**Chocolate Hazelnut (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-10-24)** -- Having recently tested NomNomz Roasted Hazelnut and loving it, wanted to see what was going on with this one. Now, I did get some of it in here, but not all of it, and probably because of the pairing with the Chocolate. It tasted like 50% Hazelnut, and 50% Nuts, so the tempering came at a cost. The chocolate tasted almost like a mashup of NomNomz Milk, and Dark Chocolates, which leaned towards the MC. At 1.5% it was nicely strong, and a few ticks below mid-level sweet. No off-notes, and/or out of place. I think my only "want" would have been, you guessed it, MO HazelnutZ. Now, this may not be everyone's perception, but for my tastes, I would have liked the Hazel just a bit higher. As it stood however, no dryness, bitterness, and much of the earthy, darker tones from the Hazel managed to pull through, despite the choco pairing. All in, a good showing, but needed just a bit more Hazelnut. I struggled to score this one, marking down solely for the light(er) Hazelnut, but finally decided on an
**8.95/10**.
**Chocolate (Milk) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (2-27-24)** -- Despite some confusion, this is not a Chocolate Milk, but a Milk Chocolate, ...... kinda. First the good, there were NONE of the somewhat typical rubber bands or band aids in this one, and that's always a plus. It was very clear in the tester, and didn't seem to gunk, so more plusses. BUT, it was only a "so-so" Chocolate, and not very "Milk" Chocolately to my tastes. It was more of a mid to almost dark chocolate with a FEW lighter choco notes, but missing was much of the creamy, dare I say "milky" tones that typically fatten, and smooth-en up MC's. There was a very slight amount of creamy-ness, but only very slight. It literally teetered on JUST almost having some bitterness, but not quite, and there was a somewhat dry, almost astringent finish to it. It seemed to be a combo of a natural and artifical choco, and actually wasn't bad as a chocolate, but I don't think it sold the "Milk Chocolate" very well. I know I could EASILY fix it, with some cream, and bavarian cream. Sweetness was quite a bit lower than mid-level, and off-notes would be limited to the aforementioned somewhat dry, astringent finish. It actually wasn't a terrible chocolate, and I've used far worse, but expecting to roll right out onto Milk Chocolate goodness with this one, would take a little help. I finalized this one at a
**6.5/10**.
**Chocolate (White) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-13-24)** -- Took a little extra time with this smooth one, just to make sure. Just in case not everyone knows
what White Chocolate really is, it's not even really chocolate !!!! I have had some very bad, chalky White Chocos before, and thankfully this one wasn't one OF them. This is probably one of the BETTER ones I've tested. Even with that, it wasn't a spot on replication, but it got further than most others. The cocoa butter was actually very accurate, creamy, smooth, and delicious. Now despite not having ever tasted explicit
Milk Solids, suffice it to say, they were IN here. They clearly added to the creamy, smoothness of this flavor. Sweetness was surprisingly a few ticks below mid level, and I got NO off-notes.
Now, quite frankly, when dealing with White Choco's whether or not they completely hit the mark or not IS important, but the OFF-NOTES are what kills most of them. 3 testers later, I couldn't find any, and THAT, is a big damn deal, or at least in the world of WC's it is. Not quite velvety smooth, but very close TO it, IMO. I could think of a plethora of uses for this one from Chocolates, Deserts, Milk Shakes, Dairys and much, much more. At 1.5% it was fully present, and didn't feel, or taste lacking. I couldn't hope to quantify exactly what was missing, but it was close to hitting the mark. Very close to nailing it, AND, with NO off-notes, dryness, bitterness, nothing. Going to mark this one up a bit, for the complete lack of offensive off-notes, and leave it at a
**9.5/10**.
**Coffee (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% / 1.75% (2-11-24)** -- This one goes out to @Rocky02852. My first thoughts on this one were, "Yeah, I'd drink the HELL out of this one". In coffee form that is. Yes, this one tasted VERY real, authentic, and tasty. It wasn't a singular coffee, so nailing it down completely was fairly impossible, but a darker roasted coffee gets close. There were no light, or blonde coffee notes here, just mid-dark, and dark blended notes only. With that said, it was not bitter in any way, and stayed very authentic till the end. While dark, and rich, it was not an Espresso, but there were some light espresso-ish nuances in there too. Quite the complex coffee here folks. There were no overt dairy, milk, or cream elements that you could taste, but it tasted like it was tempered by some, but just a bit. Just enough to thicken it up a bit, and add just a touch of smoothness to it overall. Sweetness was well below mid-level, but there was a light bit of sweetness in there. It was SOO good at 1.5%, I decided to push it up, just a bit, and it DID get better, but it's safe to say as a solo, 1.5-1.75% would be the top end. No off-notes, nothing out of place, and literally nothing I would change, and/or complain about in this one. A VERY good, dark, roasted coffee medley with very light creameries, and slightly sweet is what this one was. It was so close to perfect for my tastes, it was scary hehe. Going to leave this one, just barely off of perfect, at a screaming high of
**9.9/10**. Be warned the lingering aftertaste, will only make you crave MORE !!!
**Coffee (Irish) (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-3-24)** -- If you've never tried a
"true" Irish Coffee, you should. It's only got 4 ingredients, and one HAS to be
Jameson's. Well it doesn't HAVE to be, but it SHOULD. All four ingredients were here, Dark Coffee, some Cream, Sugar, and Whiskey. The only thing I couldn't tell was if the sugar was brown or not, but I think it was. The coffee was bold, and centered around mid-dark/dark, with just enough sweetness to carry it, but not overload it, just enough creamery to take the acidic edge off, and a splash of whiskey. This flavor captured everything it needed to, and it was perfectly balanced. At 1.5% it was very full, and sweetness were just below mid-level, and I had no complaints, off-notes, or "wishes". Very tasty, simple yet complex, and very hard to let go of for the next flavor test. Struggling to find anything to nit-pick, I could only dredge for wishing for a HINT more of the Whiskey, but even that, was almost too minor to bring up. If you like Irish Coffee, this one's for you. Another JUST almost perfect, and leaving it at a
**9.9/10** as well.
**Cranberry (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-10-24)** -- Two things jumped out immediately with this one, the first was, there was some Cranberry in there, and the second was a musky-ness. It was almost like the true muskiness you get from authentic blueberry flavors, and I'm not sure if it helps, or hurts here. Once I tasted it, I couldn't stop tasting it. It wasn't off-putting, and you could probably work with it in a mix, but solo'ing it, it did distract from the Cranberry notes somewhat. The cranberry felt like it was maybe 50-60% of the way there, and it tasted stewed, not freshly picked. There was some sizzling tart-ness on the finish, but only a bit, and it was overshadowed by the sweetness. I wouldn't call it candied, but it was a tick above mid-level sweet, which helped keep it in the stewed camp. A bold flavor choice for sure, and I'm sure not easy to create. Overall, it could work in a mix, but it would need some help. The muskiness was present till the end, although somewhat recessed. This bold flavor felt good at a
**6.5/10**.
**Cream (SC) (Nomz) 1.5% (3-31-24) --** Wow, how exciting IS testing Dairies and Creams ?? Kinda lol. The thing that makes them hard, is that solo it's impossible to figure out exactly what they'll do in mixes. Mouthfeel, mouthfeel, mouthfeel is the name of the game with this one. It was somewhat bland as a solo, but with some light whole milk, and actual dairy cream notes, but LIGHT was the operative phrase. The creamy, dense mouthfeel however, was a force to be reckoned with. It was quite thick, and coated the palate, and it did it in a GOOD way. Very creamy (duh). At times I got light notes similar to TPA's DairyMilk but very light. Sweetness was there, but fairly low, and well below mid-level. I didn't detect any off-notes, sourness, etc. While it was somewhat lighter on actual flavor, it was flush with a rich creamy mouthfeel that would almost surely cream up mixes, soften sharp edges, and add a smoothness. An impressive showing, and about the only take-off would be the somewhat light flavor aspect, nothing else to complain about. Creamy, mouthfeel, with light whole milk, and dairy creamery notes was what this one was. Too much mouthfeel to take this one down much, and leaving it high at
**9.5/10.** Creamy Keeper.