The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread

[FranC]

Capellas Vanilla Custard is good stuff.

 

[Mactavish]

The ones I posted above are what I think of as good "blenders", to help primary flavorings (ie. the fruit flavors, the dessert/pastry related flavors, etc.) along in a recipe. If you look for recipes that sound good to you...you'll probably notice that about 90% of them have at least 1 of those "blender" types in them. Many will also have some form of sweetener (like TFA Cotton Candy, Sweetener, Brown Sugar, etc.) in them. Some will also have additives (like TFA Sweet & Tart, Smooth, Sour, etc) that may put alittle "zing" in a recipe or smooth out alittle harshness in it.

So, I would suggest that before you order more flavorings ...look around & find some recipes that sound good to you, that you'd like to make. buy your flavorings needed to make those recipes then, instead of buying a bunch of flavorings because they just sound good, and then asking yourself when you get them..."OK, what can I make with these now?"

Good advice!

 

[clnire]

Capellas Vanilla Custard is good stuff.

And a good all around additive, not just for "custards".

 

[Ablonz]

So, I would suggest that before you order more flavorings ...look around & find some recipes that sound good to you, that you'd like to make. buy your flavorings needed to make those recipes then, instead of buying a bunch of flavorings because they just sound good, and then asking yourself when you get them..."OK, what can I make with these now?"

That is exactly what I did, have tons of flavoring with nothing to mix. I am sure I could find recipes but I like to fly out on a limb and when I get the bug to mix, I pick a new main flavor and then think what to mix with it. My last one was a Key Lime, Kiwi Double and Honeydew Melon mix. Started with mainly Key Lime taste but will see how it pans out with time.

 

[Simply Red]

That is exactly what I did, have tons of flavoring with nothing to mix. I am sure I could find recipes but I like to fly out on a limb and when I get the bug to mix, I pick a new main flavor and then think what to mix with it. My last one was a Key Lime, Kiwi Double and Honeydew Melon mix. Started with mainly Key Lime taste but will see how it pans out with time.

I found this site...

recipes

...very helpful when trying to figure out what to mix with a flavor that I have no idea what to to with. Just plug the flavor into the "search term" bar and, "vuah la". (did I spell that right??)

ETA: Ok. Link didn't work. " E-liquid-recipes . com "

 

[Mactavish]

ELR. Great site to join. Recipe calculator best online one I've found. Joined and donated. Keeps all your recipes.

 

[Cohumulone]

I am new too, but finally mixed a juice I can see myself vaping frequently. I tried it for a whole evening and it's still missing something. Its current iteration is 15% Berry Cereal and 5% Strawberry Ripe. I feel like it needs a bit of sweetness. I have read a little here and there about ethyl maltol (10%) and I'm curious about it. I understand this needs to be in small percentages, but what seems to be the consensus threshold?

 

[ShamrockPat]

ELR. Great site to join. Recipe calculator best online one I've found. Joined and donated. Keeps all your recipes.

You were asking about banana's and creams.

You could just try a mix of this from TFA

Banana Cream 4%
Ripe banana 1.5%

If that works for your banana, you could then start adding your creams, such as TFA's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream which is like a nice thick vanilla cream. I believe the best however is Capella's Vanilla Custard v1, which has diketones.

 

[englishmick]

Thanks, it's a start. I called NN, not sure about older issues they may have had in the past regarding customer service, but since my first order, they have been GREAT! Nine out of ten times they actually answer a phone call. They are sending me a new bottle of the "Banana Cream Pie", I was willing to send mine back, but they said don't bother.

He did ask if I had left the cap off for FOUR days, to evaporate the alcohol. I said no, but that there was absolutely NO flavor of anything.

Since I'm new to DIY, I had read that with certain ALCOHOL based flavors, that AFTER mixing you may have to steep with the caps off for a day or two, but never read about doing this with new flavor bottles BEFORE using them. Is this the accepted technique for alcohol based flavors?

I've never heard about leaving flavorings with the top of. Can't do any harm I guess, and maybe it helps.

I started DIY with NN flavors because they don't need any mixing and I wanted to keep it simple while I learned the ropes. Mostly use TFA now but I still use some NN. Some of them I leave to steep for a long time. More than any other flavorings I've used. And I leave the top off for a while first. NN flavors are made with no PG I think, and flavors don't dissolve so well in VG so they use more alcohol.

I've noticed that the smell of neat flavoring often doesn't have much relationship to the flavor of the mixed juice.

I tried their Banana Cream Pie. Wasn't one of my favorites, it didn't have a lot of flavor. I still have some, might try it again using a higher percentage.

Bear in mind that taste is very individual. Something that tastes great to me might do nothing for you. You just have to experiment.

Good luck.

 

[hittman]

I am new too, but finally mixed a juice I can see myself vaping frequently. I tried it for a whole evening and it's still missing something. Its current iteration is 15% Berry Cereal and 5% Strawberry Ripe. I feel like it needs a bit of sweetness. I have read a little here and there about ethyl maltol (10%) and I'm curious about it. I understand this needs to be in small percentages, but what seems to be the consensus threshold?

I'm sure it probably does need some sweetener. Cotton Candy(not circus) is the same thing as ethyl maltol. I would probably start with two percent and work up from there if needed.

 

[Cohumulone]

I'm sure it probably does need some sweetener. Cotton Candy(not circus) is the same thing as ethyl maltol. I would probably start with two percent and work up from there if needed.

Thanks. I plan on trying some different things later. I'll try the 2 percent first. Also may decrease berry cereal, as it's still the dominant flavor.

 

[sketchness]

I am new too, but finally mixed a juice I can see myself vaping frequently. I tried it for a whole evening and it's still missing something. Its current iteration is 15% Berry Cereal and 5% Strawberry Ripe. I feel like it needs a bit of sweetness. I have read a little here and there about ethyl maltol (10%) and I'm curious about it. I understand this needs to be in small percentages, but what seems to be the consensus threshold?

Ethyl Maltol does not always make things sweeter. Especially when what you are adding it too already has inherent sweetness. I would recommend an actual sweetener like super sweet or some other sucralose sweetener available from many vape sites ( not a packet of splenda lol ). There are other types as well. But this adds a stronger sweet taste with less chance of affecting the mix like EM.

 

[Capt.shay]

Yea, I would echo Sketch's comment that CC is not the call here. I would go with a plain sweetener as well with all that berry. I use TFA Sweetener and would try 2%.

 

[Cohumulone]

Yea, I would echo Sketch's comment that CC is not the call here. I would go with a plain sweetener as well with all that berry. I use TFA Sweetener and would try 2%.

I'll try the EM first as I've already got it on the way. Sweetener was already on my to buy list. We'll try that next time. I've read so much feedback on both out there on the web that I decided EM was the thing to try first. Maybe berry and em isn't the right thing. I'll learn from it if nothing else, and I'll have inventory for the right use of it later if it doesn't work in my cereal mix.

 

[ShamrockPat]

I've never heard about leaving flavorings with the top of. Can't do any harm I guess, and maybe it helps....

I've never heard of this either. Leaving the cap off after creating a recipe, yes. From what I remember, the suggestion was to uncap for perhaps an hour a day for a couple days. I believe that along with the alcohol, you're also evaporating some of the flavors.

But hey, I'm not the flavor manufacturer, so YMMV.

 

[ShamrockPat]

Ethyl Maltol - inherently sweetens. Like it will make flavors taste sweeter, like strawberries, etc.

Sweetener - sucralose - just sweetens up the entire recipe like sugar would.
Can make or break a recipe. Too much will mute the flavors

 

[JCinFLA]

Since I started DIY in January, I've been making quite a few of Bill's Magic Vapor recipes. I've also read his blogs and saved a bunch of his tips, hints, recipes, etc. to a huge file on my PC.

I've noticed that about 90% of the time when a recipe of his has some kind of a sweetener in it, he specifies TFA Sweetener. In all the rest of them he specified TFA Cotton Candy, except for 1...where he specified EM. Been meaning to ask him why each has been specified, since he's, IMO anyway, a definite ECF longtime, juice-making, expert.

Anyone know if he's still around and OK? Haven't seen him on the ECF for awhile now.

 

[JCinFLA]

From what I remember, the suggestion was to uncap for perhaps an hour a day for a couple days. I believe that along with the alcohol, you're also evaporating some of the flavors.
But hey, I'm not the flavor manufacturer, so YMMV.

I wanted to test this theory after making Bill's "Flamingo" recipe in January. I used the TFA Strawberry he'd specified (which has EA in it), but had mistakenly ordered TFA Juicy Peach (which also has EA in it), instead of TFA Peach. Since I get raging headaches from EA...I had to shake the heck out of the mix and leave the cap off several times a day, for 3 days, to evaporate it off before I could vape it.

Next time I decided to make some Flamingo, I wanted to use up the same Strawberry and Juicy Peach, since I'd only gotten the little 8mL vial of both to start with. But, I didn't want to have to do the shake and uncap routine for several days again before I could vape it. So that time...I left the caps off of each one for 2 days before I made the recipe. Was also interested to see how much evaporating the EA off would reduce the amount left in each vial, too, so I marked the vials.

After 2 days, there was only a very tiny difference in the amount of liquid in each vial, and the EA was gone. I then made the same identical sized batch as the first one, using the same recipe. The taste was nearly identical in every way to the 1st batch, except...the flavors tasted a tiny bit stronger than in the 1st batch! I loved it, and not having to wait to vape it.

I do the same thing since then, with any TFA flavoring I buy that has EA in it. I just evaporate it off before ever making the recipe with it.

 

[hittman]

I've never tried the berry flavor. Is it already a sweet flavor? I guess it's just coincidence but most of bill's recipes that I use on a daily basis call for EM and that's what I end up using most of the time. I do keep a 30ml bottle of sweetener on hand though for when it's needed.

 

[Capt.shay]

May be just my taste buds but I use CC (EM) with pastries and it seems to go well with some grahm creations. With primarily fruits I tend to use sweetener. Could just be me and my taste buds.