Thanks, Stosh... I may give the vanilla bourbon a try and see how it tastes... I'll have to order the Kentucky Bourbon.... LOVE your description of that, by the way!!
The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread
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When I drank, I never liked bourbon, too sickly sweet or something (I loved the hell out of scotch and tequila!); I always liked to spike my eggnog with brandy -- any recipes like that?
Andria
Andria
That's funny coming from the woman who mentioned putting sugar on everything haha.I never did like scotch,the few times i tried it,it tasted like rubbing alchohol to me.I've never had brandy,but isn't it a sort of sweet flavor?I may be thinking of something else,but i think i heard that before.
Thanks Bill, Kaezziel and Cliffy for the tips on sweeteners. I'll get some sweetener to go with my cotton candy when I get back from the holidays! Bill, your tips are what gave me my decision on what to buy to get started in DIY. There were a few flavors everyone seemed to be out of stock on when I ordered, like the vanilla bean gelato and ice cream, and a few others, but I tried to use your advise as a guideline. 
The next time I order, maybe I will be able to get those, plus sweetener, and I think I forgot to get vanillas. I don't think I would have ordered cotton candy or so many creams if it hadn't been for your advise!
Nope, I just checked, I did get quite a few vanillas, probably because Bill recommended them!
The next time I order, maybe I will be able to get those, plus sweetener, and I think I forgot to get vanillas. I don't think I would have ordered cotton candy or so many creams if it hadn't been for your advise!Nope, I just checked, I did get quite a few vanillas, probably because Bill recommended them!
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There's different kinds; some sweet, some not so much, some downright dry. Like wine, since that's what it's distilled from.
Bourbon's sweetness just icked me out; I could handle rum just fine; shots of it stayed where I put it, but with bourbon, everytime I ever took a shot of that, it wanted to come back out immediately. I liked scotch because it's not sweet, it's smoky. I liked tequila because it's like mexican cognac, really smooth if you get the good kind. But my liver decided that I had liked far too much of any of it, and it would be grateful if I would quit so it could go on being a liver and not a die-er.
I thought that logic inarguable, so I let it have its way. The addict cells in my brain weren't happy about that decision at all, but they eventually got over it. Andria
Thanks Bill, Kaezziel and Cliffy for the tips on sweeteners. I'll get some sweetener to go with my cotton candy when I get back from the holidays! Bill, your tips are what gave me my decision on what to buy to get started in DIY. There were a few flavors everyone seemed to be out of stock on when I ordered, like the vanilla bean gelato and ice cream, and a few others, but I tried to use your advise as a guideline.
Nope, I just checked, I did get quite a few vanillas, probably because Bill recommended them!
Wonderful! Thank you! Mentioned before, but, as you'll find/or now know, adding the creams and vanillas and sweetener/cotton candy with most any primary will make great juice! They act as flavor enhancers to the primary and add a base mix that works wonderfully. For me, if I keep each at 6% or less, they don't dominate. For this reason, I do list those as the first flavors, so new mixers can get up and running with new juice, that they actually like, day one. With the higher percentages flavorings, you won't need steep time to make the mix, and then you're vaping your first mix, it's great, and you're hooked on DIY, as it should be! Thank you for sharing your experience with us!
I actually think in terms of percentages of flavorings in recipes before I mix anything up. I may start like this:
Vanilla Swirl - 2% - 6%
Sweet/Bavarian Cream - 2% - 6%
Sweetener/Cotton Candy - 2% - 5%
Primary - 7% - 15%
Many juices look a lot like this matrix. I always use 20 - 30% flavoring, 30% PG, 70% VG, VG nicotine (100 mg/ml diluted). This little recipe/formula will act as the start of almost all recipes where a sweet tooth result is desired, i.e., cakes, Danish, pie, creams, shakes, etc. It will tame strong flavorings (cherry), and enhance weak ones (lemon).
From that base, you could add graham cracker for a pie or Danish, add 1% (or less) cinnamon for pies, strudels, Danish, etc. Want to create three flavorings? Add strawberry or blueberry, or many others. My Cream fantastico adds both, as an example. When these tertiary flavorings are added at 2% - 3%, they enhance, and sometimes add a nuanced flavoring, as well. As you start to think about the possibilities, it just gets more and more exciting and interesting. Quickly, we realize that we CAN make great juice, at a tiny fraction of the cost. Suddenly, we have a new hobby, often times. If we vape to quit smoking, soon these possibilities strengthen our resolve, add just enough distraction/interest to reinforce our decisions, and before you know, we succeed. All happens so fast! Life is good!
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Somewhere along the way I discovered that if I took my three or four starting flavors, as mentioned above, opened all the bottles and then just smelled them all at once, I could begin to get an idea of the flavoring that would result. Suddenly I realized that I didn't always have to make a mix to get an idea of the taste, I could use the smell test.
Experiment with this idea. Open two flavorings and smell them separately, then one after the other, then at the same time. You get an idea about how they will work together, or whether they are compatible, or whether one will dominate the other. Clues to percentages often emerge. Some of the best juices have unusual pairings. Sometimes we wonder about how did those two flavorings end up in the same mix? Some, surely by our sense of smell. It's not a perfect process, but it is a start, and it can help. Good luck!
Experiment with this idea. Open two flavorings and smell them separately, then one after the other, then at the same time. You get an idea about how they will work together, or whether they are compatible, or whether one will dominate the other. Clues to percentages often emerge. Some of the best juices have unusual pairings. Sometimes we wonder about how did those two flavorings end up in the same mix? Some, surely by our sense of smell. It's not a perfect process, but it is a start, and it can help. Good luck!
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You can eliminate that Aspartame flavoring by adding 1-2% raspberry, or 2 - 5% strawberry to your mix. It's not always caused by the sweetener. Could be too much flavoring, without enhancers (creams/vanillas/Cotton candy/sweetener), or could be the flavoring which comes with a floral/chemical taste like grape. Try adding the 2% raspberry to the grape. It works like magic!
Ok, I've worked on that Strawberry recipe; now I call it "Strawberries and Cream" because that's what it tastes like.
You can see from the ml/drops columns how I tweaked it after my first trial of the basic recipe -- I increased the strawberry by 2%, the DX BC by 1%, and the X-Sweet/XX-Flash by 5%.
That sweet/flash is something I make up to add to my recipes, just because I like sweet, and I gotta have TH or I'm just not satisfied; I got Flash at ecigexpress.com, but I suppose it could be available at other ejuice-flavor vendors. It gives a bit of TH to ejuice that has little to none, and this strawberry seemed particularly lacking, which is why I add so much; that high percentage along with the WTA, is why the other flavors are such high percentages. If you don't add WTA or the sweet flash stuff, then just use about 3%-5% sweetener, and decrease the strawberry and DX BC by a percentage point or two, and perhaps halve the amounts of the custard and cream.
I think I'm pretty happy with this now; adding the flash made all the difference, to me. It's still not a lot of TH, but there's *some*, so I feel just a bit of tingle right on the inhale.
Andria
You can see from the ml/drops columns how I tweaked it after my first trial of the basic recipe -- I increased the strawberry by 2%, the DX BC by 1%, and the X-Sweet/XX-Flash by 5%.
That sweet/flash is something I make up to add to my recipes, just because I like sweet, and I gotta have TH or I'm just not satisfied; I got Flash at ecigexpress.com, but I suppose it could be available at other ejuice-flavor vendors. It gives a bit of TH to ejuice that has little to none, and this strawberry seemed particularly lacking, which is why I add so much; that high percentage along with the WTA, is why the other flavors are such high percentages. If you don't add WTA or the sweet flash stuff, then just use about 3%-5% sweetener, and decrease the strawberry and DX BC by a percentage point or two, and perhaps halve the amounts of the custard and cream.
I think I'm pretty happy with this now; adding the flash made all the difference, to me. It's still not a lot of TH, but there's *some*, so I feel just a bit of tingle right on the inhale.
Andria
Wonderful! Thank you! Mentioned before, but, as you'll find/or now know, adding the creams and vanillas and sweetener/cotton candy with most any primary will make great juice! They act as flavor enhancers to the primary and add a base mix that works wonderfully. For me, if I keep each at 6% or less, they don't dominate. For this reason, I do list those as the first flavors, so new mixers can get up and running with new juice, that they actually like, day one. With the higher percentages flavorings, you won't need steep time to make the mix, and then you're vaping your first mix, it's great, and you're hooked on DIY, as it should be! Thank you for sharing your experience with us!
I actually think in terms of percentages of flavorings in recipes before I mix anything up. I may start like this:
Vanilla Swirl - 2% - 6%
Sweet/Bavarian Cream - 2% - 6%
Sweetener/Cotton Candy - 2% - 5%
Primary - 7% - 15%
Many juices look a lot like this matrix. I always use 20 - 30% flavoring, 30% PG, 70% VG, VG nicotine (100 mg/ml diluted). This little recipe/formula will act as the start of almost all recipes where a sweet tooth result is desired, i.e., cakes, Danish, pie, creams, shakes, etc. It will tame strong flavorings (cherry), and enhance weak ones (lemon).
From that base, you could add graham cracker for a pie or Danish, add 1% (or less) cinnamon for pies, strudels, Danish, etc. Want to create three flavorings? Add strawberry or blueberry, or many others. My Cream fantastico adds both, as an example. When these tertiary flavorings are added at 2% - 3%, they enhance, and sometimes add a nuanced flavoring, as well. As you start to think about the possibilities, it just gets more and more exciting and interesting. Quickly, we realize that we CAN make great juice, at a tiny fraction of the cost. Suddenly, we have a new hobby, often times. If we vape to quit smoking, soon these possibilities strengthen our resolve, add just enough distraction/interest to reinforce our decisions, and before you know, we succeed. All happens so fast! Life is good!
Great advice as always Bill. I've played around with your custard a bit, adding other flavorings to it. I want to do the same with Cream Fantastico. (I think I was missing a few ingredients). I have an 84 year old mother I have to go tend out to every day, but I hope to do more DIYing after the holidays. At least experimenting with your recipes is giving me an idea how my flavorings work with other ingredients, and what percentages I like when using them. Maybe that will help me to come up with my own recipes.
We are leaving very early in the morning to go out to Rochester, NY to visit the grandchildren for Christmas, but I will be glad to get back after next weekend, and see what you are all up to. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season!!!
Hey baseballmom question for you!
I was just reading back thru the thread and was wondering how you made out or were making out with white chocolate? I love the flavor but so far have only used it in a DRY4 recipe - came out good but using it with Raspberry sounds really really good. Was wondering if you happened to come up with a recipe?
Or if anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it. I'm trying to think off the top of my head - the flavors I'm thinking might be good in a recipe are (NOT ALL OF THEM OBVIOUSLY LOL):
Raspberry
White Chocolate
Vanilla Swirl
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Whipped cream
Marshmallow
Bavarian Cream
French Vanilla
Sweet Cream
I guess I could go super simple and just make Raspberry, White Chocolate & Sweetener? Hmmm
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I was just reading back thru the thread and was wondering how you made out or were making out with white chocolate? I love the flavor but so far have only used it in a DRY4 recipe - came out good but using it with Raspberry sounds really really good. Was wondering if you happened to come up with a recipe?
Or if anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it. I'm trying to think off the top of my head - the flavors I'm thinking might be good in a recipe are (NOT ALL OF THEM OBVIOUSLY LOL):
Raspberry
White Chocolate
Vanilla Swirl
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Whipped cream
Marshmallow
Bavarian Cream
French Vanilla
Sweet Cream
I guess I could go super simple and just make Raspberry, White Chocolate & Sweetener? Hmmm
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G'mornin', Monica! Just throwin' my two cents in, but I'd add a little sweet cream to the super simple version...
I mixed a few raspberry/white chocolate blends but haven't gotten to them yet. But my peppermint bark came out very well once I added sweetener...
10% white chocolate
5% candy cane (this is a fw flavor)
1-2% sweetener
That one is really good, I used 5% different brands raspberry, cap, tfa sweet raspberry, fw rasberry in place of the candy cane...just to compare different raspberry flavors individually in this mix...tried my blueberries/vanilla swirl/whipped cream....came out not so good actually, revisiting and readjusting that one, don't think I'm fond of whipped cream flavor, any brand, but that is just me. So of course I think your idea of raspberry, white chocolate, sweetener sounds like a good idea
Let me know what %'s you try and if they work out well. I also have one with tfa juicy peach to try out too. I should have tried BlackBerry too...
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Just a heads up for those who order direct from tpa, noticed when prepping next order, the warehouse will be closed for the holidays from 12/20-1/4, notice is on home page in yellow
Made my order on 18th... It is international shipping so I might find mine in front of the door after new year....
Hope it come sooner though while I have plenty time to tinkering with flavors
Some things that go with white chocolate ( in the food world - perhaps transferable to the vape world)
Peach , strawberry , lime , passionfruit , peppermint , pear , cranberry , cherry , orange , pop corn , hazel nuts , ginger , vanilla, chestnuts , peanut butter ,
caviar , basil , caramel , salt , cashews , tea , coffee , olives ,
Don't forget vanilla. Hard to make chocolate without it. Plus, of course, those ingredients several others have mentioned.
Yum yum yum. I'm about to use the rest of my VG to mix up a few little 5ml batches. I think I can get 3 maybe 4 out of it.
Oh off topic - kinda- last week I noticed almost all the vendors had a gallon of vg for $25. I was gonna buy it from either MFS or somewhere else I can't remember but the shipping cost made my heart drop - another $25!
Soooooo for the heck of it I checked wizardlabs & they had it for $26.99 and of course if that's all I ordered the shipping would be just as high but instead I just went crazy and ordered $65 worth of stuff - most I didn't need. I only truly needed VG but hey this is the only thing that made sense LOL! I'm hoping to see the package in a few days seems they're running a bit behind.
I'll let you all know what I decided to make -- be back in a bit
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Oh off topic - kinda- last week I noticed almost all the vendors had a gallon of vg for $25. I was gonna buy it from either MFS or somewhere else I can't remember but the shipping cost made my heart drop - another $25!
Soooooo for the heck of it I checked wizardlabs & they had it for $26.99 and of course if that's all I ordered the shipping would be just as high but instead I just went crazy and ordered $65 worth of stuff - most I didn't need. I only truly needed VG but hey this is the only thing that made sense LOL! I'm hoping to see the package in a few days seems they're running a bit behind.
I'll let you all know what I decided to make -- be back in a bit
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I hear you, my dear!Yum yum yum. I'm about to use the rest of my VG to mix up a few little 5ml batches. I think I can get 3 maybe 4 out of it.
Oh off topic - kinda- last week I noticed almost all the vendors had a gallon of vg for $25. I was gonna buy it from either MFS or somewhere else I can't remember but the shipping cost made my heart drop - another $25!
Soooooo for the heck of it I checked wizardlabs & they had it for $26.99 and of course if that's all I ordered the shipping would be just as high but instead I just went crazy and ordered $65 worth of stuff - most I didn't need. I only truly needed VG but hey this is the only thing that made sense LOL! I'm hoping to see the package in a few days seems they're running a bit behind.
I'll let you all know what I decided to make -- be back in a bit
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I buy my VG in 5 gallon buckets for $50. Shipping is slightly more than that! In the long run, the larger quantities, with shipping, is still way cheaper. Getting setup is the hardest part of DIY, not finding and making great juice. If all we ever used was this single thread, you could make plenty of great juices. Glassware, syringes, flavorings, etc.......wow, they all add up. Once you do get setup, juice is only $.02 - .03 per milliliter, and then, you never look back. It's just getting there can take your breath away, as you mentioned.
You can buy USP grade VG and PG locally. Walmart and CVS, among many others, have it. The quantities are small though, so unit pricing is quite high. I've done it in an emergency......once. Good luck!
Yep LMAO - I almost had a heart attack. I figure a gallon will last ME awhile. Having to pick up like 10-15 samples of flavorings was kinda fun.
Next order will be to Tfa bulk. My account is ready to go just waiting till after xmas to stay stocking up a little at a time.
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Next order will be to Tfa bulk. My account is ready to go just waiting till after xmas to stay stocking up a little at a time.
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A gallon is 3.785 liters. Lets make it 4 for simple math. 4000 ml makes 400 - 10ml bottles. If I vape 10ml a day (that's a lot for most people) it would last 400 days, over a year. A liter of 60mg/ml nic in vg and 4 liters of vg mixed would give me about 1000 days of unflavored liquid at 5ml a day.
Think before you buy too much. If you mix for a lot of people, then YMMV.
Think before you buy too much. If you mix for a lot of people, then YMMV.
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