In the year I have been mixing my own flavors, I have gone to Flavor Apprentice for my extracts. Most are pretty solid, but I've heard a lot of chatter about other big names like Lorann and Capella. Where have you guys found your best quality extracts, and what do you find yourselves buying time and time again?
As an add-on question, my recipe has been 70/30 mix, with 20% flavor. I realize that's a little high, but I do so because I like to ensure I'll taste the flavors. Is such a large percentage of the mix necessary?
RTS Vapes for Hangsen, Capella, and FlavourArt.
Wizard Labs for TFA, Lorann's, and Seedman's.
eCigExpress for Flavor West, Inawera, Jungle Flavorz, and nature's Flavors.
Vaping Zone for VZ Super Concentrates.
If the vendors don't have specific flavors, I will go directly to the manufacturer's site for them, such as Capella and Inawera. A prime example would be CA Vanilla Custard. For some reason RTS does not carry it, which is really WTF!?
Lastly, some juice makers have their own line of DIY flavors, such as Want2Vape, Mom and Pop Vapor Shop, and Mt. Baker Vapor. Instead of tearing my hair out trying to clone Morley or Tobacco haze, I just buy the premade flavor, and it costs about 20 cents per ml, so it's still uber cheap, and I have full control over nic content and PG/VG ratio.
Do you not get any more than the 8ml vials at a time from WizardLabs for TFA flavors? I am thinking of getting bulk through TFA themselves (1 oz, maybe 4?), but I dunno if that's gonna be a little bit of overkill or not yet. I've only been mixing for three days now, but I can see that the 8ml can seem to go pretty quick when experimenting.
I like the 8ml size for sampling a flavor, especially for $1.50. At 10% flavor, an 8ml vial is still enough to make 80ml of juice. If I like the flavor and find that I use it in a lot of recipes, then I will pony up for a larger size. If you want larger sizes of TFA, RTS Vapes actually has prices on the 1 oz. and 4 oz. sizes that are actually cheaper than on the TFA site. :)
I primarily use TPA/TFA for almost all of my flavors. There are, however, some that just don't cut it. Specifically, if you want a good custard, capellas the way to go, if you want the best absinthe, decadent vapours makes it (just found this out lol), if you want better tobacco mixes you need Flavourart's flavors. Taste is subjective so most of these are opinions.
To your second question: 20% does seem high with 70% PG. but if it tastes good to you, that's all that matters. I've seen people use 30-35% in some mixes. Personally, i'm around 15-20% depending on the flavors in a 50/50 mix.
Thanks, I was looking for a good Vanilla Custard. Guess I need to make an order from Capellas. Anything else you recommend from there? I've only ordered once from TPA so far, but I got quite a bit.
Capella caramel, marshmallow, coconut, peanut butter, Graham cracker, and French vanilla are some of the best I've ever tasted.
Just placed an order and got: Caramel, Butter, Waffle, Vanilla Custard, Vanilla Cupcake, Cinnamon Danish Swirl, and Pumpkin Pie Spice.
Can't wait to try them. Wish I would have picked up French Vanilla, but I have 4oz of French Vanilla, Bavarian Cream, and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream from TFA coming in. Hope those can make up for it :P
"Is such a large percentage of the mix necessary?"
Most of the flavors I do are at 15-20% unless it's mentioned the flavor is really strong, like mints or highly concentrated stuff like ecigexpress alcohol based. I like them nice and strong and for most, the best, most full bodied flavor doesn't come through until 3-4 weeks of age. TFA French Vanilla is a perfect example. It starts out clear and tastes like sweet air for a good 3 weeks. At 5 weeks it's a dark color and fills the senses. I do everything 4 weeks in advance and don't touch it until that time. YMMV.
I've seen people use that high of a concentration before, but not to much effect. If anything, you'd be better off using anywhere from 8-13% flavor, and letting it steep for a few days or even as long as a week. (depending on the flavor you're using).
As for flavors, I like to shop around, and usually look on all the major sites and find the best deal. Some have certain flavors that are just cheaper than everywhere else, and others fluctuate pretty regularly. I like to make sure I get the best price.
Anyone know of equal or better quality flavors than TFA situated in Europe?
Check out inawera and flavour art, based in Poland and Italy respectively. Both claim to be 100% Diacetyl and diketones free and are very concentrated, needing much smaller percentages to be flavorful (but, as a trade-off, more easily susceptible to overflavoring).
Thanks mate! How do the flavors compare to TFA?
TFA has an admittedly solid lineup and a larger selection but Flavour Art is probably my favorite. Their creams are the best. Inawera I've yet to try (have a massive order on its way) but they are highly respected on ECF as having fantastically accurate flavoring.
Being more concentrated means they're cheaper to use in the long run as single flavor % runs in the 5% range instead of 10-15% like TFA.
I like Capellas the best... but theyre just too damned expensive. $20 for 4oz when its about $6-10 for 4oz at TFAs bulk site.
I thought FlavourArt's tobaccos were the best... until I tried some of VapingZone's concentrates, Ecigexpress's concentrates, and Hangsen tobaccos. Now I look at FA like its grassy hay like junk lol.
What types of flavors do you find yourself consistently buying from Capella? Fruity, warm, savory?
Vanilla custard first and foremost, lol. Used about 5ozs of that stuff so far. Then in no particular order, coconut (my fave coconut out of everybody), graham cracker, marshmallow, sweet strawberry, sweet watermelon, cinnamon danish swirl, cola. Pretty much everything I've tried so far has been good, but those are the ones that I feel are better than other peoples and don't substitute with other versions.
I'd say they do desserts better than most if I had to lump them in a category