Thank you to everyone who made last week's Flavor of The Week, Pear, such a great read.
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.
This week's flavor is: Custard Apples (for example, Cherimoya, Soursop, and Guanabana)
Past FOTW posts can be found here
Prepare yourselves, next week's FOTW will be: Berry Blends (for example: FA Forest Fruit, CAP Harvest Berry, TFA Mixed Berry, FW Magma Current)
The week after that will be: Kiwi
The week after that will be: Pineapple
The week after that will be: Blackberry
The week after that will be: Cucumber
The week after that will be: Peanut Butter
The week after that will be: ??? You tell me. Take this opportunity to suggest one that interests you (or send me a PM to do that). Otherwise I'm going to pick something like passionfruit or papaya just because I feel like doing Ps. Edit: More P's from /u/tranceinate: Pistachio, pandoro, panetonne, pumpkin, pasta, paprika, parfait, pastry, pesto, pickle, potato, praline, pretzel, pulled pork, pizza, pancake, pie, pie crust, pie filling, peppers, plantain, pudding.
Guanabana is absolutely delishes. I get a medium strength banana/ pineapple blended with a light coconut and with the sweet maltoly tasteof strawberry. It also has a surprisingly satisfying floral taste on the backend which pushes the experience from exotic to "tripping". Soursop on the other hand I have much less experience with. Probably because of the bitter note I get from it. It's less juicy, yet more creamy. I get more coconut then banana. And less pineapple. I mixed up...
FLV soursop 2.5%
FA fresh cream 1.5%
TFA banana nut bread 1%
FA almond 1.5%
... for shits and giggles last night
Probably terrible lol
At least someone is getting this thing back on track! Let us know how it turns out.
Agreed, FLV Guanabana is wonderful. u/deejaymillsnyc 's Batido de Guanabana.... omnomnom
I was really hoping I'd like Batido De guanabana, but alas the runts-like banana over ran everything else as I'm extremely sensitive to it. Might try it again with the banana lowered and guanabana upped.
I messed around with guanabana and fw blood orange, along with fa coconut for a smoothie vibe. Tastes pretty good.
It seems Like adding almost any fruit to guanabana removes any sense that it's a separate flavor, but rather a concoction of flavors. (If that makes sense)
Yes, it makes sense because FLV Guanabana tastes like a collection of different fruits. I wonder whether Batido de Guanabana would be good with the banana cream removed and replaced with FA Meringue, one of the marshmallows, a vanilla, or a vanilla custard, depending on which way you wanted to go with it, with the Guanabana bumped up about half a percent.
Pistachio, pandoro, panetonne, pumpkin, pasta, paprika, parfait, pastry, pesto, pickle, potato, praline, pretzel, pulled pork, pizza, pancake, pie, pie crust, pie filling, peppers, plantain, pudding.
Thanks Trance! I'm impressed you know the alphabet so well. ;)
I'll add some of those to the list of P's... maybe not pulled pork though, unless....
OK so I'll just say it: what the fruit is a custard apple?
This.
The only concentrates I know of for fruits in the custard apple family are INW Cherimoya, FLV Cherimoya, FLV Soursop, and FLV Guanabana. But hopefully this FOTW will bring someone out of the woodwork who knows of other concentrates or has attempted to DIY one of the above or an atemoya out of other flavors.
TPA Quince could also possibly fit in with that profile.
I've tried INW Cherimoya, FLV Soursop, and FLV Guanabana and I objectively like all of them. I've also got no real idea what the hell to do with them that isn't just throwing some cream on them and calling it a day. I have found that TFA Quince drags INW Cherimoya into tasting a lot llke an actual ripe apple, but didn't get much further than that.
I'm a big of fan of the Batido de Guanabana, and I've got jbird's Shameless steeping right now (super promising so far, I think it's going to be great steeped.)
Maybe draw some inspiration from the rest of this thread and mix up a Soursop BBQ sauce?
Thanks for the mention and mixing Shameless! I hope you enjoy it! Whether you like it, love it or want to kick me in the face for having you mix it. I hope you'll give an honest review.
I've got a couple days of steeping left on it, but it's so goddamn solid. I'll note it on ATF, but I had to sub the FW Fruity Rings out with Flakes, but I can't imagine that's doing that much to undermine the recipe. I wouldn't have even thought of the guanabana in that application but it works really really well.
I think peanut butter next after next after next after next would be fun
here's the last peanut butter thread.
/u/thirdworldorder's notes are fantastic, i'm about to mix zone 2.
e: It's delicious...
Thank you sir. As soon as I get my mangey mitts on some TFA peanut butter and probably FLV, I will be all over this. I'm up to 130 flavors and no peanut butter yet what am I doing
somewhere around 50 for me if i count doubles. ... my smoking money went deep into the diy, it's almost like there's no difference. but... i shouldn't need to buy more for a while. (just one more flavor i swear. oh what's this? i don't have any caramel or coffee.... crap)
For anyone that hasn't already, I highly recommend mixing up a batch of /u/cheebasteeba's Cherimoya Rabri.
This is not only an example of cherimoya used perfectly, but it's one of the most skillfully layered recipes I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. The cherimoya rises sweetly above the creams, and you get a delicious exhale of delicate lychee with a nice crunch of almond on top. Plus there is exactly the right amount of cardamom in there.
It's an absolute masterpiece worthy of assembling any missing flavors for, and I hate myself for not mixing this up much sooner. It was a profile that immediately appealed to me, but it seemed like every time I went to make it up, I was lacking some ingredient or other.
Then, finally in November, I added it to a batch of recipes, realized I still didn't have FA Lychee, but subbed it with CAP Sweet Lychee at the same %, and I only just this week finally got around to tasting it, and I was blown away. (2 month steep almost on the nose, FWIW.)
I just put FA Lychee on my wish list so I can mix up a big batch of this as intended, because it's honestly one of the best and most unique recipes I've ever had.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's one of those that I thought nobody had or would ever mix it up. I appreciate the comments as it is one that I did put a lot of effort in to =)
I am still so incredibly sorry it took me so long. For both of us! I loved the idea of it right away, but I just, for some reason, could not get my shit together when it came to ordering all the flavors.
I blame my penchant for pruning my wish list in the wee hours of the night when I'm all tired and loopy, and I forget why I put them on there in the first place.
Anyway, it really is an exquisite recipe. You should be very proud of it. I couldn't resist the FOTW opportunity to push this back onto everyone's radar where it seriously belongs.
/u/fuck_u_mean has one of the most useful comments in this tread thus far regarding the actual taste of FLV Guanabana. I love it as a base for fruit and vegetable mixes. The actual flavor of this concentrate can be rather delicate, but the fullness it provides can stand up to harsher elements (see Kawayan by /u/RuntDastardly). I haven't done a whole lot with it yet, but here is something weird I have been fucking with that uses it as a base:
FLV Guanabana - 3%
INW Black Currant - 2%
INW Exotic Roots - 1%
INW Rhubarb - 0.5%
Here, Exotic Roots is up front and personal with its ginger and spice notes (if you have had the pleasure of meeting it, you know what I mean). INW Black Currant plays with Exotic Roots to tame it a bit and lend some creaminess that sinks the whole thing into the sweet base (Guanabana). INW Rhubarb takes up the very rear in this recipe to provide a fresh taste to the finish. 3 days steep to fully appreciate the mouthfeel on this random beauty.
Really? I thought the most useful comment was the one where /u/PerennialPhilosopher just said "Penis."
I feel for folks doing research on Cherimoya some months from now and having to pan this river for a few nuggets like yours and /u/fuck_u_mean 's. FOTW gone wild this week.
Thanks for the kind words man. I like the use of completely contrasting flavors in your recipe. Though, come to think of it, the slightly floral from guanabana might mingle real nicely with rhubarb. Definitely gonna check it out. Plus since it's not especially similar to any of the major flavors guanabana seems to be composed of, you might be able to actually differentiate the two. Do you find that to be the case, /u/philosaphucker ?
I find that both of those flavors sit in the background because of the 'up front' nature of Exotic Roots and Black Currant. Guanabana hides quite a bit in this mix and is used more for the texture it provides. Rhubarb does stand out against it in the base notes though, so yeah!
I have worked on a decent MOYA http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/1006646/Ckemist%20Original:%20MOYA
Wow that looks like it would be delicious and accurate. I saw you recommended at least one day of steeping. Have you noticed much in the way of changes/improvements in if it's given a long (2 weeks) steep?
Oh the custard apple... this is what really sparked the mixing passion for me! Unfortunately there aren't a lot of "custard apple" style concentrates out there, but the ones we have are pretty good.
INW Cherimoya-- I did a pretty in-depth review on this one, and being one of the two cherimoyas, there are things I like about it and things I don't. I like the flavor, it's kind of a light mix between pineapple, apple, banana, and coconut to me. This one tastes more like the cherimoya "juice" (I wouldn't classify a cherimoya as juicy though, but I bet you could squeeze some juice out of it) since it's kind of light and wet. Since it's so light though, it's very difficult to let it shine in a recipe, and I've had difficulties working it in to recipes as an accent (unlike Mr. Darth Vaper!). There is a slight floral tone to it, not that it tastes floral but it kind of hits you in the same spot as a floral note would.
FLV Cherimoya -- I almost feel like they made this concentrate for me lol. Although I've yet to work it in to a recipe or really play with it much outside of SFT, I will say this one definitely takes the cake over INW (depending on what you're going for of course). The flavor is very much more pronounced, a little bit more tart -- which puts it closer in authenticity to the actual fruit -- with the pineapple note shining through more, and to me it was slightly harsh on the throat at 3% (prob too high). I would definitely recommend pairing this one with creams to bring out more of that smooth custardy note and to tame some of the harsher notes coming from it.
FLV Guanabana -- Now this is one I think every mixer should have in their arsenal. It is such a smooth and interesting note, reminiscent of tropical notes + banana. /u/deejaymillsnyc did a really really good job with his Batido de Guanabana, which is still one of my favs to make to this date. Very easily lends itself towards tropical mixes and what not.
TFA Jackfruit -- This one I think can be classified as a custard apple kind of fruit. This one is described by some as tasting like "juicy fruit." I really didn't get much out of it other than a wet tropcial sweetness. Very light on flavor even at 5% in SFT. Might be good for accenting certain things, bringing some wetness to a tropical mix, or just kicking up a tropcial or exotic aspect in a recipe.
I will say I've only had a cherimoya a few times, but they are delicious treats. They are rather delicate flavors so it makes sense that INW's gets overshadowed so much; I tried making a Cherimoya smoothie and pretty much all I could taste was the banana I put in it =(
Good pairings for any of these I think would be pineapple, coconut, apple, banana, creams, and other tropical fruits.
INW Cherimoya - fresh banana (or ripe plantain) LOTS of creamy sweet coconut with hints of mango & pineapple. very dry vape.
A guy by the name DarthVapor loves this flavor.
Oh my. It looks like DarthVapor and INW Cherimoya need to get a room.
I think it was /u/CheebaSteeba who suggested this for FOTW. Regardless I know he has some experience with that concentrate, hopefully he'll show up and educate us further before the whole thing turns to arguments over which region has the best barbecue and culinary recipes for human milk cheese and other such nonsense.
The recipe by /u/Cheebasteeba right here is probably what your referring to. I might have give it a try with flv cherimoya and flv lychee. Again, for shits and giggles (Or science, same thing)
I've been using cherimoya for the last couple weeks, really enjoying it. Cherimoya, dragon fruit, maybe some pineapple.
I was just looking through elr for inspiration, and saw darthvapors massive compilation of recipes. Dude may have a problem. :)