Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.18 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: CAP Anise @ 1% and 4%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 15 days.
Flavor Description: At 1%, not much of anything. Don't use this at 1%.
At 4%, a sweet, slightly muted anise flavor. Sweet, moderately dense inhale. Flat, oxidized lime juice flavor builds towards the end of the inhale. Exhale has flat slightly bitter black licorice top notes. The anise here is light, almost like the anise flavor you'd get from steeping star anise pods in a cider or sauce. I'd say it's fairly realistic in that way. That flat citrus flavor is pretty prominent. Sweetness is a bit much.
Off-flavors: That citrus note and sweetness are probably not what you're looking for in an anise.
Throat Hit: 2/10. Mild for anise.
Uses: Anise to punch up fruit mixes, somewhere between 3-5%. The anise itself isn't sharp enough for candy licorice notes, and the weird lime flavor isn't going to work all that well with creams or bakeries.
Pairings: Apples, Melons, berries, mints.
Notes: Really subdued for an Anise or herb/spice flavor. I was using this expecting a strong bite, and then wondering why it wasn't showing up in my mixes. Testing as a shake and vape, 4% really does seem to be where this flavor comes out. Pretty solid up to 8%. Flavor stays in the background and the sweetness takes over.
Extremely limited utility for this. I'd say you are better off using a small percentage of FA Anise and filling your profile out with better flavors.
Second Opinions:
Again onto ELR Notes. User Quakas has great notes, which are in portugese. Here's the google translate version:
"Flavor sweet sweet anise to pull more to the sweetened aniseed than to the taste of the plant / root, brighter than the FA anise, transparent, weak intensity, 8% strong, 6% secondary flavor, 4 just to flavor. Tendency to lose character with long steepings, combines well with fruits or vanilla, however little intense, it is necessary to use above 6% to notice in the recipe. Pleasant and non-chemical but begins to weigh the recipe if used above 8% leaves little room for other more complex aromas or recipes."
/u/HocusKrokus comments on an Anise thread that CAP Anise is nice but really sweet.
ECX reviews, 2 or 3 mention this for undertones.
Corroborating evidence that this a good but weaker, accent flavor.
> The anise itself isn't sharp enough for candy licorice
So not Good & Plenty candies? I haven't had those in about 30 years, but I couldn't stop thinking about them while vaping it standalone. It should be noted that I'm not good with anise-type flavors, having previously sworn them off in all forms due to a life-scarring experience with Jägermeister, and only barely got talked into buying CAP Anise to try some spiced pear recipe.
I just don't get that all that strongly. I think you could probably use it, but I just get that weird lime thing a lot stronger than good & plenties. I was fairly suprised myself. It tastes that way, I don't get it all that clearly while vaping it. My tastebuds feel like they are mostly in one piece, but who knows. I did vape this for a while before writing anything down but it never struck me as particulary sharp or overbearing.
I didn't really care for it. I was expecting something... I don't know, spicier? But anise and licorice are both far outside of my AO. I don't recall a weird lime thing, but I bet you if I try it again it will come through loud and clear, now that you've pointed it out.
I was actually looking for that all-in-one good and plenty just because the Capella stuff is usually a little lighter, sweet, and creamy. I'm currently visiting family, but I'll revisit this one once I get back to my main flavor stash and update if my taste buds are, in fact, wrekt. My comparison anise and licorices are a couple hundred miles away. My tastes run pretty agressive with those kind of flavors though, so as always anybody who isn't a fundamentally broken person's mileage may vary.
Dear OP,
Due to the lack of it in the diy scene and premixed market, as a starting diyer, I'd like to develop my own juice which has the taste of a smooth Sambuca(ouzo'ish). It is made from star anise and has a certain licorice taste as well, rather sweet and a sharp refreshing on the exhale. Which anise flavour company and/or recommendations could you give me?
I'm just starting out with collecting some flavourings so I do that sparingly.
Thanks in advance, Xew
Weird how weak this is. Anise is such a strong flavor (in cooking terms specifically). FA Anise is definitely the one to grab if you're after this profile/undertone. It's got the perfect amount of sweetness and strength; very true to life. That said, I don't think FA Anise would be a viable option if you're after a strong, candy licorice profile as it's more of a bakery anise, like in many Italian pastries for example. It's great in bakery types and fruit recipes with subtle anise notes. It's not candy-like or artifical tasting (i.e. black licorice, black jelly beans, Good & Plenty), in my opinion. From what I've read, FW Black Licorice would be better suited to reach that type of flavor.