Had a bit of a heated debate about this one. I got some RF SC with some scepticism as I'd tried their VG based and got zero flavor from it.
They recommend to mix at 1-2.5% and I saw one guy say that he'd tried at 2.5% and it was quiet. So I went higher at 3% for one and 4% for another - standalone.
After 24 hrs there's no flavor. Maybe slight mushroom.
So I got roasted for going too high, claiming that these flavors would mute above like 2%, which is hard to imagine for a standalone with a fruit profile, albeit a fruit bakery.
I'm lead to believe that I'd get full flavor from this at 1% but it would mute above 2%? I just can't wrap my head around something tasting full at 1% of a total mix. And unlike the crappy VG cherry pie (which didn't just taste of nothing but smelled likewise), these smell amazing.
EDIT: When I look up a few RF SC flavors on ATF, you see this weird curve where private recipes go from 2% to 4% and then something crazy like 20% and I even saw a couple at 40%!!! which to me looks like people trying to squeeze flavor out of them and getting nowhere.
Ok so here's a pro tip ... scroll down the sub less than 20 useless threads and you will see u/concreteriver with a very professional and useful flavor review.. click on his username and then search his threads for RF SC's and you will find all the info you could possibly need on metric shit ton of RF flavors with recommended percentages.. remember taste is of course subjective but I would advise starting with his recommendations ..
I like them between 2-2.5% I've had strawberry and watermelon both single flavor tested. The strawberry tasted like a strawberry candy to me. The watermelon was.... well.... watermelon, tho I tasted a hint of rind from it...
What flavors you referring to?
blueberry jam with toast, blackberry jam with toast.
Unfortunately it seems the with toast flavors suck. I grabbed one and it was horrendous. I will say that they have some pretty good fruits otherwise. Apple, Grape, Watermelon, Strawberry, are all good-great level concentrates. I've had about 10 of the RF duo style concentrates like the toasts and strawberry lemonade, none of them are as good as the solos.
I liked the watermelon. I mixed it with a bit of tfa dragonfruit and the dragonfruit replicated the juicy red pulp of the watermelon with the rind and flavor.
You mixed up 3% and 4% standalone testers and couldn't detect any flavor at all? That doesn't sound right at all. I don't have any experience with Real Flavors brand but yeah, that's weird.
Side note on the ATF comment: I only pay attention to the average / median concentrations. People edit and save some flat out stupid shit recipes that make no sense and those show up in the graphs you're referring to. I understand what they were trying to do with those graphs, but I feel like the data underneath is weighted with garbage.
yeah and the implication from the discourse I was having, was that you're stupid if you go higher than 2 because it'll mute. I call bullshit on that, it just sounds like total ass to say at 1% you'll get full flavor and at 2% you can expect it to be quiet as fuck. These aren't additives or bases like cookies/creams/almonds, they're full recipes that seem like they'd be fine at standalone.
Unless, they're only meant to be used as a pairing with similar flavors, and used at 1% in a full recipe containing a few other concentrates?
theres a few of the SC flavors that benefit from being higher. Fruit pebbles for one is great around 3% but really weak under 2%.
some dude tried blackberry w/toast at 10% here and said:
>after 24 hours: mixed alone at 10%. nice and smooth. the toast taste comes through strong. very light on the blackberry.
I.. Don't think I reccomend that but if you're not getting anything from 3 and 4% might as well give it a shot. Just maybe don't mix all that much up so waste is reduced when you ultimately dump it.
ah yes, I saw that and didn't think much of it coz it's ELR and you never know whether someone is a novice or expert if it's just that one off review.
It does seem that the actual usage % is all over the place for these, but overall, people seem to be going higher than 2%.
It is kind of true. For dark concentrates I never go above 2 most don't even get to 2. It sounds backwards but it is truth. Too much can dead it. But the with toast takes a week to have a decent taste and it's only meh at best.
I've used the RF SC fruit flavors. The strawberry I'd use at under 5%, the lemon, orange, watermelon, white chocolate, all around 1.5-2%. some like the blueberry lemonade slushy, strawberry lemonade, and other multi flavor concentrates all vary, do a single flavor tester at various percentages.
Calling the advice from respected, established diy members bullshit isn't very cool. These are people who have been mixing for probably way longer than you.
Try the advice to cut the flavor before calling bullshit. If you know everything, why the hell are you asking for advice?
I wouldn't call a couple of people on facebook the respected, established diy members. They could have been anyone. And they didn't want to get into a normal dialogue about it, they just wanted to condescend. Like my idea of going in at 3-4% was the equivalent of trying to melt down chocolate and put it in a mix.
I wasn't talking about Facebook, I was referring to the members of this sub. People who have been mixing for some time, and who are generally great for helping out new mixers who are having troubles.
*My bad, I thought you were talking about the people on this sub as that's the same advice they would give you. The Facebook group may be asshats, idk, but over flavoring will in fact mute your flavors.
Blueberry lemonade slushie is pretty good until you try your hand at making something better. It inspired me to make a summer flavor of my own since it felt so refreshing. I was pretty much just a bakery/dessert vaper, the heavier flavors, but something this summer just kicked off my love of fruit flavors, specifically lime.
When Real Flavors released their Super Concentrate line of flavors I was excited about their Strawberry version. I have difficulty tasting any strawberry flavor so this was hopefully my holy grail, the One Strawberry Flavor To Rule Them All. Sadly, after testing at various percentages ( 0.5, 1.0. 2.5, 3.5 ) I was hugely disappointed. There is nothing "super" at all about this concentrate. It ranks no higher, and perhaps even lower, than the other popular strawberries out there. I have also tried some of their other SC flavors and I would rate them as average at best in terms of strength. They did not meet my expectations and in my opinion their term Super Concentrates is a psychological ploy and mostly hype.
They do recommend a maximum of 2.5% or something like that but I've seen people using high. It's just a recommendation. I personally think their flavors (even the "SC" ) ones are weak. I mix very low in most cases but I am finding myself mixing the "maximum recommended" percentage for nearly all of their flavors, which is crazy to me. I have never had to do that with any other brand.