I am not very good at reddit so I apologize in advanced! /u/Djgoreface requested a few flavors so here is my opinion.
Flavor west:
Butter Rum- In the bottle it smells identical to the butter rum lifesavers they release during the holidays. Its sweet and buttery with slight rum notes. From my experience a lot of FW flavors can be on the light side so I tried it at 15% first. It is really weak, the taste is good, its just very faint. Even at 20% this flavor is still really light, I tried adding vanillin and a bit of butterscotch and that definitely helped but the butter rum flavor just wasnt as prominent as I was hoping it to be. In the end i made a pretty good butter rum coffee cake, its just too light of a flavor to be used on its own.
Cookie butter- Im not sure what to think about this flavor, it smells like molasses and brown sugar out of the bottle. Almost like a gingerbread cookie without the ginger. I mixed a test batch up at 10% and tried it on my dripper. Its extremely dry tasting, I didn't like it on its own at all. I tried it again with a little bit of vanilla custard, and it still had this strange dry taste, almost like I ate a spoonful of raw cinnamon. Really strange flavor, I never attempted anything else with it, although I plan to use it as a crust for cheesecake or something of that sort. I think it has potential I just haven't figured this one out yet!
Butter cream- This smells like butter and crayons out of the bottle, its not a horrible smell but its not appetizing. I ended up making a pretty decent butter cream pie, this flavor needs to steep for a few days to get the waxy taste out in my opinion. All in all not a bad flavor, can be used to make desserts tastes buttery.
TFA:
Key lime- This is a strong flavor, I use it at 1-4%. This is a true key lime, its not too sweet, slightly tart. Makes an amazing key lime pie and can be a great addition to fruit flavors as well. FW has a key lime that reminds me of crayons and lime zest, this version is much better.
(OP asked for malted milk extra but I havent seen that so I am assuming it is the same flavor) Malted milk concentrate- Very potent flavor, I never use it over 2%. So far I have had awesome luck with this flavor. I use it as a milk base for cereals, milkshakes, and even custard blends. Its very dynamic and can add that extra creaminess that some mixes lack, I find that malted milk and dairy from TFA make a even better milk base when combined.
Kentucky bourbon- This smells and tastes just like Kentucky bourbon, I'm not a fan of drinking alcohol, but it can definitely add something special to any blend. This is another strong flavor, I haven't used it over 2%. So far I've made a jack&coke that's spot on, and a castle long reserve clone that I ended up like much better than the real version. This goes great with tobaccos, custards, and desserts. Its the only alcoholic flavor I have found multiple uses for.
(OP asked for FW dulce de leche but I have not tried that one so Ill review TFA's) Dulce de leche- Awesome flavor, it can help round out dessert blends that are lacking depth. Its slightly sweet and milky on the inhale, and the exhale is similar to a light graham cracker flavor. Makes an amazing custard, and can add a slight bakery note to dessert flavors or coffees. I've only tried FW's version once before, but from what I can remember, TFA's version is much better. I use this flavor at anywhere from 2% as a accent flavor, to 8% as more of a base flavor.
Thanks again to /u/Botboy141 for putting this together! And I noticed you referred to me as a "he", so for future reference I am a girl :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and put this all up.
I have to ask, what's your castle long reserve clone recipe? It's the entire reason I bought the bourbon flavor :p
This is the original clone recipe I saw floating around the web:
2.5% Kentucky Bourbon 1.5% Coconut Extra 1.5% Acetyl Pyrazine 1.5% Toasted Almond 1% Vanillin 1% Bourbon Vanilla 1% Brown Sugar Extra
But even after steeping for a few weeks it was missing something so of course I tweaked it to my liking and this is what i ended up with:
2.5% Kentucky Bourbon TFA 1.5% Coconut CA 1.5% Acetyl Pyrazine 1.5% Toasted Almond CA 1.5% Vanillin TFA 1% Vanilla bourbon TFA 2% Madagascar vanilla FW 1% French vanilla CA 1% Brown Sugar TFA Red Oak TFA 1 drop per 10ml
To be honest I tried castle long a while ago when it first came out and I liked it, but it wasn't a ADV for me. I'm a big vanilla fan so I added more vanillas based on the flavor profile on the five pawns web site. Its been so long since I have tried CLR so I cant say this is spot on, I just like this better. Taste is subjective but this could be a good start for someone who wants to get as close as possible to the real thing.
I just made the original recipe the other day (one VERY close that I found with google). Initially it tasted like corn chips, which muted a bit after about 4 hours in my hot car. Today I get corn chips on the first couple drags, but then it goes away.
I've never used AP in anything not tobacco related, but I can't decide if this is coming from the TFA Toasted Almond I used, or the AP.
Either way it's good, and with a little bit of tweaking will definitely make an awesome addition to the DIY arsenal! Thanks for your additions, I'm gonna switch to CAP Toasted Almond and reduce the AP on my next batch. I'm also gonna try your revision.
When I get one that I'm happy with I'll share in the Monthly recipe thread.
Thanks again for your contributions here!
I used capella's toasted almond in my recipe and it was much better, TFA toasted almond has a weird stale taste to it in my opinion. The AP takes along time to steep out, I usually steep it for a month or so. No problem, I look forward to your tweaked version!
I know this is an old post, but I'm wondering if you happened to revisit the Cookie Butter by chance. It's something I've been trying to work with for quite some time. Personally, I keep running into the issue of it burning too quickly and gunking up the coils on my dripper. Even ran into an issue with it gunking up the coils in a tank on one try.
I'm not giving up on it yet though, this flavor will be made!
I was just thinking about revisiting this flavor again last night! I think that was the issue, it just turned into goo on my low ohm dipper. What percent have you been trying at? Im thinking I need to lower the percent and maybe add some sugar cookie or something like that. Ill try again today and report back if I have any luck
Well, I've been working with some friends to see what we could come up with. I know know one of them did 20 or 25% flavor west extract and 5% sweetener. The others I know of were anywhere from 10% extract down to 5%...but I'm not positive.
If you haven't yet, I would suggest getting a jar of Cookie Butter from Amazon or Trader Joe's(If there's one near you, because it's a Trader Joe's branded item). To know what the flavor it looking to mimic.
I'm going to take it to another friend of mine this Wednesday to see what he can come up with. Hopefully we can get it nailed down. If so, and he's willing to share his recipe(lol), I'll let you know what we come up with.
I never got around to trying actual cookie butter, but Ive had better luck with the dry taste using lower percentages and adding .5% of cookie from FA. I cant put my finger on what it tastes like, I feel like I get close and then it starts to taste like a muddled mess. Im still working on it but it gives me major vapors tongue so I have to take breaks haha