Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.17 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FLV Lime @ 3%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 9 days.
Flavor Description: A bright, but not juicy or especially tart lime. It's a really odd combination of realistic zest and artificial "green" lime flavor. Little oddball, but this reminds me of the green flavor in Surge soda. Lots of description as Lime Jello and that fits, flavorwise if not texture.
Sharp lime zest on the inhale. Effervenscent "green" on the exhale with a moderate sweetness and a Lingering bitterness. Like FA Bergamot, almost pushes into a faint clove-type flavor on the back end from all that zest. Fairly astringent. Mouthfeel is a little dry behind that carbonation.
Off-flavors: Try to vape this solo and not think of cleaning products. Lime zest by itself gets you most of the way there.It definitely doesn't taste like ammonia, but it gives that kind of astringent, sharp vibe. It's kind of like vaping windex @ 3%.
Throat Hit: Light. For as aggressive as this flavor is, it doesn't really rip up your throat. Vaped solo, there is a little bit of throat hit, but you mostly feel a bit of a rawness all around your mouth. It's strangely accurate mouthfeel for lime.
Uses: Hard flavor to get a handle on. This isn't juicy, so it's going to make it hard to work in straight fruit blends or lime deserts. The lime zest is okay, but FA Aurora works better for lime zest in cocktail vapes. I'd focus on the "green" or apsect and take into a candy or soda vape. Surge vape, anyone? Some mention of using this as a slushie type flavor and I think that would be awesome.
Pairings: Cap Jelly Candy. Cactus for some sorely lacking juiciness. EM for that blindingly sweet "green" flavor and to mute some of the rougher lime zest notes. Rounder, sweet citrus like CAP Sweet Tangerine or FA Mandarin. Maybe even some CAP Grapefruit for a citrus soda. I'd stay well away from creams and custards and jammy or dark fruits. Bright non-floral fruits would contribute to a candy vibe.
Notes:
Bizarre but kind of loveable. The second opinions really helped figure out what I was actually tasting here. Reminds me of a more intense INW Lime.
Percentage is key here. As a S&V test, this is plenty bright at .5%. I like it closer to 1%, although I'm a sucker for this kind of flavor. I'd go that range if you want to mix this with anything aggressive. If you want to use it as primary note, 2% should work well. Anything above that and the cleaning product vibe gets too pronounced.
Shoutout to /u/apexified for sending this my way for review.
Second Opinions:
I use this around .5% for a prominant note. It is a weird flavor for sure. It reminds me of one of These. After the ice pop has melted I use to drink these as a kid and I get that Lime vibe from those green ones.
As a single flavor, I taste lime sour patch kids ALL. DAY. and I absolutely love it.
I thought it tastes similar to FA lime tahity distilled at the same percent like 1%. havent tried cold pressed yet but im going to soon. i even mixed those two together and it tasted the same again..idk
I'll disagree with the not pairing it with creams and custards I find it works just fine with them. pairing with cap custard and vbic works well. after 2 days the creams/custards will tone down the lime a bit.
for those on the east coast it reminds me of the rita's water ice and custard you can get in the summer time. (italian water ice and soft serve)
I tend to use it at .9 % for a primary note.