Hi all, this is my first flavor review so I hope the formatting is OK as I am taking an existing review and using it as a template. I promised /u/thedirtyprojector that I would review this flavor that was, in my opinion, the key in /u/CheebaSteeba's and my Pumpkin Cider recipe. I am, or at least try to be, a woman of my word so here goes.
MY Build:
Dual round wire coil - .25 ohm/recoil/rx 200/75 Watts.
Percentage Mixed:
Standalone /5%/ 70/30 VG/PG
Steep Time:
2 Days: As this is a fruit, it doesn't change too much in the steep process.
First Impresstions:
So in all honesty, my first impression of this flavor, before I even ordered it, was eeewww, yam why on earth would someone make a yam flavor and where in the world would that fit in a mix. Then I thought about sweet potato pie and how close it is to pumpkin pie and thought that this would be a good addition to something pumpkin. It being fall, I NEEDED to do something with pumpkin. I am glad I got over that first impression and decided to give it a go. It is a clear flavoring with a slightly sweet, musty smell (which didn't give me any more confidence to actually put this in a mix). Once I dropped it on the back of my hand for a lick test, I noticed it was very sweet and not as musty which made me feel a little better about trying it.
Taste:
This flavor has really surprised me. It does not have a very potent potato-ey, flavor like you might think but what you do have is a nice, sweet, mellow, starchy, if a bit earthy, bottom note. The earthiness or mustiness is a bit spicy reminiscent of a tea. This flavor has a nice, thick, creamy mouthfeel.
Standalone/Mixer:
It is quite pleasant vaping all on its own but really shines when you use it to add complexity to a recipe. It is used in the pumpkin cider recipe to add body to the pumpkin flavor and round off the harshness the pumpkin spice has. This flavor was the glue, I believe, in the pumpkin base of this Cider recipe. It worked so perfectly in filling out the pumpkin flavor and softening any rough edges. It gives the mix a sweet, mellow fullness I really like.
Pairings:
Ok, so this took some thinking about as the only thing I could think to do with this flavor is put it in your pumpkin base for fall recipes. It is such a nice thick and sweet flavor it would probably be good with custards and other creams. There, of course, always is the aforementioned sweet potato pie; throw a little maple in there, some brown sugar and perhaps a little marshmallow and a touch of cinnamon and maybe some pecan and you have a traditional thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. I don't really think you would get a lot of use out of this flavor so a 10 ml will last you for a while.
Thanks guys for reading this. I am glad I can contribute to this awesome community and I look forward to writing up more reviews as I am terribly behind on single flavor testing. As always you can find other awesome flavor reviews in our awesome wiki!
Percentage wise, is 5% the sweet spot, min, max? How does it perform above or below 5%? Any uses as a >1% accent you think?
I used it at only 1.5% in our recipe and it did the trick without being too earthy. I think using it sub 1% would be good to add some sweet thickness to mixes. I didn't want the earthiness to get in the way of the sweet pumpkin flavor we were going for which is why it was used so low. I don't have any experience testing it over 5%.
Thank you so much for reviewing this flavor! I have wanted to read a review of it for awhile. I love Yam I Am juice and I wanted to try to make a sweet potato casserole with marshmallow and cinnamon. Also a sweet potato and apple flavor would be amazing as they are among my favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
You are very brave for vaping yams
thanks lol. It was actually pretty darn tasty
Thanks for the fantastic review! This off the wall flavors are perfect for reviews.
In a similar vein, I have FE Taro in my cart for my next order so I'll toss this in too and maybe compare them as starch bases.
Thank you so much, this is an awesome review. I just purchased a vial of this, which I think would work very well in a taro/yam pie recipe.