As always, the purpose of this thread is to gather the community to explore a category of 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, this is also where you can comment to win the the Beverage-Type Flavor Pack ($70 value!) from Flavorah.
This pack contains some of FLV's newest flavors: Juniper Gin, Back Bar Bitters, Brut Bubble Wine, Citrus Soda, Cola, and Tequila Agave. As well as these older offerings: Bourbon, Coffee, Eggnog, Elderflower, Horchata, Irish Cream, Mocha, Morning Mimosa, Raisin Rum, and Root Beer.
#This week's flavor is... FOTQ3 (SSA Edition!) Huh?
This is FOTW's third time time to do FOTQ, after was requested that we periodically (approximately quarterly) set aside a week not for a single flavor profile like FOTW is usually about, but for brand-newly released flavors. So this is the week for the newest flavors that have only been released since the last time we did this.
Sobucky Super Aromas appeared out of nowhere and dumped a ton of new flavors into the mix, so this FOTQ is dedicated to first impressions of those. Which ones have you tried? What did you think of them?
How did that get to be the FOTW?
It was requested!
>If you're not interested in the upcoming FOTWs, please take this opportunity and comment to request one that interests you (or send me a PM to do that).
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Past FOTW posts can be found here
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The NOTED podcasts, which are basically video FOTWs, are listed on this sheet, maintained by /u/apexified
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You can find these and more in a comprehensive collection of Flavor Facts created by /u/OdieDoodah
#In case you missed it, last week's FOTW was: Marshmallow
#Next week's flavor will be: Raisin
The week after that will be: Woodruff
The week after that will be: Flavors of the Year
The week after that will be: Tobacco Time: Desert Tobaccos
The week after that will be: Cantaloupe
The week after that will be: Toast
The week after that will be: Meringue
The week after that will be: Sherbet/Sorbet
The week after that will be: Pear
The week after that will be: Red Raspberry
The week after that will be: Vanilla Ice Cream
The week after that will be: Tobacco Time: Turkish Tobacco
The week after that will be: Rhubarb
The week after that will be: FOTQ4
The week after that will be: Mango
The week after that will be: Coconut
The week after that will be: Cream Soda
The week after that will be: Bread
The week after that will be: Wood
The week after that will be: Cardamom and Chai
The week after that will be: Vienna Cream
The week after that will be: Sweet Cream
The week after that will be: Vanilla Cream
The week after that will be: Whipped Cream
The week after that will be: FOTQ5
The week after that will be: Tobacco Time: Burley Tobacco
The week after that will be: Sugar
The week after that will be: Blood Orange
The week after that will be: Honey
The week after that will be: Frosting/Icing
The week after that will be: ??? You decide ???
5 down, 89 to go!
I have 94 of these things, so far I’ve tried 5 of them. I’m going to be on a fairly intense schedule of flavor tasting for the rest of the week, so if you don’t see me around, that’s why. I’m buried under a mountain of 10ml bottles. I’m going to try all 94 before Monday night. Not going to take extensive notes at all, obviously, but I’m thinking I’ll divide them into six categories, with a brief explanation of why they’re in each category.
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Bad
None yet, but some of these things smell pretty freakin gnarly, so stay tuned.
Below Average
Ditto.
Average
Most flavors will probably go here, but I don’t know, some of them also smell amazing.
Above Average
SSA Cranberry Jam - Really tasty and clearly cranberry jam. But it seems to put quite a bit more emphasis on the jammy sweetness than on the cranberry itself, so it’s not a very intense flavor at all. It’s jammy sweet from top to bottom, with the cranberry itself sitting more in the middle. It really is very much like a cranberry jam or that canned cranberry sauce, where cranberries were used to make it, but there aren’t any actual visible cranberries in there. Very cooked down and subdued cranberry flavor with lots of added sugar and even thick jammy texture. Obviously this won’t do for a fresh cranberry - which are almost inedible tart anyway - and I probably would not bother trying to use it as a stand-in for cranberry juice, either. Seems like it could be used to sweeten and tone down a more aggressive cranberry, or as a base for adding another cranberry to, or for just adding a sweet and subtle cranberry note to something more complex.
Awesome
SSA Sweet Mint - Extra mentholated icy peppermint with a very sweet candy base. The iciness here goes beyond a candy cane and into Altoids or like a Dentyne Ice gum flavor, but the candy base isn’t specifically chalky like Altoids or gummy like gum, just thick and sweet. Very cold linger on this one, the first few breaths I take after vaping it are especially icy. A little of this could go a long way in something like a peppermint ice cream that’s supposed to be cold. This doesn’t make it into the best in class rank because it’s so similar to two other flavors I’ve tried, INW Shisha Peppermint and FLV Peppermint. The differences are slight. It’s sweeter than FLV Peppermint, and not as quite as icy as INW Shisha Peppermint. It seems unnecessary to the collection of someone who already has one of those.
Best In Class
SSA Classic Oat Flakes - Well, maybe not “best in class” but more like “only in class.” It seems like it will have a limited use, but I don’t know of any other flavor that will really give that authentic dry uncooked oats flavor that I want for something like an oatmeal cookie or as part of a granola. It’s not good to vape by itself at all, just that genuine oats top note, and a bland, almost cardboardy base with a touch of darker sweetness to it, which seems like it would be mostly covered up in a mix.
SSA Natural Mint - I don’t see much demand for a natural, leafy green peppermint with an herbal quality and just-right mentholation for an authentic peppermint leaf. But this is the best such flavor I’ve ever tried. It might just the exact right flavor for something like a tea with peppermint or if you want something like a build your own peppermint tobacco without extra menthol.
SSA Garden Mint - There is at least some demand for a spearmint that’s very green and herbal-tasting, and this is very much that. Just a little more sweetness than you’d get from actually chewing on a spearmint leaf, otherwise spot-on to that. Need a mint for a mojito or mint julep? This is that mint, much, much more so than any other spearmint I’ve ever tried.
I have 4 of these, so I'll start there.
I'm not as verbose as ID10-T but I'll try and be as descriptive as possible.
All my testing is done on an Aegis Legend @60w with a Psyclone mods Entheon and 0.6ohm 3mm alien coil using COTN threads.
SSA Sweet Mint 2% This is exactly like those small bottles of breath freshener you used to get in gas stations that was a blue color in a tiny squeeze bottle. Exactly the same bottle Hi-Liq sends their cooling samples in. The name eludes me, but this could easily work as such.
I get a very strong peppermint, cold but I don't get it as super icey just cold. I also don't find it to be really sweet. I would say average sweetness, the breath freshener I spoke of was much sweeter.
Quite nice as a solo, but I think any flavor you try to mix with this would get buried easily.
SSA Classic Oat Flakes 1.2% This is interesting. Of the hand, It has an aftertaste that is definitely grain, definitely natural, but not specifically oats though it does lean in that direction. I also get some dark kind of molasses-y almost chocolate vibe from it. It's not much but it's there, and it is what hits me first. Then that natural grain taste comes in after.
On the vape it has more of a not-so-sugary sugar cookie vibe. That molasses note is much less present, but so is that natural grain taste.
I think this would work well with WF Oat and cream to make that oatmeal cookie flavor more complete.
Extra note, I think this could also work in a Virginia tobacco mix. It just has that something that I think would fit well in that type of profile.
SSA Natural Mint (Missing from my batch), will return to this when I get it.
SSA Garden Mint Referring back to those breath fresheners I spoke of earlier, there was a blue one and a green one. This is bang-on the green one. That or green Scope mouthwash. Not in a bad way, it's quite nice and not medicinal. It has a natural note that's not completely unlike chewing parsley stems. I agree with ID10-T in that this would be great for a mint sprig in a mojito or tea or any drink mix that needs a fresh real mint accent.
This one is not as intense as the sweet mint and if used low would play it's part nicely with other flavors.
Edit: coming back to do the Cranberry Jam, my bottle was labled Cranberry only and I needed to check it was the same one. It is.
SSA Cranberry Jam 3.5% Off the hand I get a slightly astringent general berry flavor, almost like FA Red Raspberry with a tiny hint of FA Forest fruits.
On the vape, very light cranberry with more jam than cran. Going to bump it to the highest recommended % @5% and re-test.
5% much better cranberry flavor, still heavier in the jam department but overall not a bad flavor. It has a bit of that bitterness inherent to cranberry.
So far I'm pretty impressed with this flavor line.
I should have added %s to mine.
Cranberry Jam - 1.5% - not sure that pushing it higher would be helpful, it's just a softer type of flavor.
Classic Oat Flakes - 0.5% - seems like you could go to 0.75% or 1% without it being weird, but also seems like you could get what you'd want out of it at 0.5%
Garden Mint - 1.25% - seems full flavored here, might go lower in a mix as that mint sprig
Sweet Mint - 1.25% - pretty intense here, I don't think you'd need more
Natural Mint - 2% - again, full flavored, but doesn't seem to be too high, either.
10 down, 84 to go!
Stuff happened, and I fell way behind on my first day of sampling these flavors. Good thing I have an extra day for catching up and a day after that during which I wasn't supposed to have to do any sampling, I'm going to need those days. I barely even made a dent in the berries yesterday.
Bad
Dark Blackberry - Perfume city. Like my granny accidentally filled my bottle of nasal spray with her granny perfume and then tried to make it up to me by giving me some wild berry lifesavers gummies that I ate with my sinuses still filled with grandma perfume. It’s almost as bad as FA Blackberry, which is the worst blackberry. 2.25% (apparently I should have tried this much much lower? 2.25% is right in the middle of Chef's recommended use % range, though. Bad Chefs! But really, just forget about this one and get Flavour Monks Blackberry instead).
Below Average
Natural Raspberry - Mostly tastes like some kind of weird sugary berry candy. Very sweet but not bold or vibrant. It’s not like a fresh, juicy, tart raspberry at all, it's the opposite of all of those things. There’s no raspberry tartness. It’s so sweet that it feels a little dry. And there’s also a bit something on the funky/savory spectrum in there, which goes beyond just a little earthy realism. Almost like you cooked a bunch of less flavorful out-of-season raspberries down in a little unsalted chicken broth and then dumped a shitload of sugar in there. It’s not good. Try FA Raspberry instead for more natural red raspberry. 1.75%
Average
Raspberry Blackberry Lemonade - Pleasant enough berry flavor. Doesn’t really do what I was expecting from “Raspberry Blackberry Lemonade.” Tastes more like boysenberry covered in sugar. It’s sweet but not juicy and refreshing like a beverage, it’s even a little on the dry side. I can’t find the lemon. It’s got some tart, but more like a raspberry tartness than a citrus, though it does run a little deeper than other raspberries usually do. No distinct blackberry taste, it’s noticeably darker than a straight raspberry, but only just. Oddly, Chef’s description for it says “Raspberry-Blackberry Lemonade with fresh mint” - I’m not getting any mint, or even anything mint-adjacent or a little touch of cooling or anything remotely like that. But, it doesn't taste “bad” at all, I could stick it in a berry mix of some sort, especially one that could use a little more sweetness and tartness. 2.25%
Above Average
Forest Fruits - It’s a lot like FA Forest Fruit, but darker. The only fruit I can really easily pick out of this medley is raspberry, and that’s because there’s a touch of tartness to it and brighter than the rest of the flavor and sits right on top. That’s about 10% of the flavor. For the other 90%, it’s quite dark, like blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry, and maybe a touch of blackcurrant all mashed together into one thing. There’s a touch of something greenish/plantlike and a nice little natural funkiness to it (that’s why I said maybe blackcurrant). The overall effect is something that tastes both natural and unnatural at the same time, like a real fruit that doesn’t exist. Sweetness on par for that too, it’s sweet but not like candy, like real berries. FA Forest Fruit is already pretty dark, but if it’s not dark enough for you, definitely give this a try. It’s better than a lot of other berry blends. 1%
Raspberry Syrup - This makes the above average cut because it’s a perfectly good candy red raspberry with nothing wrong with it at all, which is more than I can say for a bunch of other raspberry flavors. There’s a nice touch of tartness right up front that doesn’t run floral (a problem with raspberries), a nice saturated deep red candy raspberry flavor, and a base that’s thick and sweet. It’s slightly thoaty for me, not harsh, but noticeable. I don’t think it has anything on INW Shisha Raspberry, which tastes just like a mouthful of raspberry syrup that had real raspberries involved in making it, but it’s a good one. 2.25%
29 down, 65 to go! I am one full day behind schedule at this point. Yikes.
Bad
Ice Candies 3.5% - Nope. Chemically nail polish-ish sweet blueberry-ish candy with a moderate amount of Koolada finish. It’s just a badly failed copy of INW Blue Dwarf with Koolada added to it.
Blueberry 2.25%- Very sweet but otherwise dull tasting, and what flavor is there tastes like some kind of weird astringent wild berry-flavored medicine. Also, a little throaty. I don’t even know how you mess up blueberry this badly.
Summer Fruits 3% - Apparently it’s supposed to be cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and whatever “wild berries” are. I taste something more like a raspberry-peach hybrid wrapped in plastic off note, with a sweet but plasticky lingering finish that made me hate life for a bit.
Strawberry Milk 2.75% - My old nemesis, butyric acid, we meet again. It’s mostly strawberry, like a natural ripe strawberry, that’s interestingly both more tart and darker than strawberry flavors tend to be, and it’s a bold, vibrant strawberry. Perhaps people who don’t mind BA will love it, and strawberry mutes should try it because it’s different. But for me, it’s ruined by some sour dairy spoiled milk behind that strawberry. And the more I vaped it, the grosser it got, to the point of getting pukey. It lingered on my palate like I’d thrown up earlier in the day and never brushed my teeth and even left a stinky room note.
Below Average
Natural Wild Strawberry 2.25% - This is very weird. I don’t even get strawberry from it, much less natural strawberry. It tastes like a dull sugary/powdery raspberry candy dipped in celery juice or something vaguely vegetal, and there’s a light touch of cooling wintergreen-ish thing in the finish.
Milky Caramel Cream 2% - Extremely sweet, sweet caramel with thick, strong dairy richness behind it, but it tastes like a piece of candy that it got dunked in fake popcorn butter. If someone made a recipe with it and promised that they managed to cover up that fake butter element I’d try that because it sure is a rich milky caramel otherwise, but by itself it’s kind of icky.
Butterscotch 2.25% - It’s in the same boat as the Milky Caramel Cream with the obviously fake butter. Otherwise tastes similar to it as well, just not as intense with the fake butter, brighter, and not as rich. For the most part, it tastes like butterscotch, though.
Caramel 2.25% - It’s a bit burnt-tasting, and more almost-molasses dark brown sugar than caramel. Lots of dark sweetness. Could easily be useable, just not a great caramel. Also, dry, not rich and gooey like I want a caramel to be.
Fruit Hard Candy 2.25% - Very sweet. Not specifically hard candy but definitely candy. There’s a little citrus and a little berry but I can’t pick out anything more specific than that. Fairly softly flavored and textured, more like a melted down and then watered down whole pack of starbursts. Very slight plasticy sort of off note that is unpleasant standalone, but which seems like it might be possible to cover up in a mix with a good strong fruit flavor using this as a soft candy base.
Average
Candy Floss 2% - Pretty sure it’s just ethyl maltol. Has that spun sugar tastes while oddly not really being all that sweet by itself (though it might greatly enhance the sweetness of other flavors, at the cost of some muting). Dry. Thin. Top Heavy. There if you want to vape cotton candy or candy floss and not just use EM as an additive, there are better ones out there, FLV, Lorann’s, for example.
Ripe Strawberry 2.5% - It’s fine. Just another middle of the road strawberry that tastes neither fully natural nor fully candy. Sweeter and a little darker than most of those but not as vibrant or saturated as an above average strawberry flavor. Yawn.
Candy Cuckoo 2% - I just stuffed this in the average category because it’s so weird I didn’t know what else to do with something so strange. This is apparently supposed to be “Intensely cocoa hard candy with a strong creamy alcohol note.” I do not get the “hard candy” aspect at all, but the rest is there. As cocoa goes, it’s not bad. No rubbery bandaid flavor or anything like that. Absent any actual cereal grain texture, it otherwise tastes like just like cocoa puffs cereal that sogged in liquid so long it lost all texture. The thing is, the liquid it sogged in... they aren’t kidding about the strong creamy alcohol note. This is straight up what would happen if you poured Irish Cream over cocoa puffs cereal and let it sit for an hour before eating it. That would be a bizarre thing to do, but here we are. What do you even do with that? I doubt you can cover up the strong Irish Cream taste to make cocoa puffs, nor the cocoa puffs to make Irish Cream. Maybe some kind of adult after-dinner drink, an alcoholic hot cocoa, could be made out of it? Worth noting, that Irish cream is a bit throaty, but not excessive for an alcohol flavor.
Bubblegum 2.75% - Definitely tastes like classic pink bubblegum, and it’s much more boldly flavorful than many other bubblegum flavors, which tend to taste a little ABC (already been chewed). Unfortunately it’s not any juicier than the average bubblegum flavor. Also, I get a hint of clove every few puffs. But, I think there’s a fairly good chance that just means 2.75% was too high. I’ll be trying this again at a later date with a lower concentration and longer steep and might be moving it out of average and into above average or higher in my estimation.
Above Average
Scandinavian Fruits 2.5% - I was so intrigued by the smell of this one that I was a little let down by the way it actually vaped, which was... interesting. It’s fruity AF. Apparently it’s supposed to be cranberry, blueberry, blackberry, and whatever “Nordic raspberry” is. I can only really pick out blueberry and blackberry, but there’s a significant tartness to it and a vague “redness” as well. It doesn’t taste like real fruit. Artificial, and kinda like they took all the fruit flavors out of all the fruit cereals (especially the berry ones, like capn crunch berries, but also some lemony ones for tartness) and mixed them together. No actual cereal, just all the fruit flavors from the cereals. It’s all slightly throaty, but I wouldn’t call it harsh. It’s above average compared to a lot of other berry blend type of flavors, which tend to run floral or have any number of other issues. I could have some fun with this one.
Dulce de Leche 2% - Disclaimer on this one: If you are even more sensitive to butyric acid than I am, and I believe I’m quite sensitive to it, you could have a really bad time with this one. I can almost guarantee you it’s in there. I got just enough of that to be a little off-putting on a fresh redrip and after taking a break from it and coming back. But it’s very light and after a couple of drags I don’t notice it anymore and it really tastes like it should. Buttery-rich very sweet caramelized gooey deliciousness. Starts and finishes sweet, with all that richness condensed in the middle. I think 2% might have been a little high, maybe 1.5% and steeping for longer than a week would make this perfect. I recall other DDL flavors tasting good, most of them like rich brown sugar, some with an odd chocolatey aspect that shouldn’t be there, but none tasting this authentic.
Blackcurrant 2.25% - I’m no expert on what blackcurrant is supposed to taste like so I can’t really comment much on authenticity, but looking back over the notes I have on all the currants I’ve tried before, some of them were really bad, and that makes this one above average. It’s vibrant and has a deep, saturated flavor. It tastes like a tart and sweet blueberry-blackberry-grape-raspberry mashup, with a very light ripe funkiness to it that makes it taste like a natural fruit rather than candy. Of note, it’s a bit throaty for me, not really harsh, just a bit throaty. I’d still pick VT Shisha Black Currant over this one, though.
Toffee 2.25% - It’s a softer toffee flavor, not real punchy, but it checks out. Tastes like toffee, sugary caramelized sweet buttery toffee. Seems like it might get a little lost in a mix because it’s soft, but tastes great. Also soft in the sense that it doesn’t really get that sugary crunchy thing down the way some others, like VT English Toffee for example does. But relative to a lot of other toffee flavors, it’s above average.
Awesome
Milky Caramel Fudge 2.75% - This is their good caramel. It’s milky and not as darkly caramelized as I usually want caramel to be, it’s like a caramel that would be light tan instead of golden brown, but it tastes like a spoonful of delicious gooey caramel sauce that sticks to the roof of my mouth. No off notes.
Best In Class
Multivitamin 2.5% -- Another one that’s more “only in class” rather than “best in class” because it’s fairly unique. And delicious! Deep, saturated flavor. Unfortunate name but apparently it’s some kind of European thing. It tastes mostly like pineapple, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on in this bright, citrusy fruit mix. I get some sweet orange and lemon pretty clearly, but more than that even, a bit of red grapefruit and something else, maybe peach - it gets a little muddy. The orangy-lemon taste a little on the candy side but the pineapple is a little more realistic. If you go back to their Forest Fruits and how dark that was, this is the yin to that yang. Not harsh at all, which is surprising for something that tastes like citrus-pineapple-peach. Nothing quite like it, but when compared to similar-ish flavors, like FA Citrus Mix and FLV Tropical Citrus (two other bright fruit mixes), it blows them out of the water.
56 down, 38 to go! Part One (because it wouldn't all fit in a single comment)
Bad
Malaysian Mango 2.5% - It’s a mango alright. Peel and all, unfortunately. Lots and lots of very strong green peel note that tastes quite a bit like Pine Sol mixed with pesticide (fire ant killer, specifically). Nearly unvapeable. Unfortunate, because there’s a nice ripe mango underneath that pine sol pesticide peel.
Guava 2.25% - Mustard. It’s the darnedest thing, but I swear I taste mustard in this. Like a fresh, natural tart and sweet guava that someone sprinkled with dry mustard powder for whatever reason. But at least it mostly tastes like guava and doesn’t have that overwhelming cat pee/meth lab off note that some guava flavors have.
Below Average
Ripe Mango 1% - Y’all know I’m real picky about my Mangoes. It’s not terrible, and it’s identifiable as a mango. But just... not right. It’s as if it’s based on a cooked mango that was not properly peeled before being cooked. There’s a slight Pine Sol in the top notes and the base is soft and darkly sweet. It might be just the thing for some kind of weird mango chutney vape with stuff covering up the pine sol, but it’s not something I’ll be likely to reach for when making any mango mix.
Ripe Cherry 2% - Nope. It has some new vinyl shower curtain to it. Not much at all, and underneath that is a nice sweet red cherry flavor with an oddly darker sweetness on it, so that’s interesting. But I can’t abide that nightmare plastic and this is ruined with it right up front, even if it’s not as prominent as it is in a lot of other cherry flavors.
Purple Plum 2% - It tastes like plum, but like an underripe plum and a cooked plum at the same time. It has a peely top note that’s too prominent, bitter, and a little chemically, with a body that’s dark and sweet and tastes cooked, like a baked plum. I could really use that baked plum without the peel, but with it, I don’t know what to do with this.
Apricot 1.25% - It tastes like a real dried Apricot! Which is awesome! With a touch of plastic... which is ... not at all awesome. It’s a shame. This is not the worst Apricot flavor I’ve ever tried (That title goes to VT Apricot, an unvapeable dumpster fire of plastic disaster), but there’s CAP, FLV, and FA that are so much better than this.
Ripe Banana 1.75% - Mostly Runts, but with a slight green banana edge. Similar to INW Banana and LB Banana, but thicker, creamier, and sweeter than those.
Average
Sweet Watermelon 2% - Top-heavy candy watermelon with a bland but sweet base. Not much going for it over other candy watermelon flavors other than it’s really sweet, almost to the point of tasting like watermelon-flavored cotton candy. Not juicy, kinda dry actually. Might use to sweeten another watermelon and push that candy watermelon top note forward a bit, but not great as a single flavor.
Orange Juice 1.5% - Sweet orange candy mostly, but also has a little zest and a hint of lemon. A little harsh, even for a citrus. Kind of like those orange slice gummy things, but without the sugary exterior or distinctly gummy body. This is about average for an orange flavor.
Natural Lemon 1.5% - Mostly Lemonheads candy, sugary sweet, very slightly pledgy. Nothing very “natural” about it. But not too thin or too harsh, actually fairly thick and smooth for a lemon.
Juicy Lemons 3.5% - It is indeed a little juicy, but it’s like the spit in your mouth after letting a Lemonhead dissolve in there. Like a weaker (in concentration) and juicier version of their Natural Lemon, minus the touch of pledge.
Grapefruit 1.5% - Very sweet, thick bodied, clearly grapefruit, tastes sort of like one of those grapefruit slice gummy candies. Similar to CAP Grapefruit but that one is softer and thinner, this has more of a bold grapefruit top note. Could be great for any kind of grapefruit candy or soda, or to sweeten a more natural-tasting grapefruit flavor.
Ripe Pear 3% - Have you ever wished FA Pear was less juicy? Yeah, me neither. But I have wished it was sweeter. This is basically that, a much drier, much sweeter FA Pear. It’s a bit soft and needs serious help in the juiciness department, but it could easily have a role in a pear mix and that sugary sweetness might even help with a realistic mealy pear texture in a mix. I wouldn’t trust it to be the only pear in a pear recipe, though.
Pitaya Dragonfruit 1.25% - This one is another one I just stuffed in the average range because I didn’t know what to do with it. It tastes more like cactus fruit than dragonfruit, which itself tastes more like real dragonfruit than most dragonfruit flavors. Personally, I really prefer the artificial “white gummy bear” flavor that we’ve all just sort of agreed to call “dragonfruit,” but this is more like the real thing. Sweet, crisp, juicy, nectary, with hints of fruitiness resembling but not quite the same as watermelon and pear, and a slightly citrusy aloe-ish note, like cactus. I put this in the average range for people who think dragonfruit should tastes more like real dragonfruit, but personally I don’t see myself ever reaching for it.
Melon 2.25% - It’s either both cantaloupe and honeydew or a more exotic melon that tastes like a mixture of the two. It really tastes like melon, not a candy-type flavor. Not rindy. No off-notes. Nice and ripe and very sweet. But - and this is a big but - it has none of that juiciness I’m looking for in a melon mix. It’s kinda dry, even, which is a bit weird up against that otherwise authentic melon.
Above Average
Golden Apple 1.25% - Fairly standard “double apple” situation where it has elements of both green and red apple, doesn’t really tastes like a “golden delicious” apple as the name implies. Sweet, juicy, full flavored. Personally I would prefer an apple flavor be solidly one kind of apple, rather than this sort of hybrid with the tarter green around the edges of a duller but sweeter red apple. It tastes pretty good, though, nothing I would call an off-note.
Baked Apple 2.5% - First thought: Just get FLV Apple Filling and skip this. It tastes like baked apple, the way baking caramelizes the natural sugars, with a barely there touch of warm spice that’s so light it might even just be the apple’s peel after it’s been baked. Peel and spice tastes kinda the same when they’re this light and not tart. But what if someone wants a baked peel-on apple without all that lovely cinnamon that FLV Apple Filling has? This could be their apple. But seriously, just get FLV Apple Filling.
Ripe Coconut 1.75% - If it’s coconut and it’s not suntan lotion, it’s automatically above average. This is primarily sweet, natural coconut flesh. It’s not as sweet and creamy as I’m usually looking for in a coconut flavor, but it’s not dry coconut flakes either. It’s relatively thin for a coconut, and there’s a slight citrus-ish brightness to it that seems off to me. FWIW, it reminds me a lot of VT Coconut, and I know some people really love that one.
Juicy Cherries 2% - Any cherry that’s not nasty is automatically above average in my book, and this one is decidedly not nasty. It is indeed juicy, but it’s similar to their Juicy Lemon in that it’s like the juiciness of your spit after you’ve already eaten the cherry candy. It’s fairly soft, not at all a bold, punchy flavor. There’s a slight plastic-ish vibe around the edges here, but nothing anywhere near the new vinyl shower curtain infamous nightmare cherry off-note.
Sour Lime 2.75% - It is a little sour, but also very sweet. There’s a touch of lime zest to it. It vapes a little warm, like citruses can unfortunately do. Has an almost effervescent feel between the zest and the sweeter, syrupy body, which makes it come across like drinking a Sonic Limeade at room temperature. On the upside, I really like the way this flavor leaves a lingering lime taste behind long after the vapor is gone. I could do some work with this one.
Sweet Mandarin 2% - Clearly a mandarin orange. Very sweet, almost too sweet. Nice depth of flavor, thick, but a little soft. Very similar to VT Mandarin, to the extent I think they could be interchangeable 1:1 subs. Better than TFA and FA Mandarin flavors, but I’d still be more likely to reach first for FE Sweet Orange for a mandarin flavor with a little more oomph to it.
Ok next 5 for me (see my first post for equipment I'm testing on.) All mixed at 60/40 VG/PG. Single flavors, nothing else added. Percentages are listed. After finding that the high end of the mfr. Suggested range is often a bit to high I'm going to stick to middle ground-ish and my own instinct.
All off these 5 are tested as snv. I will steep ones I feel require a steep as we get into those types of flavors.
SSA Bubble Gum 2.7% This is pretty good, albeit a little light at 2.7% it can definitely handle going higher. Being a candy profile, it will benefit from some Sweetener.
This is a bubblegum machine type flavor that to me tastes like the white inside part of a gumball without the outer shell. Very neutral and basic naked gumball. It's true to it's profile and probably would only need a small amount of your flavor of choice to make a nice bubblegum flavor.
If I had to say what flavor I recognize in it I would say those hard, hollow lemon shaped gum balls that come in a machine, but only the white part with the faintest ghost of the lemon still there somewhere.
I think I would go with 3.5% and whatever flavoring you I like and sweeten to taste. 0.6% super sweet should put this in a realistic gumball range.
SSA Candy Floss 1.9% Ok, this should probably be tested with a little bit of Sweetener to do it justice, since it's supposed to be something that's basically pure sugar. It's not a Sweetener like TFA cotton candy, that's for sure.
I would say that this would have been better named "Candy Base". It has a good volume and fairly neutral taste. I think my percentage is probably good for this one as it has a tiny bit of a bitter aftertaste that would be neutralized by Sweetener. It's not bitter in the vapor itself, but on the tongue after a puff. It's very slight and Sweetener would for sure cover it.
I think it is not a great candy Floss, but it would be a very good candy base.
SSA Fruit Hard Candy 2.1% then 3.5% Generic all starburst at once in your mouth but ultra light. Again Sweetener would be doing the heavy lifting here. This flavor is very light at 2.1%, so light that I'm going to bump it to the high end of the mfr recommended value of 3.5%.
Ok even at 3.5% it's still very weak. Pushing it further would bring some plastic of notes that would be unwelcomed. This is not a bad flavor, but it's not a good one either. It's just kind of ok.
It would need a lot of help from some stronger flavors to make it work, and I think that once you buffed it up, there wouldn't be much of it left to taste.
SSA Summer Fruits 3% I don't even know what to say about this one. I was looking forward to it simply because of the name. I get a dark molasses kind of flavor, bordering on savory or umami almost as if you long cooked some dark blackberry syrup until it slowly burned. It has a bit of plasticity but it's not quite plastic, more like the first few hits on cheap cotton.
I wanted this to be good so I even added some sweetener to see if it helped things, which it did, a little. But not much. This one is not for me. With nearly 100 flavors to test, there will always be some you don't like.
SSA Candy Cukoo Ok this is pretty accurate to the profile. I'm assuming this should be a Cocoa Puffs type of flavor. A little bit of your favorite cereal milk (mine is 2:1 FA Milk & FA Cream Fresh). And maybe a touch of Cereal 27 or that oats from my previous review, some sweetener and you will have bang on Cocoa Puffs.
It has that generic cereal chocolate that's in most of these Cocoa type cereals. A little bit of the grain but not enough to sell it completely without a little more grain to push it into the realistic range. Still, not bad at all.
That's it for today. 5 more tomorrow. Happy mixing folks!
Edit: Revisited Candy Cuckoo as promised after the discussions elsewhere in this thread.
Result: I think my expectation that this was supposed to be Coco Puffs cereal affected my perceptions quite a lot, or the extra steep time really brought out that alcohol note, but I can't even fathom how I could miss it. It's bang right in my face now, it's that alcohol syrup that the chocolate covered cello cherries float in. Clear as day.
Point to you on picking that up when I so clearly missed it completely ID10-T.
As for the Candy Floss, I asked the owner if it was EM, and she said no (she will send me the MSDS to collaborate that) that it is "a complex flavor that she used some Bubble gum components in the making of".
So at least I got that one right. It seems more like a candy base to me than EM. Tasting it next to real EM, it's different. They both have a chemical-ness but the EM is different to me. That's not to say there is no EM in it, the MSDS will show us that, but it's definitely something else.
It's a busy day for me mixing in the shop, I managed to test one that I really mixed for myself though:
SSA Caramel Biscuit 3% Ok I really wanted this one to be good since I love this profile personally. Is it good? Well yes and no. It's not bad. It's a darker Caramel bordering on burnt but not. Dark is the best word. Dark in a way that leans towards almost coffee. There is very little Biscuit here. Maybe a ghost of a Biscuit.
That said, I think this could be tweaked into something nice. More of some light type of biscuit or sugar cookie to counter that darkness and a lighter caramel to boost the flavor a bit because even at the max recommended 3% I was craving a bit more richness. Perhaps a buttery caramel like WF Caramel Butter or DV Toffee even would bring this into tasty vape territory.
And some sweetener. This is very dry without some sweetness. But the nature of a caramel profile calls for sweetness in any case.
I won't have time to do more today but I have mixed up 20 to start on when Monday rolls around. Have a great weekend everyone!
I have been just far too busy to get to add any testing until today, but here we go with another batch. These were mixed on Dec 12th, so they have had plenty of steeping time. It will be interesting to see how that compares to the tests done with short steep.
1st at bat: SSA Wild Strawberry @2.1% I don't get much of anything at all from this flavor. Maybe it's was too low, but I literally can't taste anything in this at all. No strawberry, no nothing. Like vaping pgvg base that was standing next to an open bottle of sour and the slightest amount of molecules got into the base.
Bumped it to 3% and there was a very faint ghost of a strawberry there but it quickly disappears after a few hits.
In desperation, I bumped it again, this time to a full 6%. Now there is a strawberry there, it's a wild type, but it's still so incredibly thin and ghosty that it just couldn't be used in any way without getting lost. It's an ultra-weak ghost of INW Wild Strawberry (which is the best wild Strawberry out there in my opinion, and a far better option of that's the flavor you are going for).
Next: SSA Purple Plum 1% Had to check that my taste buds were still working when I also got almost no perceptible flavor from this. Bumped it to 2.5% and got some flavor. A bit floral, plum-ish something. More plum skin than plum. The floral note is bordering on perfumey. It's not unpleasant, but it's not something I could use in my work. It could maybe find a use in adding a plum skin note to another plum flavor?
SSA Ripe Banana 1% Again not much taste, some green-ish banana something. Bumped it to 2% and it's basically a plantain. more actually like if you sweat a plantain in steam then vaped the droplets of that sweat. Or if you vaped the threads of banana skin that you pull off a freshly peeled greenish banana. i think long steep may play into this weakening. it could have a use in building a more complex banana flavor.
SSA Apricot 2% synthetic apricot with a good amount of throat hit. it's not horrible but it has an acrylic paint note that i can't get past. It would need help as 2% seems to be to high, and lower i don't think you would get enough flavor. it's not bad, but you would have to cover that synthetic off-note with something heavier.
SSA Nectarines 1.8% it's good but i need to up the % a bit to get a better picture. bumped it to 3%. I quite like this one. It's a straight up nectarine. Nothing funky and present enough at 3%. I liked this one so much I mixed it with some LB blue raspberry and a bit of Sweetener and a bit of MB Tingle and spark and made a tasty little mix for my weekend puff.
SSA Mandarin 2% Ok this one is really good. It's a straight up mandarin orange. Mandarin is one of my favorite flavors in the real world. This one is like canned Mandarin in syrup, but before they add the syrup. like a more-dry slice of Mandarin. It has a tiny bit of orange Tic-Tac note on the top end, which is not a bad thing in my book. all in all i think this is a really nice flavor.
Out of curiosity, I bumped it to 4% and it just got deeper and richer work no off notes. It could probably be pushed a bit further. Very nice offering.
SSA Multivitamin 2.6% The (unfortunate) name of one will be hard for Americans to understand, but it's a common juice blend name in Europe. If you Google "Multivitamin juice" you will get loads of different variants on this name. It can be any combination of fruits, sometimes enriched with added vitamins other times not. Usually there's Oranges, apples, grapes, banana, guava, pineapple, nectarines, peaches and very commonly carrots or other vegetables in some combination.
This one is a pretty much bog-standard multivitamin juice flavor. It's quite accurate to the profile. I would say this one has pineapple and peach and a mix of citrus flavors more up front and center. It's a very good flavor mix that works out nicely. I want to say there is some light carrot there or something lightly vegetal but not off-putting as it's very faint.
This one is a winner. I will say that it did fade a bit over the steep, but i also mixed it on the low end. it could for sure go higher.
That's all i have time for this week. I'll do some more next week. I apologise for the delays but such is life. Till next time, Have a great weekend!
5/5
AMAZING: (5 stars)
SSA Bakery Orange (aka my flavor of the year, aka get this, aka bakery orange is love, bakery orange is life)
Bottle smell: lemonpledge
SnV:
Lemon upfront, bit like FE lemon with a hint of orange, also warm citrus
3 day steep:
Getting deeper now, lemon has faded a bit and more oranges.
Warm oranges with a little lemon, pretty true to name at this point
5 day steep:
Really good baked orange at this point
This could go sooo well in a cake or desert recipe, it's not even funny
No weird offnotes, no candy, just an amazing authentic warm orange
7 day steep:
Even better then at day 5
Rich warm baked orange flavor, little hint of lemon in the back to freshen it up
No offnotes, realistic as hell
LOVE
​
SSA Milky Strawberry (aka IM A STRAWBERRY MUTE AND I TASTE THIS!!!!)
Bottle smell: like OoO Milky Underpants and FLV Alpine Strawberry had a lovechild
SnV:
Very milky and sweet, a hint of strawberry in the back
Milk part is a bit butyric, almost cheesecake like
3 day steep:
Starting to come together now, it's turning into a strawberry milkshake
Still some butyric shit at the back, let's see what more steeping does to that
5 day steep:
Pretty good strawberry milkshake
I can taste the strawberry here, which is rare for me
Has some mouthfeel as well, like a thick milkshake
I like it!
7 day steep:
Thick milkshake with some vanilla hints and a pretty prominent strawberry
Sweet, but not too sweet. Pleasant smooth vape.
Good enough to finish the SFT bottle
​
​
Did you read all 5 posts? Good boy! (or gal)
Take aways:
-Most are good, but ALL of them require a steep.
-Even the fruits needs at least 5 days to become something that's vape-able.
-I need to try the other strawberries, as i taste strawberry in the Milky Strawberry, as a strawberry mute that's very very rare!
-This SFT-ing was a pain in the ass to do
-This post took over an hour to make, fuck my life
-Stroopwafels rule
I love you
A week didn’t fix the Strawberry Milk for me, it seemed like it might be ok at first, but it built on me as I kept vaping it, and I felt like I might puke before I could get it all out of my RDA.
Oh my, that’s like the opposite of my experience! Maybe you’re even more sensitive to butyric acid then i am. Sorry to hear that, hope you didn’t die too much inside
Goddamn now i’ve gotta post 28 sft notes i did right? I’ll do it tomorrow, thats gonna take a while to copy paste and make readable..
Please and thank you
I have the whole line minus a few that were overlooked when they packed them for me, but I've been dragging my butt to start the testing. If you are going to post them here in this thread as you do them, I'll promise to follow you one for one. I'll follow your testing plan. Let's do this thing!
I need to get it done as I have the whole Magical Flavor line coming in to the shop soon as well and then I'll be really swamped.
4/5
ABOVE AVERAGE: (4 stars) (part 2)
SSA Compote Cherry (best cherry out there by a long shot)
Bottle smell: strong cherry aroma, smells like muched up warm cherries you get as a desert
SnV:
Were did the cherries go? i dont detect any cherry, too low %?
3 day steep:
Cherries are back, sweet cherries, muched up with sugar. No real strange offnotes, pretty good
Could work well with SSA Juicy Cherries
5 day steep:
Warm cherry jam with sugar, no plastic or coughsyrup offnotes here.
Very good base for a cherry recipe, do note that this is not really a realistic cherry.
The jam part turns this into a candy like cherry flavor
7 day steep:
No change, still warm cherry jam with lots of sugar
​
SSA Caramel Biscuit (aka darkness in a bottle)
Bottle smell: burnt sugar
SnV:
Loads of caramel, slightly burnt brown sugar on a biscuit, biscuit needs a little steep
3 day steep:
A slightly burnt biscuit coated with burnt caramel
If you need a slightly burnt crust for some bakery this could work, use at low %
5 day steep:
Smoother, but still a little burnt crust + burnt brown sugar
Not bad, but do not expect a biscuit like JF's one, more like INW Dirt Biscuit, but instead of gravelroad you get a burnt edge
7 day steep:
Wow this went dark, like pitchblack dark.
Very heavy, rich caramel, dark wholegrain biscuit
I can see this working well in a recipe if you would need a dark caramel and biscuit note
​
SSA Blackcurrant (aka the other boysenberry)
Bottle smell: strong cassis smell (EU drink made of fermented blackcurrents)
SnV:
Heavy dark blackcurrents, sweet
Pair this with a lemonade and you've got a cassis vape
3 day steep:
Nice and sweet, slightly tang blackcurrant
A bit artifical, some small offnotes but not unpleasant
5 day steep:
Almost in cherry territory, dark heavy blackcurrants with a tangy note
Sweetness like a lemonade, without the lemon part
Blackcurrant lemonade would be my best description at this point
7 day steep:
Sweet ripe blackcurrant with a nice tang
No weird offnotes, dark and heavy, like a boysenberry but different
Could be a usefull flavor
​
SSA Apple Strudel (Hans , Hans, get ze flammenwerfer!)
Bottle smell: strong apple strudel, like those frozen supermarket things
SnV:
Big cinnamon hit, warm apple, and some crust, a little thin apart from the cinnamon. not bad
3 day steep:
More crust upfront, apple second and a little cinnamon at the back.
I liked it better of the shake, needs FLV Apple Filling to build the apple and cinnamon part
Not bad, just a bit empty
5 day steep:
Starting to come together now, more apple and cinnamon are showing up
This is a steeper, as are all SSA flavors i've tested
7 day steep:
Good balance of apple, flakey crust and a hint of cinnamon
Bit weak, it faded quite a bit
I can see this work very well with some FLV Apple Filling and more crust
1/5
Ok here we go. Needed to cut the post into 5 pieces bc/ Reddit doesnt like long and good post it seems..
First some disclaimers: i am not a professional SFT-er like the Noted crew.
The views and notes are my own, and your thoughts may differ, taste is subjective.
I am a strawberry mute and highly sensitive to butyric acid.
Everything is tested at 3% on a Recurve single, 316L SS dual fused clapton, 0.25Ohm at 430F.
BAD ONES: (1-2 stars)
SSA Shortbread Biscuit (eating raw dough is wrong)
Bottle smell: smells like a mix between cap sugar cookie and jf biscuit, i like the smell
SnV:
Butter, a lot of butter, undercooked/underbaked biscuit/cookie, needs steep
3 day steep:
Semi raw biscuit, butter, wetness, disgusting
5 day steep:
Still some raw undercooked biscuit and loads of butter, but better then before. I don't hate it anymore, but i don't see myself using this in any way shape or form.
7 day steep:
Sweet, buttery, still some undercooked notes in here
Unpleasant vape, it lingers in my nose and sinuses
​
SSA Shortbread Cookie (the return of the raw dough)
Bottle smell: cookie, not very strong
SnV:
Butter, very weird offnotes, i cant put my finger on what i taste, not good, needs a steep for sure
3 day steep:
Still weird, like the inside of a new garbagebag
5 day steep:
Improved a lot with a steep, i dont feel like licking the inside of a new garbagebag anymore.
Squishy soft semi-undercooked cookie, still a little butter undertone that i do not like very much. Not like a sugar cookie, no sweetness to it.
7 day steep:
Buttery, chemical offnotes, plasticlike and unpleasant, i see no usecase for this flavor
​
SSA Natural Raspberry (if this is natural, i'm scared of the artificial one)
Bottle smell: raspberry, sweet (why is the color so dark btw?)
SnV:
Full on raspberry, a bit on the candy/jam side
Very sweet, hint of caramel in the back?
3 day steep:
Raspberry has faded a little, not as strong as the SNV
Still get some sort of caramel/brown sugar note from it
Not bad, but it's not 100% raspberry
5 day steep:
Nice smooth vape, pretty authentic raspberry
Small offnotes remain
7 day steep:
Still those damn offnotes, not sure how te describe them.
Old stale meat juice? Gravy? Not sure but it's getting annoying now.
Not recommended, there are better raspberries out there
​
SSA Golden Apple (good start, bad finish, that's what she said)
Bottle smell: fresh yellow apple, like a golden delicious
SnV:
A cross between Fuji and Golden Delicious apples, fresh and realistic
Little bit of skin, not much. Sweet but a little thin, needs more body to be a good standalone apple
3 day steep:
Getting offnotes now, pear and plastic
The apple part is like a way overripe apple, not a fan of eating the brown parts of an apple
5 day steep:
Getting boozy now, the apple is really overripe and going on fermented
Not fresh and juicy at all, it's an old overripe apple with brown spots soaked in booze
7 day steep:
Old wrickly brown spotted apple.
Shame, the shake and vape tasted so good, but the longer it steeps, the more the apple turns into an old shitty apple you needed to throw away a week ago
Not recommended
​
SSA Cinnamon Apple Pie (aka wet apple or apple bathwater)
Bottle smell: smells more like crust then apple, also no cinnamon
SnV:
Plastic crust? i hope a steep helps, because this is the weirdest apple pie i've ever had
3 day steep:
Disgusting, weird plastic offnotes, no cinnamon, no apple.
5 day steep:
I detect some apple now, it's juicy as well, that is nice. Like a fresh baked apple pie with warm semi melted apples.
Not getting any cinnamon though. Plastic taste is gone, thank god for that.
7 day steep:
Smooth but not very strong apple, a little bit of crust, no cinnamon.
Also seems to have a hint of appleskin in there, but hard to find anything else in this
Why this is called cinnamon apple pie is beyond me, better call it wet apple
​
SSA Caramel (aka brown sugar baby)
Bottle smell: smells like burnt brown sugar
SnV:
Tastes like it smells, burnt brown sugar, the liquid even looks like burnt brown sugar, very dark
3 day steep:
Still burnt brown sugar, not much else to say
5 day steep:
The burnt part settled down a bit, but still not really in to this.
To me this is more a brown sugar then a caramel, like the top layer of a creme brulee
There are better caramels out there
7 day steep:
Brown sugar that is strangely not sweet at all, the burnt part is gone
Bit on the weak side, maybe 3% is too low for this one to shine
/u/TBX-12, I have found an error in your comment:
> “butter, but better [than] before”
I am confident that you, TBX-12, intended to write “butter, but better [than] before” instead. Unlike the adverb ‘then’, ‘than’ compares.
^(This is an automated bot. I do not intend to shame your mistakes. If you think the errors which I found are incorrect, please contact me through dms or contact my owner EliteDaMyth)
3/5
ABOVE AVERAGE: (4 stars) (part 1)
SSA Scandinavian Fruits (aka AC: Valhalla Fruits)
Bottle smell: lots of fruits, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry
SnV:
Harsh, throatfeel isnt pleasant, needs a steep?
3 day steep:
Still some harshnes, more blueberry then raspberry (SSA Forest Fruits got all the raspberry it seems)
5 day steep:
Harhness is gone, pretty smooth now.
Sweet fruit mix, blueberry is the main note here, followed by blackberry and then a little touch of raspberry
Pretty good
7 day steep:
A little harsh compared to other fruit mixes
Sweet fruit, not candy-ish
Blueberry up front, again followed by blackberry and a touch of raspberry
Not much changed from the 5 day test, pretty good
​
SSA Ripe Pear (aka Shape Down Pear)
Bottle smell: smells like oldskool pear ice, not very strong
SnV:
Bit sharp, not real strong pear, more fresh then ripe
3 day steep:
There we go, much better after a steep. More pear up front, with some skin too. Like taking a bite of a ripe pear, not mealy enough for me to be a real ripe pear
5 day steep:
Damn good pear, very realistic semi ripe pear. I still miss the mealy body part a bit.
I dont detect weird offnotes, just a whole lotta pear
7 day steep:
No change
Good realistic pear, skin and all. Bit juicy, but i miss the mealy part that Shape Up Pear has
Will make a great pairing together :-)
​
SSA Orange Juice (aka grapefruit)
Bottle smell: orange and lemon mix
SnV:
A lot of zest, orange and lemon, almost like a grapefruit
Sweet and juicy, no real weird offnotes but needs a steep to get rid of the zest part
3 day steep:
Still some zest, a little dishsoap-y as well
Still sweet and juicy, but i do think this is more a grapefruit/orange hybrid thing
5 day steep:
Same as day 3
7 day steep:
Remains the same.
Overall it's not bad at all, but it's not a pure orange juice. It has more citrus notes like lemon and grapefruit.
It's natural tasting, no candy notes or chemical stuff. It's good, but not named correctly.
​
SSA Multivitamin (who said vaping isn't healty?)
Bottle smell: pineapple with a mix of other fruits at the background
SnV:
Big pineapple, some citrus fruits at the end, bit of peach also
Very sweet, almost candy-like, not bad, like a tropical forest fruit mix
Could vape this solo at a higher %
3 day steep:
Pineapple + peach, the citrus part is pretty much gone now
Very pleasant vape, add some mango and/or passionfruit and you've got yourself a damn nice tropical vape
5 day steep:
50/50 pineapple peach, nice smooth vape
There's some more fruit at the back, but not so strong that i could pick out the individual fruits
7 day steep:
Seems to be a bit more peach at this stage, like 60/40 peach/pineapple
Still a fruit medley at the end. No offnotes, just lots of fruit
Good enough to finish the SFT bottle
​
SSA Melon (insert booby joke here)
Bottle smell: cantaloup melon, both candy and realistic at the same time
SnV:
Fine melon, more realistic then candy, cantaloup/honeydew hybrid
Not much zest, more juicy ripe insides of the melon
3 day steep:
Very realistic melon, ripe and juicy cantaloup/honeydew
5 day steep:
Same as day 3, realistic ripe melons
7 day steep:
Banger of a melon, realistic ripe melons
No offnotes, juts good melons
Will finish this SFT bottle
​
SSA Grapefruit (it's just a good grapefruit, no jokes here, sorry)
Bottle smell: fresh grapefruit scented cleaning agent
SnV:
Pretty good grapefuit, realistic, fresh and juicy, little bit of zest, small offnotes
3 day steep:
Same as SNV, realistic, fresh, juicy grapefruit. Zest has dialed down a bit
5 day steep:
Really good grapefuit, very authentic and juicy
7 day steep:
Same as before, good realistic juicy grapefruit
​
SSA Forest Fruits (aka FA's darker stepbrother)
Bottle smell: smells a lot like the Scandinavian Fruits, darker berries
SnV:
Nice dark berry mix, darker then FA forest fruits, some offnotes, bit chemical and plastic-y
3 day steep:
A lot of raspberry up front, darker berries at the end, also plastic
5 day steep:
No more plastic, raspberries at the front and darker berries at the back.
This would be a nice add-on in a raspberry mix to add a little something extra on the end.
The raspberries are very authentic, no candy at all. the end note berries are also authentic and natural, good stuff
7 day steep:
Dark, heavy, realistic berries
Very heavy on the raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry
There might be strawberries in here, but i'm a strawberry mute so i do not detect them
If you need a darker FA Forest Fruits, this is it
So you're actually just saying the flavor of the quarter is Pig Skin. Got it 😁👍
2/5
AVERAGE ONES: (3 stars)
SSA Dark Blackberry (aka steep it 'till you make it)
Bottle smell: blackberry jam
SnV:
Doesnt really taste like blackberry, it's a dark fruit with offnotes
3 day steep:
Plastic and a rubberband mixed with a cheap fruit syrup?
Not good
5 day steep:
Fruity, but still some offnotes in the plastic/rubberband department
I don't hate it, but it would need a lot of help from other flavors to shine
7 day steep:
Most of the offnotes have faded, still a little weirdness but better then before.
Not bad now, but not sure if i'll ever use it again
​
SSA Juicy Cherries (aka INW Cherries)
Bottle smell: smells like INW cherries, bit chemical
SnV:
Very similar to INW Cherries, lacks body, thin, plastic-y
3 day steep:
Plastic offnote faded, similar to INW Cherries. Bit thin, needs help for body, but nice overall
5 day steep:
Still a little plastic note, still very much like INW Cherries
Sweet and juicy, not much tartness
One of the better cherries for sure
7 day steep:
I had to double check the bottle, it really tastes like a clone of INW Cherries
Not a lot of body, sweet, juicy, not a lot of tartness
​
SSA Lemon Cheesecake (aka i swear it's in here somewhere!)
Bottle smell: butyric smell, i will probably not like this as i am sensitive to that
SnV:
Yeah no, this is very butyric, no lemon, just bad cheese and a little vomit at the end
Needs a steep for sure
3 day steep:
Like eating a cheesecake with the cardboard plate
Weird, i dont like it. Too many strange offnotes
5 day steep:
Getting there, this is a long steeper
Lemon is coming out of hiding, cheesecake part is less vomit
The biscuit of the cheesecake isn't really present
7 day steep:
It's an okay lemon cheesecake. Very sweet, sugarlips type vape.
No real biscuit layer here, it's 99% lemon cheesecake with a little faint hint of biscuit
It's ok, but it needs a lot of help
​
SSA Summer Fruits (aka ALL OF THE FRUITS!)
Bottle smell: smells like summer in a bottle, fresh, fruity, sweet
SnV:
ALL THE FRUITS!
No seriously, so many fruits together, i cant tell what is in here
Some cherry notes with loads of berries
Sweet but not full on candy, it's a hybrid realistic-candy fruit medley
3 day steep:
Way too much fruits, maybe 3% is too high
5 day steep:
Still loads of fruit, so much that i cannot pick out the individual fruits used here
Could be an easy single flavor mix, lots of flavor but it's a bit of a mess
7 day steep:
So. Much. Fruit.
And plastic.
Like vaping a fake plastic fruit basket
Dark blackberry is amazing if you keep it low around 0.5-0.75% its a strong one
Could be i overdid it with 3%, that would explain the offnotes. Thnx!
Initial Thoughts Part One:
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SSA Thai Pineapple 3% - Juicy and sweet natural pineapple. No off notes. Just syrupy pineapple goodness.
SSA Blueberry 3% - Big nope. Its blue cough syrup. Terribly medicinal thing going on here.
SSA Ripe Cherry 3% - Decent non-medicinal cherry, but weak. Could benefit from pushing to 5%.
SSA Pitaya Dragonfruit 3% - Fresh Cactus. Very little fruitiness going on here. Very vegetal.
SSA Cola 3% - Light cola. Not light for flavor. This actually tastes really good. But needs something to thicken it up. Some cooling, sweetness and thick syrup flavors would do a mix properly.
I’m using SSA Bakery Orange right now and definitely enjoy it. Oranges have been hard for me to like, but this one is excellent.
All the oranges smell like they might be good, especially that one. Thursday is Citrus, Tropical, and Stone Fruits day for me so I'll find out soon enough.
The only bad one so far is the nutty, lime seltzer that they call “Creamy Pistachio”.
How many good ones have you tried?
I've tried a few of the new SSA line.
Lots of good stuff there it seems.
So far the ones that I am most interested to mix with and play around with would have to be SSA Purple Plum, SSA Raspberry Syrup, and SSA Scandinavian Fruits.
I hear the Thai Pineapple is real good.
Someone also told me to get the SSA Milk and Caramel Cream, but I am not sure that one will agree with me. Smells like it might have some butyric acid in it. Still need to SFT that one.
I have all 3 of the SSA Cherry flavors. Haven't gotten around to SFT them yet, but they all smell absolutely amazing
I just know at least one of them is terrible. Just has to be. I mean, it's cherry.
I know. That's what I though too, but they all pass the smell test. I'll try to do some SFTing within the next few days to see if my nose is playing tricks on me
Jeez, I don't think my tongue could handle 94 different flavours in one week! I can't comment on any of the SSA flavours as I don't by own any or even heard of them. I can craft a tongue sized coffin for ID10-T though. Hopefully they have nailed something fizzy and versatile.
I might need that tongue-sized coffin when it's all said and done but what I could really use right now is some more cotton, I only hope I have enough for this:
Wednesday - Berries and Candy (24)
Thursday - Citrus, Tropical, and Stone Fruits (23)
Friday - Apple/Pear, Melon, Creams, Vanilla, and Anise (21)
Saturday - Nuts, Bakeries, Chocolate, and Beverages (21)
Sunday - Catch up in case I fall behind, which I almost certainly will.
No joke, SSA Multi-Vitamin might just be my Flavor of the Year.
If a Tropical Blend got into a fight with a Citrus Mix, and the crowd started throwing Skittles into the ring, you’d get SSA Multivitamin. The shit is delicious.
Yeah, that's a really stupid, stupid name for a flavor. Not appetizing at all. Makes me wonder whether something got lost in Polish to English translation? But I smelled it while mixing my samples and thought it smelled like it was going to turn out to be an absolutely amazing citrus mix.
What % range have you enjoyed it in?
Actually multivitamin is a juice type that's common in Europe in general. Mainly it's a fruit medley type deal usually a mix of tropical and normal fruits. It is an unfortunate name.
Americans won't get it because our versions of it have that horrible enriched with vitamins taste. (I'm American but I live in Europe). This is not the same as the American counterpart.
Yeah, smoking this flavor was the initiation ritual for my street gang. Just call me Boca Loco, Ese... hehe. Ummm, I mixed this up at 3.5%. But seeing as how I’m the only idiot to go above 2% with an SSA flavor, I’m not sure you wanna take my advice on that. I hope you dig it as much as I do!
Are there any new flavors that aren't SSA?
Maybe some VSO, not sure. Or maybe CAP's put out some V2s or V3s that I'm not aware of.
FLV is coming. Very soon. But not released yet.
So far I've got Thai Pineapple, Bakery Orange and Ripe Banana, the last 2 arrived today. Totally regret not buying Cranberry Jam. I just had the idea for a Cranberry Orange Cheesecake my sister had made me for my birthday one year, and from your description of it, I think it would be perfect. But until I get it, FLV cranberry is the only other option to work in there.
On chefs flavours are they just called Super Aromas? Cause I see no Sobucky on Chefs.
I haven't tried any SSA yet, still finding my mixing feet so I'm building my stash with all the standards, but SSA have showed up frequently on Mixen Vixens and Fresh03 and seem to have a good lineup. Looking forward to this episode!
Who are these guys, where are they from and what are the percentage ranges for their flavors?
Theyre from sobucky/molinberry/chemnovatic
Every thing ive tried so far which is only like 15 or so, id stay under 2%. Pretty strong so far. Theyre from poland if im not mistaken
Got a long week ahead of ya Dave lol.... I Got the line in from them about a month ago. Still only sft'd about a dozen of em or so. Everyone has smelled good so far and ive not hated vaping any of em so far. Very promising, but i got in the MB and CNV lines at the same time so its been slow going. Best of luck. Alot of testing for a week... Mad props.
I had to push that cranberry high to get any real taste out of it. To be fair I don't really enjoy cranberry in real life either. It was a bit weak and airy, at max recommended % it was present enough to potentially stand up in some sprite type beverage.
I think FLV got em beat when it comes to cranberry as a single flavor but putting the two together might be a great idea, like a sweet & tart type situation
All my friends are raving about Sobucky. I got the Juicy Cherries and I was floored. It is able to hold a great deal of the tart darkness, still not dry, and not have any medicinal notes. Planning on doing a cherry cream with that and maybe a cherry cola. Look forward to the show.
Like others have mentioned, I've none of these yet. Curious how they compare to some of the better known and highly loved flavors.
Haven't gotten the chance to try any of the SSA's yet, so I can't really speak on it, planning on it when the time comes, but with that beverage flavor pack, the one thing I can say is that FLV Bourbon is absolutely amazing.
When I ordered my first 10ml of it, was a flavor I was not expecting much from, but it has quickly become one of my favorite flavors full stop. Just mixed with some TFA Kentucky Bourbon, some FLV Vanilla Bean, it is absolutely wonderful! I usually mix it as a 3-2-1, sometimes with some supersweet and/or ws23
3% flv bourbon
2% kentucky bourbon
1% vanilla bean
(sometimes adding tfa vanilla swirl as well, >1%)
Anyways, since i cant speak on the SSA's, thought I'd try to contribute with some thoughts on some of the stuff in the flavor pack, still haven't found a way to use FLV Root Beer yet though. :)
That little 123 looks terrific, thank you!
Have you ever tried TFA Toasted Marshmallow where the Vanilla Bean goes?
I’ve gotten five thus far. Bakery Oranges, Compote Cherry, Shortbread Cookies, Apple Strudel, and Ice Cream Vanilla. They all smell great. I’ve used just two so far in recipes and they are fast asleep, so we shall soon see.
I need to grab Multi Vitamin. That was the first one that caught my eye on BCF, but I’ve been on the fence. Having heard good things now tho... I’m ready!
I have only had SSA flavors for 2 weeks now (apx. 60) and tbo I am not dissapointed yet. The Crisp Waffle is spot on. The cherries are really good. I'm looking forward to test the chocolates. Is there a SSA flavor that is not good?
I’m looking forward to that Waffle, it smells perfect, kinda afraid of the chocolates though and putting them off for next to last.
To answer your question, yes. The Dark Blackberry was so bad I wanted to throw my vape across the room and give up. And Natural Raspberry isn’t very good, either. I still have a long way to go testing these but I’m sure there will be others.
I have been using SSA a LOT since its release on bcf, they have become some of my favorites! The Caramel Biscuit (its exactly what you think it is) finds it's way into more mixes than it probably should. Both of the Ice Creams are are have been getting used alongside my LB. Peanut Butter rivals tpa Peanut Butter DX. I have yet to find any that I dislike (even the butter 😋) although some of then like the caramel biscuit and the coffees are super dark in color. If you can look past the dark wicks though even the dark ones are delicious.
Moved to my main post to make it easier to find.
Candy Floss is just EM.
Candy Cuckoo is not coco puffs. The image for the flavor is some kind of chocolate candy filled with something.
I get Coco Puffs from it, maybe a little tootsie roll-ish. It for sure had that generic chocolate cereal vibe on my taste buds. I'll ask the owner what is supposed to be exactly. Maybe some polish candy? No clue.
If the candy Floss is EM then it's the strangest, least sweet EM I've ever encountered. I stand by candy base as of writing this (on my way home from work), but I'll taste the other EM solutions I have tomorrow and compare.
I know it’s not supposed to be Cocoa Puffs, but I get Cocoa Puffs from it, too. Or, to be more specific, exactly what you’d get if you soaked Cocoa Puffs in Bailey’s Irish Cream until they were completely soggy. Which of course would be a bizarre thing to do, but when you can’t decide whether you want to eat breakfast or start getting drunk...
Thank you. I also only got five done yesterday. But I’ll try to make up for it today
I'm so excited for this episode! The only one I've tested so far is SSA Crisp Waffle. It's new favourite ice cream cone. It's pretty accurate and not overly subtle like a lot of others. It's very potent though. I've found around 0.5% is good. But gets over cooked/burnt fairly quickly.
Had anyone tried the Peanut Butter? I haven't had a chance to test it yet. But it smells like a really great peanut butter but with red skin peanuts mixed in. I hope that peanut skin doesn't come through when vaping it.
The Pistachio smells just like Ameretto which is weird.
YASSS I've really enjoyed working with SSA's flavours. My top flavours are easily SSA Whipped Cream, Juicy Cherries, Ice Cream and Ice Cream Vanilla, Cornish Cream. They require very little steep time IMO and the cream notes are some of the best I've come across.
- SSA's W/C is my favourite whipped cream of all time. It's thick and has the most authentic cream flavour on the exhale to my tastebuds as I can vape this straight, that's right, on it's lonesome between 2 - 3%
- SSA Ice Cream is a little dry but has THE single most authentic ice cream flavour I've come across so far. Plus, adding 0.25 - 0.50% OOO Cream (Milky) (PG) or similar helps this out. Ice Cream Vanilla doesn't have that dryness and has an excellent VIC Flavour on the tail of the exhale. While the flavour is a 10, it needs a fair bit of help in terms of mouthfeel and texture.
- I never vaped cherry flavours, but this is a damn good cherry. 1% FLV Sweet Coco, 1.5% SSA Juicy Cherries, 2% WF Coconut Custard and 3% VT Chocolate Mousse makes for a light, cherry ripe-style ADV.
- Cornish Cream to me has a heavy marshmallow vibe about it. It's good at 0.5% to add a melt on the tongue sensation, SFT @ 3% it reminds me of marshmallow fluff X meringue.
Oh and did I mention I can also taste their strawberry flavours - all of them!
Feel free to check out a few of my recipes for ideas. I'm always open to feedback too, especially being a fairly new mixer.
- Cherry Ripe Mousse (ADV)
- Choccy Cannoli
- Fruit Machine (Starburst)
- Hot Shot (Coffee)
- V.I.P. #puddin (Vanilla pudding)
Good to see we're getting some solid flavour notes on these ones. Thanks guys, all of you, for religiously contributing so much of your time and expertise to this community. It is SO appreciated.
> Sobucky Super Aromas
I take it these are exclusive to BCF in the US?
I haven't ordered from there in quite some time, as I've been trying to support Gremberry Farms and Flavorjungle so we don't lose them...
Random unrelated comment but I have been wanting to dive in to Granola, maple and honey type flavours of late to create a similar mix to the Charlie's chalk dust Stumps "B". It was the nicest juice in the world and it seems it's gonna be hard to mimic! 😱
Really looking forward to what SSA flavors all of you like. I have the whole line now with Black Friday sale at bullcity I picked up the last 70 I didn't have.
Milky Caramel Cream is my new favorite. It tastes like Butter Toffee Crunch and Munch. Sorry ID10-T I guess we disagree on that one
Did I try it too high?
I solo vape it at 1.5. I know from following the show that you’re not a movie theater butter taste fan but I think it has it’s place here. If you’re a butter toffee popcorn fan this is a real good flavor. Renaming it might sell it better. Or make it more of an accurate name
Raisin the Barr Dave " Amazing effort" my god man.! you must have Lungs made of Asbestos " my humble thanks... On towards Raisin action"
Just starting ssa journey... So far juicy cherries ..rasp syrup ... Lemon cheesecake... And Cornish cream... All which are bangers if you ask me.. That Cornish cream is delightful..mixed at 1 % in a Sft.. Just throw a fruit at it.. And I'll be good to go.. Eazy Peazy..kinda reminds me of a delicious Russian Cream eliquid I had back in the day...the others are equally enjoyable as well.. I'm still playing .. But I can see it's gonna be a tasty journey. One thing I haven't done much of are drinks.. Just getting into that.. Not much experience with teas or sodas.. But coffee is my jam. Vape on you beautiful mixers.. I've learned so much from all of you!