So how did you guys like the Samples they offered? Any feedback yet?
I already had 50-60 well-used FA flavors and wanted to try some I was curious about. I've posted comments, reviews, recipes with FA flavors all over the place, but I'll tell you a few of my best FA hits and worst misses.
Coffee Espresso: plain at 2% or as a drop or two added to 5ml of something sweet flavors (for fancy coffee flavor), this is a strong, non-bitter, excellent coffee. Coffees are my #1 vape, and they almost all use this. For fancy coffee flavors, mix everything else first, then add a drop of Espresso at a time. Excellent.
Tiramisu: 2-3% if you like strong coffee flavor, or a drop here and there for a good shot of coffee, chocolate, and cake. This rightfully gets rave reviews. It's flavorful and I usually use it 1% or so as an ingredient in coffee-ish and bakery recipes. It's not a mild flavor in any way.
Cocoa: you taste this in Halo's Belgian Cocoa. I usually prefer this to FA's Chocolate. It's a strong one - 2% single-flavor is about too intense for me. It's like dark baking cocoa. I don't like it by itself, but it's my favorite additive for dark chocolate flavor. I usually mix it with sweet flavors, because it isn't sweet on its own.
Cream, Fresh: I don't know if a day has gone by in 6 months that I haven't used this in something. It's just cream - no sweetener, no vanilla. I usually add a drop or up to 2% to various other flavors to make them creamy, produce more vapor, or mellow out too-bold flavors. Of course it's in all my coffee recipes.
Cola: 3% of this with 1.5% Black Cherry makes the best Cherry Coke you'll ever vape. It even tastes carbonated - don't know how that works! It's very clear and vapes clean. I have had it in the same cartomizer for months with no need to clean it.
Peppermint: 3% as a standalone. True pure peppermint (no menthol or other flavors in here), not as sweet as candy canes, a little bit creamy in my opinion. I add Koolada to get a cool hit, about a drop per 2 ml of mix.
Spearmint: 3-4% standalone, True spearmint flavor, a little sweet (not creamy), also needs a little Koolada for me, which then tastes like Wrigley's Spearmint Gum. Mix 1.5% of this, 1.5% of Peppermint, and a little Koolada for perfect Wrigley's Doublemint gum.
Irish Cream: 3% standalone. Excellent in a coffee flavors, of course. This tastes and smells just like the liquor. It's the regular flavor, not mint or chocolate (which you can always add yourself). I add Fresh Cream, just like I do with the real thing.
Jamaican Rum: if you like rum, just get i! Try first around 2-3%. It's the flavor of dark rum. If you don't like rum, get it anyway and send it to me.
Apricot: 3% or so. Just like a fresh, ripe, juicy apricot. Great in bakery recipes, nice in Tiramisu, excellent in mixed-drink flavors and especially with a hint of Brandy. Perfect level of natural sweetness, and one of my favorite fruit flavors from FA or anyone else.
Hazelnut: The single most accurate nut flavor I've ever tried. It's like toasted hazelnuts, not bitter raw ones. Try 1%; it's exceptionally strong. Makes perfect Nutella when you combine with chocolate/cocoa.
Anise: I love it at under 1%. It's pure star anise flavor with the characteristic sweet flavor on the tongue. Flavor does not distort up to at least 5%, but really, try 1% first. Makes a great addition to chai, too.
Vanilla: I use all 3. Classic is sweetest, Bourbon is boldest, Tahiti is a little exotic. I personally like more than 3% on these, but start there anyway, because I'm in the minority on that. I'm not a standalone vanilla person, but I use these in lots of recipes. It's like having 3 different kinds of gourmet vanilla extract. They are not creamy or especially sweet, more like real extract, with no weird flavor notes mixed in. Indispensable in coffees, bakery recipes, candy flavors....
Butterscotch: about 2% for me. This is like that butterscotch syrup you pour over ice cream. Mmmm, sweet and flavorful. I use it much like I use Caramel, but this is a little sharper. If you like any kind of caramel vape, you should get this Butterscotch.
Caramel: 2-5% on this versatile one. I find a use for every caramel I have, and I have a bunch. This one is a bit less sweet than other brands, but still sweet, and one of the most useful. I use it as a sweetener, with choc, coffees, bakery flavors, etc. I think it tastes most like the ice-cream topping. It's not a hard-candy flavor and never tastes burnt or cracker-jacks-like as some others do.
Honey: try at 1%, maybe less. Perfect flavor of somewhat dark honey, very sweet. "Cook" with it
Nice with vanillas or tea. NOT floral or chemical tasting, though if you use too much, it's grossly sweet.
Kiwi: 3% single flavor is very strong to me, and I can use just 1%. Excellent ripe kiwi flavor anywhere in that range. Mixes with about any other fruit you have.
Cantaloupe: 2% for me. This is pure ripe cantaloupe, none of the 'green rind' flavor I get in other brands. Excellent flavor match.
Black Tea: I use about 2% as a single flavor. It's the best tea flavor I've ever vaped. It's plain black tea, no cream or sweetener, very accurate flavor. It vapes so clean you can run it in an atomizer forever without cleaning. Of course I add honey, cream, raspberry...that's my sweet tooth.
okay, I could go on and on with the ones I like. Here are my worst misses!
Green Tea: Considering how good Black Tea is, you'd think this would be okay - but it's not. Tastes like vaping garden soil, lol. Way too earthy for me, and most reviews seem to agree. (TFA's Green Tea is wayyy better)
Blackberry: single worst flavor I've ever encountered as a vaper. Is that harsh? It stunk like plastic even in the bottle, and it tasted revolting, even at 0.05%. It's supposedly very strong, so I started low. Could have been a "bad batch", but I've seen others say the same. I had to throw out my atomizer after a 2 day alcohol soak didn't get this out.
Oba-Oba: I'm really in the minority here, but I see nothing special about this marshmallow-vanilla flavor. To me, it's bland at anywhere 1-8%. Lots of others say this is an adv for them, I just don't get it.
Orange: To be fair it's tastier than other orange flavors I've tried, but I've never found a plain orange I really like. FA Mandarin is WAY more flavorful and juicy, and I use that one all the time.
Bergamot: I felt adventurous, but this is just vaping aromatherapy liquid. Bergamot is that distinctive sharp, floral orange flavor in Earl Gray tea. A tiny touch is good in anise, but this one mostly gathers dust for me. Maybe I shouldn't be so negative about this one, because it is a perfect match for Bergamot...if you like that stuff.
Hypnotic Myst: I pull this out now and then when I see people raving about how good it is. I don't see anything great about it. I can't place what flavors are in here, and that bugs me. It's definitely NOT the flavor of Hynotica the drink. The name might lead to believe it is. (By the way, TFA's Hpno is a super Hypnotica flavor, grapefruity and delicious, reminds me of Fresca.)
Cappuccino: It's just okay, 3-5%. I love my Starbucks-fancy-coffee flavors, and this is blah to me. It's not the same coffee as the Espresso flavor, it's not the same cream as Fresh Cream, and it isn't very sweet. I make my own capp with other FA flavors, and I prefer it to this. (I have a feeling this Cappuccino flavoring is more Italian-authentic than what I come up with.)
enough for now, I guess..
once we get 'em nailed down, they're gonna change if we mix 'em with other tobaccos? Big fat whine...WAAAAAH
