't call it icy, but it feels fairly close to .25-.3% of 30% WS-23.
At 4% the orange is a bit better. Still feels a bit thin in flavor down low, but there is a solid orange here. Sweetness level is pushing oversweet for me, but it's still manageable and I haven't noticed any major coil gore after vaping 10ml. The biggest issue is the cooling, I feel like it's starting to pick up some WS-3 kind of cardboard.
The chef's product suggests a range from 2%-10%. At 8% there was way too much sweetener for me, and I noticed some muddy flatness after a couple drags. That cardboard taste was also way too prominent.
Just based on these tests, I feel like the cooling is probably the biggest limiting factor for percentage, not because of the coolness but that weird cardboard note. I'd probably use this around 3%.
Uses & Pairings: This is a fruit flavor with cooling and sweetener added, so you're pretty much locked into fruit and beverage mixes. That kind of cardboard note on the cooling doesn't usually work well with creams.
This is a fairly competent single flavor mix, but it'd probably be better with something deep and juicy like FLV Mango, a juicy yellow peach flavor like JF Honey Peach, or even a juicier pineapple like CAP Golden Pineapple. If you wanted to stick with orange-ish flavors, I could see this working better with a heavier, waxier orange flavor like FA Mandarin, FW Blood Orange, or FLV Orange Citrus.
Other than trying to fix the base a bit, go nuts on fruit and beverage pairings that would normally go well with oranges. Good base for a mimosa type flavor with some TPA Champagne.
Second Opinions:
Nothing about this flavor specifically, but there was a recent thread discussing these flavors.
Great discussion, the takeaways include:
ceedee99uk: These are rebottled Reka concentrates.
Jorakae: They seperate in mixes above 50% VG. (FWIW, I mixed these at 60% VG and didn't notice any seperation issues, but 60% VG is really close to 50% and I mixed 10ml batches.)
ShittyStrawman: "I'm not getting a "carbonated" sensation, but the are nice fruit flavours regardless, probably reminiscent of "soda" flavours."