Single Flavors:
Coconut (Flavor Jungle) 4% (6-2-24) – This one smelled very good in the bottle, and tasty pretty good when testing. What I liked most about it, was that it tasted pretty natural, and almost like a dry coconut flake, with NO suntan lotion, or greasy notes. It was a tad dry, which is why I described it as coconut flakes. The dryness wasn’t off-putting, but still very present. No coconut milk here, or very much creaminess, just a fairly natural, dry(er) coconut flake. At 4% it was very present, but not ceiling smashing. My personal preferences would to have a little coconut milk and/or creaminess to it, but that’s MY preference(s). I could see this one pairing very nicely with some other coconuts, for a more full bodied coconut. As it stood, with hardly any artificial notes, and no oil, grease, or suntan lotion, this one was pretty good. The dryness throughout, and on the finish would be the only off-notes. It felt solidly placed, at a 8.6/10.
Cookie Butter (Flavor Jungle) 1.5%/4% (6-3-24) – I’d heard this one was strong, so I tested it at both 1.5% and all the way up to 4%. My two main take aways were Speculoos Cookie, and Clove. In short it was like a spiced speculoos cookie with some lighter, creamier elements, but nothing stood out as an overt butter. Creamy-ish, yes, buttery, not really. The spice was fairly present, and while I didn’t pick up on any ginger, this would work great in any mix with gingerbread in it. When comparing the lower and higher mix levels, I got a little dry-ness at the lower (1.5%), that I didn’t get at the higher (4%). I was surprised it didn’t get stupid at the higher rate. Not muted, but it wasn’t a linear increase in strengh, maybe topped out at 2%. I didn’t 100% fall in love with it, as it wasn’t a pure Speculoos Cookie, and not truly "Buttery’. Very tasty, with solidly present spice levels, that left the solid perch of JUST a Spec Cookie, and added in some creamy smoothness. Sweetness was below mid-level, and no off-notes, BUT, use with caution or the spice could run over your mix. Tasty, accurate, and no complaints other than wondering if a straight Spec Cookie might win out over this one. Leaving it still high at a 8.0/10.
Forest Mix (Flavor Jungle) 4% (6-8-24) – When waiting for this one to steep, I did wonder if it would be similar to FA’s Forrest Fruit. Turns out it was fairly different. I mean, it was still a fruit medley, but quite a bit different than FA’s. It was very complicated trying to extract the individual fruits in this mix, but it did lean somewhat to the darker side. It seemed to revolve more around “berry” fruits, with maybe some blueberry, raspberry, and maybe some grape. Sweetness was a few ticks below mid-level, and there was some very nice tartness to the finish, which helped keep it interesting. I wouldn’t say as focused, or good as FA’s, but still pretty good. For a “berry”-ish focused medley, it was pretty good. No off-notes, and about the only minor issue would be a slight lack of focus. Tasty, just enough tart, and berry good (see what I did there). After 3 testers, finally decided to score it at a fairly high 7.9/10.
Sweet Cinnamon Bun (Flavor Jungle) 4% (6-9-24) – Thanks out to @natbone for patiently waiting for this review. ONTO the tests !!! OK, cinnamon vapes CAN be tricky to get right. This one seemed to bridge TWO different profiles for me, and YOU guys will have to decide if it works for you. It was a “half and half” pairing of a Cinnamon Bun, AND, a Honey Bun !!! Yes, that’s right, BOTH of them. Three testers in, I kept coming back to that original assessment. It wasn’t fully (IMO) a Cinnamon Bun, or a Honey Bun, but both. The “bun” portion was probably the BEST aspect of this flavor, as it really captured it. The cinnamon was present, but somewhat lighter overall, and in now way overbearing. The buttery, honey-ish portion was also quite good. Despite it not being either of the two, the pairing (again, IMO), left this one COMPLETELY ready to be push/pulled into whatever, or whichever you desired. The cinnamon was light enough that if you boosted the honey, and butter it could be pulled that direction, and vice versa by boosting the cinnamon towards the other direction. Sweetness was at about mid-level, and felt good for this type of flavor. Tasty ?? Yes. A full on Cinna Bun ?? No. I’ll have to rate it for it’s named profile, but don’t count this one out, as it’s bun, and honey buttery goodness was too good. As a pure cinna bun, I’ll have to rate it down to a 7.0/10, but this one might just be/become a great base/starter for some MORE buns.
Ultimate Coconut Milk (Flavor Jungle) 2%/4% (6-9-24) – On to the second Coconut in this series, with the Ultimate Coconut Milk. In the bottle this one smelled quite a bit creamier than the FJ Coconut, and SOME of that was revealed in testing it. My (still) current go to Coconut has to be hands down, Delosi’s Coconut, and I compare every other one, TO it. This one didn’t quite reach the epitome that the Delosi’s did, but it was still good. Fairly natural dry coconut, with some creamy elements thrown in. I tested at both 2%, and 4% with no real change between the two, except an increased dryness on the finish with the higher rate. Even at the lower 2%, it still had a somewhat overal dryness to it, which lingered past the finish. Not off-putting per se, but still very present. No oily-ness, or sun tan lotion notes, and it, like the OG Coconut, was fairly accurate, and natural tasting. Typically, I like my coconuts to be a little creamier, maybe a tad sweeter, and with little to no dryness. This one tasted very similar to FJ’s Coconut, but with some more creamy elements. Def. usable, and the dryness might be easily masked in mixes. No off-notes except for the dryness throughout. It felt pretty close to the OG Coconut, and scoring it close, at a 8.5/10.
Ultimate Sweet Strawberry (Flavor Jungle) 4% (6-11-24) – Yes, another Strawberry to compete in the already crowded field of Strawberries. Do you need it ?? Should you pick it up ?? Read on. It took 3 testers before I could finally figure out exactly what was going on with this flavor. in a word, it was good, AND, dare I say, somewhat unique. I could have given you guys the “One Tank” review, but wanted to drive a little deeper on this one. It seemed to straddle almost THREE different SB’s. I got a fresh, natural, tart SB, some candied SB, and some delicious SB jam on the finish. Yeah, hehe, it was actually all that. The natural, and candied were more present during the initial onrush, and from the middle on, it landed into the SB jam. A pretty interesting flavor, and how it shifted from beginning to end. The exact ratios of the three profiles I got were somewhat unclear, but roughly I’d say about 30% natural, 20% candied, and 50% jammed.
Why i felt this one is/was unique was that it DID straddle all three profiles, which would open up it’s uses quite a bit, as opposed to having to run for THIS SB, or THAT SB. The only thing I couldn’t tell while SFT’ing it, was how present the Jam notes would be in mixes, which COULD be an issue, IF you didn’t want any jammie jam notes… The jammy-ness was very good, and with just enough tart punch to really sell it. I tested at FJ’s upper recommended limit, and it was damned fine at 4%. Sweetness was about mid-level, and after three testers, I couldn’t find any nit-picks or complaints. All it, it was an interesting approach to a SB medley, with natural, candied, and jammed SB’s all in one. Our tastes are NOT all the same, but personally, I LOVE SB Jams, so no flavor could be TOO jammie for me, so please keep that in mind regarding my scoring. I decided to place it very high for originality, the three different profiles, and of course, the lovely jam elements. Leaving it very high at a 9.8/10.
One Shots:
Avalon (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 20%
Awaken (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 20%
Cherry Limeade (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 14% (6-24-24) – Every time I’ve ever tried to make a Cherry Limeade, I’ve always struggled to get the right RATIOS. Not sure why, but I think it’s safe to say that FJ nailed the ratios with this one. It tasted almost exactly (no carbonation), like an actual, you guess it, Cherry Limeade. The spot on pairing of the two main elements (Cherry, Lime) were done soo good that it was hard for me to completely isolate the Cherry. I think a juicy, red, maraschino would be accurate. The Lime actually tasted very natural, and in keeping WITH the actual drink, the Lime almost coated your palate, just a bit, and lingered after the finish. I don’t know which cherry/cherries they used, but they did a great job, as there were no medicinal, or ugly florals to be found. No off-notes in the entire mix either. Sweetness was somewhat high, and a few ticks above mid-level, which while helping it pop a little, may have been bordering on too sweet, BUT, that’s a matter of personal preference, and in no way a deal killer for me. No fizz, no carbonation, and (thank God), NO COOLING !!! All in, it was an impressive, accurate, natural tasting CL, with about my only two wants being maybe a slight increase in the cherry, and a slight reduction in sweetness, but that’s about it. Not bad, not bad at all. Leaving this one very high, at a 9.7/10.
Grape Bubblegum Reloaded (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 12%
Key Lime Pie (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 9%/12%/16% (6-16-24) – If you looked at the pics, you might have wondered why I picked THIS one up in a 120ml jug. @Ken_O_Where tipped me off that he had picked some up, and although sweet, was pretty damned good, so 120ml it was. I run THREE percentages, because the label on the bottle stated 16%, the MFG website stated 9%, but I found 11-12% to be the sweet spot. With all of that said, this was a VERY good Key Lime Pie.
I believe Ken said he went “graham cracker blind” after a while, but it stayed present till the end for me, so your graham cracker mileage may vary. The graham (crust) was just about perfect, and similar to CAP’s LMP graham cracker. Crusty, without any cinnamon to muck it up. The filling in this one was ALMOST the star of the show, as it was very accurate, creamy, tangy, and with almost the perfect amount of lime. It was like there was a lime IN the filling, and another that kicked in, during the finish. Sweetness was above mid-level, maybe a few ticks, and it could stand to be lowered a bit, BUT, it wasn’t cloying, or a deal breaker. I blew through NUMEROUS testers before I finally sat to write this (yeah, it’s pretty addictive), and I could find NO off-notes, or anything out of place. About all I had were two “wants”. A little more key lime, and a little less sweetness, but THAT, was IT. While very well balanced and blended, I was pretty sure I got some meringue from it as well (hint), and it worked. All in, a VERY good KLP, with a great, accurate graham crust (that didn’t fade for me), a delicious creamy filling, with some punchy key limes. Taking off only for the above average sweetener, and leaving this one very high at a 9.85/10.
Peach Cobbler (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 12% (6-15-24) – This one smelled great in the bottle, and most of that was present when testing. My two main take-aways were “bakery” and a “light peach”. The peach almost got lost at times in the mix, so it could have been a little stronger. The “cobbler” notes felt like they were about 65% of the way there, but could use just a little push to the finish line. At times it presented as more of a general/generic pastry/bakery, BUT, with some great biscuit like nuances. Between the light peach, and bakery notes was a creamy-ish center note which acted like a carrier for the peach, and a smoother for the cobbler if that makes sense. 4 testers into this one, I was still unable to fully flesh out and identify the peach because it was fairly light in the mix. The small bits I did get tasted juicy, and yellow, BUT, it was fairly overpowered in the mix, with the cobbler/bakery taking the lead. At the suggested weight of 12% it was very full, and sweetness was just about mid-level sweet. No off-notes, and only my aforementioned nit-picks to complain about. All it, it felt like it really needed a peach boost, and in total, it felt about 65-70% of the way there. Leaving it at a 6.9/10.
Raspberry Cheesecake (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 12% (6-20-24) – This one smelled GREAT in the bottle, and was kinda “ehhhh” when testing. It’s hard to explain but when smelling it, the fairly creamy cheesecake was there, and the raspberry was present, but when testing it, it reduced into a rather bland-ish, creamy mix with SOME raspberry in there. Somewhat blurred if that makes sense. The cheesecake seemed centered most around itself, and I didn’t get much crust from it, and raspberry I could pick out was fairly recessed, and hard to fully identify. The cheesecake seemed like a creamy, NY style, and the raspberry was similar to INW’s Malina for comparison. All in, it was an “Ok” showing, but in no way, a showstopper. Because it was centered around the creamy cheesecake, I would probably crust it up a bit, and def. spike up the raspberry with, well, something just like INW Mainla !!! No off-notes, or BA that I could detect, and it was moderately present at the advised 12%, and sweetness was just below mid-level. I finally settled on a score of 6.2/10 for this one.
Space Monkey (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 17.5% (6-23-24) – From the MFG …
A delicious blend of cream, bananas, vanilla, and brown sugar. For a bakery One Shot, the taste and convenience is out of this world
This one presented to me like a pretty good banana cream. There may have been some slight vanilla notes floating around in there, but they were somewhat light(er). I did get some hints of brown sugar as well, so their billing it pretty spot on. The banana(s) tasted almost over-ripe, and had a “taffy” twinge to them, as well as a slight funk. Not a bad funk, but the curling notes you get from over-ripened nanas as opposed to the green ones. Creamy-ness was actually very good, smooth, rich, and was seamlessly blended into the nanas. At the spec’d 17.5% it was rich, full, and tasty, and sweetness was just above mid-level. No complaints or off-notes with the exception of the slight “funkyness” from the nanas, but even that was somewhat minor. All in, a pretty good “Banana Cream” from FJ. With my PERSONAL preference leaning much more towards a “greener” banana, (and yours may be different), decided to leave this one at a 8.5/10.
Strawberry Cream Bar (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 19.5%
Sugar Cookie (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 12%
Vanilla Custard Leaf (One Shot) (Flavor Jungle) 10%
