Brand/Flavor:
Romman Chocolate Strawberry
Methodology:
-20 hits (Eric), 10 (Caroline), and 5 (Andrew) over 30 minutes
-3 people in the circle
-40mm Golden centered on foil
-Ophelia filled with ice water
First Impressions:
Standard for Romman: juicy, slightly stemmy, and smelling delightfully of real strawberries dipped in chocolate. The smell is absolutely mouthwatering. Packaging was the typical new Romman design, black and red with a pictured depicting the flavor within.
Post Mortem:
Cooked (or "donezo", as Eric so eloquently put it). Very little moisture remaining. Again, typical for Romman shishas.
Pros:
-Thick, malleable smoke
-Significant buzz
Cons:
-Flavor was not strong AT ALL
-Buzz bordered on sickening (at least for Andrew, but then he smoked way too much anyway)
Andrew's Thoughts:
Smell: orgasmic. Taste: spectacularly disappointing. I really could barely taste anything, although what flavor I did notice was quite similar to the scent. Still, while the smoke itself was good, I would not personally purchase this again.
Eric's Thoughts:
This was a grade A disappointment in my book. Everything leading up to the smoke hitting my tongue led me to believe that this flavor would be absolutely incredible. And in the end, all I could come away with was a resounding "eh". The smoke was thick, as is typical with Romman tobacco, but the flavor, which we at first classified as "subtle" quickly turned to "weak" or "nonexistent". Perhaps it is due to the massive expectations I had going into this review, but I cannot now say that this flavor was in any way good. If you're looking for a smokable tobacco, you can certainly do a helluva lot worse than this, but if you're looking for a good flavor, you'd be far better off buying something else.
Peanut Gallery:
(Caroline) I was quite excited when we bought this one, and even more so when we opened it up: the smell is amazing--just like fresh strawberries in chocolate. However, once we started smoking, I was horribly disappointed. The flavor is anything but intense; merely a hint of strawberries and chocolate. Interesting, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
Conclusion:
Great smell and great smoke thickness. But these attributes do not make up for the almost entire lack of flavor. Its not the worst thing in the world, but there are many brands/flavors out there that significantly eclipse Romman Chocolate Strawberry ($5/50g). In the end, would not buy again.
B-
EDIT (4/13/09): We tried this again recently mixed with a little mint, and it was rather tasty. The mint wasn't even the dominant flavor, and it was a reasonably enjoyable smoking experience. This wasn't exactly a revolutionary mind-changing experience, but you might want to bear this in mind before writing this flavor off completely.
EDIT (5/1/09): Coco Naras help this flavor a lot, was able to really taste both chocolate and strawberry. Changing the grade from C+ to B-.
Romman Chocolate Strawberry
Methodology:
-20 hits (Eric), 10 (Caroline), and 5 (Andrew) over 30 minutes
-3 people in the circle
-40mm Golden centered on foil
-Ophelia filled with ice water
First Impressions:
Standard for Romman: juicy, slightly stemmy, and smelling delightfully of real strawberries dipped in chocolate. The smell is absolutely mouthwatering. Packaging was the typical new Romman design, black and red with a pictured depicting the flavor within.
Post Mortem:
Cooked (or "donezo", as Eric so eloquently put it). Very little moisture remaining. Again, typical for Romman shishas.
Pros:
-Thick, malleable smoke
-Significant buzz
Cons:
-Flavor was not strong AT ALL
-Buzz bordered on sickening (at least for Andrew, but then he smoked way too much anyway)
Andrew's Thoughts:
Smell: orgasmic. Taste: spectacularly disappointing. I really could barely taste anything, although what flavor I did notice was quite similar to the scent. Still, while the smoke itself was good, I would not personally purchase this again.
Eric's Thoughts:
This was a grade A disappointment in my book. Everything leading up to the smoke hitting my tongue led me to believe that this flavor would be absolutely incredible. And in the end, all I could come away with was a resounding "eh". The smoke was thick, as is typical with Romman tobacco, but the flavor, which we at first classified as "subtle" quickly turned to "weak" or "nonexistent". Perhaps it is due to the massive expectations I had going into this review, but I cannot now say that this flavor was in any way good. If you're looking for a smokable tobacco, you can certainly do a helluva lot worse than this, but if you're looking for a good flavor, you'd be far better off buying something else.
Peanut Gallery:
(Caroline) I was quite excited when we bought this one, and even more so when we opened it up: the smell is amazing--just like fresh strawberries in chocolate. However, once we started smoking, I was horribly disappointed. The flavor is anything but intense; merely a hint of strawberries and chocolate. Interesting, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
Conclusion:
Great smell and great smoke thickness. But these attributes do not make up for the almost entire lack of flavor. Its not the worst thing in the world, but there are many brands/flavors out there that significantly eclipse Romman Chocolate Strawberry ($5/50g). In the end, would not buy again.
B-
EDIT (4/13/09): We tried this again recently mixed with a little mint, and it was rather tasty. The mint wasn't even the dominant flavor, and it was a reasonably enjoyable smoking experience. This wasn't exactly a revolutionary mind-changing experience, but you might want to bear this in mind before writing this flavor off completely.
EDIT (5/1/09): Coco Naras help this flavor a lot, was able to really taste both chocolate and strawberry. Changing the grade from C+ to B-.
Damn, sounds disappointing. That sounded like the perfect type of shisha to hook in some girls we know to smoke with us when we get our hookah back next week, but until then I guess we'll have to settle for your previous recommendation.
ReplyDeleteIf I might add one suggestion, perhaps listing the retailer from which you purchased said tobacco might be useful to fellow enthusiasts. Just my $0.02.
An excellent suggestion, dear Brent. The Chocolate Strawberry Romman was purchased from http://www.hookah-shisha.com/
ReplyDeleteYou should really just re-review this. The beginning of the post says the 30mm gold or something but the grade given does not reflect that situation.
ReplyDelete-ovi
Well, we would, but we're lazy (also trying to get up the Berry Breeze and Cola reviews atm). Also, the only thing that changed was the flavor; the smoke thickness and buzz were identical. But yes, Ovi, I see your point :)
ReplyDeletehehe, spelled my name wrong
ReplyDeleteovi -> avi
Wow, really? :D
ReplyDelete