The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread

[ShamrockPat]

Isn't DIY'ing just great. Use a recipe as a starting point, then add a little bit of this, remove a little bit of that, yup, just right for each of us now. I believe my taste buds are on the weak side, so this let's my enjoy the juices.

 

[JCinFLA]

Isn't DIY'ing just great.

I couldn't agree more! I just wish I hadn't waited as long as I did to start doing it. If I knew it was this enjoyable, cost effective, and I could have success making my own liquids from the get-go...I would've tried it much sooner.

 

[b.m.]

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.

He mentioned back around January or so that this was going to be a very busy year for him at work,so he won't be around much for a while.
I can't speak for him as to why he posted cc and then em in another one,but they are the same thing.The only difference is when you buy em,it is usually in crystal form and you mix it yourself,where as cotton candy is em already mixed in pg and ready to use.

 

[Mactavish]

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.

Thanks, I'll try it. I'm not too worried about diketones, I'm not a heavy vaper.

 

[Mactavish]

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.

NN is sending me a replacement bottle, if that on has no flavor I'll skip it. With the first bottle, besides absolutely NO smell, or any flavor directly from the bottle, I dripped it straight, tasted like 100% VG.

I'm making my buy list of flavors from all the suggestions here. I want to perfect a ADV, of banana, and then try a few others.

 

[Mactavish]

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.

That's interesting, I'm still waiting for a reply from the NN rep, to clarify what exactly he meant, before, or the more commonly accepted, after.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Forgive me for changing the topic a smidgen.....
If I wanted to make a non flavored nic solution and wanted to add only menthol, what would be a good starting point for the menthol(fw pre-mixed 10%).
I have never smoked or vaped menthol and know zilch about it. Is it used in the same manner as flavors or is it done in drops by taste?
Thanks

 

[ShamrockPat]

...very helpful when trying to figure out what to mix with a flavor that I have no idea what to to with

I actually do a couple things. I check all the new regular juices that comes into the house, like Strawberry, Banana, Mango, last week. (Sounds really good to vape, and tasted great).

These 2 sites shows pairings. Like what flavors pair well with others. I've only modified the dot com in the link.

https://bakeitright dot com/flavor-charts
http://nouveauraw dot com/raw-recipe-templates-and-development/flavor-prfiles-that-pair-well-in-recipes/

 

[ShamrockPat]

Banana Foster's is a strong banana flavor and if you use a little Bavarian creme and marshmallow will make it creamier too

@artv61 Can you describe this flavor a bit more. What else do you taste, does it taste like a real ripe banana? I'm on the hunt for a great, in my face banana also.

 

[JCinFLA]

@Mactavish - A simple, 3 flavoring recipe I came up with, that other people locally and some on here have tried and liked, is this:

NannerBerry

TFA Strawberry Ripe - 9%
TFA DX Banana Cream - 6% (or reg. is fine)
TFA Cotton Candy - 2%

It's a shake and vape recipe, but a few have said it gets even better to them after 24 hours. Since you like Banana, thought I'd mention it before you ordered flavorings, in case you want to try making it.

 

[b.m.]

Forgive me for changing the topic a smidgen.....
If I wanted to make a non flavored nic solution and wanted to add only menthol, what would be a good starting point for the menthol(fw pre-mixed 10%).
I have never smoked or vaped menthol and know zilch about it. Is it used in the same manner as flavors or is it done in drops by taste?
Thanks

Menthol can be pretty strong,so i would start very low,like maybe 1% and work up from there,or even drop by drop would work until you find where you want it,but yes it can be strong haha.

 

[SLM]

Agree on the menthol. Go easy especially if you aren't a menthol person. It can get strong, fast.

 

[hittman]

I use menthol regularly but always add koolada with it. I do it by the drop. I use about 20 drops in 30ml of a tobacco menthol.

 

[b.m.]

Agree on the menthol. Go easy especially if you aren't a menthol person. It can get strong, fast.

Yeah,i found that out the hard way haha.First time i ever used menthol,i followed a recipe that called for it at 6%,i will never make that mistake again haha.

Bill's fire & ice that i make quite a bit uses it at 2% and it's fairly strong even there,but the cinnamon brings it down to an acceptable level.

 

[FranC]

I use menthol in some mixes but I don't like it that much as an up front taste. More of a flavor enhancer.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Thanks everyone for your input. Actually I am not making it for me. One of my neighbors is trying ecigs and wanted to know if menthol was an option. She smokes Kools and like I said I have zero knowledge of it. I have tried Koolada for myself but use that lightly in a fruit type mix. She tried mine but said it wasn't strong enough. She was more interested in how the menthol itself would vape-taste so I suggested the non flavored version to see if she would even like it. Then if she does we can go from there as she likes some of my other mixes.
Again, thanks for all of your help.

 

[Ablonz]

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 "

What I meant by that is that I have a bunch of recipes but need to work out the percentages. I mainly use no more than 11% total mix of flavoring. I quit smoking using Unflavored and now only need a little bit of flavoring for my mixes. The most flavoring for a single flavor that I use in mixes is 3%.

 

[Ablonz]

NN is sending me a replacement bottle, if that on has no flavor I'll skip it. With the first bottle, besides absolutely NO smell, or any flavor directly from the bottle, I dripped it straight, tasted like 100% VG.

I'm making my buy list of flavors from all the suggestions here. I want to perfect a ADV, of banana, and then try a few others.

Sweet Guava goes good with Banana Cream with a pinch of Vanilla Custard.

 

[IDJoel]

Sweet Guava goes good with Banana Cream with a pinch of Vanilla Custard.

Sorry Ablonz,
Whose "Sweet Guava" and " Banana Cream" and "Vanilla Custard?" I shouldn't ask but the last 15 pages or so kind of tossed "TFA" out the window of the TFA thread.
(I couldn't find a "Sweet Guava" on TFA's home page)

 

[IDJoel]

Thanks everyone for your input. Actually I am not making it for me. One of my neighbors is trying ecigs and wanted to know if menthol was an option. She smokes Kools and like I said I have zero knowledge of it. I have tried Koolada for myself but use that lightly in a fruit type mix. She tried mine but said it wasn't strong enough. She was more interested in how the menthol itself would vape-taste so I suggested the non flavored version to see if she would even like it. Then if she does we can go from there as she likes some of my other mixes.
Again, thanks for all of your help.

I agree with hittman, b.m., and FranC; menthol (for most) is an accent and not a primary/stand-alone flavor. I have killed more than a couple of recipes with too much menthol (though I have seen a thread or two by those seeking nothing more than MENTHOL).

My own, and I have NO empirical or anecdotal evidence that this applies to ANYONE else, experience says that menthol has a noticeable flavor whereas koolada does not(mostly). Both can be overdone but menthol is a lot less forgiving.

I was not a regular menthol smoker but I did like one from time to time. As I recall; it still had a primary tobacco taste but with a cool/cold antiseptic backround (I mooched or traded my American Spirits for Kools, Salems, and Newports on occasion).

Again, I agree with the others... start low (1% or less) and work your way up, but I am guessing your friend might need something/some flavor in addition to the menthol to be truly satisfying. I myself had to stay completely away from anything that resembled tobacco for the first nine months to a year. I found that while they tasted the best; they also triggered my cravings the worst. Fruits and sweets tasted good but I tired of them quickly. Mints ended up being MY go-to.
Everyone is different; so be sure to remind your friend to experiment until they find what works for them.

Also, in regards to her saying your mix was "not strong enough," I would also encourage you to experiment with nicotine strength and/or vapor output. I bailed on vaping the first time because I wasn't getting the "lung" hit that I needed. And the second attempt I got seriously uptight because I didn't have enough nicotine in my over-the-counter juice.

I got a different tank that produced a heavier, thicker, vapor and upped my initial nicotine, and I never looked back!

You are a terrific friend to not only help your friend but to mix for her as well. Don't get discouraged; and don't let her either. Vaping is very personal (as you know from your own journey AND from all of your participation here on ECF) and it just takes a little time and patience to find what works for her.

I take my hat off to you with great respect!