Strawberry Mountain Forrest (Flavor Art) 2.5/3.5% (8-10-24) – As soon as I saw Forrest in the name, I thought of FA’s Forrest Fruit, and strangely enough, it MIGHT be in here. Yes, in a Strawberry. I started testing at 2.5% which was good, but it felt like it needed a boost, and I finished the test at 3.5%. No signs of muting, and the overall saturation increased, but not linearly. This was almost a two profile flavor, with one being a bright, red, juicy strawberry, and the second, some darker berries. I smelled it side by side with Forrest Fruit, and it MIGHT be it, but might not. Hard to identify, but the SB seemed centered around mid and brighter notes, while the berries pulled in some of the mid and darker notes. Sweetness was higher at a few ticks above mid-level, but even at that level, it wasn’t fatiguing. Nice tart notes helped round out the finish and give it some zip. Very juicy, sweet, punchy, and with some almost jammy notes. I’m not SB mute, so I can’t speak to whether or not it breaks through for the mutes or not. I suspect it might, as the darker berries might help it.
Def. not a solo SB, and while always present the berries didn’t seem to detract from the SB, but fattened up the flavor by adding some bottom end. The SB and berries tasted very natural, with the exception of the somewhat higher sweetness. All in, an impressive pairing, but it was SB and berries, so if you were looking for JUST a SB, this isn’t it, but as a pairing/medley, it worked. Even at the higher weight, no issues, or off-notes. Easily a 9.0/10.
4 Likes
Tarte Tatin (Flavor Art) 2.5% (8-11-24) – LAST ONE on deck from these new Flavor Art Elite Flavors. Of course I wondered while it was steeping if it would just be a re-tooled FA Apple Pie, but it wasn’t. 
Real Tarte Tatin is pretty basic with Apples, Butter, Sugar, and Crust, with typical additions of Salt, and maybe a hint of Lemon juice. This presented a less of a typical “tart”, and more of a delicious caramelized baked apple, riding on top of a great crust. Much like FA’s Apple Pie the apple wasn’t overwhelming and allowed the slightly buttery crust to come through. At times I DID wish I had just a little MORE of the apples. No spice in the apples, which was accurate, and with some light buttery undertones. The apples did have a VERY convincing “baked” profile, with some light buttery caramel thrown in. No Granny apples here, but maybe more of a Honey Crisp, which again, is true to the actual recipe.
The crust was almost in the lead over the apples, and was on par with FA’s Apple Pie crust, which is/was pretty good. Not grainy or flakey but there was no mistaking it was in there. As a whole, this was VERY good, convincing,and natural tasting. Tasted pretty solid at 2.5%, but might benefit from just a bit more. No off-notes, and sweetness was actually just below mid-level. With all of the different elements swirling around, they stayed fairly distinct, and did not fall into a blurry mashup. Very well done. About my only “want” would have been a smidge MORE of the delicious baked apples. Slightly marking down for that, but that was IT. Handily a 9.7/10.
4 Likes