Flavor West DIY flavor review

[gtseng]

Friends, the comments on Flavor West (FW) flavors in ECF is fragmented. I think it might be a good idea to start a thred dedicated to Flavor West DIY flavoring.

In general, Flavor West flavoring is generally considered not as concentrated as the other brands, and that's probably why it is not as popular. However, it's flavoring, so the flavor itself is the most important. When you do DIY, you are saving a lot already, so cost is not a big concern.

Flavor West flavoring is available from multiple sources such as Mt. Baker Vapor, eCigExpress.com, onestopdiyshop.com and quite a few others. You can also buy directly from Flavorwest.com.

Quite a few vendors are using Flavorwest to make their commercial juices. So, there is definitely potential for us DIYers to take advantage of Flavorwest. Hopefully we can pool our resources here. Example being Mt. Baker Vapor, they had pretty good success with its juice business which use FW flavors.Even some of the single-flavor juices they sold are very popular! So, you just have to buy the corresponding flavor concentrate and figure out the percentage, then you can duplicate their juices.

So, let's share your FW reviews and recipes here!

 

[gtseng]

Cinnamon Roll -- 5/5 25% for 50/50 PG/VG
Thug juice -- 5/5 25% for 50/50 PG/VG
Banana Gone Nuts -- 3/5 25% for 50/50 PG/VG
Butterscotch Tobacco -- 3/5 25% for 50/50 PG/VG

I am waiting for 20+ more flavor to arrive. Will review once I got them.

 

[Marredding]

I just started using FW through Mount Baker Vapor. I like the 15ml bottles so I don't have to commit to larger amounts until I know what I like. So far I have mixed ecto cooler, Thug Juice, jungle juice, peach, watermelon and Vanilla Butternut and various fruit flavors. peach is very good bynyhe way. i usually mix at about 25% 50/50. Seems less than 25% is pretty tasteless. I am trying to recreate MBV Berry Creamy without success. Any suggestions which cream flavor to use to mix with berry and fruit. I have sweet cream AMD whipped cream flavorings. Any ideas?

 

[crackberry]

I just put in a big order for these flavors from mtbaker. I ordered the following:

Blackberry ?
Menthol 3/5 (really strong menthol aftertaste for me, kind of sticks in your mouth)
Banana 4/5 (kind of candyish mixed with a nice fresh banana)
Peach 3/5
Pear ?
Spearmint 4/5
Wintergreen 5/5
Red Licorice 4/5 (really true to the name, makes me slightly asthmatic though for some reason)
Extreme Ice 5/5 (awesome menthol with a slightly sweet minty flavor)
Cucumber Mint ?

I've tried nearly all of these flavors already in the form of premixed juice from mtbaker so I'll include my ratings. Now it's just a matter of finding the right percentages and then making some giant batches of extreme ice... I've heard that extreme ice works well at around 15%, not too sure about the others.

 

[DuaneNeveu]

I have 19 selections from Flavor West in my e-Juice pantry, and I also found it difficult to source any solid guidelines for use like the ones LorAnn and TPA enjoy in these forums. I've still managed to come up with the following rule of thumb for myself, although there are certainly exceptions:

Fruit / Bakery / Beverage Flavours: 7% to 14%
Tobacco / Seed / Bean / Flowering Plant Flavours: 4% or less

In the interest of full disclosure, most of these flavours were tasted using a Vivi Nova or an IGO-L and all at 70% PG / 30% VG. I acquired these from CanVape. This is according to my taste, and may not hold true for anyone else. For your consideration, however, here are the percentages used in some of my experiments so far:

Black Licorice | 5% | 4/5 | Surprisingly enjoyable given my aversion to manufactured anise rather than the actual thing, and any more would most certainly be overpowering. If used in a mix, I suspect more than 2% would just ruin everything.

Butter Rum | 10% | 3/5 | Doesn't need sweetening, and can be used as a mixer at lesser percentages.

Butterscotch | 10% | 5/5 | Slightly strong at 10%, and could perhaps benefit from using less with the addition of a Vanilla or Bavarian Cream making up the difference to represent this flavour more accurately.

Cake (Yellow) | 7% | 1/5 | This flavour has me believing that my perception of Yellow Cake is erroneous, and it must be some kind of American treat I've never eaten. The yellow cake I know from childhood tasted nothing like this! This tastes like some horrible confection flavoured with cinnamon candy. Some may love it, but it'll likely just collect dust in my pantry.

Coffee | 4% | 1/5 | Another dust collector for me. Tried it at 8% first, and it reminded me of the scorched tar at the bottom of a coffee pot left on the burner for three days. It may have potential as a mixer at very low percentages, but alone there's no redemption.

Cream Soda | 12% | 4/5 | Delicious, but not exactly cream soda in my opinion. This will definitely need some mixing partners to be a true representation of the drink.

Dr. Pepper | 12% | 5/5 | Again, I like this very much, but it's not an exact representation of the beverage. I'm looking forward to playing around with this one some more.

Honeywood Tobacco | ? % | NEW, NOT TRIED YET, the smell does have me worried.

Irish Cream | 10% | 5/5 | It's not Bailey's folks, although tasty, and a must have as a component of one of my "all day vapes"!

Kahlua | 13% | 4/5 | Tasty, and potentially useful in a homemade cappuccino concoction.

Key Lime | 7% | 4/5 | A refreshing change in the vaping day, and can be very useful as part of a more involved recipe.

Macadamia Nut | ? % | NEW, NOT TRIED YET, the smell does have me excited.

Maple Rum Tobacco | ? % | NEW, NOT TRIED YET, the smell does have me excited.

Margarita | 9% | 3/5 | It's nice alone, but plays well with a little bit of fruit.

Mojito | 10% | 4/5 | To my palate, this one's balanced nicely all by itself, but there's no reason you couldn't let this mingle with fruit too.

Strawberry | 13% | 5/5 | The solid throat hit took me by surprise, and though I wouldn't consider it exact, I think it's reminiscent of the fruit without any sweetener.

Tangerine | 11% | 4/5 | Fairly good representation, and generally spoiled by sweetener like the Strawberry flavour tends to be.

USA Blend | 2% | 3/5 | At 3% it took over the house and generated complaints, although the vape was fairly enjoyable to me. It stands to note that it was somewhat herbaceous.

Vanilla Custard | ? % | NEW, NOT TRIED YET, the nose has buttery notes, but some floral undertones too. We'll see...


So, that's what I've got. I look forward to more from others as some of these are great flavours in my opinion, and I'd love to have a spot to reference more that I haven't tried!

 

[DuaneNeveu]

I have found a lot of posts from folks announcing their use of FW at 20% or more. I'm not sure if the vendor I buy from gets a concentrated version or something, but some of these would absolutely blow my head off if I used them at anywhere near 20%, let alone higher!

 

[gtseng]

Duane: What is the PG/VG ratio you use?

 

[gtseng]

I pretty much give up on FW's tobacco flavors after tried their USA mix and Maple Rum Tobacco in the past. I do think they have good fruit and desert flavors though. I think their alcohol beverages are also good.
I am pretty happy with my various tobacco juices made from VZ SC tobacco, hopefully, I can come up with some good FW desert and fruit juice to mix with my VZ tobacco!

 

[DuaneNeveu]

Duane: What is the PG/VG ratio you use?

Oh yeah...FORGOT!

Those were ALL tested at 70% PG / 30% VG.

 

[gtseng]

Where did you get your FW? I got mine from Mt. Baker Vapor and from High Desert Vapor

Oh yeah...FORGOT!

Those were ALL tested at 70% PG / 30% VG.

 

[DuaneNeveu]

I got them all from CanVape.

 

[gtseng]

I remember I throw away the USA mix long time ago. Maple Rum, I am using it a few drops at a time to add to other mix....

This is the order I am waiting for (19 flavors):
Absinthe
Bavarian Cream
Black Cherry
Butterscotch
Cake (Yellow)
Caramel Candy
Double Dutch
Dutch Apple Pie
Ecto Cooler
Extreme Ice
Madagascar Vanilla
Menthol
Pie Crust
Pineapple Peach
Sassafras
Spearmint
Strawberry
Swedish Fish
Wintergreen

 

[DuaneNeveu]

I remember I throw away the USA mix long time ago. Maple Rum, I am using it a few drops at a time to add to other mix....

This is the order I am waiting for (19 flavors):
Absinthe
Bavarian Cream
Black Cherry
Butterscotch
Cake (Yellow)
Caramel Candy
Double Dutch
Dutch Apple Pie
Ecto Cooler
Extreme Ice
Madagascar Vanilla
Menthol
Pie Crust
Pineapple Peach
Sassafras
Spearmint
Strawberry
Swedish Fish
Wintergreen

I can't wait to hear about those!

I kinda liked the USA Blend, and I tend to think that I might be able to come up with a recipe that'll help it shine a little brighter. How percentage of that and the Maple Rum Tobacco did you use?

 

[eikon]

all i've tried so far is

Orange (~5%) 4.5/5 very true flavor. Shake well.

I am planning a fairly large order of samples from diyjuice (FW's Sampler site, 7.5ml for $2.75). http://flavorwest.com/ is there main site, great prices, but large bottles.

 

[solardrgn]

i just got my order from FW today and was actually about to post. i order 18 flavors and tried 2 so far, strawberry and gummi bear. i mixed them both at 15%(each) and both were very florally... any help?

 

[gtseng]

Just looked at my notebook, I used 5% back then. And I have tried dilute it down and tried adding menthol to it, just can't get rid of the nasty smell (to me), so it ended up in the trash can. Maple Rum, I only use it to add to other flavor.

I can't wait to hear about those!

I kinda liked the USA Blend, and I tend to think that I might be able to come up with a recipe that'll help it shine a little brighter. How percentage of that and the Maple Rum Tobacco did you use?

 

[DuaneNeveu]

i just got my order from FW today and was actually about to post. i order 18 flavors and tried 2 so far, strawberry and gummi bear. i mixed them both at 15%(each) and both were very florally... any help?

As it happens, I'm vaping Strawberry right now, at 14%, with 1% EM, and it's dee-licious! I'm detecting no floral notes at all, but YMMV.

 

[gtseng]

i just got my order from FW today and was actually about to post. i order 18 flavors and tried 2 so far, strawberry and gummi bear. i mixed them both at 15%(each) and both were very florally... any help?

I know it takes steeping. Mt. Baker Vapor use FW to make their juice, and if you read perple's review, most of the juices they sell require steeping for a couple weeks at least. And it tends to be weak on the flavor, so people have been ordering extra flavor shot (some even go as high as 5 extra).

I started out my mix at 20% with 50/50 PG/VG, then upped it to 25% now. I am going to give it a few days before I will dip again. However, the smell is great as is, it's the weak taste that needs to be addressed.

Price at flavorwest.com is great. 120 ml for <$8. The shipping can easily top $10 though. That's why they setup diyjuice.com so people can buy at smaller quantity to try.

The cinnamon roll is great. If I found a few more I like very much, I am going to order from the company directly.

 

[gtseng]

Must be your high PG ratio! Maybe I will try a small batch at higher PG and see.

As it happens, I'm vaping Strawberry right now, at 14%, with 1% EM, and it's dee-licious! I'm detecting no floral notes at all, but YMMV.

 

[DuaneNeveu]

Must be your high PG ratio! Maybe I will try a small batch at higher PG and see.

...and I am definitely going to try some of these at 50/50 and see what comes of it.