In this Flavor Talk I talk about Strawberries...all of them. I give a detailed look into each flavor companies Strawberry offerings, what the flavor profiles are, the best pairings, best used concentrations, the difference between them all, and I let you know which ones I think are worthy of a spot in your stash. One of the most useful and indepth flavor talk's I've done so give it a look.
Quick Notes
TFA Strawberry (Ripe)
This is one of my favorite strawberries to use. It's a lighter, more backend, and calm, strawberry flavoring that doesn't sit too far in front. This means it works great with creams, bakeries, vanilla's, and anything with a nice thick base. The best way to explain the flavor is that it turns any recipe you're creating into a "pink" flavor. It doesn't hold much actual strawberry flavor, but it does lend it's strawberry sweetness and properties. Best used at 3% on the low and 6-10% on the high. Anything more and you run the risk of over-Maltol'ing everything (yes I just made that word up). This is THE most versatile flavoring you can purchase and a must buy.
MUST BUY
TFA Strawberry
This is one of TFA's most popular flavorings and definitely one of the most popular flavors in DIY mixing. Usually the first ingredient newbs purchase when they get into DIY. The flavor is a much more upfront than Ripe, though not compared to some other strawberries. It's a more authentic version of TFA ripe with almost Jammy like qualities and an earthy note to further push it's authenticity. It's as if it's a real strawberry tossed in white sugar. It's sweet, complex, and a definite buy. Great at 6-10%, wouldn't use too low unless pairing with other strawberries.
MUST BUY
FA Strawberry
FA's Strawberry is definitely a tasty one. It's very similar to TFA Strawberry where it's a mid range flavor landing on the mid-back, and also contains that slight earthy note. So it's definitely a more realistic strawberry. Though it doesn't quite have the same boldness that TFA has. Definitely a great strawberry flavoring, though if you already have TFA Strawberry, I wouldn't really think it's necessary to buy. Best used at 3%, anything lower and it's much too weak. Anything higher and you start to mute
PASS
CAP Sweet Strawberry
This is another one of those flavors that EVERY mixer first purchases. It's used in a ton of recipes and as it should. It's a much more artificial strawberry compared to the previous ones, but that's not in a bad way at all. One of my favorite ingredients, it tastes much like a sweet strawberry syrup, great for making strawberry and creams with a more candy flavor. Unlike the others, this flavoring sits much more up front, meaning it's great to use as a topping. Only issue with this flavoring seems that it dies off often, so using it at 6-12% isn't out of the question. But if you can use other strawberries to lift it and you get the balance right, it's a must buy. Well unless you have JF's strawberry
BUY (unless you have JF Strawberry)
FLV Strawberry
This strawberry flavoring is quite odd. In the video I explain the flavor by saying it's a combination of every strawberry flavoring that's out there. I guarantee you'll be surprised of it's flavor. It's odd. Another one of those "pink" flavors like TFA ripe. It also has this "chewy" quality to it, like a starbust...kinda. I just find this ingredient a little too hard to mix with to recommend, much like a lot of FLV's offerings. Also use this stuff low. 1% and increase to taste.
PASS
INW Shisha Strawberry
This strawberry is very interesting. It's a bold full flavor strawberry with emphasis on the natural strawberry flavor. What's great about this strawberry is that it's quite potent, and does contain more sweetness than the other "natural" strawberries. Though it's almost a bit too natural. It's as if they added too much of the white core of a strawberry, which makes it a little more restricting. Good at 3-5% though you can get by with TFA's with better results.
PASS
MF Strawberry
If you've used MF before than you kind of know what to expect. This is definitely the most authentic strawberry on the list, but that's too it's disadvantage. It tastes very much like an authentic, un-ripe, strawberry which makes this flavoring very restricting. Also it's quite strong and should only be used at 1%. Unless you need a very real strawberry flavor, pass on this.
PASS
JF Strawberry Sweet
One of the newest flavorings on the list, this stuff literally just came out. It's an excellent candy strawberry syrup flavor that works great in any strawberry situation. One issue I have with it is that it is a little too artificial, bringing out a bit of this "bubble-gum" flavor. But that's nothing a touch of another strawberry can't fix. I've been having a blast using this, and I consider it a CAP SweetStraw killer. Reason being, it doesn't die out and stays strong throughout any recipe. Check out this recipe here using this flavoring as apart of its main profile. The bottle says 1%, I say 3-4%.
