absinthe and anise fans - do you mix with other flavors?

[rkitek]

Now that sounds right up my alley! Here are my thoughts about making a vape version.

If it's biscotti-like, I'd start with FA Cookie. It makes perfect biscotti. Most of my biscotti recipes use about 1.5-2% of Cookie.

Although I use FA Apple Pie plus FA Cookie to get a great bakery/crust effect (the apple flavor vanishes when mixed with bolder flavors, but the crust from Apple Pie is perfection) - I wouldn't put any pie crust in this type of cookie. It's too rich and buttery.

If they include baked or toasted almonds, I'd use FA Marzipan or a combo of it and FA Almond. Marzipan is a more sophisticated flavor, much better than FA Almond in bakery vapes. It's also very sweet, so you wouldn't need to add sweeteners. I would avoid EM as a sweetener here - it would reduce the high notes in FA Anise. ew.

If you use FA Marzipan, and you want some vanilla, either FA Vanilla Classic or FA Vanilla Bourbon would go well with it - I prefer the deeper flavor of Vanilla Bourbon with Marzipan. I'd match the percentage on the two, maybe 1% Marzipan with 1% Vanilla Bourbon.

If using FA Cookie, I'd leaves out acetyl pyrazine. Those bakery notes are already in it.

FA Anise is perfect for your recipe, but you already knew that. I'd start with 1% for a first try, but if it needs a lot of anise flavor, don't be afraid of higher percentages. This flavoring stays true up to wildly-high percents, so suit your taste buds.

Sounds good - whip up a batch and see how it matches the cookies you're familiar with. I'd love to hear how it comes out!

Wow...thanks for the very helpful suggestions! Actually, I have very little experience with FA flavors...I recently bought some, but none of those you've recommended.

Also, I hadn't really considered the issues I might have with pie crust...it will be too rich/buttery; good call. Obviously, if you looked at the cookie recipe I linked, there is no almond or vanilla. However, I swear I detect some nuttiness; I was thinking Almond/AP might push that a little. If FA Cookie already has the bakery note, I'll omit the AP for the first go, but maybe try a version or two with TFA Brown Sugar to accentuate the baked cookie taste if it's needed.

I'm concerned the straight Marzipan will add too much sweetness and amaretto-like flavor, so I think I'll go with the combo with Almond like you suggested or maybe Hazelnut in 2 different ratios to start.

All that said, I think I'll launch with 4 pilots, omitting Pie Crust, Vanilla, AP, and EM:
Ravasani Test 1
2% FA Cookie
1% FA Anise
.5% FA Marzipan
0.25% FA Almond

Ravasani Test 2 (flip Almond and Marzipan percentages)
2% FA Cookie
1% FA Anise
.5% FA Almond
.25% FA Marzipan

Ravasani Test 3 (cut Cookie for some Brown Sugar)
1.5% FA Cookie
1% FA Anise
.5% TFA Brown Sugar Ex
.5% FA Marzipan
0.25% FA Almond

Ravasani Test 4 (cut Cookie for some Brown Sugar and flip Almond and Marzipan percentages)
1.5% FA Cookie
1% FA Anise
.5% TFA Brown Sugar Ex
.5% FA Almond
.25% FA Marzipan


Does this seem like a reasonable start? Looks like I need to place another FA order to get this recipe rolling!

 

[DemonCow]

Well I've used pure star anise for over a year, but I'm gonna order 30 mls of this FA anise y'all convinced me.

 

[HeadInClouds]

Does this seem like a reasonable start? Looks like I need to place another FA order to get this recipe rolling!

If you use Hazelnut, keep it very low; it's one of FA's strongest flavors. 0.25% would add plenty o' nuts, lol.

Try smelling the bottles of Marzipan and Almond before you mix any - might help you decide which is right for your cookies. Of the ones you list, Test 3 sounds tastiest to me, but I have no idea what those cookies are supposed to taste like.

 

[rkitek]

If you use Hazelnut, keep it very low; it's one of FA's strongest flavors. 0.25% would add plenty o' nuts, lol.

Try smelling the bottles of Marzipan and Almond before you mix any - might help you decide which is right for your cookies. Of the ones you list, Test 3 sounds tastiest to me, but I have no idea what those cookies are supposed to taste like.

Thanks again for the tips. I placed an order for all that I didn't have on hand, so I'll probably be mixing a week or so from now...I'll follow up later!

 

[AmandaD]

Drunkin Dunkin Cookie
2% Cookie (FA)
.5% Brown Sugar Extra (TFA)
2% Coconut (FA)
.5% Anise (FA)
2% Jamaican Rum (FA)
1% Vienna Cream (FA

Up the Anise Flavor if you like. Personally I don't care for it to be strong, just a touch of it is great for me.

Made this today and am vaping it now. It's sort of weird - hard to know exactly what I'm vaping LOL I could swear I tasted honey in it and had to double check the recipe, but it must be something else. It'll be interesting to see how it changes tomorrow!

 

[rkitek]

If you use Hazelnut, keep it very low; it's one of FA's strongest flavors. 0.25% would add plenty o' nuts, lol.

Try smelling the bottles of Marzipan and Almond before you mix any - might help you decide which is right for your cookies. Of the ones you list, Test 3 sounds tastiest to me, but I have no idea what those cookies are supposed to taste like.

Well, I've mixed all of these previously noted variations...right after mixing, the anise seemed to overpower everything, so I couldn't detect the subtle differences. I then put them in my UC to try to mellow everything out. They were in there for 6 hours at 15min on/30min off repeatedly, so it technically it ran for 2.5 hours, but it was warm the entire time. Finally, I let then cool and rest overnight. The anise flavor seems to be barely there now as are the other flavors. I think I'm going to have to retry this with the flavors bumped up some and with a slightly greater variance to detect any differences with my jacked-up taste buds. Thanks again for the help and look for more results coming later!

 

[Bryong70]

Made this today and am vaping it now. It's sort of weird - hard to know exactly what I'm vaping LOL I could swear I tasted honey in it and had to double check the recipe, but it must be something else. It'll be interesting to see how it changes tomorrow!

Yes it weird, but I actually enjoy it. Not as ADV tho.

My Apricoco has become one of my ADV recipes. I put about .5% FA Meringue in it sometimes to get a little sweeter vape.
Apricoco
3% Apricot (FA)
1.5% Coconut (FA)
.5% Anise (FA)

I find FA Anise to be very strong.

 

[HeadInClouds]

Well, I've mixed all of these previously noted variations...right after mixing, the anise seemed to overpower everything, so I couldn't detect the subtle differences. I then put them in my UC to try to mellow everything out. They were in there for 6 hours at 15min on/30min off repeatedly, so it technically it ran for 2.5 hours, but it was warm the entire time. Finally, I let then cool and rest overnight. The anise flavor seems to be barely there now as are the other flavors. I think I'm going to have to retry this with the flavors bumped up some and with a slightly greater variance to detect any differences with my jacked-up taste buds. Thanks again for the help and look for more results coming later!

Yes, Anise does lose its pep as a mix ages! It's true of all anise, absinthe, and licorice flavors I've tried. I am not a steeper, so it doesn't really affect me. I mix tiny batches and vape it all within a day or two, usually.

I don't like pulling out all the bottles to remix the flavorings every time. I measure flavorings only into their own bottle, which I label with the recipe name and "FLAVORING". I use it just like any other flavoring. If you do it this way, you can always have a fresh batch quickly...of course, you have to experiment to figure out your recipe in the first place, but might be helpful later.

Thanks for the update!