DIY Must-Have Staples

[JCinFLA]

@Necrospecter - There was a similar thread on here several months ago...where many posters listed what they considered to be "gotta have", or "couldn't do without", etc. flavorings. You might be able to find that one doing a search.

 

[Letitia]

Honestly I doubt we will ever know what all the ingredients are in our flavors. I don't worry about it. Nobody is dead, the cake batter dip was very popular so something should have popped up before the disclosure. If all the companies came clean we would probablybe stuck with unflavored.

 

[Letitia]

The VTA sugarcane is working well for people like me. It's handy to get here. Maybe the sweet mate will find it's way here as well.

 

[PJReid]

Honestly I doubt we will ever know what all the ingredients are in our flavors. I don't worry about it. Nobody is dead, the cake batter dip was very popular so something should have popped up before the disclosure. If all the companies came clean we would probablybe stuck with unflavored.

Agree for the most part, but vaping fructose just seems dumb. The diketones bother me much, much less but I would like to know if a flavor contains one of them.

 

[Sickbxy]

The flavors that I started ordering in
4oz bottles include;

• TFA Bavarian Cream
• CAP Sugar cookie
• TFA Strawberry Ripe
• TFA Strawberry
• PUR Sweet tobacco
• CAP Vanilla Ice Cream
• INW Shisha Strawberry

8oz bottles include;

• TFA Cheesecake Graham Crust
• INW Bisquit

List will grow as I mix more... CAP Sweet Mango, TFA vanilla swirl, FW yellow cake, and TFA Vanilla custard seems to be popular among friends too.

 

[Sickbxy]

Honestly I doubt we will ever know what all the ingredients are in our flavors. I don't worry about it. Nobody is dead, the cake batter dip was very popular so something should have popped up before the disclosure. If all the companies came clean we would probablybe stuck with unflavored.

LOL, I knew exactly what I was putting in my lungs with the stinkies; now that I am off of them, I am supposed to all care and ....?

 

[Letitia]

LOL, I knew exactly what I was putting in my lungs with the stinkies; now that I am off of them, I am supposed to all care and ....?

That is my mind set as well. I simply refuse to stress it. I love Pam but honestly how is fructose worse than inhaling sugar or stevia? Or caramels and creams? The list is endless.

 

[PJReid]

LOL, I knew exactly what I was putting in my lungs with the stinkies; now that I am off of them, I am supposed to all care and ....?

That is my mind set as well. I simply refuse to stress it. I love Pam but honestly how is fructose worse than inhaling sugar or stevia? Or caramels and creams? The list is endless.

I used to feel that way. No matter what we vape, it is safer than cigarette smoking. However, we are facing draconian measures by the FDA over the safety of flavors, aside from the strong belief that certain flavors attract the young. For that reason, I feel it is important to be aware of what we vape, and the safety of the ingredients. I honestly don't worry much about most diketones. Diacetyl and acetyl propionyl should be avoided. Why do you think Flavour Art North America has pulled their Premium Custard, Whipped Cream, Milk, and a couple of other flavors? They want to be on the right side of the FDA. As end consumers, we should have the same goals. While conclusive research hasn't been done over the long term, there is enough research to show there is potential harm from inhaling Diacetyl and acetyl propionyl. This is based on actual science, not popcorn lung propaganda. You all can look it up if you care to. In my opinion, and you all are most certainly entitled to your own opinions, the point of vaping is not "it's safer than cigarettes but still sort of dangerous." The point is "it's safe".

Tobacco companies are in trouble - Phillip Morris stock is tanking. The FDA wants to remove part of the nicotine from cigarettes, which is, of course, ridiculous and counterintuitive. The other components in cigarettes are the killers. We should make every effort to keep vaping as safe as we can possibly make it.

As for fructose, sugar syrup, and caramel color (I am looking at Flavor West specifically here), there is scientific evidence that inhaling these sugars is potentially harmful. It is very evident that flavorings containing fructose and sugars contribute to a large portion of the carbon buildup on coils, so if there is carbon there are some of the possible carcinogenic molecules likely to be being released into the aerosol as we vape. Enough to harm us? Maybe. Sucrose is not absorbed by the lung tissue, however, glucose and fructose are absorbed into the lung tissue. That is cause for concern to me.

To quote Jennifer Jarvis, a mixer I respect, "As most of us are ex-smokers we all tend to hate when someone tells us not to do something because it is bad for us. We tend to snub our noses up at it like it’s nonsense with an 'I do what I want' attitude. Sure, you can vape those liquids. You can mix with those flavorings. I’m not here to tell you not to do something you want to do, only here to tell you why you may want to consider not doing it of your own choice." I get that completely but make the choice to make my e-liquids from the safest possible ingredients.

This is not a lecture. You all can do exactly what you want to do. You are adults. At the very least, you aren't smoking and that is a plus. The is just an attempt to explain my position on certain flavors.

PS - We are a community that gives a lot of information out to newcomers and I do think we owe it to them to give them complete information so that their decisions can be informed decisions. We don't buy crappy batteries and rely on Mooch to test those for us. Let's give complete info on flavors as well. Informed adults can make their own decisions but they are coming to us for the information.

 

[Letitia]

Valid points Pam but that does not negate the fact that we truly do not know all of the ingredients. Just because I choose to not worry about such things does not mean I don't respect that you choose to be aware. So you are against fructose, do you use sweeteners and flavors that have sweeteners added? Honest question here. Your flavors do not suggest that you lump all sugars in the same category. Truth is sugar is sugar. You use brown sugar I know. Where do you draw the line?

 

[PJReid]

Valid points Pam but that does not negate the fact that we truly do not know all of the ingredients. Just because I choose to not worry about such things does not mean I don't respect that you choose to be aware. So you are against fructose, do you use sweeteners and flavors that have sweeteners added? Honest question here. Your flavors do not suggest that you lump all sugars in the same category. Truth is sugar is sugar. You use brown sugar I know. Where do you draw the line?

As I mentioned in my long reply, sucralose is not absorbed into lung tissue, as fructose is. Sucralose, Stevia, Erythritol, Xylitol, and Maltitol appear to be MUCH safer than fructose or sugar syrups. I currently use mostly CAP Super Sweet but am trying to get away from it and move towards Stevia. The .50% of CAP Super Sweet I put into some of my mixes is unlikely to be harmful but we don't really know. I am trying to learn as much as I can. A researcher looking to study something concerning e-cigarettes, the results of sugar present in the flavorings compared to non-sugared flavorings would be a great study to produce that would help the flavoring and vaping industry understand the safety levels of these components in the flavorings.

I don't avoid sweeteners but I do avoid fructose and sugar additives. I don't completely avoid diketones but do try to limit them in a recipe. I don't use any Brown Sugar flavorings in my e-liquids but those are artificially flavored and don't contain actual sugar. TFA Brown Sugar contains Acetoin and Acetyl Propionyl which wouldn't be a turn-off for me if I had a recipe that called for Brown Sugar flavor.

I recommend avoiding the FW flavors that contain fructose and other sugars (not referring to sucralose, stevia, etc.) but use other flavors with diketones and the like sparingly. I think we need to be aware and not just tell ourselves that it isn't something to be concerned about, but that's me. So, to answer your question, the only flavors I avoid are the ones from FW with natural sugars.

 

[Letitia]

Whether absorbed or not it is still in your lungs and leaves a residue. We are using components everyday in our vapes be it gear or flavors that were not meant to be used as we use them.

 

[Necrospecter]

Yes, I understand this has been attempted before I just really want to find the keys there are so many great mixes here yes I could go on sites we cant talk about here and read what lots of different people say about every flavor and company under the sun but I can not ask them questions about it.

Until this past week, I did not know that a very popular thing to have for people who like baked goods vape was cream cheese icing. I want to know things like that, there are so many flavors out there but not everything is vaped yes I know this comes back to personal taste but it still gives people an idea of things to look for I mean if I am ordering say strawberry and I have 50 of you telling me oh say FA strawberry is the best and Cap Strawberry tastes like an old dish rag that was pooped out by a dog, then I am going to give the FA a shot before I go for the CAP.

I understand this is also not an easy thing I am asking for but all I am asking is you to tell me the flavors and yes tell me why if you are so inclined to share, if it is ingredient concerns I would like to know if it is just due to flavor tell me I hope I can keep this going long enugh and find the common keys that will help me make the list that I would like to make and have it so if someone needs ideas on what to get for a first buy then it is there for them.

 

[PJReid]

Whether absorbed or not it is still in your lungs and leaves a residue. We are using components everyday in our vapes be it gear or flavors that were not meant to be used as we use them.

Indeed we do but I try very hard to continue to educate myself in order to be aware of the possible pitfalls. I haven't had a cigarette in nearly 5 years. I don't get bronchitis or pneumonia two or three times a year the way I used to. I like being healthy and if I can vape safely, so much the better. The more we know, the better off we are.

 

[PJReid]

@Necrospecter, what flavor profiles do you enjoy vaping? That would help in making recommendations on flavors you might need in your stash. The list I gave earlier is a list of flavors that I think belong in every stash but your needs might be quite different. Some are "necessary" in every stash, others are recipe specific. For example, I am a lemon fiend, so my list includes almost every lemon every made. I am also addicted to grapefruit and am chasing the perfect grapefruit vape. What do you like?

 

[PJReid]

@Necrospecter - I have to get to bed. The painter is coming early tomorrow. *yawn* One suggestion I wanted to make after rereading your last post is the idea of layering strawberries or making a stone (mixture) that you keep with your vape flavors and reach for that when you need strawberry. No one strawberry is complete but mixing them can give you what you like in strawberry flavor. The same is true of other fruits. You can and should do this with blueberry flavors, lemon flavors, etc. I have some great ones but since you mentioned strawberry, here rather perfect strawberry mix where each strawberry brings something different to make a whole flavor.

Strawberry Stone

• TFA Strawberry Ripe @ 3%
• INW Shisha Strawberry @ 2%
• FA Red Touch @ 0.5%

 

[Skunk!]

@Necrospecter My must haves are things that require a long steep time.
PUR Sweet Tobacco: flavor becomes very good at about a month.
DIYFS BlackJack: The one that got me off cigarettes. Needs a long steep. A lot of the background notes woke up after 2 months. Very dry tobacco though. Not sweet. You may not dig it.
This custard recipe Letitia gave me: INW Custard2%, INW Vanilla Classic2%, FA Fresh Cream 1%. It makes a very nice cream base for just about everything. That one needs about 2 weeks steep time and gets better after that.
TFA Strawberry Ripe, TFA Juicy Peach, **TFA Dragon Fruit**. TFA Plum Flavora Red Apple
I tend to mix mostly tobacco juices so most of the fruit I have is stuff that pairs well with them or for Dragon Blood which is another favorite.Also like maple and caramel for sweetening. They add richness as sell as sweetness. The ones I have are from DIYFS i am looking around for new ones ATM.

 

[FranC]

I tend to like Cheesecake mixes and I like cheesecake and graham across several flavor brands, TFA ,Cap and more recently I've found Purlium very good.

Also Wonder Flavors Roasted Pecan is a fantastic flavor. I don't think you could mix anything bad with it. Wonder Flavors Hazelnut and Cream and RF Aged Bourbon Cream are also outstanding flavors.

 

[smacuser]

Funny.

I went to my favorite flavor site and sorted all flavors by Best Selling. Everyone's must haves were stacked right in order .

 

[Necrospecter]

@PJReid thank you I did have never thought about making a stone mix, and strawberry was just a flavor I picked off the top of my head. I am really wanting this to be a thing that will fill all flavor profiles not just mine my flavor profile is like me very strange you can ask @Letitia I mean I am ordering the stuff so I can try and make a garlic bread vape I am all over the place custards, baked goods, fruit, and the NWTFYT (Necro What The You Thinking) reminds me I need to add butter to my shopping list.

I really am doing this for every flavor profile I am not into Tabaccos but @Skunk! has given me cool things to look at for people who are and I am enjoying seeing what made people land on that one over this one.

 

[Letitia]

Must haves for bakery/pastry
custards
pie crust, I like TFA
FA apple pie
creams, I like HS cream, RF SC aged bourbon cream, TFA greek yogurt
butter
butter cream, I like Cap
INW biscuit, *essential
Cap sugar cookie
hazelnut
graham
vanillas
cakes, I like JF yellow, WF angel
Cap lemon meringue pie v1, I always order v1 concentrates they taste better.

I don't use breads so someone else will have to chime in for those.