The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread

[DaveP]

After experimenting for a while I've settled on 3% flavor for Hangsen Desert Ship and 1% flavor for Flavourart Desert Ship. Some might like more flavor, but I prefer most of my flavorings on the light side. That, and it's easier to add later than to take away.

 

[IDJoel]

Anyone have personal experience with TFA Mango, TFA Watermelon, TFA Candy Watermelon, or TFA Juicy Peach?

I was considering buying a few of these, thanks

I have used/still use three of the four you ask about.

TFA Mango - good; but not "bold." I'm still on my mango quest. It has a fairly true "mango" flavor ( The actual fruit: rich, very ripe, almost on the verge of fermenting peach, with a hinting undertone of earthy funk... in a good way). It can get easily lost with other flavors. This is a hard concentrate to make a stand-alone/primary flavor. In regards to TFA; I think I prefer

TFA Watermelon - I can't add a lot to @b.m. 's previous description; "watermelon juice." Definitely watermelon (the real kind; not candy) but leaves you wishing for more of the concentrated flavor. Think slurping the juice left behind after eating watermelon vs. eating the watermelon that left the juice. This too is a fairly "weak" flavor and hard to use as a stand-alone/primary flavor.

TFA Watermelon Candy - No opinion; haven't tried this one.

TFA Juicy Peach - better of the two "peach" offerings by TFA. Has been very popular in earlier parts of this thread. To me, it is still more to the "canned" side of peaches, but not as "candy" or "artificial" as TFA - Preaches. Juicy Peach, unlike Mango or watermelon, is a bold (for TFA) flavor. It does hold its own in mixes and most can find an adequate percentage as a stand-alone (assuming the flavor is in your wheelhouse), or as the primary/backbone of a more complicated mix.

My personal experience with TFA has lead me to believe that they are best at providing individual "notes" to a complete recipe as opposed to being stand-alone mixes. I don't say this to be critical; just the opposite. They are great building blocks that don't introduce a bunch of unneeded/unwanted extra notes to a recipe. TFA flavors can be great to fill/round out otherwise lackluster recipes. It is simply that many/most don't excel as a stand-alone mix.

Also, as others on this thread have already shared, raspberry or dragon fruit used in small percentages in conjunction with these weaker flavors, can really make them pop. Just remember that the idea is to bring out the intended fruit, not the addition, so I would recommend keeping the "addition" at 25% or less of the fruit you are trying to enhance (example: if I am using TFA - Mango at 4%; I might try adding TFA - Dragon Fruit at no more than 1%).

 

[hittman]

I mixed a test batch of the tfa pancake. I mostly taste the maple syrup. It's not terrible on it's own but is going to need some other flavors to make it good.

 

[IDJoel]

I mixed a test batch of the tfa pancake. I mostly taste the maple syrup. It's not terrible on it's own but is going to need some other flavors to make it good.

Might require a bit of shelf time to bring out the bread/flour notes. If you have enough to spare you might set a bit aside and keep us advised on what aging does/doesn't do for it.

 

[hittman]

I just did a 100DT with it to start. I did add nic since I want to know what it's going to taste like with it. I might leave the rest of the 100dt to steep. I'm thinking of adding some butter, blueberry, and maybe some biscuit. I'm just in the thinking stage right now.

 

[Kenna]

Thanks I was thinking of using the Mango as sort of a backnote to the watermelon. But maybe Honeydew or Cantaloupe would complement the watermelon better. Some other ideas I had were to mix in a little Marshmellow or a little cucumber.

Just want to try to avoid as much as possible buying more bottles of flavoring that just collect dust in a drawer. I have spent far too much money on flavorings I try once or twice, then never see the light of day again, really sucks. Can be so hit or miss but I have had the most luck with TFA for sure

I've used honeydew & a little cucumber, mint & a bit of Koolada together; as well as watermelon & honeydew together, also. I was just playing around while drip tasting new flavors so no recipies. They worked really well together so I know I'll work on a recipe the next time I'm wanting that profile. I added Hard Candy, also for a Rancher type candy.

 

[Capt.shay]

I just did a 100DT with it to start. I did add nic since I want to know what it's going to taste like with it. I might leave the rest of the 100dt to steep. I'm thinking of adding some butter, blueberry, and maybe some biscuit. I'm just in the thinking stage right now.

Brown Sugar. Definitely brown sugar.

 

[Chris863]

The Flavors I decided to go with....
Apricot-TFA
Cantaloupe-TFA
Coconut Extra-TFA
Honeydew-TFA
Juicy Peach-TFA
Mango-TFA
Marshmallow-TFA
Papaya-TFA
Pineapple-TFA
Pomegranate-TFA
Ripe Strawberry-TFA
Watermelon Candy-TFA
Watermelon-TFA

Little off the subject technically being this the TFA Thread but also got
Kiwi-FA
Sweet Watermelon-Cap
Sweet Tangerine-Cap
Watermelon-LA
Sweet Strawberry-Cap

Hope to come up with some good fruit mixes that cover most of the tropical fruit spectrum. Sweet, Tangy, Tart, Etc.

First time ordering from Bull City. Have to say impressed how quickly my package was shipped. Basically less than two hours I had a shipping notification. Good prices on a wide variety of flavors too

 

[hittman]

Brown Sugar. Definitely brown sugar.

I didn't know if the brown sugar would add too much sweetness since I'm already tasting mostly the maple syrup. Perhaps after steeping it would be ok.

 

[b.m.]

The Flavors I decided to go with....
Apricot-TFA
Cantaloupe-TFA
Coconut Extra-TFA
Honeydew-TFA
Juicy Peach-TFA
Mango-TFA
Marshmallow-TFA
Papaya-TFA
Pineapple-TFA
Pomegranate-TFA
Ripe Strawberry-TFA
Watermelon Candy-TFA
Watermelon-TFA

Little off the subject technically being this the TFA Thread but also got
Kiwi-FA
Sweet Watermelon-Cap
Sweet Tangerine-Cap
Watermelon-LA
Sweet Strawberry-Cap

Hope to come up with some good fruit mixes that cover most of the tropical fruit spectrum. Sweet, Tangy, Tart, Etc.

First time ordering from Bull City. Have to say impressed how quickly my package was shipped. Basically less than two hours I had a shipping notification. Good prices on a wide variety of flavors too

You made some good choices there.Tfa cantaloupe is a very true tasting flavor on it's own at 10%,coconut extra,go easy with that one,it's fairly strong stuff,Tfa pineapple will eat plastic,so be careful with that one,it is a good flavor though.Cap sweet strawberry is by far the best strawberry i have used,and it gets even better with a mix of the sweet strawberry and Tfa strawberry ripe together.I have the Cap sweet watermelon,but i don't think i have actually used it yet,the sweet tangerine is a good one,i've used it mixed with Tfa orange cream and got good results from it.Lorann watermelon is good too,i forgot about that one,it is another that tastes like the juice of the watermelon,but watch when you get it.The one i had was pink because of food coloring in it.While i really liked the taste,i quit using it fairly quick becasue of the food coloring and a few other ingredients in it.They make a natural version too that doesn't have the food coloring in it,which may be the one you get,not sure which version Bull City sells as i haven't gotten any LA from them.
I agree completely on Bull City though,they have been my favorite supplier since the first time i bought from them.

 

[englishmick]

The Flavors I decided to go with....
Apricot-TFA
Cantaloupe-TFA
Coconut Extra-TFA
Honeydew-TFA
Juicy Peach-TFA
Mango-TFA
Marshmallow-TFA
Papaya-TFA
Pineapple-TFA
Pomegranate-TFA
Ripe Strawberry-TFA
Watermelon Candy-TFA
Watermelon-TFA

Little off the subject technically being this the TFA Thread but also got
Kiwi-FA
Sweet Watermelon-Cap
Sweet Tangerine-Cap
Watermelon-LA
Sweet Strawberry-Cap

Hope to come up with some good fruit mixes that cover most of the tropical fruit spectrum. Sweet, Tangy, Tart, Etc.

First time ordering from Bull City. Have to say impressed how quickly my package was shipped. Basically less than two hours I had a shipping notification. Good prices on a wide variety of flavors too

I liked Papaya, Juicy Peach and Mango a lot. Looked at some of the mixes on my list and I ended up using sweet cream and sweetener in all of them. Also tried mixing some of the three fruits together. Someone suggested adding a bit of Philippine Mango to the regular Mango because it's not very strong. I tried that and it worked quite well.

Pineapple is a good taste, very strong though. Start low. It's also the worst flavor I've had for killing syringes. I stopped using it. I would suck it up into a syringe and the syringe would lock up before I could even get the flavoring pushed out of it. You really need a glass syringe or disposable pipettes, or measure by weight.

I tried Coconut recently and liked it, but it was the DX not the Extra.

 

[Clark Kent]

The Flavors I decided to go with....
Apricot-TFA
Cantaloupe-TFA
Coconut Extra-TFA
Honeydew-TFA
Juicy Peach-TFA
Mango-TFA
Marshmallow-TFA
Papaya-TFA
Pineapple-TFA
Pomegranate-TFA
Ripe Strawberry-TFA
Watermelon Candy-TFA
Watermelon-TFA

Little off the subject technically being this the TFA Thread but also got
Kiwi-FA
Sweet Watermelon-Cap
Sweet Tangerine-Cap
Watermelon-LA
Sweet Strawberry-Cap

Hope to come up with some good fruit mixes that cover most of the tropical fruit spectrum. Sweet, Tangy, Tart, Etc.

First time ordering from Bull City. Have to say impressed how quickly my package was shipped. Basically less than two hours I had a shipping notification. Good prices on a wide variety of flavors too

As far as fruits go you got quite a few covered, but did you take into consideration some creams,marshmallows,or additives like cotton candy(E.M) to round out some of the recipes?
Some of these don't really add flavor as much, but can really turn a so-so recipe into a gem.

 

[Chris863]

I have about 10ml of EM left from an order last December. Also have tfa smooth and I bought some tfa marshmallow with this order to try. Also of note got a big bottle of FA whipped cream and a little bit of tfa sour.

The TFA coconut extra is supposed to help make fruits pop from what ive heard but it is really strong like use 0.5 % at most...

 

[JCinFLA]

You might want to consider that some flavorings on your list have ethyl alcohol in them. It really needs to be evaporated off before vaping an eliquid with it in it. That's why I didn't order any more TFA Juicy Peach after I got an 8mL vial of it. I've just been reordering TFA Peach instead. If I use any of the JP at all that I still have...it's maybe at 1-1.5% along with the Peach. It does kind of what using 2 different TFA strawberries together does, IMO.

Edit - TFA Juicy Peach is also a known tank cracker for plastics. Since i use it at such low % though, never had a problem with it myself.

 

[Chris863]

I like to shake n vape so thanks for the heads up. In the past when I have had flavors that need to steep, what I do is break out my big crock pot. I heat the water to about 150-160 and put the crock pot on keep warm which maintains that temperature of 150-160. I think it's after 2 hours you take them out and shake real good, then put in for another 2 hours in the crock pot. Finally you take the bottles out then shake real good and leave the caps off 1 hour.

Hopefully the crock pot method aka hot bath will allow me to use these ethyl alcohol flavors within the same day... If not the steeping time for the juicy peach can't be more than a week right?

 

[JCinFLA]

@Chris863 - I personally don't even do any hot baths or heat steeping for anything. I know many do though, so whatever works for you is fine. Might want to doublecheck that temp. though, as I seem to remember some of the experts recommending not going above 140 degrees. I might be wrong though.

For the TFA Juicy Peach and any others with EA in them: After I make the eliquid, I just shake the heck out of the bottle to get lots of tiny bubbles in it. Leave the tip out and cap off. I repeat the shaking to cause lots of bubbles & leave it open, probably 3-4 times a day. For 20mL or less I do that for 2 days. For 30mL+, I do it for 3 days usually...and it's evaporated off. Of course, it also depends upon what % of the flavoring with EA is used in the eliquid. Also, I do put a drop or 2 on my finger and taste it starting with the 2nd day. Some, with less EA, are ready quicker...some with more take longer.

 

[Mactavish]

Might want to doublecheck that temp. though, as I seem to remember some of the experts recommending not going above 140 degrees. I might be wrong though.

125f steeping is as high as I go. Heat can degrade NIC. More info and test info here:

Steeping Times and an Ultrasonic Cleaner Part III

 

[Clark Kent]

I have read that it can effect flavors also. This is the reason I usually use time and a dark space to do the job. Don't get me wrong I usually can't wait to try a small sample, if it good it usually gets better with time. But some are good to go in a day or two. Just depends on what you trying to accompilsh. Fruits sometimes fade after a long steep, but some custards and creams take a bit longer, and I have found Tobbacos usually take the longest possibly as long as a month. Also VG/PG ratios play a big part in the steeping process too. usually longer for higher VG or VG flavors to blend well. imo

 

[JCinFLA]

125f steeping is as high as I go. Heat can degrade NIC.

Yea, I don't give it a hot bath or heat steep anything...but I knew his 150-160 was too high, based on what little I'd remembered others on here saying, about using a crock pot. Figured since 140 was mentioned by several of them, at least that would be in the right direction (lower) anyway, and hoped he'd doublecheck it as I suggested.

 

[Chris863]

Well that's unfortunate. The crock pot I have is nice it's only maybe 3 years old has a digital dial and everything. On keep warm setting I've tested it with an oven thermomater think it's at least 150 maybe 145 at the lowest.
Only other thing I have that might work good is a big rice cooker that I don't think gets that hot have to test with the thermomater.
Of course I could just be patient put the bottle away in a dark cool place and just forget about it like most people do. Can be hard to be patient with new flavors I typically make really small batches only 8 mls at a time being that my aromamizer takes 6 and the rayon coils take about 2 when I presaturate prior to first vaping on a new tank.