Thank you to everyone who participated in Flavor of The Week last week.
As always, the purpose of this thread is to gather the community to explore a flavor and its many uses. And it's also to have FUN!
Post recipes containing this week's Flavor of the Week, as the star or in a supporting role, with or without development notes. Talk about other people's recipes that use it. Compare and contrast different manufacturers' versions of the FOTW. Ask for help using that flavor in general or to achieve something specific, offer advice, brainstorm ideas, consider substitutions, suggest pairings... really anything at all as long as it's on topic. And if this week's flavor doesn't interest you, take this opportunity to suggest one for the week after next that does (or send me a PM to do that).
This week's flavor is: HERBS (you know, like rosemary, basil, sweet woodruff, etc).
Past FOTW posts can be found here.
Prepare yourselves, next week's FOTW will be: Grapefruit
Here's what I had time for this morning. I'm hitting the end of my stride for the day but I'll add more once I have the brain power to type out my notes.
FA Zen Garden: A dry basil and sage flavor, with some faint woody notes in the background. Lightly sweet and slightly dry. Works wonderful as an accent, but over .75% can sometimes cause some unpleasant harshness to me so when using it higher it helps to pair it with something “wet” or creamy to counter that. Pairs well with dark berries, stone fruits, creams and semi savory mixes.
INW Rosemary Shisha: A fairly accurate representation of rosemary flavor, with maybe a bit of a sage type back note. Not very sweet, but definitely not unpleasant. Feasible to use this in a mix up to 1.5% without it trashing anything else, and is decent as a standalone if you’re in to that sort of thing. Pairs well with berries, heavy custards, pear, apple, and as a back note to other herbal mixes.
FLV Basil: Much sweeter than FA Zen Garden. A fresh counterpart, with no dry notes. I really like it between .5% and 1% for a fresh basil twist. Works really well in light cocktail types. I tested it standalone at 2% also, and got a bit of a sort of “green” borderline salad flavor, similar to the green notes in FLV Lovage.
TFA Horehound: Part of the mint family, it’s flavor is really similar to menthol and anise/black licorice. It’s one of those sort of love it or hate it type flavors. It’s a median strength flavor that is fairly flexible. At lower percentages (sub 1%) you can get a sort of herbal feeling koolada sensation without it affecting your flavor. It’s usable as a standalone up to 7% without it going weird, though it does get a bit medicinal. Pairs really well with other anise/licorice types, a bit of extra kick for a root beer mix, or I sometimes vape this standalone when I’m a little on the sick side.
FW Sassafras: The spicy herbal notes that really define what we know about Root Beer. It’s pretty unique on it’s own, and pairs nicely in a lot of different combinations. Plays well with creams, tea, darker fruits, and TFA Horehound. And of course, it’ll really spice up your root beer recipes! Fairly flexible on percentages. 1-2% as an additive, 3-5% as a primary note.
INW Eucalyptus w/Mint: The almighty Euc. I cannot sing it’s praise enough as both a palate cleanser, and just an all around really wonderful flavor. If you hate cough drops, this isn’t for you. An intense mint/cooling sensation with bright eucalyptus flavor. Very potent, but not unpleasantly strong. Starting out as a standalone I’d suggest around 1.5% though I do like it as high as 3-4% standalone. .5% in a mix and it will still be very very present. Which is certainly not a bad thing.
Ah, yes, TFA Horehound is my 'secret ingredient' in making a good Absinthe flavor, that isn't just an anise-bomb. It adds some of that herbal complexity you get in good, real absinthe.
If you can get your hands on some Solubarôme concentrates, I'd definitely recommend their Absinthe! (They call it "Absynthe")
It's got that herbal complexity and is really delicious. I got it because I wanted that anise bomb you speak of since I'm trying to clone Red Astaire and haven't been able to get the anise taste prominent enough with just anise or licorice flavorings. Was a little disappointed at first but I'm actually glad I grabbed it now.
Great notes, thank you!!!
Hmm... I wonder how well that FLV Basil would pair with mango flavors, mango and basil are two things that appear together in some of my favorite dishes and drinks.
Mango basil rice or tapiaco pudding. MMMMMM. Mango and tomato are my two favorite pairing options for basil.
Mango basil margarita, mango basil sorbet, mango basil smoothie, strawberry mango basil smoothie, mango basil popsicles, mango basil hard lemonade, mango basil sangria, mango basil oatmeal, mango basil white chocolate mousse, mango basil coconut lassi, mango basil green tea...
can you give me some examples of the "semi savory mixes" that might pair with Zen Garden, please?
This week's flavor was by request from /u/HocusKrokus. Can hardly wait to see what he has in store for us!
Whoooooo! I'm on a long shift but I'll get to this soon!
Got anything with Zen Garden? Just ordered it on a whim.
I do! When I'm in front of my work station I'll hook you up. It's probs in my top 10. Love that stuff. Off the top of my head, it pairs well with most fruits but especially dark berries and stone fruits. Especially nicely with INW Plum/Raspberry. At .25% it'll add a very faint herby note but it's vague that low. As you raise it, the basil and sage start to show up. Around .75% I start to pick up a bit of dryness and a woody note so if you take it this high you usually want to add some cactus or cream to help counter that dryness. I've used it successfully around 1% if I recall correctly, but I'll have to wait until I'm off work to dig into my notes and old recipes.
This is the most exiting FOTW for me. One of my favorite juices of all time was a house juice by a local shop that is no longer in business. The best way I could describe it was like vaping a forest. It tasted like how cedar smells, kind of. A very slight minty exhale. The perfect winter vape.
Have you tried Flavour Art Royal? It has a nice cedar taste to it. I wouldn't say it has a minty exhale but it's very fresh tasting. (like breathing air in mountain air/fresh air)
I have not. I'll have to give it a look though. I've never made a juice that has any of these profiles though, so I wouldn't know what would be good to pair it with or where to start.