Purilum - Concentrate Reviews

Definitely following this one. Would love to know some of their flavour profiles.
 
PUR Caramel Coffee with Sweet Milk
Mixed at 7% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:
Being a bit of a coffee snob, I had high hopes in trying a new coffee concentrate in my search for coffee nirvana… Coffee is notoriously difficult to nail and many, many, many DIY enthusiast and flavor houses alike have tried and failed miserably…

This is satisfying medium roast coffee with caramel and sweet cream. The caramel is not overly sweet and delicately sweetens up the coffee just so. The cream/sweet milk adds a delicious creaminess without detracting from the star of the show = coffee.

After a week or so, the coffee settled nicely and announced itself proudly. This does not contain the astringent or overly bitter “fake” coffee taste often found in most coffee juices. After 4 weeks this is beautiful and can comfortably rank with the best coffee concentrates around! Some liken it to a Sarbucks type Frappuccino and that is probably the closest description. Perhaps a drop or four of WS23 and this will be a Frappuccino of note!

For a bit of indulgence, I added 2% CAP Vanilla Whipped cream to the base to boost the creaminess and introduce a hint of vanilla…Damn, this shite is tasty!!! If you fancy coffee vapes, this one is definitely for you!

Recommend to a friend: Yebo
Rating: 4.8/5
 
PUR Caramel Nilla Wafer with Milk

Mixed at 5% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:

I had no reference to the intended taste profile as Nilla Wafers is an American brand, not available locally and described as round, thin, vanilla flavored wafer-style cookies, typically dunked in milk.
I found a slight chocolaty note to this, almost cocoa like which detracted from the wafer IMHO. This tastes a bit like vanilla instant pudding - malted milk instead of fresh. The vanilla taste is there but rather Vanillin than “fresh” vanilla. The wafer aspect is lacking a bit for me and I could hardly detect it. This has a rich and creamy mouthfeel and very malty. This will work well with a bit of strawberry or raspberry or perhaps a bit of chocolate to boost the inherent chocolate note I picked up.

Recommend to a friend: Maybe
Rating: 2.5/5
 
PUR Pineapple Cake

Mixed at 6% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:
This is a nice dense upside down-type pineapple cake… The pineapple has a cooked, tinned pineapple vibe and settles nicely after 4 weeks but not as prominent as after 2 weeks. The cake is a familiar yellow cake nicely flavored with a hint of caramel and vanilla. There is a surprising creamy exhale which finishes this off very well. This is a very good base and can be enhanced with a touch more pineapple and whipped cream.

Recommend to a friend: Yebo
Rating: 4/5
 
PUR Condensed Milk

Mixed at 6% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:
Let me start by saying of you are looking for an authentic condensed milk ala Nestle, this is NOT it. This is more of a medium sweet thick cream - not condensed milk as you know it. This is not a bad thing, as this a fantastic flavor - just not condensed milk. The cream is thick but not excessively sweet as commonly associated with condensed milk.

This will wonderfully well in most desserts, custards, coffees, bakeries, cookies and cereals as a replacement for meringue or marshmallow.

Recommend to a friend:
Yebo
Rating: 4/5
 
PUR Watermelon
Mixed at 6% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:
If you are after a watermelon flavour, look no further!!! This is juicy slice of watermelon, slightly candied, without being “fake”. It has a more realistic texture than FA and has already taken LA straight on to dethrone it as the best watermelon around. This baby contains all the best bits of the watermelon with a bit of sugary goodness to make it shine - and then some. This can comfortable increased to 10% as a single flavour and work wonders in mixes at around 4%.

This was made for Tiger’s Blood and can absolute not be subbed. Period. Add a bit of WS23 and this is to die for!

Recommend to a friend: Yebo
Rating: 5/5
 
PUR Cheesecake Graham Crust
Mixed at 6% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:

This is a superb Graham crust and probably one of the best around IMHO. This has a strong Tennis biscuit vibe with settles after a good steep but still prominent. There is not a hell of lot of cheesecake in here - it taste more like crushed tennis biscuit bound with melted butter. This is beautifully light and creamy and is sure to kick some ass in the bakery category. As mentioned, the cheesecake is lacking and the addition of the PUR NY Cheesecake will make this a combo to be reckoned with!

Recommend to a friend: Yebo
Rating: 5/5
 
PUR NY Cheesecake
Mixed at 7% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:
OMG - move over CAP, your days are numbered son!!! After week one and two, this tasted like the PUR Graham Crust and I thought for a second that I mixed the two up! After week 4, this has come into its own and transformed into a fabulous rich, thick and creamy cheesecake - still with a hint of coconut, but far less in the foreground. It has a bit of a “tang” to it which boosts the overall experience and is definitely one of the best (if not the best) NY styled cheesecake flavors around. This has none of the baked/dry cheesecake flavors associated with the CAP version and blows it out of the water. This pairs amazingly with PUR Cheesecake Graham crust if you are into a coconut/tennis biscuit base vibe, topped with a bit of strawberry syrup!!!

Recommend to a friend: Yebo
Rating: 5/5
 
Thanks for the efforts @Rude Rudi
Very helpful indeed.

That coffee one sounds divine!
 
PUR Watermelon
Mixed at 6% in 70/30 VG/PG 0mg nic
Tested on a Goon RDA, 0.24 Ohms, 50W
Steep time: 4 weeks

Notes:
If you are after a watermelon flavour, look no further!!! This is juicy slice of watermelon, slightly candied, without being “fake”. It has a more realistic texture than FA and has already taken LA straight on to dethrone it as the best watermelon around. This baby contains all the best bits of the watermelon with a bit of sugary goodness to make it shine - and then some. This can comfortable increased to 10% as a single flavour and work wonders in mixes at around 4%.

This was made for Tiger’s Blood and can absolute not be subbed. Period. Add a bit of WS23 and this is to die for!

Recommend to a friend: Yebo
Rating: 5/5

Just had to have this after reading this mixed at 8% for single flavour 30ml did not make the week love this stuff. Awsome sweet watermelon not too subtle and just really good.
 
Just had to have this after reading this mixed at 8% for single flavour 30ml did not make the week love this stuff. Awsome sweet watermelon not too subtle and just really good.
Agree - I purchased a bottle and made up some of this https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/54099 with it last night, subb'ing the WS23 for Polar Blast. Tested immediately as a SNV and its really yummy.... gonna let it sit a couple days and try it again.
 
Agree - I purchased a bottle and made up some of this https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/54099 with it last night, subb'ing the WS23 for Polar Blast. Tested immediately as a SNV and its really yummy.... gonna let it sit a couple days and try it again.

Did you use Polar Blast at the same %



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No - I cut it down to 1%

I have not tried Polar Blast before and don't have WS-23 so wasn't sure of the comparative strengths of them so just decided to rather add less in case the Polar Blast was too strong.... that way I can always add a little more later if needed.
 
No - I cut it down to 1%

I have not tried Polar Blast before and don't have WS-23 so wasn't sure of the comparative strengths of them so just decided to rather add less in case the Polar Blast was too strong.... that way I can always add a little more later if needed.

Cool - keep us posted


Sent by iDad from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Cool - keep us posted


Sent by iDad from my iPhone using Tapatalk
@RenaldoRheeder I tried this for the first time last night and its very yummy. The levels of Polar Blast seem right for my palate but I see no reason why it can't be adjusted even further to suit your individual tastes, however I have not yet had enough experience with Koolada/Polar Blast to have any meaningful opinion on the matter, so take it with a pinch of salt.
 
First up, many thanks to @Richio of Blck Vapour for providing the PUR concentrates for the purposes of these reviews.

Intro: Purilum, American DIY vendor Nicotine River's in-house line of concentrates, has made quite a splash in the short time since the concentrate line was released. Early reviews were enthusiastic about the accuracy of a fruit line which features some unusual fruit mix combinations, and the tasty and easy appeal of several of the cream/dessert/bakery bases. Although the PUR flavours are at the TFA/FW 'budget' end of the spectrum, they are also not as potent as the higher priced lines like Inw, Flv, JF, HS and FA. They are also renowned as long steepers, sometimes needing up to a month for the full flavour to develop. However, in reviewing three of the PUR flavours, the brand attribute that struck me most is the observation that the names of PUR flavours often aren't an accurate description of the flavour. As will hopefully become apparent in my three reviews.

PUR Country Apple
Tested in the Hadaly, 0.6Ω Ni80 simple contact coil at 25W, Cotton Bacon v2 wick
Tested at 4, 6 and 8%

Sniff test: juicy but mellow apple, suggestive of a softer Golden Delicious variety

Flavour notes: initially this was called Fuji Apple, which is a misnomer as this flavour is not a facsimile of FA Fuji. Purilum changed the name to the generic Country Apple, which doesn't offer much indication of what to expect. The description "This is more of a golden baked Apple with deep undertones" cuts to the chase and highlights the appeal that this is one of the few apples (perhaps the only one?) that purports to be cooked. As apples are popular choices in bakery bases, it's an obvious market niche to fill. So does it succeed as a baked golden apple that will fit bakery and warm dessert profiles? The short answer is yes. It reacted in a linear way throughout the percentage range, giving a solid representation of an apple that has had the tartness cooked out of it, leaving a soft flesh that still retains some crispness, some 'bite' from the rind, and an appropriate shift towards sweetness on the sweet/tart scale. The problem with most apple flavours that stray from the crisp tartness of Granny Smith is that they turn to mellow apple juice. This one doesn't. It's not dry by any means but it features a solid fleshy body as the main texture. It's only at the very end of the exhale where the lingering sensation at the back of the throat is that you have just drunk a tablespoon of apple juice. I don't think it nails cooked apple perfectly and may need help from something like FA Liquid Amber. There is still enough crispness that it straddles the divide between a really soft golden fresh apple and a cooked apple. "Lightly cooked" is on the mark.

Off-notes: nada. I cannot imagine anybody finding anything off or out of place in this flavour.

Uses: I think this will be a very useful and versatile apple. It should form the bulk of many bakery apple profiles but could also be mixed with fresh apples to soften them, knock the astringent edge off and move them towards the golden end of the colour spectrum. As an accent, percentages couldl vary from 2-5% depending on where you want the balance to be. As a standalone, 6% was enough for me although you could push it as high as 8% if layering with heavy bakeries or dessert flavours. It's also not much of a steeper, give it a couple of days and it's good to go.

Recommend: absolutely. If you are into apple bakeries and cooked desserts, this fills a niche and is well worth picking up.
 
PUR Lemonade
Tested in the Hadaly, 0.6Ω Ni80 simple contact coil at 25W, Cotton Bacon v2 wick
Tested at 4, 6 and 8%

Sniff test: bright, sweet candy lemon, the type with a hard shell and softer chewy centre

Flavour notes: some have described this as instant lemonade made from a packet. While I agree with the instant part - there is little sign of zest, acidity or 'fresh squeezed' in this flavour - I didn't get lemonade from it either. My sniff test strongly suggested fluorescent yellow hard lemon candies with a chewy centre, and that's how it translates in vape form too. It eschews zingy authentic lemon astringency for mild, sweet candy. That is not a bad thing. There are several popular lemonade bases on the market already - FW, LA, the various Lemon Sicily flavours - so a lemon candy is fine. Happily there are none of the lemon-scented furniture polish notes that plague some other lemons. What little tartness there is occurs on the inhale, with sweetness taking over on the exhale. Sweetness level is appropriate without being cloying, just a faint sugar lips after the exhale, and it reads as juicy rather than wet. Overall it does what candies should do - put a smile on your face with its pleasant and mildly mouthwatering character.

Off-notes: not at moderate percentages. At 8% a slightly bitter note emerged on the exhale. But south of 8% there is nothing off or out of place.

Uses: while you could use this as a lemonade base, I think it fits best as a candy base. In particular, I see this being paired with blueberries and other berries to create candy chews. It could also serve to tame more astringent citrus flavours although that hard candy vibe is likely to show at most percentages and may not be the texture you want. 2-4% will work as an accent, I wouldn't go above 5-6% as a primary note.

Recommend: if you only occasionally mix lemonades and already have FW or LA Lemonade, this probably won't add much. But if you're into candies and want a mild, sweet, well-behaved lemon that will likely play well with others, this is well worth a go.
 
PUR Toasted Coconut Cheesecake
Tested in the Hadaly, 0.6Ω Ni80 simple contact coil at 25W, Cotton Bacon v2 wick
Tested at 4, 6 and 8%

Sniff test: golden baked cookie with coconut topping

Flavour notes: this one was interesting for me because there aren't many toasted coconuts. However, this flavour is again a misnomer for me. There is a disconnection between how the flavour smells and how it vapes. The aroma seems perfectly balanced between bakery and coconut. In the vape itself, the bakery is swamped by a toasted note that is very much front and centre. I don't get cheesecake tang or even Graham crust from this. Instead, the inhale is unsweetened coconut over a dense but unflavoured cream pie filling. The toasted note builds towards the end of the inhale, extending prominently into the first half of the exhale before finishing on that creamy coconut again. There is no lingering sweetness or sugar lips. The toasted note tends towards bitterness at higher percentages, not inappropriate for the profile but too prominent for my tastes. The coconut itself is not entirely convincing but it's not suntan lotion either so that is a plus.

Off-notes: there is nothing off as such, just that the balance seems out of whack. I was expecting a dense and rich cheesecake with a mild toasted accent, not a toasted primary note with subtle creaminess in the background.

Uses: this is going to be a tricky one for me. PUR may have done better by dropping the 'cheesecake' part and not positioning this as a one-shot. It's not a standalone flavour and, as the primary coconut, would require way too much tweaking to bully that toasted note to where I'd want it. But toasted coconuts are thin on the ground. With increasing percentages, the toasted note dials up more than the other elements. So I'd keep this low as very much the junior partner in a coconut combo, adding just 1-3% to infuse a toasted accent. At that level, not much of the cream and none of the bakery will register so those elements would need to be filled out with other concentrates.

Recommend: if you absolutely must have a toasted coconut, you're not exactly spoiled for choice so this may have to suffice. But it's not a plug and play flavour. Unless you're willing to experiment and tweak a lot to find its sweet spot, there are safer coconuts on the market.
 
PUR Toasted Coconut Cheesecake
Tested in the Hadaly, 0.6Ω Ni80 simple contact coil at 25W, Cotton Bacon v2 wick
Tested at 4, 6 and 8%

Sniff test: golden baked cookie with coconut topping

Flavour notes: this one was interesting for me because there aren't many toasted coconuts. However, this flavour is again a misnomer for me. There is a disconnection between how the flavour smells and how it vapes. The aroma seems perfectly balanced between bakery and coconut. In the vape itself, the bakery is swamped by a toasted note that is very much front and centre. I don't get cheesecake tang or even Graham crust from this. Instead, the inhale is unsweetened coconut over a dense but unflavoured cream pie filling. The toasted note builds towards the end of the inhale, extending prominently into the first half of the exhale before finishing on that creamy coconut again. There is no lingering sweetness or sugar lips. The toasted note tends towards bitterness at higher percentages, not inappropriate for the profile but too prominent for my tastes. The coconut itself is not entirely convincing but it's not suntan lotion either so that is a plus.

Off-notes: there is nothing off as such, just that the balance seems out of whack. I was expecting a dense and rich cheesecake with a mild toasted accent, not a toasted primary note with subtle creaminess in the background.

Uses: this is going to be a tricky one for me. PUR may have done better by dropping the 'cheesecake' part and not positioning this as a one-shot. It's not a standalone flavour and, as the primary coconut, would require way too much tweaking to bully that toasted note to where I'd want it. But toasted coconuts are thin on the ground. With increasing percentages, the toasted note dials up more than the other elements. So I'd keep this low as very much the junior partner in a coconut combo, adding just 1-3% to infuse a toasted accent. At that level, not much of the cream and none of the bakery will register so those elements would need to be filled out with other concentrates.

Recommend: if you absolutely must have a toasted coconut, you're not exactly spoiled for choice so this may have to suffice. But it's not a plug and play flavour. Unless you're willing to experiment and tweak a lot to find its sweet spot, there are safer coconuts on the market.

Love your notes on concentrates @RichJB
Makes me very excited and also nervous at the same time.
Legendary info there
 
Oh, I forgot a note on throat hit. I have heard anecdotes that PUR flavours can have quite harsh TH. I don't get any from them. But then, if I don't get TH from FA Passion Fruit, I'm unlikely to get it from anything.

I also tested at two weeks, by which point most flavours should have settled into their final form, particularly fruits. I have kept the Toasted Coconut Cheesecake tester and will try it again at three and four weeks to see if it changes. I will note any changes if applicable.
 
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As always, thanks to @Richio for the flavours to test.

PUR New York Cheesecake


Setup: Pulse 24, N80 Fused Claptons @ .24 ohms. 60w power. Full Cotton Wicks.

Testing: PUR New York Cheesecake@ 4%, 5%, 7%. 70/30 VG/PG, Steeped 16 days.

Initial SNV thoughts: Warm biscotti with a little bit of cheese on the other side of the room. Delicious though. I’m getting the ghost of coconut as others have noted.

Flavor Description: At 4% after 14 days, there was very little left of it. A sweetness there, but it’s become reticent with time. I struggled to find the cheese element. At 5 % still nothing. But once you get up to 7%, the cheesecake emerges. And it’s a fine cheesecake. Heavy mouthfeel, definitely tart cheese, but nothing off here. Big on the butter notes but well balanced.

Throat Hit: 2/10.

Uses: I think that it can easily sub for any of the other NY style cheesecakes, but at a higher percentage. I wouldn’t see if working at under 6% and 6-9% seems like the optimal range. I would reckon that 8% as a single flavour would give a pretty well rounded and ‘complete’ cheesecake. Because it only pops at higher percentages, I wouldn’t see it as adding much as a supporting actor to another cheesecake. Try mixing up your favourite cannoli with this as a substitute for the CAP version and I think the results will be great.

Overall: A really good, if expensive, cheesecake. For anyone that picks up the fermented feet off cheesecakes, this is the one for you.
 
PUR Watermelon

Setup: Pulse 24, N80 Fused Claptons @ .24 ohms. 60w power. Full Cotton Wicks.

Testing: PUR Watermelon @ 3%, 4%, 5%. 70/30 VG/PG, Steeped 19 days.

Initial SNV thoughts: The banana shaped sweets. Obviously going for a candy watermelon rather than an authentic one. Pleasant but it’s a candy flavour that is an abstract rendition of watermelon.

Flavour Description: What the hell does watermelon taste like anyhow? For me it’s more of a cold, wet texture than a taste per se. At 3, it’s a bit shy; at 4% is just there and not there which is a good thing for a recipe. At 5 it starts going full into the bright candy side of things. 4-6% seems about right depending on your inclination. Even then, it’s not anywhere as horrible as I find TFA Watermelon Candy. It’s also a watermelon flavour that carries with it a surprising element. In the middle of a recipe it peeks out and gives you a little of the watermelon rind which, I guess, is the proper taste of watermelon.

Throat Hit: 1/10.

Uses: FA Red Summer has always been my go-to for watermelon, but I think that PUR has a place along side. More candy-like, but I think the two would plot well together. That’s not saying it wouldn’t stand up to individual scrutiny. Go big at 6%, throw in another melon or a bright apple like FA Fiji as a support group and a dash of WS 23 and you would be good to go. I’m currently tinkering with a slightly tropical version with Strawberry Ripe, Strawberry Shisha, FA Coconut, a smidgen of CAP Golden Pineapple and WS 23. Early attempts are promising. I’ll post if I think it worthy.

Overall: A solid, enjoyable watermelon. Candy from 4% but a new friend nevertheless.
 
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