Peach Apricot (CSC) 1.5% (8-2-22) – This one took a bit to settle down in the SteamCrave RDTA before I could get a good look at it. Once it did, WOW. Simply, it was a perfect juicy, yellow peach, just ripened enough, and tempered with (you guessed it) a great Apricot. The pairing of the two was done pretty smartly, so the Peach was maybe 75% with 25% Apricot which really allowed the Peach to shine with JUST enough assist from the Apricot. Succulent, yellow, and juicy were my take always from the Peach, and the Apricot was very fresh, and had just enough punch to assist the peach. I’ve been using apricots to boost peaches for years, and it works really good if done right, and Chefs did it right with this one. Almost mid level sweet, felt really good and full @ 1.5%, and no off-notes could be found. The sweetness level was just below a “syrup” which would allow for even more uses. Overall it tasted VERY natural, with no artificial-ness. Even though it had only two main profiles, it could be solo’d without boredom or fatigue. Simply, and nicely done, and again, hard to mark down. If you’re in the market for a pre-boosted peach, you should try this out. To good to fault, and felt right @ 9.75/10.
Plum (CSC) 1.5% (8-5-22) – After a little Jury Duty delay, BACK on track with these reviews. I know @NeonKoala was waiting on this one. Good news was, it was WORTH the wait. This flavor really pushed what could be done, with a realistic Plum flavor. Very accurate, and natural tasting with nothing artificial about it. It centered more around the fleshy body of the Plum, but there was JUST enough of the slightly tart darker purple skin to keep it interesting. It was just above mid level sweet, and rock solid @ 1.5%. While suffering through my Jury summons LOL, I had time to really get into this one throughout multiple tankfuls, and it just stayed consistently accurate, tasty, and non-fatiguing. Again, Chef’s proves they can really get the fruit flavors right, and this one was more proof of that. No take-offs, with only a SLIGHT desire for a smidge more of the dark purple, tarty skin, but that was it. Easily a 9.5/10 here people.
Red Fruits (CSC) 1.5% (8-5-22) – If you read my review of Chef’s Forest Fruits, you know that Chef’s is getting REALLY good at fruit medleys. This one DID continue that trend. They billed this one as a mix of Raspberries, Strawberries, and Cherries. Dammit, that’s EXACTLY what it is. Now what was interesting here, was that there was NO real start of the show, and that kept it REALLY interesting. It was like all 3 were equally sized up, and mixed. Throughout numerous testers, at times you would get slightly more of one or another, and later it would be another one. VERY smartly mixed if I do say so. It did have an overal “red” hue if that makes sense, and all of the flavor profiles were very natural, with not a single off note, floral, or medicinal note to be found, which IS saying something, especially with Raspberries, and Cheffies. Because they were so evenly combined, nailing down EXACTLY the type of each was almost impossible, but summed together, they worked perfectly, and a sea of Red Fruit. Sweetness was just below mid level, and it was great @ 1.5%. I’m matching this score to the aforementioned Forest Fruits @ 9.8/10.
RY Castle (CSC) 1.5% (8-6-22) – OK, maybe I SHOULDN’T admit this, but I will. I loaded it into my trusted SteamCrave RDTA v.1, and JUST started to taste test, and take my notes, and WHAMMO, I put my rig down, and IMMEDIATELY mixed up a 60ml. Now, why in the hell would I do that ?? Well, in a word, WOW. This one WAS a showstopper. Typically I’m not a bacco vaper, and some can argue whether or not RY’s are, or are not baccos, but this one really wowed me. It presented (as billed) as a slightly roasted bacco, with much, MUCH more. Chef’s billed it as having a milky coconut and caramel, and that seemed accurate, but I kept almost getting a delicious grahamy/bakery rush with every taste. Yes, I could pick out the coco, and cara, but as a whole it really took on an entirely profile. The bacco did have an almost roasted, slightly darkened note, and at times I almost got a slight nutty undertone. After two full testers, it became obvious this one one of, if not THE, top flavor in this run. Absolutely in One-Shot /Standalone territory here. Just below mid level sweet, perfectly full at 1.5%, and I could find NOTHING I didn’t like with this one, not even a teeny nit pick. The reaction I had to this reminded me of when I tested Sobucky’s Caramel Biscuit. All in, it was a creamy, roasted bacco with light nutty undertones, swirling in a gravy of coconut, and caramel, with some great graham/bakery undertones. 10/10, no other choice.
Strawberry Jam (CSC) 1.5% (8-5-22) – Getting near the end of this series, and a HUGE fan of the Jam, I was looking forward to jamming it up with this one. Now, with that said, this one did not entirely get me to Jammy Street. It was a VERY good strawberry, WITH some lighter jammy notes, BUT, the majority of the experience was almost a “fluffy” strawberry. I know, I know, WTF right ? Not a whipped strawberry, not creamed, but it had this very light and almost fluffy taste to it. For my needs (and current favs) I need a sharp, punchy, almost pectin-y note which solidifies something as a Jam, and this one just didn’t seem to have that. There were HINTS, but no main notes to that effect. A great strawberry still, and it leaned 60/40 from natural to artificial. Maybe even a somewhat strawberry pink candy will help better describe it. It clocked in at about mid-level sweet, and was very present @ 1.5%, and no off notes could be found. For a Jam, I don’t think it works well, but as an almost Pink Strawberry Candy, it excelled. With some take offs for lack of jam, jam, jammy-ness, this felt good at 7/10.
Wafer (CSC) 1.5% (8-9-22) – This flavor required some additional testing, to try and fully flush it out. At first, I did indeed get a Waffle Cone-ish flavor, but there seemed to be something else, that was along for the ride, that was a little tough to nail down. 2 tester tanks later, it really felt like a “weighty” bakery, almost a carrot cake-ish element, that was tempering the waffle cone. Now it wasn’t bad by any means, but it was that “other” element/elements that kept distracting me from the Waffle Cone, errrrr, Wafer. The waffle cone/wafer flavor was fairly spot on, below mid level sweet, and although recessed in the overall mix, was actually quite good. A THIRD tester tank down, trying to better narrow down the “bakery element” just kept presenting almost as a carrot cake-ish, brown bread, almost heavy/dense bakery that was swirling around WITH a nice Waffle Cone / Wafer. Overall it was actually a pretty good, AND interesting flavor, but I have to admit the “other” elements, did distract from the namesake profile. I have had some great success with Waffle Cones, so I know a great one when I taste it. This felt fairly placed @ 7.1/10.
Yuzu (CSC) 1.5% (8-13-22) – Finishing out this series, and a huge thanks out to @Leah from Chefs in sending these out for review. This flavor was a great, fresh way to close out this series. Being fairly unfamiliar with Yuzu, it was a fresh flavor to get into. A fairly unique flavor for me, and presented almost like a triple pairing of a Grapefruit, Orange, lightly kissed by a Lemon. What was interesting as none of the three main profiles were dominant, and the overall effect was a perfect, evenly matched paring of the three. The grapefruit notes easily pulled this away from simply being a Lemon Lime, and kept it very interesting from start to finish. Because of the three pairing the grapefruit was hard to nail down exactly, whether yellow, or pink, but probably a mix of the two would be close. The orange notes favored a nectarine primarily, and the Lemon while light, presented as a fresh, natural one. The sum total was perfect at 1.5%, with below mid level sweetness, and was PERFECT for a summertime vape. Just enough sweet, and tart to keep it freshly interesting without too much of either. Fresh, and natural tasting were the two aspects that I continued to get from this one throughout. I could see numerous uses for this one, as it really did span across three different citruses, and with no off-putting notes, and a very fresh, lighter taste, it did so very well. Freshly finishing this series with the Yuzu, and placing it squarely at a 9.5/10.
Yup…create a nice shopping cart full of what you see might be a must have in your DIY arsenal.
Saves on shipping cost.
I did that a while back when I ordered from the U.K to Canada.
There was one seller of this KILLER rhubarb flavour and they also had a bunch never heard of before.
I stocked up my cart and I wasn’t disappointed with the cost of shipping for the amount I ordered compared to only ordering one flavor from them.
Same cost to ship but a massive bounty of flavours.
Now where do we get these? Anyone know?
@lukeloop I could have swore I read something about that. I’ll have to look for it …
Still in shock over this …
@lukeloop from @TakeMeToTheSea on ELR …