Guys, James from https://LiquidDIY.com.au went and did it AGAIN !!!!!!! I can't say for sure, but I suspect they moved soo much of the Duomei LAST time, they got some MORE !!!!!
Thanks VERY much out to James for thinking of me, AND us. I know Luke, Hatrick, and I were ALL looking forward to the Vanilla Custard, and Fruit Loops !!!!!!
www.liquiddiy.com.au
As always these are VERY hard to come by flavors, so if you ARE interested, hop on over to Diquid DIY and pick yours up before they're gone.
***Disclaimer -- These flavors were sent by James from LiquidDIY for the purposes of this review. But, as always, if I taste it, you WILL know it.***
**Bubblegum (Duomei) 0.8% (6-7-23)** -- For the FIRST FLAVOR in this second series of Duomei's I could TELL it was going to be good, JUST by smelling it. Obviously TASTING can sometimes be VERY different. In this case, they were identical. Smelling and Tasting this one revealed I believe one of, if THE most accurate Pink Bubble Gum flavors I have ever tried. Some others have come close, but this one, was ON point, and I believe, now the ONE to beat. Hyper accurate chewy, juicy, pink bubblegum, and it was so closely matched, that at times I almost tasted the powdered sugar/starch on the outside of the gum. It was so realistic, I kept trying to decide if it was a Hubba Bubba, or a Bubble Yumm, but couldn't decide. At the low weight of 0.8%, it was nicely full, and I didn't feel the need to boost it, and I'm sure you COULD go a little higher if you needed. No off-notes, and sweetness was just above mid-level. Very nicely done by Duomei, and (repeating), I think this is/will be my reigning Bubble Gum champion at this point. VERY hard to assign take-offs to this one, as it just did exactly what it was supposed to do, and nothing more. Just a hyper accurate, juicy, pink, sweet bubble gum with just about everything EXCEPT the bubbles. Too hard to leave this one at anything other than a stellar high note, and it felt JUST barely below perfect, at a **9.9/10**.
**Butterscotch (Duomei) 0,8% (6-9-23)** -- This one turned out to be an interesting Butterscotch flavor. At 0.8% it was fairly present, but felt like it might be able to be pushed up a bit. It did present as a BS, but some of the rich, buttery-ness was lacking. Even with that, it didn't feel lacking. There were a large portion of darker, almost burnt notes that pulled it down into a darker BS. I think @lukeloop described it as "smoky-ness", and although I didn't get any smoky from this one, the darker/burnt notes did persist. It was at about mid-level sweet, and beyond the darker/burnt notes, there were no off-notes to be had here. I struggled to decide whether or not the dark/burnt notes helped, or hurt the flavor overall, and although I don't think it/they were detrimental to it, it/they did pull it to the darker side. I would have preferred a brighter, much more buttery BS. All in, not a bad BS, and the "smoky", or darker/burnt elements may or may not be to every user's tastes. In total, not bad for a darker BS, and it felt fairly placed at a **7.5/10**.
**Cherry (Duomei) 0.5% )6-9-23)** -- Cherries CAN be scary. There's just NO other way to put it, and you NEVER know what you'll get when you are testing a NEW one, hehe. Good news here, was that there were NO florals, perfumes, soaps, nadda. So THAT is the biggest hurdle to get past, and Duomei DID. Now, with that said, hehe, there WAS something TO this Cherry that took me a little bit to figure out, and I think I FINALLY DID. Only for you guys, do I struggle to really nail these flavors down, as I taste them, and sometimes it's actually pretty hard. After MUCH consideration, this one WAS a pairing of a Cherry Compote, with a Chai Tea. YES, that IS what I got from it, and it really took me a while to nail it down. I tested it lower at 0.5%, and it in no way was ceiling smashing, or folding over on itself, but it really did taste like a pairing of the two. At first I though "spiced cherry" ??, but the more testers I threw back, it settled to my tastes to be very Chai Tea like. The compote cherry was actually very good, with some darker, almost jammed aspects to it, BUT, the Chai Tea note(s) were always there. Now, it was good, AND unique, BUT, will it fit YOUR needs for a Cherry ?? That's the question. As a solo cherry it didn't really pass muster, BECAUSE of the spicy notes, but as a mixer/blender, it could REALLY be useful, and in many different ways. It was very present but not overbearing at 0.5%, and was at about mid-level sweet, with no (errrrr) off-notes, UNLESS you qualify Chai Tea as an off note LOL. Rating this will be hard, as it was actually really good, and it WAS unique for a Cherry, BUT, I have to rate JUST as a solo flavor as named, SO, as a specific, solo Cherry I would have to down rate it a bit down to **5.5/10**, but as a pretty damned interesting cherry / chai tea mix, I'd rate it much higher at a 9.0/10. Even with the lower rating, I'd still recommend this as it was interesting.
**Mint 0.5% (Duomei) 6-9-23** -- Being a HEAVY Mojito drinker, I KNOW my mints. So much so that I grow my own, so I'm the guy for testing all things Mints. This one, however, was NOT the mint I was looking for, as it was NOT a fresh mint. Upon the very first taste, I knew what it was ...
Now, I think it's safe to say that ^^^^^^ this profile is/was NOT in my wheelhouse. Mint/menthol/eucalyptus/cooling. There you have it. NOW, if you like that type of profile, this IS the one for you. If however you are/were looking for a fresh mint profile, this would NOT be the one for you. The mint THAT was present was ok, but it was fairly saturated with the menthol/eucalyptus, and I couldn't NOT think of the halls cough drops. Surprisingly it was even keeled at 0.5% without being overbearing, and the cooling was fairly prevalent throughout. Sweetness was lower than mid-level, with the cooling being above mid-level. I hate to say it, but I could not see this working out for any of my personal mint required recipes. Maybe it could work out in one of yours. As a minty/cooled cough drop I would rate it VERY high, but as a "mint", I have to apply fairly heavy take-offs, leaving it at a **1.5/10**.
**Fruit Loops (Duomei) 1.0%/1.4% (6-9-23)** -- ANY of you Loopers out there who have tried most of the offerings know how most of them fall short. I'm ALWAYS up to see who's going to try and get it right NEXT. It's not often upon the FIRST taste, that I can exactly nail down the ONE thing that would make a flavor perfect, but I DID, with this one. This one smelled REALLY good out of the bottle, and when finger testing, AND that continued when testing it. It was probably the most spot on Fruit Loops flavor from any manufacturer, EXCEPT, for one thing. The grain. It was VERY light in the mix, and because the REST of the flavor profile(s) were SO good, the missing grain WAS noticeable. Now, was that a flavor killer ?? Hellz to the No, this was a GREAT loops flavor regardless. It really perfectly captured the dominant lemon, with a lighter orange, and SOME grainy-ness, and the associated "cereal" notes. The sweetness, while almost bordering on high, did perfectly mimic the cereal, and the "sugar lips" effect, and I would rate it a few ticks above mid-level sweet. For a test, I did boost it up to 1.4%, and it actually got even better (I didn't think that would be possible), but the cereal grains still stayed very low in the mix. As I continued through 3 testers LOOKING for any weaknesses, off-notes, or mark downs, I could not find a single complaint or issue. The lemon while higher in the mix, was VERY nicely done, without approaching "Lemon Pledge", or becoming fatiguing. The only thing stopping it from being a "Release the Kraken" 10/10, was the very light cereal grains. Thsi OBVIOUSLY could very easily be fixed, with little to no effort by pairing with CAP's Silverline Fruit Circles, which had outstanding cereal grains. Now, the hard part. For a flavor that soo many have tried to capture, with soo few successes, how to rate this one, WITH the light grains. I toiled over this for quite a while before the third tester ran dry, and I finally settled on a **9.1/10**. If you love the loops, and have some Silverline Fruit Circles, just buy the BIG BOTTLE now, and consider your Loopity Looper Loops DONE.
**Green Grape (Duomei) (Re-Test) 0.8% (6-9-23)** -- This is/was a RE-Test of the Green Grape from Duomei, and at double the earlier rate. As before his one smelled VERY promising in the bottle, and, proved to be just as promising when testing. Unique was accurate, as I don't think I've got anything like this on my racks. I don't know if I would have purchased a green grape or not, but thanks out to James, I have it. Another first tor this review is that I was actually EATING some green grapes while testing it, and honestly, this flavor was BETTER than the grapes I was eating. Now to be fair, they weren't the best green grapes, BUT, this flavor took the lead. It DEF. had the "green" part from the grape down pat, and there was NO white, or purple present. It leaned fairly heavily to a natural gg, and the more I tested it, the more authentic it appeared to be. Fresh, natural, with plenty of "green", and dammit, "grape". It's hard to put into words, but needless to say, this one DID taste like a green grape. At times, I thought I MIGHT have tasted just a smidge of light green apple accents, but then it would disappear, so I can't count that as a persistent note. No real off-notes, and it was just about mid-level sweet. Maybe a little of the skin, but no stems LOL. The finish had a very nice tart-ness to it, that really sealed the deal for me, and pushed it further into the authentic. I went back and checked my notes from the previous test at 0.4%, and now that I've tested it at 0.8%, it WAS much improved. About the only 0ff-note (and I hate to use that word in this case) would be the slight, green apple note, but it was so slight, it really didn't detract from this at all. All in, a pretty damned convincing green grape, with a tart finish. Because it was very convincing, I had to rate this one higher @ **9.5/10**. I will update the flavor review to show these notes from the higher percentage.
**Guava 0.6% / 1.0% (Re-Test) (6-11-23)** -- I knew I said I WAS going to be taking the day off from SFT, but I can't LOL. Grabbing this one during some quality BBQ time gave me some good time with it. Re-Testing this one at a higher level. This one tasted like a pretty accurate, mostly natural Guava with some of the nice fermented "zingy" notes on the finish. It def. had a pink hue to it, which I cannot describe, BUT, it was in there. Below mid-level sweetness, and no off-notes to speak of. While it was very natural tasting, and accurate, it lacked some presence, so I boosted it from 0.6% to 1.0%, and it improved, but only slightly. I'm guessing this was just a more laid back flavor. If it wasn't soo good, I probably wouldn't have cared, BUT, I did want more. I did prefer it at 1.0%, and it wasn't that is screamed more, more, more, but I still wanted some more hehe. All in it was a pretty accurate representation of a nice juicy guava with lots of the pink fleshy notes, with just enough ferment-y zing to keep it interesting, and non-linear. About the only take-off would be the somewhat relaxed presentation, even after spiking it to 1.0 percent. With that being the only real take-off, and no complaints over the actual FLAVOR of it, rating it fairly high @ **8.7/10**.
**Salty Butter v.1 (Duomei) 0.8% (6-12-23)** -- BACK on track with the BUTTAH !!!! I've barely just STARTED testing this one, and already, I'm stuck on, "Movie Theater Popcorn BUTTER" !!!! Wow, this one @ 0.8% hit you with a Butter Brick to the face. This tasted basically EXACTLY like a rich, and salted butter that you would get on movie theater popcorn. There's no better way to explain it. Now I WILL admit to hardly EVER testing butters, because WHO would do such a thing ?? !!!! I'll keep doing it, for YOU guys. I've have to drop James a line to see if he knows the DAAP status of these Duomei flavors, as I, do not. Needless to say, butters can MOST times fall into two camps for me, one being like this one, a rich, movie theater popcorn butter, and the other would be more of a farm fresh, creamery butter. This one was def. the movie theater one. Plenty of mouthfeel, but NOT like you get from creams/creameries, but still very mouth feel-y. Salted just enough, with an entire center of rich butter. I'll have to stop before I end up repeating myself even more. No off-notes, and just slightly sweet, and dripping in, (you guessed it), buttah. If you want a SPOT ON butter, that heavily favors the movie theater type, you better get this one, because that's EXACTLY what this is. Too spot on, to make down, and just almost perfect. **9.8/10**.
**Salty Butter v.2 (Duomei) 0.8% (6-14-23)** -- If you (hopefully) have read the above review for the Duomei Salty Butter v.1, this one presented VERY similar, but with slightly less richness, and with increased sweetness. I had hoped it would have been more of a farm fresh creamery butter, BUT, it was actually very similar to the previous butter. I'm not 100% sure what they were they were aiming for with this second version, mostly because it shared so many similarities with the v.1. Still buttery, fairly rich, and with the still present, yet reduced "movie theater" styling. As with the v.1 it was plenty strong at 0.8%, and nothing out of place or squirrely. Basically, it was very close to the v.1 with some reduced richness, a little less "movie theater", and an increased sweetness. Maybe I was still riding off of the butter high from the v.1 but this one felt like it had a little less impact than the v.1, and it felt good at an **9.0/10**. Still buttery ?? Yes.
**Salty Caramel (Duomei) 0.8% (6-16-23)** -- This one took a bit to break in when first loading. After it finally did settle in, I did get start to get just a HINT of salty, but only JUST a hint. The caramel, while smelling really good, tasted a little lackluster, and not thin, but lacking some presence. It wasn't buttery and rich, but still have nice caramel overtones. Let's just say it smelled much fuller than it tasted. It was not overbearing at 0.8%, and had no off-notes, but it just felt like it needed more. The notes that did present were the lighter and mid notes, while most of the darker, and buttery rich notes didn't seem to translate as well. Because of it's relaxed presentation, this one might not be able to carry the main freight, but could def. be used in support. If it only tasted, like it smelled. All in, a good caramel, with just a very slight bit of salty, but lacked overall presence. It felt good at **6.75/10**.
**Sour Lemon (Duomei) (Re-Test) 0.6% (6-16-23)** -- Re-testing this one for a second glance. When I FIRST tasted this one, it immediately reminded me of Limoncello. Now it wasn't an exact match, but that WAS my first thought. It had an almost bitter-ness to it, and while in no way overpowering, stayed present throughout. It did have some sourness, but mated with the aforementioned bitterness. Now typically "bitter" is described as a negative, but in this case, it was almost a plus, as it did seem to work in/with this flavor. I did get some actual Lemon from it, but I also got a lot of the skin, and maybe some of the pith, which is why it seemed very Limoncello like. There was an almost dry-ness to the finish that again, typically would be a negative, but in this case, it seemed to work. It did not present like a typical "Sour Lemon" which is normally lots of the lemon body with sweet and sour/tart thrown in. Because of that, I don't think it would work as the main Lemon note, but would be outstanding as a supporting note. At 0.8% it was fairly present, but not what I would call "strong". It was an iteresting one, and while mulling over what would NORMALLY be negatives (i.e. the somewhat bitter, and dry-ness), and how they actually worked here, in determining a final score for this one. All in, it was a fairly bright, light lemon flavor with some bitterness, and a touch of dryness on the finish. As previously stated, I don't think it could be the main SL in a mix, but would excell as a supporting lemon, as it had some very unique aspects to it, that I don't think any other SL's had. As a Lmoncello I'd rate it very high, but as a specific Sour Lemon, I think moving it down to about a **7.5/10** felt fair. Repeating this, as you Lemonheads might be surprised by what this could bring to the Lemon party, despite it not being able to handle the freight of the main lemon note. Quite an interesting one
**Sour Mango (Duomei) 0.8% (6-18-23)** -- This Sour Mango, might be my least favorite of the Duomei's thus far. It's not that it was bad, just NOT one of my favorites. Overall it was somewhat subdued, and lacked a lot of the punch that some other of the Mangos had. Surprisingly it didn't present as a very orange mango, but almost tasted more "green" if you can believe it. Now the green could have been rind, but it was hard to tell. Also, I didn't get a lot of "sour" which continued the mystery OF this flavor. Because it was subdued, I couldn't see this carrying the main freight for a mango mix, but it could be supporter. At 0.8% it was still somewhat relaxed, and missing was a lot of the punchy orange notes I'd grown to love from Duomei's Yellow Mango. All in, a not very sour Mango, which was fairly relaxed, and almost had "green" notes to it, with possibly some rind. It felt fairly placed at a **6.0/10**.
**Sweet Mango (Duomei) 0.8% (6-16-23)** -- Having been blown away by Duomei's Yellow Mango, I DID want to see what was what with this one. Out of the gate, I could tell it was different than the aforementioned YM. This one presented as more of a mashup of a delicious juicy yellow peach AND a mango. It wasn't candied, but it was very much like peaches, and mangos in syrup, in a can (but without tasting LIKE a can). Now the exact split was hard to nail down, but it would be safe to call it "Canned Mangos in Syrup with Peaches", and I'd put it at 80% Mango /20% Peach. Duomei really captured the "in syrup" here with this one, as it had a lot of the sticky wet syrupy notes perfected. The mango was similar to the previously tested YM, and very juicy and ripe. While blowing through the 3 testers I was trying to decide if the peach notes were a plus or minus, and finally decided on a plus, as it worked well in this flavor. At 0.8% it tasted very full, and juicy, and didn't leave you wanting. About the only nit pick would be a slight dryness on the finish, but that would be about it. Juicy yellow peaches, and mango slices, canned in syrup, was JUST what you got with this one. Minor take-offs for the slight dryness on the finish only, and leaving it solidly at a **9.0/10**.
**Sweet Pineapple (Duomei) 0.8% (6-18-23)** -- I spent some extra time with this one, as it was problematic for me...I went soo far as to actually change my coils, and reduce, JUST to make sure it wasn't on my end. Starting out, it was a fairly bright, sweet Pineapple, with some good juicy-ness, BUT, it had an underlying slightly burnt note almost like you would get RIGHT before your cotton ran dry. Uh Oh. Changed my coils, same thing, increased AND reduced with the same effect (roughly 1.2%, down to 0.4%). I got an almost metallic undertone, which is what the "almost getting a dry hit" was most like. For the pineapple I DID get, it was good, with high and mid level notes, with some bright punch on the end, but the problem was, I couldn't shake the almost metalic, dry hit notes despite trying. Because of that, I'll have to rate this one down, AND, I encourage anyone else who DOES test this, to post up YOUR results. As it stood for my tastes, I would have to go down to **5.0/10** .......
**Thailand Lime (Duomei) 0.5%/1.0% (6-16-23)** -- Yes there are [many limes out there](https://leafyplace.com/types-of-limes/), with Persian being the most common in the US. This one presented as a lighter lime flavor with just below mid-level sweetness. No zest, and just SOME zing to it. Because it felt a little too relaxed, I doubled it to 1.0% and it increased in flavor by about 25%. Because the sweetness level was somewhat high it almost reminded me of more of a Lime Simple Syrup, minus some of the sweetener. It's not that it was too sweet, just that when increasing the flavor trying to get MO lime, I actually got SOME mo lime, but more sweetness. I did get some lime citrus oil notes but only just, and it did seem to lack some of the sharp/tart punch on the finish that would have really driven it home. It did present as fairly natural, and there were no off-notes to be found. All in, a sweeter, fairly relaxed lime, missing most of the tart punch on the finish. The takeoffs would be for the relaxed nature of the flavor, and somewhat high sweetener content, and it felt good at **6.9/10**.
**Vanilla Custard (Duomei) 0.8%/1.2% (6-18-23)** -- Finally getting to the VC from Duomei. Trying to decide or assume to decide what VC is right for every user is impossible. There were some similarities to TPA's VC II, but without a lot of the egg, and buttery richness. It was almost like a pairing of the VC II and a delicious Vanilla Pudding. I started out at 0.8% and it felt like it needed some more heat, and I upped it to 1.2% and it did fatten up somewhat. It never got eggy, or thick, but was still quite good. At times I almost got a bakery/graham undertone which just plain worked. Depending on your eggy needs, you would need to pair this with an "egg-er" to bolster that up, if not, leave it as is. It tasted like a cleaner VC if that makes sense, and for some, a richer, denser, heavier VC might be required. 3 testers later, I stlll enjoyed it, and I could see using this a lot, especially where a vanilla pudding/VC was needed, but not the heavy egg. No off-notes, and sweetness was about mid level, and I did prefer it @ 1.2%, and you could probably even go higher. My needs for VC's typically are SOME egg, rich, and buttery. This one got pretty close, and it felt like it needed JUST a push to run it solo with no ragrets. For my tastes, it felt like it was 75%-80% of the way there for me, and I'll leave it at **8.5/10**. Despite it not completely covering the VC bases, it was a great flavor, and 3 testers later, I was mixing up another bottle.
**Wild Blueberry (Duomei) 0.8% / 1.2% (6-21-23)** -- Was the LAST flavor in this series from Duomei going to go out with a BANG or a whimper ?? Well, we'll just see about that. I started testing this one @ 0.8%, and I did get SOME fresh blueberry with nice jammy undertones, but it was fairly relaxed, so I upped it to 1.2% and it stayed relatively where it was. The most noticeable increase was in the jammy udertones, but not really the main base berry. So, not the strongest one for sure. The blueberry that I did get didn't scream natural, and I think the jammy undertones left it feeling/tasting more artificial than not. Although it wasn't one dimensional, it's safe to call it a two dimensional BB. Some bright high end notes, some mid notes, but not much in the lower reigons, and I didn't get much if any (there was some) of the darker musky notes that really add to many BB's authenticity. The great news was there were no off-notes, florals, or soapy-ness. When comparing this one to heavy hitters like MF's BB, it seemed like it would need some help to get there. Mixed IN the jammy notes were some nice tart, that gave it a little punchy boost on the finish. All in, not stellar or a failure, but more of a semi natural BB with nice jammy undertones. Obviously YOUR tastes/needs dictate what YOU need out of a BB far better than I can. For my tastes, it felt good at a **7.0/10**.
LiquidDIY.com.au
Thanks VERY much out to James for thinking of me, AND us. I know Luke, Hatrick, and I were ALL looking forward to the Vanilla Custard, and Fruit Loops !!!!!!
Douomei Flavours (DUO) /Liquid DIY
Duomei flavours including Yellow Mango! Afterpay and Laybuy accepted! Free Express shipping available!
www.liquiddiy.com.au
As always these are VERY hard to come by flavors, so if you ARE interested, hop on over to Diquid DIY and pick yours up before they're gone.
***Disclaimer -- These flavors were sent by James from LiquidDIY for the purposes of this review. But, as always, if I taste it, you WILL know it.***
**Bubblegum (Duomei) 0.8% (6-7-23)** -- For the FIRST FLAVOR in this second series of Duomei's I could TELL it was going to be good, JUST by smelling it. Obviously TASTING can sometimes be VERY different. In this case, they were identical. Smelling and Tasting this one revealed I believe one of, if THE most accurate Pink Bubble Gum flavors I have ever tried. Some others have come close, but this one, was ON point, and I believe, now the ONE to beat. Hyper accurate chewy, juicy, pink bubblegum, and it was so closely matched, that at times I almost tasted the powdered sugar/starch on the outside of the gum. It was so realistic, I kept trying to decide if it was a Hubba Bubba, or a Bubble Yumm, but couldn't decide. At the low weight of 0.8%, it was nicely full, and I didn't feel the need to boost it, and I'm sure you COULD go a little higher if you needed. No off-notes, and sweetness was just above mid-level. Very nicely done by Duomei, and (repeating), I think this is/will be my reigning Bubble Gum champion at this point. VERY hard to assign take-offs to this one, as it just did exactly what it was supposed to do, and nothing more. Just a hyper accurate, juicy, pink, sweet bubble gum with just about everything EXCEPT the bubbles. Too hard to leave this one at anything other than a stellar high note, and it felt JUST barely below perfect, at a **9.9/10**.
**Butterscotch (Duomei) 0,8% (6-9-23)** -- This one turned out to be an interesting Butterscotch flavor. At 0.8% it was fairly present, but felt like it might be able to be pushed up a bit. It did present as a BS, but some of the rich, buttery-ness was lacking. Even with that, it didn't feel lacking. There were a large portion of darker, almost burnt notes that pulled it down into a darker BS. I think @lukeloop described it as "smoky-ness", and although I didn't get any smoky from this one, the darker/burnt notes did persist. It was at about mid-level sweet, and beyond the darker/burnt notes, there were no off-notes to be had here. I struggled to decide whether or not the dark/burnt notes helped, or hurt the flavor overall, and although I don't think it/they were detrimental to it, it/they did pull it to the darker side. I would have preferred a brighter, much more buttery BS. All in, not a bad BS, and the "smoky", or darker/burnt elements may or may not be to every user's tastes. In total, not bad for a darker BS, and it felt fairly placed at a **7.5/10**.
**Cherry (Duomei) 0.5% )6-9-23)** -- Cherries CAN be scary. There's just NO other way to put it, and you NEVER know what you'll get when you are testing a NEW one, hehe. Good news here, was that there were NO florals, perfumes, soaps, nadda. So THAT is the biggest hurdle to get past, and Duomei DID. Now, with that said, hehe, there WAS something TO this Cherry that took me a little bit to figure out, and I think I FINALLY DID. Only for you guys, do I struggle to really nail these flavors down, as I taste them, and sometimes it's actually pretty hard. After MUCH consideration, this one WAS a pairing of a Cherry Compote, with a Chai Tea. YES, that IS what I got from it, and it really took me a while to nail it down. I tested it lower at 0.5%, and it in no way was ceiling smashing, or folding over on itself, but it really did taste like a pairing of the two. At first I though "spiced cherry" ??, but the more testers I threw back, it settled to my tastes to be very Chai Tea like. The compote cherry was actually very good, with some darker, almost jammed aspects to it, BUT, the Chai Tea note(s) were always there. Now, it was good, AND unique, BUT, will it fit YOUR needs for a Cherry ?? That's the question. As a solo cherry it didn't really pass muster, BECAUSE of the spicy notes, but as a mixer/blender, it could REALLY be useful, and in many different ways. It was very present but not overbearing at 0.5%, and was at about mid-level sweet, with no (errrrr) off-notes, UNLESS you qualify Chai Tea as an off note LOL. Rating this will be hard, as it was actually really good, and it WAS unique for a Cherry, BUT, I have to rate JUST as a solo flavor as named, SO, as a specific, solo Cherry I would have to down rate it a bit down to **5.5/10**, but as a pretty damned interesting cherry / chai tea mix, I'd rate it much higher at a 9.0/10. Even with the lower rating, I'd still recommend this as it was interesting.
**Mint 0.5% (Duomei) 6-9-23** -- Being a HEAVY Mojito drinker, I KNOW my mints. So much so that I grow my own, so I'm the guy for testing all things Mints. This one, however, was NOT the mint I was looking for, as it was NOT a fresh mint. Upon the very first taste, I knew what it was ...
Now, I think it's safe to say that ^^^^^^ this profile is/was NOT in my wheelhouse. Mint/menthol/eucalyptus/cooling. There you have it. NOW, if you like that type of profile, this IS the one for you. If however you are/were looking for a fresh mint profile, this would NOT be the one for you. The mint THAT was present was ok, but it was fairly saturated with the menthol/eucalyptus, and I couldn't NOT think of the halls cough drops. Surprisingly it was even keeled at 0.5% without being overbearing, and the cooling was fairly prevalent throughout. Sweetness was lower than mid-level, with the cooling being above mid-level. I hate to say it, but I could not see this working out for any of my personal mint required recipes. Maybe it could work out in one of yours. As a minty/cooled cough drop I would rate it VERY high, but as a "mint", I have to apply fairly heavy take-offs, leaving it at a **1.5/10**.
**Fruit Loops (Duomei) 1.0%/1.4% (6-9-23)** -- ANY of you Loopers out there who have tried most of the offerings know how most of them fall short. I'm ALWAYS up to see who's going to try and get it right NEXT. It's not often upon the FIRST taste, that I can exactly nail down the ONE thing that would make a flavor perfect, but I DID, with this one. This one smelled REALLY good out of the bottle, and when finger testing, AND that continued when testing it. It was probably the most spot on Fruit Loops flavor from any manufacturer, EXCEPT, for one thing. The grain. It was VERY light in the mix, and because the REST of the flavor profile(s) were SO good, the missing grain WAS noticeable. Now, was that a flavor killer ?? Hellz to the No, this was a GREAT loops flavor regardless. It really perfectly captured the dominant lemon, with a lighter orange, and SOME grainy-ness, and the associated "cereal" notes. The sweetness, while almost bordering on high, did perfectly mimic the cereal, and the "sugar lips" effect, and I would rate it a few ticks above mid-level sweet. For a test, I did boost it up to 1.4%, and it actually got even better (I didn't think that would be possible), but the cereal grains still stayed very low in the mix. As I continued through 3 testers LOOKING for any weaknesses, off-notes, or mark downs, I could not find a single complaint or issue. The lemon while higher in the mix, was VERY nicely done, without approaching "Lemon Pledge", or becoming fatiguing. The only thing stopping it from being a "Release the Kraken" 10/10, was the very light cereal grains. Thsi OBVIOUSLY could very easily be fixed, with little to no effort by pairing with CAP's Silverline Fruit Circles, which had outstanding cereal grains. Now, the hard part. For a flavor that soo many have tried to capture, with soo few successes, how to rate this one, WITH the light grains. I toiled over this for quite a while before the third tester ran dry, and I finally settled on a **9.1/10**. If you love the loops, and have some Silverline Fruit Circles, just buy the BIG BOTTLE now, and consider your Loopity Looper Loops DONE.
**Green Grape (Duomei) (Re-Test) 0.8% (6-9-23)** -- This is/was a RE-Test of the Green Grape from Duomei, and at double the earlier rate. As before his one smelled VERY promising in the bottle, and, proved to be just as promising when testing. Unique was accurate, as I don't think I've got anything like this on my racks. I don't know if I would have purchased a green grape or not, but thanks out to James, I have it. Another first tor this review is that I was actually EATING some green grapes while testing it, and honestly, this flavor was BETTER than the grapes I was eating. Now to be fair, they weren't the best green grapes, BUT, this flavor took the lead. It DEF. had the "green" part from the grape down pat, and there was NO white, or purple present. It leaned fairly heavily to a natural gg, and the more I tested it, the more authentic it appeared to be. Fresh, natural, with plenty of "green", and dammit, "grape". It's hard to put into words, but needless to say, this one DID taste like a green grape. At times, I thought I MIGHT have tasted just a smidge of light green apple accents, but then it would disappear, so I can't count that as a persistent note. No real off-notes, and it was just about mid-level sweet. Maybe a little of the skin, but no stems LOL. The finish had a very nice tart-ness to it, that really sealed the deal for me, and pushed it further into the authentic. I went back and checked my notes from the previous test at 0.4%, and now that I've tested it at 0.8%, it WAS much improved. About the only 0ff-note (and I hate to use that word in this case) would be the slight, green apple note, but it was so slight, it really didn't detract from this at all. All in, a pretty damned convincing green grape, with a tart finish. Because it was very convincing, I had to rate this one higher @ **9.5/10**. I will update the flavor review to show these notes from the higher percentage.
**Guava 0.6% / 1.0% (Re-Test) (6-11-23)** -- I knew I said I WAS going to be taking the day off from SFT, but I can't LOL. Grabbing this one during some quality BBQ time gave me some good time with it. Re-Testing this one at a higher level. This one tasted like a pretty accurate, mostly natural Guava with some of the nice fermented "zingy" notes on the finish. It def. had a pink hue to it, which I cannot describe, BUT, it was in there. Below mid-level sweetness, and no off-notes to speak of. While it was very natural tasting, and accurate, it lacked some presence, so I boosted it from 0.6% to 1.0%, and it improved, but only slightly. I'm guessing this was just a more laid back flavor. If it wasn't soo good, I probably wouldn't have cared, BUT, I did want more. I did prefer it at 1.0%, and it wasn't that is screamed more, more, more, but I still wanted some more hehe. All in it was a pretty accurate representation of a nice juicy guava with lots of the pink fleshy notes, with just enough ferment-y zing to keep it interesting, and non-linear. About the only take-off would be the somewhat relaxed presentation, even after spiking it to 1.0 percent. With that being the only real take-off, and no complaints over the actual FLAVOR of it, rating it fairly high @ **8.7/10**.
**Salty Butter v.1 (Duomei) 0.8% (6-12-23)** -- BACK on track with the BUTTAH !!!! I've barely just STARTED testing this one, and already, I'm stuck on, "Movie Theater Popcorn BUTTER" !!!! Wow, this one @ 0.8% hit you with a Butter Brick to the face. This tasted basically EXACTLY like a rich, and salted butter that you would get on movie theater popcorn. There's no better way to explain it. Now I WILL admit to hardly EVER testing butters, because WHO would do such a thing ?? !!!! I'll keep doing it, for YOU guys. I've have to drop James a line to see if he knows the DAAP status of these Duomei flavors, as I, do not. Needless to say, butters can MOST times fall into two camps for me, one being like this one, a rich, movie theater popcorn butter, and the other would be more of a farm fresh, creamery butter. This one was def. the movie theater one. Plenty of mouthfeel, but NOT like you get from creams/creameries, but still very mouth feel-y. Salted just enough, with an entire center of rich butter. I'll have to stop before I end up repeating myself even more. No off-notes, and just slightly sweet, and dripping in, (you guessed it), buttah. If you want a SPOT ON butter, that heavily favors the movie theater type, you better get this one, because that's EXACTLY what this is. Too spot on, to make down, and just almost perfect. **9.8/10**.
**Salty Butter v.2 (Duomei) 0.8% (6-14-23)** -- If you (hopefully) have read the above review for the Duomei Salty Butter v.1, this one presented VERY similar, but with slightly less richness, and with increased sweetness. I had hoped it would have been more of a farm fresh creamery butter, BUT, it was actually very similar to the previous butter. I'm not 100% sure what they were they were aiming for with this second version, mostly because it shared so many similarities with the v.1. Still buttery, fairly rich, and with the still present, yet reduced "movie theater" styling. As with the v.1 it was plenty strong at 0.8%, and nothing out of place or squirrely. Basically, it was very close to the v.1 with some reduced richness, a little less "movie theater", and an increased sweetness. Maybe I was still riding off of the butter high from the v.1 but this one felt like it had a little less impact than the v.1, and it felt good at an **9.0/10**. Still buttery ?? Yes.
**Salty Caramel (Duomei) 0.8% (6-16-23)** -- This one took a bit to break in when first loading. After it finally did settle in, I did get start to get just a HINT of salty, but only JUST a hint. The caramel, while smelling really good, tasted a little lackluster, and not thin, but lacking some presence. It wasn't buttery and rich, but still have nice caramel overtones. Let's just say it smelled much fuller than it tasted. It was not overbearing at 0.8%, and had no off-notes, but it just felt like it needed more. The notes that did present were the lighter and mid notes, while most of the darker, and buttery rich notes didn't seem to translate as well. Because of it's relaxed presentation, this one might not be able to carry the main freight, but could def. be used in support. If it only tasted, like it smelled. All in, a good caramel, with just a very slight bit of salty, but lacked overall presence. It felt good at **6.75/10**.
**Sour Lemon (Duomei) (Re-Test) 0.6% (6-16-23)** -- Re-testing this one for a second glance. When I FIRST tasted this one, it immediately reminded me of Limoncello. Now it wasn't an exact match, but that WAS my first thought. It had an almost bitter-ness to it, and while in no way overpowering, stayed present throughout. It did have some sourness, but mated with the aforementioned bitterness. Now typically "bitter" is described as a negative, but in this case, it was almost a plus, as it did seem to work in/with this flavor. I did get some actual Lemon from it, but I also got a lot of the skin, and maybe some of the pith, which is why it seemed very Limoncello like. There was an almost dry-ness to the finish that again, typically would be a negative, but in this case, it seemed to work. It did not present like a typical "Sour Lemon" which is normally lots of the lemon body with sweet and sour/tart thrown in. Because of that, I don't think it would work as the main Lemon note, but would be outstanding as a supporting note. At 0.8% it was fairly present, but not what I would call "strong". It was an iteresting one, and while mulling over what would NORMALLY be negatives (i.e. the somewhat bitter, and dry-ness), and how they actually worked here, in determining a final score for this one. All in, it was a fairly bright, light lemon flavor with some bitterness, and a touch of dryness on the finish. As previously stated, I don't think it could be the main SL in a mix, but would excell as a supporting lemon, as it had some very unique aspects to it, that I don't think any other SL's had. As a Lmoncello I'd rate it very high, but as a specific Sour Lemon, I think moving it down to about a **7.5/10** felt fair. Repeating this, as you Lemonheads might be surprised by what this could bring to the Lemon party, despite it not being able to handle the freight of the main lemon note. Quite an interesting one
**Sour Mango (Duomei) 0.8% (6-18-23)** -- This Sour Mango, might be my least favorite of the Duomei's thus far. It's not that it was bad, just NOT one of my favorites. Overall it was somewhat subdued, and lacked a lot of the punch that some other of the Mangos had. Surprisingly it didn't present as a very orange mango, but almost tasted more "green" if you can believe it. Now the green could have been rind, but it was hard to tell. Also, I didn't get a lot of "sour" which continued the mystery OF this flavor. Because it was subdued, I couldn't see this carrying the main freight for a mango mix, but it could be supporter. At 0.8% it was still somewhat relaxed, and missing was a lot of the punchy orange notes I'd grown to love from Duomei's Yellow Mango. All in, a not very sour Mango, which was fairly relaxed, and almost had "green" notes to it, with possibly some rind. It felt fairly placed at a **6.0/10**.
**Sweet Mango (Duomei) 0.8% (6-16-23)** -- Having been blown away by Duomei's Yellow Mango, I DID want to see what was what with this one. Out of the gate, I could tell it was different than the aforementioned YM. This one presented as more of a mashup of a delicious juicy yellow peach AND a mango. It wasn't candied, but it was very much like peaches, and mangos in syrup, in a can (but without tasting LIKE a can). Now the exact split was hard to nail down, but it would be safe to call it "Canned Mangos in Syrup with Peaches", and I'd put it at 80% Mango /20% Peach. Duomei really captured the "in syrup" here with this one, as it had a lot of the sticky wet syrupy notes perfected. The mango was similar to the previously tested YM, and very juicy and ripe. While blowing through the 3 testers I was trying to decide if the peach notes were a plus or minus, and finally decided on a plus, as it worked well in this flavor. At 0.8% it tasted very full, and juicy, and didn't leave you wanting. About the only nit pick would be a slight dryness on the finish, but that would be about it. Juicy yellow peaches, and mango slices, canned in syrup, was JUST what you got with this one. Minor take-offs for the slight dryness on the finish only, and leaving it solidly at a **9.0/10**.
**Sweet Pineapple (Duomei) 0.8% (6-18-23)** -- I spent some extra time with this one, as it was problematic for me...I went soo far as to actually change my coils, and reduce, JUST to make sure it wasn't on my end. Starting out, it was a fairly bright, sweet Pineapple, with some good juicy-ness, BUT, it had an underlying slightly burnt note almost like you would get RIGHT before your cotton ran dry. Uh Oh. Changed my coils, same thing, increased AND reduced with the same effect (roughly 1.2%, down to 0.4%). I got an almost metallic undertone, which is what the "almost getting a dry hit" was most like. For the pineapple I DID get, it was good, with high and mid level notes, with some bright punch on the end, but the problem was, I couldn't shake the almost metalic, dry hit notes despite trying. Because of that, I'll have to rate this one down, AND, I encourage anyone else who DOES test this, to post up YOUR results. As it stood for my tastes, I would have to go down to **5.0/10** .......
**Thailand Lime (Duomei) 0.5%/1.0% (6-16-23)** -- Yes there are [many limes out there](https://leafyplace.com/types-of-limes/), with Persian being the most common in the US. This one presented as a lighter lime flavor with just below mid-level sweetness. No zest, and just SOME zing to it. Because it felt a little too relaxed, I doubled it to 1.0% and it increased in flavor by about 25%. Because the sweetness level was somewhat high it almost reminded me of more of a Lime Simple Syrup, minus some of the sweetener. It's not that it was too sweet, just that when increasing the flavor trying to get MO lime, I actually got SOME mo lime, but more sweetness. I did get some lime citrus oil notes but only just, and it did seem to lack some of the sharp/tart punch on the finish that would have really driven it home. It did present as fairly natural, and there were no off-notes to be found. All in, a sweeter, fairly relaxed lime, missing most of the tart punch on the finish. The takeoffs would be for the relaxed nature of the flavor, and somewhat high sweetener content, and it felt good at **6.9/10**.
**Vanilla Custard (Duomei) 0.8%/1.2% (6-18-23)** -- Finally getting to the VC from Duomei. Trying to decide or assume to decide what VC is right for every user is impossible. There were some similarities to TPA's VC II, but without a lot of the egg, and buttery richness. It was almost like a pairing of the VC II and a delicious Vanilla Pudding. I started out at 0.8% and it felt like it needed some more heat, and I upped it to 1.2% and it did fatten up somewhat. It never got eggy, or thick, but was still quite good. At times I almost got a bakery/graham undertone which just plain worked. Depending on your eggy needs, you would need to pair this with an "egg-er" to bolster that up, if not, leave it as is. It tasted like a cleaner VC if that makes sense, and for some, a richer, denser, heavier VC might be required. 3 testers later, I stlll enjoyed it, and I could see using this a lot, especially where a vanilla pudding/VC was needed, but not the heavy egg. No off-notes, and sweetness was about mid level, and I did prefer it @ 1.2%, and you could probably even go higher. My needs for VC's typically are SOME egg, rich, and buttery. This one got pretty close, and it felt like it needed JUST a push to run it solo with no ragrets. For my tastes, it felt like it was 75%-80% of the way there for me, and I'll leave it at **8.5/10**. Despite it not completely covering the VC bases, it was a great flavor, and 3 testers later, I was mixing up another bottle.
**Wild Blueberry (Duomei) 0.8% / 1.2% (6-21-23)** -- Was the LAST flavor in this series from Duomei going to go out with a BANG or a whimper ?? Well, we'll just see about that. I started testing this one @ 0.8%, and I did get SOME fresh blueberry with nice jammy undertones, but it was fairly relaxed, so I upped it to 1.2% and it stayed relatively where it was. The most noticeable increase was in the jammy udertones, but not really the main base berry. So, not the strongest one for sure. The blueberry that I did get didn't scream natural, and I think the jammy undertones left it feeling/tasting more artificial than not. Although it wasn't one dimensional, it's safe to call it a two dimensional BB. Some bright high end notes, some mid notes, but not much in the lower reigons, and I didn't get much if any (there was some) of the darker musky notes that really add to many BB's authenticity. The great news was there were no off-notes, florals, or soapy-ness. When comparing this one to heavy hitters like MF's BB, it seemed like it would need some help to get there. Mixed IN the jammy notes were some nice tart, that gave it a little punchy boost on the finish. All in, not stellar or a failure, but more of a semi natural BB with nice jammy undertones. Obviously YOUR tastes/needs dictate what YOU need out of a BB far better than I can. For my tastes, it felt good at a **7.0/10**.
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