straw berry flavor

[Donovan (ECX Flavor Lab)]

Good stuff, Laughmore. I didn't know that about the ECX Signature line, thanks for the heads up. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it however, vendors who re-brand other manufacturers flavors under a new name/label is kinda irritating. One site (can't remember which, maybe HDV?) had a vanilla custard flavoring under the name "Ella's Gourmet Flavor Drops". I really liked it so I kept buying it from them for several months. Then I found out it was actually re-branded Capella's which I could have been getting it from ECX for MUCH cheaper, so its quite misleading & essentially false advertisement IMHO.

As for "Stacking flavors", SHH! Don't let the cat out of the bag just yet, that is a trade secret I learned from a friend who recently started his own juice company here in Sacramento, CA. Stacking flavors not only allows you to produce custom one off flavors (with the right flavors in the right ratios that is) it allows you to combine the best characteristics of each individual flavor into one profile, if that makes sense. Lets say I want a unique Blueberry flavor that is authentic (true to the berry) but with a hint of candy Blueberry. I will then buy several different Blueberry flavorings (the ones with the best reviews/feedback) & test each flavor to gauge their profile. I will then use the most authentic tasting Blueberry as my primary Blueberry base & then add a touch of the best candy type Blueberry, possibly throwing in a bit of Blueberry with a tart essence to it to round out the profile. This will (theoretically) give me a Blueberry that is primarily authentic but with an essence of candy & a touch of tart, possibly & probably unlike any Blueberry that is in any retail juice currently. This is just an example of "flavor stacking" & what you can achieve with it however, nailing a specific & unique flavor profile is NOT as easy as it might sound.

TFA encourages vendors to change the name

 

[WilliamC83]

TFA encourages vendors to change the name

Why do they encourage vendors to change the name? That doesn't make sense, I mean don't they want more word-of-mouth advertisement for their TFA brand?

 

[HiDefVaping]

So how did your experimental batches turn out with the 2:1 strawberry?

I recently got some Ripe Strawberry by Signature at ecigexpress.com & it smells ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Literally smells like real strawberry, very impressive aroma. Unfortunately I haven't made any juice with it yet as Ive been sick however, it is one of if not the best smelling strawberry flavorings Ive come across, not to mention it also has some good reviews. For anyone who really likes Strawberry I HIGHLY recommend you get at least 10ml to try. At the moment ecigexpress only has 120ml & 250ml sizes available for this flavoring however, $14 for 120ml is a really good price IMHO.
I'm going to mix a couple recipes with this Signature Ripe Strawberry & FA Strawberry today. For one recipe I'm going to do 3% (FA) Strawberry + 2% (Sig) Ripe Strawberry & for another recipe I will be doing the opposite. I will be adding a little FA Fuji Apple & a little cream of some kind to both recipes, I'll let you know how they turn out.

Here is a link to the Signature Ripe Strawberry flavoring for whomever is interested:
(--->Ripe Strawberry by Signature<---)

I recently got some Ripe Strawberry by Signature at ecigexpress.com & it smells ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Literally smells like real strawberry, very impressive aroma. Unfortunately I haven't made any juice with it yet as Ive been sick however, it is one of if not the best smelling strawberry flavorings Ive come across, not to mention it also has some good reviews. For anyone who really likes Strawberry I HIGHLY recommend you get at least 10ml to try. At the moment ecigexpress only has 120ml & 250ml sizes available for this flavoring however, $14 for 120ml is a really good price IMHO.
I'm going to mix a couple recipes with this Signature Ripe Strawberry & FA Strawberry today. For one recipe I'm going to do 3% (FA) Strawberry + 2% (Sig) Ripe Strawberry & for another recipe I will be doing the opposite. I will be adding a little FA Fuji Apple & a little cream of some kind to both recipes, I'll let you know how they turn out.

Here is a link to the Signature Ripe Strawberry flavoring for whomever is interested:
(--->Ripe Strawberry by Signature<---)

 

[WilliamC83]

So how did your experimental batches turn out with the 2:1 strawberry?

Apologies for the late reply, things haven't been going so great for me lately. I honestly haven't really gotten into much DIY mixing lately, something always seems to get in the way & I usually end up just mixing simple recipes that are tried & true, something that I know will be decent.

My preferred flavor profile is rich, decadent, sweet & creamy dessert flavors, mainly Vanilla Custards but lately Ive been open to trying new things. One flavor that really impressed me recently is FlavourArt Fuji Apple, a FANTASTIC & realistic apple flavor IMHO. Its hard to describe specific notes sometimes but there is a kind of dryness to certain apples, sort of a chalky/scratchy texture (for lack of a better description) that's present. Well FlavourArt pretty much nailed it with their Fuji Apple, its the most realistic apple flavor Ive tried in that regard, has an eerily similar chalky/scratchy essence. Now its not exactly my favorite apple flavor as I do prefer a more green apple candy type apple (green apple jolly rancher/sour apple blow pop) but its excellent none the less. What really surprised me about the FA Fuji Apple, other than its realistic flavor, was how much it changed with steeping, not necessarily the flavor itself (although the flavor did get noticeably better) but the color. The juice changed from practically clear in color to a pale yellow/green in about two weeks, no joke, it really surprised me. Now Fuji Apples are primarily red in color however, they usually do have some green or yellow/green patches on them, which is darn near EXACTLY the color the juice turns after steeping. If you like realistic apple flavor with more of a chalky/dry essence vs sour or candy type apple, I highly recommend you try the FA Fuji. Just let it steep for at least 3-5 days, preferably 2-3wks for best flavor & realistic color.

I tried to do a caramel apple recipe but I either didn't use enough caramel (FW Caramel Candy) or the caramel I'm using isn't playing nicely with the apple flavors. I'm going to use twice the caramel in my next recipe & switch the ratio of the two apples I used, using more FW Double Apple & less FA Fuji. As I said the FA Fuji is a great apple flavor but I'm just not sure its a good mixer for caramel, I'm thinking more of a green candy apple would work better. If anyone has nailed a caramel apple I would love to hear your recipe.

Now as for STRAWBERRY! I recently found a Wild Strawberry flavoring that looks to be promising but I can't seem to find any reviews/info on it. Its a 100% natural flavor concentrate by the French flavor manufacturer Nova Liquides, here's a link: (-->Nova Wild Strawberry<--) I haven't tried any 100% natural concentrates yet but from what I hear they are fantastic flavors, some say the best. The down side to natural flavors is that they allegedly aren't very concentrated, recommended mixing ratio on the site is 15%, seems pretty high for a strawberry but then again they could just be saying that so you use more, IDK? If anyone has tried this wild strawberry PLEASE let us know your opinion.
I did buy a 10ml bottle of Boba's French flavor concentrate by Nova on ebay, its supposed to be a Boba's Bounty clone & I did find one good review on it, said it was great stuff. I've always wanted to try Boba's Bounty (by Alien Visions) ever since PBusard was hooked on it back in the day (Grimm Green said it tastes like a hamsters cage but I digress, lol). I actually wanted to order it a few times but of course at that time it was ALWAYS out of stock, lol Here's a link to the Boba's French if anyone is interested: (-->Boba's French Flavor Concentrate<--)

I'm seriously trying to set aside some time for DIY mixing. I have the flavors for several recipes that Ive been throwing around in my head. Speaking of that: How many of you DIY Juicers ponder throughout the day about mixing certain recipes & flavor combinations? I find myself starring out into space sometimes thinking things like, "Creamy Caramel & English Toffee with Toasted Coconut & a touch of Vanilla Bourbon". That wasn't just an example, that really is a recipe Ive been wanting to try, what do you think? I just need a good Toffee & Coconut flavoring & I'll be in business.

OK, sorry for the novel of a post fellow vapers. There's a lot of stuff I want to talk about & discuss so I just had to throw some of it out there. Well keep up the innovative mixing everyone, take care & of course, VAPE ON!

 

[Zortec2112]

Apologies for the late reply, things haven't been going so great for me lately. I honestly haven't really gotten into much DIY mixing lately, something always seems to get in the way & I usually end up just mixing simple recipes that are tried & true, something that I know will be decent.

My preferred flavor profile is rich, decadent, sweet & creamy & dessert flavors, mainly Vanilla Custards but lately Ive been open to trying new things. One flavor that really impressed me recently is FlavourArt Fuji Apple, a FANTASTIC & realistic apple flavor IMHO. Its hard to describe specific notes sometimes but there is a kind of dryness to certain apples, sort of a chalky/scratchy texture (for lack of a better description) that's present. Well FlavourArt pretty much nailed it with their Fuji Apple, its the most realistic apple flavor Ive tried in that regard, has an eerily similar chalky/scratchy essence. Now its not exactly my favorite apple flavor as I do prefer a more green apple candy type apple (green apple jolly rancher/sour apple blow pop) but its excellent none the less. What really surprised me about the FA Fuji Apple, other than its realistic flavor, was how much it changed with steeping, not necessarily the flavor itself (although the flavor did get noticeably better) but the color. The juice changed from practically clear in color to a pale yellow/green in about two weeks, no joke, it really surprised me. Now Fuji Apples are primarily red in color however, they usually do have some green or yellow/green patches on them, which is darn near EXACTLY the color the juice turns after steeping. If you like realistic apple flavor with more of a chalky/dry essence vs sour or candy type apple, I highly recommend you try the FA Fuji. Just let it steep for at least 3-5 days, preferably 2-3wks for best flavor & realistic color.

I tried to do a caramel apple recipe but I either didn't use enough caramel (FW Caramel Candy) or the caramel I'm using isn't playing nicely with the apple flavors. I'm going to use twice the caramel in my next recipe & switch the ratio of the two apples I used, using more FW Double Apple & less FA Fuji. As I said the FA Fuji is a great apple flavor but I'm just not sure its a good mixer for caramel, I'm thinking more of a green candy apple would work better. If anyone has nailed a caramel apple I would love to hear your recipe.

Now as for STRAWBERRY! I recently found a Wild Strawberry flavoring that looks to be promising but I can't seem to find any reviews/info on it. Its a 100% natural flavor concentrate by the French flavor manufacturer Nova Liquides, here's a link: (-->Nova Wild Strawberry<--) I haven't tried any 100% natural concentrates yet but from what I hear they are fantastic flavors, some say the best. The down side to natural flavors is that they allegedly aren't very concentrated, recommended mixing ratio on the site is 15%, seems pretty high for a strawberry but then again they could just be saying that so you use more, IDK? If anyone has tried this wild strawberry PLEASE let us know your opinion.
I did buy a 10ml bottle of Boba's French flavor concentrate by Nova on ebay, its supposed to be a Boba's Bounty clone & I did find one good review on it, said it was great stuff. I've always wanted to try Boba's Bounty (by Alien Visions) ever since PBusard was hooked on it back in the day (Grimm Green said it tastes like a hamsters cage but I digress, lol). I actually wanted to order it a few times but of course at that time it was ALWAYS out of stock, lol Here's a link to the Boba's French if anyone is interested: (-->Boba's French Flavor Concentrate<--)

I'm seriously trying to set aside some time for DIY mixing. I have the flavors for several recipes that Ive been throwing around in my head. Speaking of that: How many of you DIY Juicers ponder throughout the day about mixing certain recipes & flavor combinations? I find myself starring out into space sometimes thinking things like, "Creamy Caramel & English Toffee with Toasted Coconut & a touch of Vanilla Bourbon". That wasn't just an example, that really is a recipe Ive been wanting to try, what do you think? I just need a good Toffee & Coconut flavoring & I'll be in business.

OK, sorry for the novel of a post fellow vapers. There's a lot of stuff I want to talk about & discuss so I just had to throw some of it out there. Well keep up the innovative mixing everyone, take care & of course, VAPE ON!

Sorry to hear things haven't been good for you recently - but glad to hear you're back!

As far as caramel apple, try this one: http://vapingunderground.com/threads/rocketpuppys-caramel-apple.64283/
I was lucky enough to receive a sample of it from RocketPuppy herself! It's incredible! My next flavoring order (soon coming - very soon!) will include the missing flavors to start making this in large batches! It's hard to believe that such a small amount of FA Fuji can pack so much punch in this recipe!

Speaking of strawberry (topic and all ), I made a batch yesterday of:
FA Strawberry 4%
TFA Strawberry Ripe 3%
FA Lemon Sicily 0.5%

It's OK, but the strawberry flavor seems a bit muted. I added the lemon to (hopefully) enhance the flavor of the strawberry. I also bumped the two strawberry flavors up 1% each to increase flavor, since I'm using it in a tank. Don't think it panned out for me. I wanted to make a batch without the FA Custard & FA Meringue just to get a ripe strawberry flavor minus the creamy custard notes - although I do LOVE a good strawberry custard/cream!

Last night it seemed to have a touch more flavor than right after I started vaping it in the tank - so, time will tell if it's something I'll make again.

Let us know the results if you try any of the Nova concentrate! It's expensive (compared to some others), but if it's great I'd go for it! Welcome back!

 

[lirruping]

@WilliamC83, great post! I made a caramel cinnamon apple a while back using fuji (and fa caramel and fa cinnamon--only) and I liked it enough to vape it all, but it didn't taste at all like I expect caramel apple to taste. I had to consider it in a different way to enjoy it. Now, I can't find the recipe, but it wasn't very sophisticated or terrific--so you aren't missing much by its absence.

I recently learned about Medicine Flower flavorings, which I think are along the lines of what you're interested in--several of them are reviewed on reddit. They are super duper expensive, but there's a guy over there (on reddit) who buys in bulk and resells a 2:1 dilution so you can try them a little more cheaply.

 

[Mike H.]

TFA also has an Organic Strawberry if you havent tried that.

My strawberry mixes use TFA strawberries and cream...a little TFA organic and some FA Vienna cream...Not really a milk shake flavor but its pretty damn good.

 

[Mike H.]

For a true milk shake i think you need some sort of a malt added to it.

 

[WilliamC83]

@WilliamC83, great post! I made a caramel cinnamon apple a while back using fuji (and fa caramel and fa cinnamon--only) and I liked it enough to vape it all, but it didn't taste at all like I expect caramel apple to taste. I had to consider it in a different way to enjoy it. Now, I can't find the recipe, but it wasn't very sophisticated or terrific--so you aren't missing much by its absence.

I recently learned about Medicine Flower flavorings, which I think are along the lines of what you're interested in--several of them are reviewed on reddit. They are super duper expensive, but there's a guy over there (on reddit) who buys in bulk and resells a 2:1 dilution so you can try them a little more cheaply.

Thanks for the heads up on the Medicine Flower concentrates, I'll have to check em out. If they end up having something that I REALLY like, something that is uniquely stellar, I won't mind spending a bit more on them, especially if they have a good Cream, Vanilla Custard, Caramel, Toffee, Strawberry & especially-ESPECIALLY Chocolate. Chocolate seems to be a VERY difficult flavor to get just right, and by just right I mean NATURAL tasting. Every chocolate flavoring/juice Ive tried so far (admittedly not many though) has tasted artificial, which completely ruins the experience for me.

Another flavor I'm having trouble finding is a realistic tasting Caramel. So far Flavor West Caramel Candy is the best one Ive tried, smells delicious from the bottle but for some reason I'm having a hard time capturing that "aroma from the bottle" essence in my mixtures with it. I imagine it has a lot to do with ratio/percentage, as well as the flavorings you mix with it. If not enough % is used then its practically undetectable, if however too much % is used then it seems to overwhelm everything else, as well as mute itself. Perfecting original recipes using multiple combinations of flavors is a very fine balancing act, one that takes practice, trial & error to master. One thing is for sure though, I am definitely still in the trial & error faze, lol.

TFA also has an Organic Strawberry if you havent tried that.

My strawberry mixes use TFA strawberries and cream...a little TFA organic and some FA Vienna cream...Not really a milk shake flavor but its pretty damn good.

What is the flavor profile on the TFA Organic Strawberry? I didn't even know they had an Organic one, never heard anyone mention it before. Have I been living under a rock or what, lol.

 

[Mike H.]

Thanks for the heads up on the Medicine Flower concentrates, I'll have to check em out. If they end up having something that I REALLY like, something that is uniquely stellar, I won't mind spending a bit more on them, especially if they have a good Cream, Vanilla Custard, Caramel, Toffee, Strawberry & especially-ESPECIALLY Chocolate. Chocolate seems to be a VERY difficult flavor to get just right, and by just right I mean NATURAL tasting. Every chocolate flavoring/juice Ive tried so far (admittedly not many though) has tasted artificial, which completely ruins the experience for me.

Another flavor I'm having trouble finding is a realistic tasting Caramel. So far Flavor West Caramel Candy is the best one Ive tried, smells delicious from the bottle but for some reason I'm having a hard time capturing that "aroma from the bottle" essence in my mixtures with it. I imagine it has a lot to do with ratio/percentage, as well as the flavorings you mix with it. If not enough % is used then its practically undetectable, if however too much % is used then it seems to overwhelm everything else, as well as mute itself. Perfecting original recipes using multiple combinations of flavors is a very fine balancing act, one that takes practice, trial & error to master. One thing is for sure though, I am definitely still in the trial & error faze, lol.



What is the flavor profile on the TFA Organic Strawberry? I didn't even know they had an Organic one, never heard anyone mention it before. Have I been living under a rock or what, lol.

To me personally its more of a natural strawberry..not a super sweet candy'ish taste but more of a real strawberry flavor.

 

[lirruping]

Thanks for the heads up on the Medicine Flower concentrates, I'll have to check em out. If they end up having something that I REALLY like, something that is uniquely stellar, I won't mind spending a bit more on them, especially if they have a good Cream, Vanilla Custard, Caramel, Toffee, Strawberry & especially-ESPECIALLY Chocolate. Chocolate seems to be a VERY difficult flavor to get just right, and by just right I mean NATURAL tasting. Every chocolate flavoring/juice Ive tried so far (admittedly not many though) has tasted artificial, which completely ruins the experience for me.

Another flavor I'm having trouble finding is a realistic tasting Caramel. So far Flavor West Caramel Candy is the best one Ive tried, smells delicious from the bottle but for some reason I'm having a hard time capturing that "aroma from the bottle" essence in my mixtures with it. I imagine it has a lot to do with ratio/percentage, as well as the flavorings you mix with it. If not enough % is used then its practically undetectable, if however too much % is used then it seems to overwhelm everything else, as well as mute itself. Perfecting original recipes using multiple combinations of flavors is a very fine balancing act, one that takes practice, trial & error to master. One thing is for sure though, I am definitely still in the trial & error faze, lol.



What is the flavor profile on the TFA Organic Strawberry? I didn't even know they had an Organic one, never heard anyone mention it before. Have I been living under a rock or what, lol.

I don't know the reasons for your interest in organic flavors other than quality of flavor, but in case it's of interest and/or you didn't know, all the FA flavors from their e-cig line are diacetyl, acetoin and acetyl-propionyl free. Many say (and I agree) they tend to taste more authentic than a lot of TFA or FA flavors. If you have not yet searched on HeadInClouds' notes, s/he has posted a ton of very useful and insightful info on several FA flavors.

Trial and error is the name of the game! Yeah, I'm starting to suspect it's not a phase, but a permanent state of affairs
I know what you mean about chocolate flavors, although I've only had a few. They can taste weird, like alcohol or tootsie rolls. My favorite single flavor of the chocolate-types i've tried is FA Cocoa. If you haven't yet, you can find some good recipes around here to try it in.

btw, Capella Caramel tastes good and caramelly to me, but a little bit artificial. Not bad at all, but like candy-caramels. FA Caramel is real, burnt sugar caramel taste. It's hard to go wrong with FA, especially given the great FA resources in this forum.