**Raspberry Custard (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-7-24)** -- With this being one of my favorite profiles, I was anxious to dive into it. As always, your definitions of
Custards or Puddings may vary. This one plain worked for my tastes, BUT, yours might be different, so READ on. The Raspberry notes were on point, and were very evenly paired with the Custard making it hard to pick it out completely, but it still had some sharp punchy notes helping it shine through. It also had some light jammie-ness, which also helped it to stand out a little. The Custard was much more like an American Pudding, as some of the heavier, egg-ier notes were absent. They were there, just not in a heavy handed fashiot, so if you need the Eggy-iest of eggy custards, this may not be Custardy enough. The "custard" (pudding) was sweet, creamy, and smooth, with some great Vanilla accents, which favored a Madagascar.
The pairing of the two was very nicely done, leaving them both playing center stage. Beyond that great taste, and perfect ratios, the interesting thing was the Custard, and Raspberries stayed seperated enough that they did seem like two different elements, as opposed to a blurry mashup if the two, if that makes sense. The reason why I think this flavor (and other's like it) are so valuable is that they can easily be push/pulled into YOUR favorite profile. Need more RB, add it, need mo egg, add it. I suspect there are going to be a LOT of people, who might just solo this silly as is. Plenty full at 1.5%, sweetness was at mid-level, and I had NO complaints, issues, or off-notes. I literally bled the third tester dry, before finally giving up, and writing this. A very good RB Custard that ticks most of the boxes, and can easily be tailored to any specific needs. Not perfect, but MAN, it was close. **9.8/10**.
**Raspberry Jam (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-17-24)** -- Out of the gate, you KNEW this one was a Jam. BUT, was it jammie enough ?? Yes, it was. This one actually took a little bit to settle down in my tester, so I gave it a little extra time. Once it did, it rocked all the way till the empty-ness of the third tester. I can't say for sure, but similar to Nomz OG Raspberry, but better. At 1.5% it tasted fuller, richer, and with, (you guessed it), some very nice jammy undertones. It had some nice pectin-ish tarty notes that convinced you it was a jam. Some bright, some mid, and a few darker RB tones in this one. Sweetness was at about mid-level, and down near the bottom there was an almost buttery light note on the finish, but only slightly. The RB was convincingly natural, and none of the "candied"-ed-ness that I got from the OG RB, which is/was to my RB liking. Sweet(er), jammed, authentic, and with no off-notes to complain about. IMO, this was was quite superior to the OG RB, and I could use this one, all day. DId I find it hard to "move on" after the third tester ran completely dry ?? YES. As far as "wishes", maybe just a hint more of the jam would have been my only wish, and a small one at that. Very tasty, hard to put down, and dare I say, damned good, all on it's own. Slight take-off for just wanting a HINT more of jam, but only slightly, and leaving this tasty little jammer at a high
**9.8/10**.
**Raspberry Wafer (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-25-24)** -- When mixing this one up, I had two thoughts. "Wow, this smells great", and "I know this flavor". Turns out that the Wafer was stronger, but almost identical to
the OG Wafer from Chefs that I had tested previously. As was, and still was the case with it, I still didn't get a lot of "wafer" from it, but that's probably a matter of wafer opinion, but I got much more of a FW Waffle Cone, some other bakery/ies, and maybe a touch of AP. Now, having NOT tested the four OTHER Raspberries from NomNomz yet, I can only assume that one of them was in here. AND, the two profiles paired perfectly together. With the whole wafer/biscuit/cookie debate aside, the Raspberry had JUST enough sweetness, and tartness to break through the bakery elements, It tasted mostly natural, with some jammed, and candied accents. The two main profiles did pair very well, and it was damned tasty. No off-notes, or complaints other than the definition of "wafer". Minor take-offs for that, but that was it. Too good to mark down much, and decided to leave it super solidly at a
**9.5/10**.
**Raspberry (Wild) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-17-24)** -- Sadly for ALL Wild Raspberries, they
have a high bar to meet, so all WRB's I test, I can't NOT compare them. This one presented as a "different" raspberry, and while tasty, I wasn't 100% sold on the "Wild". Now while I can't fully quantify exactly what makes a Wild a wild, I can always tell if it's "In There". This one presented almost like a candied Raspberry, with some interesting accents, and it took me QUITE a while to figure it out, but I did (again). I think the paired profile was similar to that of a grape. It was VERY hard to tell when riding around with the Raspberry, but it seemed more purple than green, but maybe a hint of green grape in there as well. NOW, this was not a straight mashup of a grape and raspberry, but the grape was almost slid in, underneath (undertone) below the more dominant Raspberry. The raspberry stayed fairly candied, and partially artificial throughout my tests, and that damned interesting grape-y undertone never left. It tried to stay hidden below the RB, but once I tasted it, (you know), I couldn't UN-taste it.
Now, overall the flavor WAS very good, and it was nicely full at 1.5%, and was just below mid-level sweet. No off-notes, florals, soaps, or perfumes, and about the ONLY thing I wasn't 100% sure of, was the grape-y undertones, and/or if that sold the "Wildness". In the end, I couldn't decide, so I decided to take-off just a bit as to my tastes, it was a grape, and although a VERY tasty flavor, didn't sell me on the "wild". All in, a fairly candied Red (guessing) Raspberry, tempered by a super interesting grape undertone, which when combined, yielded a very interesting flavor. Even without selling me entirely on the wild, it still was too good to go below a
**9.0/10**.
**Red Currant (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-3-24)** -- Tart, Red Berry Bliss !!!! Wow, this was spot on, and the added tart, and acidity made them possibly the best RC I have tried to date. Very natural tasting with little to no artificial distraction. You could taste the little red berries from beginning to end, and it never let up. The flavor was so accurate, I didn't get a HINT of any other non currant flavor in this. The tart, sweet, and acidity were perfectly paired, which left it hyper accurate, and zingy. I wish the RB had this much pop. No off-notes, florals, or soaps here people, just clean, zingy, red currants. It was perfect at 1.5% without needing any changes, and sweetness, while tempered by the tart, and acidity, stayed just below mid-level. Often, when I'm testing "currant" flavors, they are in the ballpark, or "kinda", but not this one. Full on, all go and no quitting here. Even though this flavor was a stellar one, I did look hard trying to find anything out of place, or off, but I couldn't. If you've never tried currants, or been let down by other flavors, you should buy this one now. This one, was a perfect
**10/10**. Release the Kraken again, and that's TWO in a row now.
**Rhubarb (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-9-24)** -- I have had some BAD Rhubarbs before, so I am always cautious when testing them. This one smelled very rhubarb-y in the bottle, and that continued on to the testing. Slightly floral, and had some nice tartness on the finish. At 1.5% it was full, and sweetness was just below mid level. It had a certain "cooked" overall taste however, that seemed to detract from a fresh rhubarb that was hard to quantify. It's like it was partially blanched or cooked out a bit. It was def. a rhu, but not all the way, and at times I got an almost plasticky undertone. Very light, and would be easy to cover/hide in a mix, but I did get it. I think making Rhubard flavors is very hard, and credit out to NomNomz for getting it squarely in the ballpark. After rolling through 3 testers of this one, it still presented more as a cooked or partially blanched rhubarb, with some nice sweetness, and a tart finish, with that slight off-note that came and went. It felt fair to leave it at a
**7.0/10**.
**Rum (Brown) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-13-24)** -- Getting into this one, for my mixing mentor @Mikser. Tasting this one in the bottle was SPOT ON, for a Darker Rum. Testing it, it seemed to loose a little in translation. I tried to boost and cut it, and it stayed roughly the same, so there are no "official" other percentages. The initial onrush was very good, and had a slight sweet undertone, but there was no mistaking it was a dark rum. No real spicy-ness to speak of, so no Captain Morgan here folks. I think I was MISLED into thinking that because of the slight sweetness, but no spice, just dark(er) rum. After the initial onrush however, it kind of faded out. I kept comparing it to what I tasted on the finger, and was wishing that was how it presented when testing. It was so accurate on spot on, off the finger it was scary, and I couldn't pick out anything off, or out of place. About my only nitpick would be the fairly rapid "decoupling" after the initial onrush. Again, flavor wise, it was a very accurate, natural tasting rum which leaned completely into the "dark" side, with far below mid-level, but still present sweetness. Great, but just lost some in the translation. It felt fair to still place this one at an
**8.0/10**.
**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**.
Strawberry (Wild) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5%
**Sweet Lime (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-1-24)** --
Cold Pressed, or Distilled, I have no clue, BUT, it tasted pretty limey to me. It was not the strongest Lime I've tried, or at least a 1.5%, and it felt like it might have needed about 25% more "oomph". It was sweetened, but not in an overpowering way, and it landed at about mid-level sweet. Depending if you wanted/needed more sweetener in your mix(es) may, or may not include/exclude this one because of that. As far as the actual lime to sweet ratio, I might put it as high as 55% Lime / 45% sweet to better explain it. What was interesting was the sweetness offset any tart or sour to it, which left it as a rather "smooth" or "not sharp" lime, which again might, or might not be what you were looking for, depending. Taste wise, it was accurate, and fairly natural, and there were no off-notes, but I have to admit to missing some of the mouth pucking tart-ed-ness that limes can often times bring. Even with da sweetz, I could see tons of tea, drink, even desert uses for this one. All in, it simply tasted like 75%-80% of the way there, and I decided to leave it squarely at a
**7.5/10**. Very tasty, just slightly subdued by some of the sweet.
**Tobacco (Gold) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-10-24)** -- Being an avid NOT-toabacco-er, I won't be able to break this one down or compare it to most other tobaccos, and NO, I don't NET. My tobacco reviews typically go
something like this, so read on at your own risk. No doubt, this was a tobacco. It presented fairly complex, to my non-bacco tastebuds, and had a nice "fresh cut" taste to it. It had hints of fresh straw,very light chocolate, nuts, and coffee if you can believe it or not. There was a certain "dirty-ness" to this one, not ashy, but a nice grungy, dirty undertone.that really worked with this one. It was fairly sweet, but still a few ticks below mid-level. There was an almost creamy-ness to it, but it wasn't creamy, if that makes sense. Yeah, I got ALL THAT from this one. Hopefully a NET'er, or BACCO'er will chime in, and give you a better perspective on this one. All in, it was a convincing tobacco, with a very natural overall taste, with some very complex undertones. Having little to nothing to compare this to, AND being the "Not Bacco Guy", I'm going to leave this grungy, little dirty one at a
**9.5/10**..
**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**.
**Toffee (Butter) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-2-24)** -- Right out of the gate, there was no confusing this for anything other than a Toffee. Buttery, sweet, and much darker than a caramel, which was exactly what a Toffee cooked to the
higher temp "Hard Crack" stage should taste like. I got hints of butter, but much more of the buttery smoothness. Obviously not as creamy as a caramel, but it still had a creamy-ness to it. Continuing to test this one, just revealed even more buttery-ness, and rich darker notes. I didn't get any overt chocolate or nuts, but that was a NON issue because this one was that tasty, AND, a blank slate, if you wanted either of the two. As far as off-notes, there were none, and it was just a tick above mid-level sweet. VERY hard to put down. Overall, it covered a fairly full spectrum of Toffees with some light, more mid-dark, and even more DARK-dark notes. At times I thought I caught a hint of burnt in the darkness, and instead of that being a negative, it just worked to sell it's authenticity even more. If you like Toffee, you will like this one. At the end of the third tester, I was convinced, it was perfect as is, with no choco or nuts, and was easily be run as a solo. Just short of perfect IMO, and leaving it at a sky high
**9.9/10**.
**Toffee (Candy) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-10-24)** -- Having had
STELLAR results with NomNomz Toffee(Butter) , I had VERY high hopes for this one. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I actually got little to none of the delicious buttery toffee mentioned above, and instead got a very slight HINT of it, and I think they paired it with a butterscotch-ish flavor, but it went sideways, and ended up throwing a somewhat "Play-Doh" note. Not as much as CAP's Glazed Donut, but once I tasted it, I couldn't un-taste it. I also picked up on a somewhat creamy Vanilla swirling in around in there as well. For me, as soon as I didn't get much of the OG Butter Toffee, it was already sliding downward, but the Play-Doh-ish element pushed it even further. It wasn't a terrible flavor, but I don't know if I'd have thought Toffee Candy though. At 1.5% it was full, and just below mid-level sweet, and that pretty much about sums that up. I DO think I'll be getting a BIGGER bottle of the Toffee (Butter) though. Dropping this one down a bit, to a
**4.5**.
**Vanilla (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-17-24)** -- I have to admit to being quite interested in this one. "Vanilla ?? What KIND of Vanilla ??". Well it's a Frenchie !!! A French Vanilla variant to be exact. But it wasn't named that, so what's up ?? Well, it was tempered by something, and it took me a while to figure it out, but I DID. It tasted like a French Vanilla tempered by candy (small) marshmallows. There you go. Took you a few seconds to read it, but FAR longer for me to figure it out. Now, this was NOT a Vanilla Marshmallow, but literally a Vanilla with small type marshmallows jammed in. Overall it was an interesting flavor, and the MM worked to soften up the vanilla quite a bit, which may, or may not work for your Vanilla needs. Most times on the finish, I could even pick up on the powdered coating ON the mini marshmallows. As a mixer, or baser, I could see a lot of uses for this one, but as the primary driver in a Vanilla mix, not so sure. There was a note near the middle, and finish that reminded me of CAP's Vanillas, and whether or not that's an "off" note or not is up to the individual, and I didn't count it as one. Sweetness was somewhat high, and was a few ticks above mid level sweet, which I either attributed to, or added credence to the mini-marshmallows. No off-notes, with the exception of the aforementioned "CAP Vanilla" thing, and it was full at 1.5%. I could see a lot of uses for this, as it did double duty as a Frenchie and a Mini Marshmallow at the same time. I am going to kick it down a few, because the inclusion OF the mini MM's did somewhat detract from the pure(r) Vanilla notes, softened the flavor overall, and probably was to blame for the hightened sweeteness. Tasty, but leaving it at a
**6.9/10**.
**Vanilla (Bourbon) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (4-6-24)** -- Bourbon Vanilla aka Madagascar Vanilla is always
the darker of the Vanillas. Some think it's name implies Bourbon notes, but the name actually refers to where it is grown. This one did a good job of reproducing many/much of the darker vanilla notes, and it also had an underlying richness, almost creaminess to it. While typically one of the strongest vanillas this one seemed to be a little lighter, and had a very short half-life. It was pretty rich, and full, but once exhaled, it was GONE. A very interesting "gone" effect, with no lingering. While it was "on" it was dark, and rich, with some light caramel notes, and it tasted very natural with no overt "extract" or artificial notes. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and there were zero off-notes to nit-pick. About the only issue would be the disappearing act, RIGHT after the exhale. I'm thinking only minor take-offs for that, because when it was "on", it WAS on. Full, rich, with a light creaminess, plenty of darker shades of Vanilla with light caramel-y undertones, and very natural. It felt fairly placed at a
**9.2/10**. Good, natural, accurate, but might need a little push from another vanilla in some cases.
**Vanilla Cupcake (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-5-24)** -- Trying to explain or define a "cupcake" is quite hard, and I'm sure making one is equally hard. This one had a great vanilla overtone with SOME cupcake-y undertones. It was def. not cake-y, and much more cupcake-y. No baking soda notes, or frosting that I could pick up on, but it was still tatsty. While somewhat creamy, it was not a vanilla cream, and if the "cupcake" could have been a bit higher, I think it would have worked a little better. Sweetness was about mid-level, and no off-notes, baby powder or otherwise (long story) present. Maybe increasing it a bit might help, but I suspect as far as the cupcake, it was, where it was. Very tasty, and not off-target, and the somewhat softened vanilla was damned good, just not 100% sold on the (you guessed it), cupcake. At times, I got light almost "batter" notes, which I think helped it out a bit. No "bakery" notes, which worked, as that would have pulled it into a cake instead. Good, tasty, vanilla-y, just needed a little more cupcake-ry. Leaving this tasty one at a
**7.5/10**.
**Watermelon (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-24-24)** -- By POPULAR demand, well kinda, hehe, diving into the Watermelon. I knew when mixing this one up, that it would be a "different' watermelon, and that continued during the testing. The big take-away (for me at least), was it was not centered around the "red" juicy watermelon much at all. It did taste more like a mashup of the "white" part of the watermelon, along with some fairly present honeydew, and almost cantaloupe notes. In order of strength and ratios (guessing), I'd say 60% white watermelon, 30% honeydew, and 10% cantaloupe. There were some very light "red" wm notes, but the "white" and other melon notes were far more domiant. If I'd tested it without knowing the name, I probably would have thought it was a "Melon Medley". It was a mix of natural and artificial, and did have some lighter candied notes. This was interesting as it was below mid-level sweet. It was very smooth, with no reat tart-ed-ness, or sour, and no overt off-notes, but there was a just ever so slight perfrumy-ness to it. Now, it was soo minor, that I almost didn't think it necessary to mention, or take down for it, but just ever so slightly, it was there. It was so light that in a mix it would disappear. Overall, not a bad "Melon Medley", but as a stand alone Watermelon, not so much. Not terrible, and still very useful, just not a stellar stand alone. It seemed like it was in the 5.0-6.0 range for my personal rating system, so I finally settled on the higher score, and left it at a
**6.0/10**.
**Whiskey (Cream) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-10-24)** -- BREAKING all of my typical rules, AND, as promised ...... skipping into the W's, from the A's. I really wanted to get into this one, and no sense making you guys wait all the way to the W's. Let's start out by calling this one DELICIOUS !!!! OK, let's put the cards on the table for you Whisky Creamers. You guys will be in TWO camps. "Mo Whiskey", or "Mo Cream", so this one MAY not be for ALL of you. No weak a$$ alcohol here people, the Whiskey was front and center, and about EVENLY paired with the cream. So RIGHT there, you CREAMHEADS, might find it TOO Whiskey-ish (is that really even a THING ??). The cream itself paired beautifully with the Whiskey. It was hard to fully flush OUT the cream(s), because the Whiskey was front and center, but it almost reminded of VSO's Barbarian Cream, or a Bavarian and Vanilla cream mix.
In keeping with true Whiskey, the whiskey here was fairly acidic, and nicely tempered by the smooth(er) creamier creams. All in, I had a VERY hard time NOT repeatedly refilling the testers on this one.
It was very solid at 1.5%, with no need to increase it, and the sweetness was a few ticks below mid-level. I looked, and LOOKED for anything I could nit-pick on this one and came up short. About my only "like" would have been a little more of the creams, BUT, as mentioned in the beginning of this review, that was based on MY cream/whiskey ratio tastes. I literally blew through the entire bottle before I knew it. Handily a
**9.5/10**.
Yogurt (SC) (Nomz) 1.5%
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As a reminder, these flavors ^^^^ are NOT the entire NomNomz SC line, these are only the ones I have NOT tested before. If you missed my Chefs SC tests, please check them out here, to fill in the gaps.
Thanks out to @Timwis for dropping the bomb that Chefs was releasing their OWN Super Concentrates, and out to @lukeloop who was helping figure out a realistic testing weight for these. Super huge thanks out to Leah @Chefs_Flavours for sending out these BRAND NEW Super Concentrates under the...
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Thanks out to Leah from Chefs, I’ll be mixing these up shortly, and after some steepity, steep, steepin’ we’ll get into them. 🙂 For this second round, I’ll be testing at the same 1.5% that worked out great on the first round, using a SteamCrave RDTA v.1, with dual 24 ga. Kanthal 7 wrap...
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