PART 2:

Noted Ep. 173: CITRUS SODAS (Ft. TeslaDelMar)

INW Lemons Kick: On Noted Ep. 148 FOTQ Fresh said it was a really good 7up, like CAP Lemon Lime, but fizzy. ID10-T doesn't totally agree with his assessment. But it is definitely, genuinely fizzy, got the full tingle of a carbonated soft drink. It's very bright. Very punchy and flavourful. But it's not very sweet. ID10-T got 50% 7up and 50% vanilla. Like cream soda with extra lemon. Fizzy and lemon-y up front, a touch of lime behind that, like 7up. A sweet, creamy base with a prominent vanilla note. Very pleasant but also very weird. A review on ELR described it as a 7up flavoured Starburst. But with fizziness. Cheeba didn't think the vanilla was as prominent, but thought it was a little bit like cream soda. Emily didn't get any vanilla. There's not many citrus flavours that are so bright and punchy and don't fade badly. This didn't seem to fade all that much.

(My notes from Noted Ep. 148 FOTQ)

INW Lemons Kick: (Fresh's comments) Tastes like 7up, so like CAP Lemon Lime. But actually has some effervescence. More so than VT Fizzy Sherbet, which is slightly effervescent. This has a noticeable bubbly sensation on the tongue. Probably going to be very useful. Very pleasant. Not so much like FLV Citrus Soda, which is more like Mountain Dew.

39.38

ID10-T steeped everything for 5-6 days and didn't notice any fading. But Tesla found a lot of them faded after 2 weeks to a couple of months steep, which might matter if you're mixing for other people.

FA Aurora: (Also discussed in Nonsense Names episode) One of Emily and Cheeba's all time favourite flavours. Not a citrus soda by itself, but would make great component in one. Has fizziness, sharp. Heavy, realistic lime zest on top. Emily used in it a Mount. Dew recipe to give more punchiness as it's very bright.

43.36

Recipe:

Strawrora Limealis by HumanPuck (ATF): Uses Aurora, VT Fizzy Sherbet, Florida Lime, Lime Tahity Cold Pressed. It's like a commercial liquid, in the best way. Packs a ton of flavour. Used FA Red Touch, INW Shisha Strawberry and JF Strawberry Sweet for the strawberry layer.

44.22

VT Fizzy Sherbet: A good component in a citrus soda mix. It's like a lemon version of FA Aurora, but more fizzy. Supposed to be a candy that is a cross between Pixie Stix and Pop Rocks. Pretty accurate to that. Lemon-y. Can almost feel the fizz on your tongue so makes a great soda additive. Although you wouldn't want to use it anywhere where lemon is unwelcome as there's a lot of lemon. Bright, bold and punchy. The fizziness is kind of powdery, but a very fine powder with some bite to it that's a bit like sticking your nose over a soda, tingly.

46.08

Fairy's Finest Lemon Lime: Would rank it lower. Not bad. But more zesty that like soda. A little more lemon forward than lime. Not particularly sweet. Pretty zesty. A bit harsh at 4%, might be a bit high? A bit dry. There's better lemon lime sodas and better lemon lime zests. Tested at 4%.

48.40

DEL Lemon Lime: Sweet, syrupy. It's like the syrup used to make 7up before they add the carbonated water. Lime more prominent, but still pretty well balanced. Around 60% lime, 40% lemon. Lemon definitely present. Normal harshness for a citrus. Flavour gets a bit soft in the base, but it's not thin. Still very syrupy sweet. Flat, no fizz. But could be used as a base for a lemon lime soda and add something to make it fizzy.

51.20

CAP Lemon Lime: Very similar to DEL Lemon Lime. ID10-T can barely tell the difference. CAP is a bit sweeter, deeper and more vibrant. Has the same sweet lemon lime, more lime forward. May be a little more zesty than DEL and a punchier tartness. Also has more flavour in the finish, it doesn't get softer like DEL does. The flavour carries through to the finish which makes it great for building a citrus soda. Not a citrus soda on its own, like flat 7up syrup or candy. Average harshness for a citrus Thick, syrupy, sweet, candied. Works great as a sweetener for a candy type mix. Very versatile, can use in candies, cereals, cheesecakes etc. But particularly good as a base for a citrus soda. CAP Lemon Lime plus VT Fizzy Sherbet is enough to achieve that profile. Although with the Fizzy Sherbet there may be too much lemon, so may need to add something like FA Aurora. Maybe some sweetener and some cooling. Could be a Sprite trinity? Might be a bit tricky to balance? Might be a 3,2,1? 3% CAP LL, 2% VT FS and 1% FA Aurora?

52.23

OOO Cactus Soda: Really good effervescence. The cactus is a little bit like INW Cactus, not aloe-y. A little bit juicy and wet, but not as much as INW. Couldn't use it in the same way as INW to add wetness. Tested at 3%

56.45

WF Lemon Lime Soda: Tastes like Sprite or 7up. Has some effervescence. Powdery, but not dry. Very sweet, accurate for a soda, and very bright. Very much a soda. But it's pretty subtle, lacks punch. Maybe the sweetness is washing out the citrus flavour? It's more base-y, lacks the bright top end. Maybe some FA Aurora or Florida Key Lime would help? Increasing the % to try to get more flavour doesn't work. The powder ramps up a lot more than the lemon lime. So gets very powdery and a little soapy. Could use 2% for the fizziness with around 2% CAP Lemon Lime to fill out the citrus. ID10-T thought the combo of VT Fizzy Sherbet, FA Aurora and CAP Lemon Lime would be better. But for a simpler mix it would work. Good at 2%. At 4% overly powdery and a bit soapy.

58.44

FW Max Dew/ Citrus Soda: Tesla ranked it lowest. ID10-T thought it was the most accurate Mount. Dew flavour. Slight effervesence-ish quality. Powdery note that kind of mimics carbonation. Lemon, Lime with some orange and lots of sugar, tastes like Mount. Dew. He found it very slightly soapy, but he is very sensitive to that off note, and it wasn't so soapy as to be a big issue. The flavour is slightly soft. It's very, very sweet. Maybe the sweetener is muting some of the flavour? Needs to be bolder and juicier. Would probably use this if making a Mount. Dew recipe. Maybe mix it with a little LB Dew Mountain/ Citrus Soda? Possibly some TFA Citrus Punch? Tesla thought there was a thin citrus peel flavour and then a celery off note. But it may well have been because he used it too low and the powdery quality came across as celery. Used it much lower than 3%. Found the flavour wispy and weak. ID10-T tested at 3%. Tesla tested it at a lower %

1.00.55

FLV Citrus Soda: Really has the bubbly, tickle-y fizz. Pretty much complete. Everything else discussed this week are good components. But this is very robust and complete. Although it tastes great and tastes like a citrus soda it doesn't taste like any brand of soda in particular. It's kind of in between 7up and Mount. Dew? ID10-T gets a hint of cotton candy. It's not just lemon lime soda, has some orange. Delicious, bright, full bodied. For a more realistic lemon lime soda the trio of VT FS, FA Aurora and CAP LL would probably be the better option. If 7up or Sprite is a small part of the mix and not a central focus, like in a cocktail, then would probably use WF Lemon Lime Soda. For a realistic Mount. Dew would use FW Max Dew/ Citrus Soda. But if you don't need it to be a real, particular brand of soda and want the impression of a generic citrus soda FLV is perfect. If you want to create some sort of soda from your imagination then that's where it really shines. Could add some INW Cactus or INW Prickly Pear to make a cactus or prickly pear soda. Prickly Pear is easier to work with and still pretty juicy. Or blackcurrant soda? Or CAP Sweet Currant with FLV Citrus Soda sounds amazing. Try 2% each to start with?

1.07.11

Recipes:

nitriVenus by matthewkocanda (ATF)

1.11.32

Yoda Soda by Staybert (ATF)

Citrapple Soda by Staybert (ATF) (plus all his other soda recipes)

1.11.50

Bert's Soda Base (ATF) 1.25% FLV Citrus Soda, 1% CAP Lemon Lime, 0.5% WS23. Discusses what other flavours are fun to mix with it in the notes, VT Fizzy Sherbet, FA Aurora, FLV Lime (but be very careful with it), FLV Pink Guava, other lime flavours.

1.12.55

PART 1

Noted Ep. 173: CITRUS SODAS (Ft. TeslaDelMar)

(Episode aired 20th October 2020)

(Ranked from worst to first)

Bickford Lemon Lime: MAY NOT BE SAFE TO VAPE? Mostly lemon lime. Lemon forward with a decent amount of sweeter lime behind it. But it's really underwhelming and ID10-T thought it tasted like it had a bit of meat in it. Git more meaty as the wick got drier. Has a lingering greasy feel. Mostly lemon and lime flavours are going to have some lemon and/or lime oil. It's not the same thing as an unsafe lipid oil. But it tasted like it might have some other oil in it so may not be safe to vape? ID10-T found it ruined the coil, but not in the usual way. After trying to change the wick the coil wouldn't heat evenly. Looked like the coil was still wet, even though it wasn't. Couldn't burn it off. Cheeba didn't find that it had ruined his coil. He also didn't find it meaty. But there was something off about it. Thought it was very mellow and a bit oily. There's no punch to the lemon or lime. ID10-T tested at 5%. Might have been too high? Cheeba tested at 4%

6.31

HC (Health Cabin) lemon Soda: ID10T thought it tasted like metallic lemon candy. Maybe they were attempting effervescence, but it just came off as metallic. Lemon candy on top. The metallic note comes in pretty quickly and continues through the vape. Tested at 1%. May be better at a higher or lower %?

10.48

TFA Lemon Lime: Starts out with a chemically, cleaning product type lemon. Finishes dry and harsh. Some sweet lime with some body in the middle. But it's also plastic-y and waxy.

12.18

TFA Citrus Punch II: Worse than the original. Less accurate to Mountain Dew. A little harsh. Tastes mostly like lemon peel with a little artificial lime behind it. Not at all fizzy. Not that sweet. Like watered down lime Kool-Aid garnished with lemon peel. Not gross or disgusting. Could potentially find a use for it if it was sweetened and could smooth out the harshness. But would be hard to make it into a Mountain Dew or Sprite type mix. There's a lot of much better options.

13.02

WF Champagne Soda: Very mediocre. Red liquorice and baby powder. Dry and powdery. Has a chemical twang like the scent of baby powder. It may be based on an Australian candy, like Fun Dip? So may not actually be supposed to be a champagne soda beverage?

15.18

NF (Nature's Flavors) Lemon Lime: Not a citrus soda. Top heavy, very zesty. More lime than lemon. Predominantly zest. 75% lime zest and 25% lemon zest? The lime is a little reminiscent of FA Aurora, but not as good. The flavour fades out before the finish. The finish is dry. A little harsh. If you need some lime zest with a little lemon zest for something, maybe a cocktail, it could work. Not unusable. It's more of a cocktail twist than a soda or lemon lime flavour. Tested at 3%.

17.15

OOO Squirts Soda: Squirt is a grapefruit soda? OOO Squirts Soda is a fruit soda. Notes of berry, some cherry. No medicinal cherry off notes. Vague berry, fruity flavour combined with some sweetness and a little soda. Do a decent job of distinguishing it as soda, rather than a candy or something. Not a particularly good flavour.

19.37

VT Lemonade: On this list because outside of America, including Australia where VT is based, lemonade is a carbonated beverage like Sprite. Has a bit of a feel of effervescence. Kind of tastes like Sprite but with a lot less lime. A bit like Lemonhead candy. Sweet lemon with a little sharpness and acidity. Has powdery-ness that does a pretty good job at emulating effervescence. ID10-T found it really hard to work with. At 3% it''s bitter, oddly spicy and perfumey. At 2% it was OK, but starting to get a little strange around the edges. Was fine at 1.5%, but didn't really taste full flavoured. Might work at around 1-1.5% to add a little carbonation if the candy lemon wouldn't be unwelcome. Wouldn't recommend buying it as there are better options including better options from VT. Don't really know what application it would work in. ID10_T found it wasn't full flavoured at 1.5%, it starts to get weird around 2% and he couldn't stand it at all at 3%. Cheeba thought it got weird around 3%.

21.43

VT Lemonade Clear: A really good, bright, lemon-y, soda type flavour. Real lemon tartness. Good sweetness, but not too candy sweet. Not much fizziness, so more like an American lemonade. Emily tested it at 3%.

25.49

American lemonade is just lemons, water and sugar.

OOO Lemon Lime Up Soda: Mostly tastes like 7up or Sprite. A mix of lime and lemon thats a little more lime forward. Even has a little effervescence up front. Not a bad flavour. But ID10-T found it had a waxy to soapy base that makes it a little like drinking 7up through a hollowed out crayon. Maybe 5% was too high and that waxy soapiness wouldn't be present lower? He also got a hint of warm spice, kind of like cinnamon that is present in the zesty top notes and also lingering in the finish. Cheeba didn't get a spice, but thought it seemed pretty warm. The cinnamon may be contributing to the feeling of effervescence? Cheeba uses cinnamon in his cola recipes to get the tingling sensation on the tongue and simulate fizz. Tesla tried it at 5% as a SNV and was getting Pine-Sol lemon. ID10-T thought it could be useful in a coke recipe to add more fizz as cinnamon and citrus wouldn't be out of place. Not a bad flavour that has some interesting elements. But wouldn't use it as a SF lemon lime soda. Cheeba didn't get too much Pine-Sol at 3%. A little chemically ID10-T and Tesla tested at 5%. May have been too high? Cheeba tested at 3%.

27.15

LB Dew Mountain/ Citrus Soda: Emily would rank it lower. Thought it was pretty soft. ID10-T found it waxy and muted. A little bit of a chemical off note. Totally flat, no fizz. Not that sweet. Can tell it is supposed to be Mountain Dew. Tesla found it thin and chalky, thought it might go well in a candy recipe. Some sort of semi-soft candy. Maybe even taffy, if you wanted a Mount. Dew flavoured taffy. Might be able to use it to add that Mount. Dew flavour to a mix if used with other flavours and sweetener- maybe in a Live Wire, Pitch Black or Baja Blast or Code Red. But as a SF it's more of a not particularly sweet candy than a soda. A lemon-lime-orange flavour that captures the heart of Mount. Dew. But it is just the middle part of it, it lacks bright top notes and base-y sweet bottom notes. Just the soft middle part. Emily tested at 6%

30.35

RF Lemon Lime Soda SC: Thin, fairly harsh- even compared to other citrus flavours. A little metallic, not as much as HC Lemon Soda. The top note tastes a lot like Sprite, but not as sweet. The base is light in flavour and has a gritty feel, maybe an effort to suggest carbonation. It kind of does but also tastes a bit metallic and bitter. Dry and gritty or fluffy. Could work for a lemon lime slush if mixed with a sweet, syrupy lemon lime flavour? Maybe a combination of CAP Lemon Lime and some CAP Hibiscus, to combat the dryness. A little bit of cooling to sell the fact it is a drink.

33.34

DEL Mountain Dew Type: Nice Mount. Dew flavour up front. But it's pretty thin, lacks effervescence. Not particularly sweet. Mostly top notes. Needs some help to make it more syrupy, maybe CAP Hibiscus. Needs some fizz and some cooling. But does a pretty good job at selling the Mount. Dew flavour. pretty delightfully mediocre!

36.19

TFA Citrus Punch: Can easily tell it is supposed to be Mount. Dew, even though it misses the mark. Mostly like a flat, generic, knock off Mount. Dew. Maybe slightly plastic-y or grassy, there's something a little off about it. There's something almost fizzy about how the zesty top notes interact with the base. But needs a lot more. Not very sweet, a bit dry and harsh. Has a nice sharpness and very punchy. Despite it's issues could be used as a base for a Mount. Dew recipe.

38.12

Don’t know why, but in my Apple Podcasts app, this episode is showing as being 2 seconds long. Hopefully it is on Spotify.

Edit: same in Spotify