I've had this flavor for the last week, and when looking up recipes for it, it seemed like a lot of people had trouble coming up with a good place to use this.
I thought I'd mix it up as a single flavor and see what I could come up with. At 3% there was a light, slight honey-glaze sweetness paired with some background cocoa and a hint of dairy.
At 4% is really where this shines for me. It's not as potent as a lot of other FLV flavors, but man, at 4% this is a surprisingly complex single flavor mix. I'm getting hints of honey, sugar glaze (think cinnamon roll icing), cocoa, and a definite roasted coffee note (not brewed coffee, more like the smell of freshly roasted coffee...if you've ever been to a roasting house you know what I mean. It's a very oily, fragrant smell). I definitely get less dairy from this at 4% than I do at 3%
I imagine as this "steeps" it will change in flavor a bit, but off the bat that's what I get. As for current suggestions, I'd say this would work great in chocolate mixes since both coffee and cocoa do wonders for enhancing chocolate flavors. I feel like I'd want to recommend it at a lower percent (1-2%) as a glaze for something like a cake or cinnamon roll recipe...but having not tested it yet I can't really say whether it would work.
Anyone else find some good uses for this flavor?
Thank you for the tasting notes! We're all better off with more posts like this
Thanks for sharing the notes on this one! I still haven't found a great use for it. Granted, I've only mixed it standalone so far. Sadly, it wasn't what I envisioned when I ordered two bottles. But I do agree that it has potential, just can't find a place yet. You might be on to something with adding it to a chocolatey mix. Maybe it could fit in with something like a Chai Tea or Horchata type recipe?
> definite roasted coffee note
I roast coffee regularly and oh my god, this is one of my favorite smells in the world.
... That's diacetyl for you.
Favorite smell is the grassy one from early in the roasts. I don't think diacetyl does that one any favors to most people, but I love it.
I enjoy them for different reasons than the actual smell, because honestly, they aren't all that amazing when considered completely out of context.
Thank you!! I just received this on Friday and was going to play with it. Now, I have a base to go off of. I'll see what I can come up with.
No problem! I'll be posting a bigger write up on some other flavors ideally today, so if you have more from them, be on the lookout! :)
Check out /u/skiddlzninja's FLV tasting notes, if you haven't already. He talks about Milk & Honey. I've had it for a few months and have yet to play with it.