First things first, I know taste is subjective. I’m simply curious to see if others have had a similar experience. Based on some posts here and listening to some discussions on Noted, I picked up a couple of Hangsen concentrates: Blueberry, Caramel Toffee, and French Ice Cream. They all seem to share some odd flavor that I can only describe as Grandma’s closet. Musty. Once I get past that, I can tell what the flavor is supposed to be and I think it’s probably pretty good, but that initial Goodwill sweater rack taste and aroma is difficult to overcome. Am I alone?
No musty grandma taste for me. Their Blueberry is weird - more like neon blue flavor than blueberry, but not sweater rack. French Vanilla Ice Cream I get a little malt but no must.
I totally concur. Only thing I would add is, everybody's grandma is different. My grandma from my daddies side, her sweater rack smelled like overcooked roast.
With those little pearl onions I love so well?
Lol. What's crazy is that my grandpa ruled with an iron fist when it came to what time dinner needed to done or who knows how much longer she would have let that pot roast cook. Even crazier is one of my brothers inherited the same thing from our grandpa. He becomes completely unraveled if he hasn't had dinner at a certain time.
Honestly, Dave, my sniffer is probably impaired. I have trouble tasting any of the grapes that I have. Even INW seems weak to me and barely perceptible. Strawberry, though, no issues. I can taste them all.
HS Cream is awful to my palate. I've seen a couple of reviews saying it's magnificent, but I couldn't get anything good out of it at any level. There's this almost floral off note that is pretty much the main event in the flavor. I can't really describe it as I have nothing to compare it to. As a whole, HS Cream is very dense, heavy, and strong (%-wise). It just takes a little to get a long way. At lower %'s I get nothing but that weirdly strong off-putting floral note. At 1-2% I get more cream background but that weird floral flavor is even stronger. It fades a bit with a steep, but it's still there. It shines through everything I've tried to mix with it. Ruined a lot of juice trying to make it work. Of course this is my experience. Some say it's excellent.
I had some recent questions about HS Blueberry as well. I have a 10ml that's a nice clear Amber color and a newer 15ml bottle that's very dark and can't see through it at all. The smell out of the bottles are very different as well. The 10ml smells like a nice sweet blueberry as expected. The dark 15ml has an astringent bite to the raw concentrate. I have yet to try the new one, but someone else told me they had just gotten a dark colored bottle of it too.
HS Italian Cream is great. It's got a tang note that's not unlike a cheesecake or something similar. Good stuff. Very dense cream. Recommend anyone give it a try.
Goodwill sweater taste? Sounds awful. I only have experience with their Peach. Which seems likes it is a lot more unforgiving then the rest of your list. I can bump that bad boy to 2.5-3% and be perfectly fine. Might I ask what percents you have mixed them at?
I used the toffee and the ice cream as accents so relatively low. 0.5% or so. With blueberry, I tried to use it as a base flavor and added TFA grape juice and candy to go full on purple. I will say that I like the French ice cream in the trinity, though. The other flavors in it really mask that weirdness.
May just be personal taste then. If you’re getting that retirement home taste out of .5-.75 it’s likely just not sitting well on your palate.
I've been using the hangsen French vanilla ice cream and their juicy Peach now for the last nine months. They taste quite amazing to biggie but tastes being subjective.... Sft was beautiful on both but with just about every recipe that I make I always blend several versions have a certain flavor to round out the profile..... how old are your concentrates? Have you tried reaching out to the manufacturer or supplier? Minor going on a year old and they're still both spot on
I haven’t. It was river supply. Your description of juicy peach makes me want to give Hangsen another shot and try that one. But I swear, if it tastes like peaches picked at the peak of ripeness from a small orchard that grew inside a vintage book store, I’m out.
I wouldn't call it musty or anything, but I do get the same flavor note in fvic and Caramel toffee. It's way more present to me in fvic. Hard to describe other than a chemical they both share sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Makes me not really want to use them, doesn't steep out. Fwiw inw biscuit is straight coconut to me as well.
Blueberry no issues other than it's straight up blue. Like, throw in blue raspberry mixes if they aren't blue enough for you blue.
All 3 from nic River as well. I did notice the bb was much darker from there than bcf, but doing tests with someone else online we found it to be the same flavor-wise.
I get a bit of coconut with biscuit too-but not solely coconut. TFA Cheesecake Graham Crust is the same way right after mixing. And yes, the blueberry is dark for sure.
Can you smell that taste\odd note just sniffing the concentrates? It's weird no other flavorings we have actually have that same note, & that's over 800. Definitely not in their Australian chocolate or banana. Haven't used EVERY one, but do try to get a whiff right away from most non-fruits. Like VT milkshake base main chemical is also in their warm custard (think warm, the non weird banana one, might be creamy) or some of the WF bakeries share a similar one like glazed donut and shortbread cookies.
The only Hangsen I use is their "Arabic Tobacco", which is incredibly strong. Just a few drops is all that's needed. That said, it has never had a bad taste other than being used too liberally. Just have to be careful not to use too much. It has a wonderfully unique rich tobacco flavor that I love.
Taste is certainly subjective so likely those flavors just don't agree with you. Ive heard that the VT French Vanilla Ice Cream is similar to HS, so maybe that one might work for you better. Never tried that one though, so I don't have any personal experience with it. But if you're looking for a good blueberry I'd highly recommend FA Blueberry, Juicy, Ripe. It's the most authentic blueberry I've tasted so far, it's really good.
I don't care how good they may be, I'd never mix with a flavoring made in China.
I think you meant Health Cabin
But maybe Hangsen is Chinese too. I don't have any of their flavors
Hangsen is china. SC is china. FE is china. And HiLiq, iirc, is china.
BF is russia. MB& INW is poland FM is belgium SA france, FA italy, PF germany, etc... Lots of flavors from all over the world.