Kiwi (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-19-24) – I love Kiwis, and I knew something was "different’ with this one, when mixing it up. First off, I didn’t get a lot of Kiwi from it. There was some in there, but it was NOT the dominant note. What WAS, was actually a pretty good Honeydew Melon. YES, honeydew, with maybe another “green”-ish flavor mixed in, but unsure exactly what it was. Hehe, WAIT a minute, I think it might have been a Cucumber ?? OMG, what IS this flavor ?? OK, ok, it was BARELY a Kiwi, let’s get that out of the way (again), BUT, hehe, it was rather a very interesting, and GOOD flavor. I’m going to have to bang it pretty hard in the score area, BUT, if you are interested in a Kiwi, Honeydew Melon Cucumber mashup, you may wan to pick this up, because, it was strangely addictive, and dammit, it tasted good. OK, at 1.5% it was very present, no “off-notes” (please see above) per se, and sweetness was a few ticks below mid level. While I cannot recommend this as a Kiwi flavor, as a cool Honeydew/Cucumber (with a hint of Kiwi), I can ABSOLUTELY recommend it. Wow, this one WAS a surprise. I did actually blow through all 3 testers, so it was actually pretty good, refreshing, and actually, very natural tasting. Just not a Kiwi. Marking this one down solely for the Lack-O-Kiwi, and leaving it at a low 4.5/10.
As a typical rule, I never read any other reviews for flavors before I post my own. It can VERY easily change or “color” my opinion. Sometimes, if I get a really screwball result I’ll check my equipment, re-wick, re-mix, even re-coil, and re-test, and if that doesn’t work, sometimes I’ll reach out to see if anyone else had the same issues.
After I posted the Kiwi review on my primary sites, I did check ELR to see if someone, anyone had a similar take, and LOW and behold. One person did, and thank God, hehe.
25% unripe Kiwi,
50% unripe honeydew melon
25% cucumber peel…not what i look for in a kiwi…
@Nuggi I don’t know you, but you NAILED it on this flavor. Glad it wasn’t just me.
Papaya (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-20-24) – My first thought on this one was, “Is this a Papaya Custard” !!! Wow, didn’t see this one coming. This one was tasty, and CREAMY !!! I am now finishing the third tester, and I’m still stuck on that first thought. At 1.5% it was very rich, full, and (repeating), creamy. It was soo creamy, that I’d swear that it was paired with an almost vanilla custard. Now I didn’t get overt eggy-ness like you would from a stiff VC, but dammit, it sure almost tasted like it. The Papaya had a sprinkling of bright, top notes, but was far more centered on the mid to almost mid-dark notes of the Papaya. The bright, orange, fleshy notes hit you up front, and then for the remainder from the middle to the finish there it slid into a deep orange, rich and creamy-ness, that really almost rivaled some good VC’s. I’ve had somewhat creamy Papayas before, but nothing like this one. Wow.
The Papaya notes were fairly accurate, rich, and natural tasting, and unless you can call a cream, cream, creamy-ness an off-note, I couldn’t detect any. Sweetness was below mid-level, and there was a nice little tarty punch at the VERY end, that added some zing to the finish. I have never had a Papaya like this one before, and the only hard part on scoring this one, was to determine if the creamy, almost VC like main carrier note overshadowed the Papaya or not. It was really hard to judge this, and judge it for ALL of you, BUT, in the end, I decided that it did not, and finalized this one very high. Accurate, natural, and the creamiest Papayas I have ever tested, and so much so, that I wanted to call it a Papaya Custard. If you like Papayas, Custards, or Vanilla Custards, you SHOULD run out and get this one. About the only people this might not appeal to would be those in need of a “light and bright” only Papaya. I’ll take some more of this one, and will leave it very high at a 9.85/10.
Nougatine (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-21-24) – Well there was no confusing this one with a Nougat, as there were no egg whites, or candied fruit. Roasted nuts, butter, and caramelized sugar is what this one was. Wow, yet another “TAH” (Tasty As Hell) one here people. It was very accurate, and convincing with no off-notes, distractions, or anything out of place. At 1.5% while very rich, and full, was still a relaxed flavor. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and that was a surprise given it’s IRL ingredients. The caramelized sugar was just about as close to perfect as you could get, and with no scorched or bitter notes. The nut(s) were somewhat of a mystery but tasted like a hazelnut/pecan mashup, which were present, but not dominant in the mix. At times I got hints of actual butter, other times not, but the buttery richness, and smoothness were always present. I couldn’t come up with any complaints EXCEPT for wanting MORE !!! Often times, sweetened, rich flavors like this can grow fatiguing after a while or loose some of their pep, but this one stayed tasty till the last tester. The pairing of the nuts, butter, and caramelized sugar was very well done, and that kept it balanced. There was an almost honey-like quality to it, without any overt honey notes. All in, a very accurate Nougatine with just about perfect levels of roasted nuts, caramelized sugar, and butter. Very hard to nit-pick other than the somewhat relaxed satuarion. Easily a 9.3/10.
Tobacco RY4 (SC) (Nomz) 1.5%/2.0% (3-23-24) – Breaking into another RY4 with this one. I’ve tested more RY’s lately, so this one will be added to the list. I tested at two weights, and started with 1.5%, and felt it needed a little more, and increased it to 2.0%, with minimal gains, so this one did seem to top out around the 1.5%-1.6% as a solo. This one was fairly caramel dominant with some lighter, maybe golden tobacco in the background. The caramel was very good, sweet, rich, and with some VERY nice darker notes. The darker notes might have been scorched, but not burnt or bitter, and blended directly into the tobacco notes, so it was hard to nail down exactly. While the Caramel was rich, I didn’t get any overt butter from it, but rich it was. Sweetness was fairly high, and just at, or slightly above mid-level, but not cloyingly so. Candied-ish, maybe, but def. a sweeter RY4. Although the bacco played second fiddle to the caramel it tasted natural, with some darker tones, but no ash or grit, which led to a smooth(er) overall experience. All in, this was a broad spectrum, rich, sweetened caramel with light scorching, paired with a somewhat lighter tobacco which seemed golden, with some darker notes. No off-notes, and my only “wish” would have been a slight reduction in sweetness, and an increase OF the bacco. Still very tasty, and finalized it at a flat 9.0/10.
Cucumber (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-28-24) – After a slight break, BACK into these with the Cucumber. This smelled, and tasted very natural and accurate to a real cucumber. Mostly the body, with some hints of skin. On the finish, it rounded out with a slight honeydew, which was an interesting twist. Overall it was a fairly sweet flavor, and I’m not sure if that helped or hurt it overall. Not candied, but still fairly sweet, and at about mid-level sweet. No off-notes, with the exception of the aforementioned slight honeydew finish. At 1.5% it was very full, and might be able to be reduced 0.2% or so. Not oversaturated, but 1.1-1.3% might be the better solo weight. Fresh, juicy, natural, accurate, and tasty. Hard to nit-pick, BUT, I’ll throw in a minor take-off for the higher than expected sweetness, and the ever so slight green honeydew-ish finish. Leaving it still VERY high at a 9.0/10.
Dragonfruit (Pitaya) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (4-1-24) – Right away, I could tell this wasn’t JUST a Dragonfruit. I did get some DF in this flavor, but it was only a PART of the entire flavor. There was a fairly present note, that was fairly distracting, and NOT from the DF persuasion, and it almost resembled a cantaloupe melon. An odd profile to have in a DF, and it didn’t entirely mesh well WITH the DF. At times, I also got hints of Kiwi in there as well. This one, despite being very unique, seemed all over the place most of the time, and was fairly distracting, and wouldn’t work out well, as a solo, or main driver DF. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and the off-notes were more than present, and fairly distracting. All in, more of a mish-mosh of a DF with some other fruits, and somewhat of a cantaloupe. Marking down for the off (distracting) notes primarily, and leaving this one somewhat lower at a 4.3/10.
Praline (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (4-1-24) – If you’re not sure what a Praline is, it varies somewhat, depending on where they’re made. This one did remind me of an American “Down South” version, as I got a nice little pecan nutty-ness from it. Now in conflict with that, I did get a very light chocolate at times, not typically found IN the American version, so perhaps it was a mashup of versions. Sugary, buttery, caramel-y, and nutty were what I got from this one. At 1.5% it tasted VERY good, BUT, was still somewhat relaxed (sorry). Perhaps bumping it to 2.0% would help. As I made my way through the testers, the buttery richness on the finish increased, making it even tastier, and with some lighter toffee-ish notes. The underlying nutty-ness was hard to nail down, as one minute I got more of a Pecan, other times, a light, non-bitter hazelnut !!! Yes, it was a deliciously confusing flavor to try and describe. I will say, even somewhat relaxed, it was HARD to put down. No off-notes to be had, and sweetness was about a tick below mid-level. All in, a VERY good candy-ish flavor with light nutty-ness (pecans/hazelnuts), sweetness, butter, and light caramel/toffee notes. It was a very accurate representation, even if it straddled one or more type. Too good to not leave this one high, and finally decided on a 9.6/10 with the only issue being the somewhat relaxed nature at my 1.5% testing weight.
Pear (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (4-2-24) – I’ve had some very “so-so” luck with Pear flavors in general, and am always hoping the NEXT one, will BE the one. This one DID have some nice Pear notes in it, BUT, I got some other notes too. As strange as it sounds I got some light Celery, and almost Tea notes from this one. Both of them were light, but I def. got them both. There was an interesting “Honey-like” aspect to this one at my 1.5% testing weight. Not the overt taste OF honey, but somewhat honey-like. It was very full and tasty at this weight, and sweetness was almost at mid-level. I had a very hard time trying to articulate the exact ratio of peach, to celery, and light tea, but maybe 80% pear, 15% celery, and 5% light tea to give you an idea. Mostly Pear, but with some passengers. Were they deal breakers ?? Ehhh, not deal breakers, but take-offs for sure. Like MOST other Pear flavors, I never got the “Sugar Sand” effect, which may be IMPOSSIBLE to replicate in a flavor, and the Pear I did get was fairly natural with some slight artificial notes. While not tart, there was a little sizzle in there, almost like a citrus-y kick to it, which kept this one interesting. Every now and again, I did seem to get a hint of skin, which kept it more authentic, than not. While weighing the take-offs, this one was one of the better Pears I’ve tried, and keeping that in mind, I decided to leave it at a 9.0/10.
Thanks for the review. Now my No1 favorite just above Chemnovatic Lemon cream wafer.
I loved the Chef’s SC was so disappointed when they stopped.
Keep up the great work.
Deedeegee
Raspberry wafer 
Energy Drink (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (4-3-24) – As a rule, I don’t drink Energy Drinks, and am not entirely sure why more and more MFG’s are making this flavor, BUT, they are. For any of you “Energy Heads” who DO try this, feel FREE to chime in, as I can’t compare this to Monster or any other ED. As expected this one WAS a medley of flavors, so get out your pen and paper, because I got a few in here. After three tanks, this was the closest I could get. I got a non-fizzy mountain dew-ish flavor, paired with a Flintstones chewable vitamin, along with a nice red, candied apple, and possibly another “red candied” berry fruit. And THERE it is, that’s as confusingly close, as I can make it. Now the chewable vitamins flavor wasn’t overpowering, nor bitter, so it wasn’t off-putting. Sweetness was at about mid-level, and it was (I don’t drink these things) fairly good, and present at 1.5%. Off-notes ?? Hehe, I have no clue what’s supposed to be in here LOL. Let’s say no. All in, it actually wasn’t bad, and I didn’t grow fatigued after 3 testers, and it was fairly unique, at least as flavors on my racks. I can’t directly compare it to any ED’s on the market, so scoring this will be a wild guess. Because it was tasty, interesting, and non-fatal (LOL), I’ll leave this one higher on the scale, and leave it at a 9.2/10. Interesting, non-medicinal, with good, light chewable vitamins notes, and more.
I wonder what lemon cream wafer and raspberry wafer would be like together.
Puffed Rice (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (4-4-24) – Is Puffed Rice the same as Rice Krispies ?? No. Krispies have malt flavor, sugar, and salt, whereas MOST Puffed rice, is just that. This flavor is probably the MOST accurate PR that I’ve ever tested. It literally smelled, and tasted JUST like a fresh bag of PR cereal. No malt, no salt, and only marginally sweet. It also had that almost dry-er cardboard-y note that the real cereal has, and no, that’s not an off-note, it’s an accurate note. While there were SOME similarities between say TPA’s Rice Crunchies, and FE’s Sweet Rice, it was still quite different and unique. No real off-notes to speak of, with the exception of a very slight AP note, but it was very light, and I almost didn’t even mention it. PRC (Puffed Rice Cereal) is ALL you need to know about this one. Very barely sweetened, and it was pretty full at my 1.5% testing weight. Just SUPER accurate. That’s all there is people. Marking down only very slightly for the very slight AP note, but that was IT. Tasty, accurate, and true. Easily a 9.9/10.
Strawberry (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-14-24) – Red, Perky, and Sweet were my three big take-aways on this one. I know, I know, another strawberry ?? Hehe, yes. It’s a crowded field for sure. This one presented as a damned natural Red, somewhat juicy Strawberry. Red seemed to be the “center” of it, but there were hints of white, and maybe just a smidge of green floating around in there as well. Just at face value, it was pretty complex. At 1.5% it felt like it might benefit from a little push, maybe 0.5% higher. I got much more of the middle body notes, than the bright sparkly notes, so I’ll just call it “Mid Centered”. There was some bright high notes, but far lighter than the main profile in the middle. There was some nice tart-ed-ness mixed in, but just enough to mimic a real strawberry. What was odd about this one, was it wasn’t “thin” or “watery-ish” like many fruit flavors, and it had some “weight” to it. Hard to explain, but I think it was the focus on the middle range of the SB, rather than just the higher/brighter notes only. Throughout all 3 testers, it stayed just as natural tasting as it did in the beginning,so no muting or fatigue. Even with that said, I think a smidge more of the brighter, sparkly notes would have worked here. Sweetness was about mid-level, but it was not candied, or jammed. All in, an impressive natural, fairly complex strawberry, which was centered around a juicy red strawberry, with minor white, and green accents. No off-notes, but just felt like a little more sparkle would have helped it pop more. Leaving it at a 9.1/10.
So is it like Rice Bubbles cereal?
@lukeloop I’ve never had Rice Bubbles before, but it just looks like Rice Krispies, re-branded for other markets.
Ingredients:
Whole white rice (91%), sugar, salt, barley malt extract, minerals (iron, zinc oxide), vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate).
I would say SIMILAR, but the flavor is literally just like, JUST puffed rice, no flavors, or additives.
just a different name in Australia 