I'm still preparing to place my first DIY order. I noticed that the flavors from TFA seem to be way, way cheaper than the flavors from the other listed vendors.
So, is TFA just a really good deal? Or are the flavors somehow worse than flavors from other vendors?
Thanks.
I have been using exclusively TFA flavors since I started mixing, which wasn't that long ago. So I may not be the best authority on this subject. But what I can say about them is, as someone who is new to DIY and as someone who has been researching the subject on /r/diy_ejuice for a while now I can say that I haven't mixed anything with their flavors yet that has tasted bad or was unvapable for any reason.
I have read countless posts from people saying that they can't get their juice right, it tastes bad, I don't know what I'm doing wrong all my juice sucks I quit. And here I am and I can't seem to fuck this up, no matter how much I experiment, it always turns out at least ok, most of the time it's fantastic. Based on that I would guess that I chose a good flavor company in TFA because if other people are having problems I should have encountered the same problems as well, but that hasn't been the case. Quality flavor must be a factor and TFA must be one of the better ones, or at least one of the easier ones to work with perhaps.
I feel the exact same way. I have a couple Flavor West flavors as well as Capella Vanilla Custard V2 and they seem to require a much lower percentage compared to TFA. I really like all my TFA flavors and no matter what I mix, it is completely vapeable - even if the mix isn't perfect it is still enjoyable!
No, TFA is a good quality flavoring. Sometimes you need more in a recipe than an analogous flavor from a different company. If I use strawberry, for example, TFA might need 10% whereas Flavourart can be used at 2 %. So this means you end up paying about the same per recipe whether you use TFA or FA even though Flavourart is a tiny bit more expensive (from some vendors).
TFA flavors are great. I do think they generally require more work though.
Not sure what your background is, but the comparison that comes to my mind is using Linux instead of Windows or OSX. With linux (tfa) you can dial in your experience pretty much however you like, but there's a lot of time that you're going to put into tweaking to get things right. Capella I would say is more of an OSX experience, mostly good out of the box although tweaking will further enhance your experience. The other manufacturers I've tried vary greatly depending on particular flavor.
They are middle of the road strength wise and flavor wise, but they are a good value.
Low end: Flavor West, Bickford, LorAn.
Middle: TFA & capella
High: FlavorArt & possibly Inawera though I've never used the latter.
You get what you pay for.
I just got some Inawera Lemon Mix for a custard that I'm working on, and that stuff is potent. I should have stopped at 0.25% for the 10ml bottle I made, but I mixed at 1%. It settled down after a few days of steeping, but man alive, it is really strong! Almost as strong as FA Espresso.
Others mentioned that FA ends up being about the same price, since you need so much less of it.
So.... are you saying that buying TFA makes me a chump?
Where do you get that from my comment? Half my flavors are TFA. I started off by saying they are a good value.
TFA is good but their flavors aren't consistent. I have 3 bottles of TFA cinnamon Danish (ordered at different times, one is from TFA and the other two are Signature flavors from ecig express which is repackaged TFA which I didn't know when I ordered) sitting at home that all taste different.
I've personally had better luck with Capella, but maybe I'm just getting the wrong TFA flavors. The only one I've really liked is Cheesecake Graham Crust. I bought pear to make a snake oil clone and even lowered the percentage suggested (3% pear) and it tastes and smells like vomit to me. I put it in my cabinet in the hope that it will be better after a few weeks of curing. My TFA raspberry also smells like acetone (nail polish remover). But, like others have said, taste is totally subjective, so YMMV!
Get some Strawberry Ripe, Banana Cream (or the diacetyl-free version!), Acai and Grape Juice. These are all some of the best flavorings I've tried. The pear is good, but I hardly find myself mixing with it because it takes a long time for it to calm down.
It seems we've determined they are quality. Now, where would be the best place to get them?
http://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/c-108-the-flavor-apprentice-world-of-flavors.aspx