23
FA Nonna's Cake - Tasting Notes
submitted over 9 years ago by bigbruise

FA's description: "A true lovable Cake base... as good as only grandmothers can do! We suggest using 2-4%" http://flavourart.com/en/store/resellers/custom-mix/nonna-cake-en/

I mixed it up at 3% as I figured that would be a good middle ground for an FA flavor. Most of us usually use FA anywhere from .5-4%. I mixed it at 70vg and 3mg nicotine just as I would any other mix.

(3/23/16) Fresh - Lemon cake. Tastes very synthetic or plastic like, it immediately reminded me of those Hostess cupcakes, the yellow ones. Not sure if those are lemon flavored but I suppose the synthetic flavor reminded me of packaged cakes.

24-48 hour age - Still a synthetic lemon cake. I suppose more bakery or cake notes come through. Fuck this lemon though. Pretty gross so far.

7 days - Much more enjoyable, some of the lemon has faded and more cake comes through. Still very synthetic and not what I was hoping for.

Today - I haven't had much desire to taste this further since it's been a let down. But today, after 12 days it's a much better vape. Most, but not all, of the lemon is all but gone. More bakery cake for sure. I think they were definitely going for a single flavor vape here.

I can see this being used at very low percentages to add some cake notes, but the lemon is going to be there.

Final thoughts. Why FA, why? Correct me if I'm wrong but this came out just as the bad news about FW Yellow Cake was announced. They had a perfect opportunity to release a white or yellow cake flavor. It would have been so popular, and it may still be. But, for me this sucks. I don't know what it is with Italians and their lemon deserts, but I feel as if they totally screwed this one up. FA, give us a plain yellow or white cake flavor to build off of. PLEASE.

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5 points
 
by Enyawreklawover 9 years agoCreator - Best Recipe of 2015: Rhodonite

My notes are pretty much the same, and so are the sentiments about a regular yellow cake flavor. It's a disappointment, and like what /u/notcharlesmanson said it seems like way too much of a single flavor. FA usually doesn't miss, so I'll chalk it up to rushing it out while being compliant. Maybe the lemon covers up the lack of diacetyl? But hopefully they stop putting lemon in shit. If I want lemon, FA, I'll add lemon.

2 points
 
by CheebaSteebaover 9 years agoFrugivore

> If I want lemon, FA, I'll add lemon.

Hahaha, for real! I want to like their custard so bad, but that lemon just makes it so you have to work a recipe around it, instead of being able to work it in to a recipe.

4 points
 
by abdadaover 9 years agoI will rip you a new one if you don't use the sidebar & search.

I like Nonna but it's definitely a steep-requiring flavor. The lemon isn't as bad to my palate as it appears to others, but I also only mixed it with heat and a touch of homogenizing. I really need to try a shake and vape with it.

3% is too high for me. 1.5% seems fine and I do get a cakey taste out of it but it's not as good as others.

Interested in the FLV Cupcake or whatever it is, but haven't gotten it yet.

Cake is a tough flavor in general.

7 points
 
by JohnLaCuentaover 9 years ago

Try INW Lemon Cake if you haven't, great pound cake flavor. I wish they made it without lemon to make it more versatile.

1 points
 
by CheebaSteebaover 9 years agoFrugivore

I've been wanting to pick that up for a while, BCV keeps running out right when I'm about ready to order lol

2 points
 
by sixfiveliveover 9 years ago

Have you tried the RF cake batter? I'm going to get a few of their flavors like that bread pudding and Boston cream pie. Their cin toast was ok, not so much the fruit loops flavor though. I saw they recommend heating mixes to about 105, which would be less than hot tap water, but hadn't read that at the time.

2 points
 
by abdadaover 9 years agoI will rip you a new one if you don't use the sidebar & search.

Bread Pudding is great, but lacks the bread part mostly.

Cake Batter is OK. Also missing the cakey part.

I just got a bunch of FLV samplers (thanks Brendan) and their FLV Cupcake Batter smells divine, I can't wait to mix with it.

I mix all my flavor concentrates at a minimum of 45C, which is 113F. Most of my concentrates mix better at 60C, and some I've gone as high as 70C (158F) but those are rare.

VG doesn't homogenize without a lot of time (weeks or months) or heat added. Don't mix with heat with nic involved, add nic after back to room temp.

1 points
 
by sixfiveliveover 9 years ago

Ok, thanks. I knew they'd need time, but I'll add some heat, at least when using VG based flavors. I'll skip their Cake Batter and wait for the Flv version.

3 points
 
by Auntjaemimaover 9 years agoPâtissier

... What is the bad news regarding FW Yellow cake

4 points
 
by matthewkocandaover 9 years ago

Long story short, fructose in the concentrate. It's still a subject being debated as to how seriously detrimental it is, but vaping fructose creates carcinogenic molecules.

7 points
 
by Hodorhohodorover 9 years ago

Well that explains why it always turned my coils into charcoal

1 points
 
by Auntjaemimaover 9 years agoPâtissier

Oh, I thought they might pull it off the market lmao. I'll probably keep using it tbh

2 points
 
by Ephelusover 9 years agoProud Sidebar Reader!

It also turns your coils to shit really fast, but if you want to vape fructose, go ahead, I guess.

2 points
 
by cjinctover 9 years ago

> I'll probably keep using it tbh

You and me, both!

3 points
 
by matthewkocandaover 9 years ago

Significantly better notes than mine. I went in without any real knowledge of NC, so my flavour tests were at 3.5 and 5 percent. At 5%, all I tasted was licorice. It was disgusting. At 3.5, I still tasted it, but it wasn't AS bad, but it still didn't have any cake element it my opinion. Just lemon and licorice. Disappointment.

I'll stick with CAP Sugar Cookie, for the time being.

2 points
 
by RinVapesover 9 years ago

what the hell is licorice doing in cake? I ordered this flavor because prior to this, people were raving about it. F it if I can taste licorice. Blehck

5 points
 
by abdadaover 9 years agoI will rip you a new one if you don't use the sidebar & search.

First of all one has to understand that a "cake" in Italy isn't the same thing as in the US.

Torta della Nonna (Grandmother's Cake) is usually made with a pastry crust and a ricotta or other cheese filling. It's a custard cake. The recipe almost always include lemon zest, hence why there's a lemon flavor involved.

Some people actually do add anise to the traditional cake but it isn't normally in the flavor. I don't personally taste any anise but I never tried it up to 5%. I mostly mixed it at 0.25%-3.5% and 3.5% was too much for me.

At lower percentages it definitely has a custard (European) cakey (European) flavor to it.

3 points
 
by bigbruiseover 9 years ago

Can't agree more. My American taste notes may differ from someone who grew up eating Nonna cake in Italy. They may find this flavor perfect. Myself and I'm sure lots of others were just hoping for a Yellow Cake replacement, which is probably unfair for FA.

1 points
 
by JohnLaCuentaover 9 years ago

They're misleading people with the image on the label then (it's not a torta della nonna) and calling it a "true lovable cake base"...

3 points
 
by matthewkocandaover 9 years ago

Yeah I doubt anyone will pick up on licorice because I fucked up and went off of my own standard of mixing test flavours at 5% and adjusting from there. Little did my drunken self realize that most pastry or cake flavours will start to drastically change at or around 4%.

Most notes I've read don't note licorice, and most notes don't use NC over 3%, hence where my mistake comes in. But like /u/abdada said, A LOT of Italian bakery recipes include anise and lemon, so NC going for an Italian cake profile makes sense for those to be there. However, the way it was, seemingly unintentionally, marketed as a replacement for Yellow Cake really pissed some people off. NC seems to be trying to be a standalone flavour, and for what it's worth, it's complex enough to do so. And I reckon some people will find use for the lemony notes, and some may even find use for the anise, because it's definitely there at higher percentages.

Those things aside, it just ain't for me.

1 points
 
by RinVapesover 9 years ago

See, I don't mind a lemon note... but I don't like anise. I also don't use FA over 2%, regardless of the flavor... so maybe I'll be ok. Lol. If it's bad, I only spent like $2 on it

2 points
 
by NotCharlesMansonover 9 years agoFirst diy_ejuice Recipe Contest- Best Recipe

When it's released publicly, FLV Cake Batter is a good replacement for FW ~~Sugar~~ Yellow Cake.

1 points
 
by bigbruiseover 9 years ago

That may be, but it still comes with a much higher price point. The few (2) FLV flavors I have a great, I really enjoy them. I just don't see myself buying FLV over the more cheaper brands.

2 points
 
by sixfiveliveover 9 years ago

Yeah, at 3% I get a lemoney, sourish/tart/ cheese with a hint of bakery. I was wondering if i got a bad bottle or something. It fits with what "real" nonna's cake is, but man, this shouldn't include the word cake. I tried a mix with it at 1.5 and that cheese note came through the other flavors. By cheese, I mean like ricotta, which can be in nonna's cake.

2 points
 
by CheebaSteebaover 9 years agoFrugivore

TYVM for the notes! Just got this in today... I was excited but now I don't know! I'll test it out too to see what I think; I'm sure we'll find a good use for it.

1 points
 
by bigbruiseover 9 years ago

You're welcome.

2 points
 
by Josher61over 9 years ago

Thanks for the flavour notes. I ordered this immediately as part of my first order and then I started to see some not so great notes on it. I shall proceed with caution and not expect too much from it :)

2 points
 
by wh1skeyk1ngabout 9 years agoDiketones, Schmiketones

I'm late to the party, but came here to add that this flavor needs at least 2 weeks steep.

2% tastes like cheap birthday cake. 6% tastes like straight black licorice. I'd recommend keeping it at 3% or less unless you are after black licorice flavor.

I personally do not taste any lemon whatsoever at either percentage.

1 points
 
by cyantacoover 9 years ago

I didn't want to make a post about this, but can anyone tell me any GOOD cake mixes? By mix I mean a mixture of a few "okay" cake flavors to make a decent cake flavor. I know FW has fructose in it but it's the only one that's decent. I've been working with FLC Cupcake batter at 1.8% and it's just okay so far. In my opinion though it's an unsweetened cake taste. I surprisingly added sucrose and it was alright then, but does anyone have any tricks that I may not know about? I have Cap Vanilla Cupcake, also, but thats more of a frosting.

2 points
 
by hapticsquidover 9 years ago

I've mixed up this from ELR using Nonna's (mine was an all FA, no sucralose version, in the notes) and it's pretty damn good straight-up sweet sponge cake TOC's Sweet Heavenly Cake

I agree with the flavour notes here about a synthetic note early on but in this it disappears completely after 1 - 2 weeks steeping.

1 points
 
by hectomanerover 9 years ago

I posted a strawberry cake recipe that I have been working on (using Nonn'as) in the monthly recipe thread.

1 points
 
by tranceinateover 9 years agoIn a good mood for now - don't piss me off.

If you're just vaping single flavour FLV cupcake batter, try it at 4-5% without any sweetener. Sucrose = Sugar btw, Sucralose is fakesugar.

1 points
 
by hapticsquidover 9 years ago

I made up two versions of Rhodonite 2 weeks ago, one with FW Yellow Cake and one with 1% Nonnas, will see how they compare when I find time this week (and when I get around to cleaning and rebuilding the pair of Derringers) and report findings.

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