Shurb drives me insane. I don't know what it is about it - I know it isn't some finely crafted, well-tuned juice. From what I've tasted and from what others who know more about the actual recipe have said, I know that it is just a ton of EM and some various fruits. But for me that juice scratches some itch that most fruit vapes don't scratch.
So after /u/vaperous made his extensive post on his progress with Shurb, I decided to see if I could get much further using the same recipe. It took a while, but I think I'm getting a little closer and I wanted to share it and get some feedback.
I made a new post for this instead of in a current thread since it is still a WIP clone and I wanted to ramble on about my sources for each choice. Hope thats cool with our overlords <3
SHURBish
- 5% CAP Raspberry
- 4% CAP Sweet Strawberry
- 3% CAP Sweet Tangerine
- 1% INW Lemon Mix
- 7% EM
- 2% TFA Vanilla Swirl
- 2% FA Marshmallow
- 2% TFA Whipped Cream
- 2% FA Liquid Amber (OPTIONAL)*
Is it a lot of flavoring? Yeah. Is it perfect yet? No, definitely not. This is just the closest I've gotten and I wanted to share my progress. So let's discuss some sources:
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The base of the recipe is all thanks to /u/vaperous' post here. He did some great work with that but I personally felt that FA Raspberry wasn't quite right. It seemed too.. pungent or something. Too realistic. His choices for the creams seemed spot on as well.
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The idea for Lemon Mix was from /u/DuskMS' post here. Vaperous was saying that he couldn't find any lime that was subtle enough to fit and just ended up going with FA Lemon. I think INW Lemon Mix tastes similar to FA Lemon with a very slight lime twist in there. The percentage is still hard to figure out for me, because 0.5% seems like too little and 1% seems too high.
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I can't find the exact comment, but /u/botboy141 mentioned a while back that Shurb definitely uses multiple flavor manufacturers. This isn't hard evidence of anything, but I'd think that means more than all FA and one from TFA. So I think CAP+FA+TFA+INW is probably more accurate.
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And finally, the idea to use the CAP fruits came from this exchange. I think they were joking, but /u/skiddlzninja and /u/iamgr3m gave me the idea for CAP's Raspberry, Strawberry, and Tangerine and I think the three fit pretty well. I'm still questioning the Tangerine as it doesn't taste the same as the orange I taste in Shurb, so I might try going back to FA Mandarin on my next batch. Strawberry compliments the Raspberry nicely and I've heard several people say they think there is some strawberry in Shurb. I'd have to agree after trying this combo. They make each other hard to pick out.
And thats that! I feel it is a bit closer to Shurb. It has a lot of the aftertaste and a lot of similar notes and the creamy part seems spot on to me. It definitely isn't Shurb yet, but it makes a really tasty vape that I'll probably go through a lot of.
I'll continue tweaking this but in the meantime I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
Oh and a huge shout out to /u/BotBoy141 - if you've ever tried Shurb and thought "that isn't sherbert at all" then you should go check out the excellent sherbert juice he sells because it is really awesome and tastes very authentic.
EDIT: Whoops, had some percentages wrong. Fixed.
EDIT 2: I've been puffing away on this all morning. I think I might even like it better than Shurb. Much fruitier inhale.
EDIT 3: * /u/Nicobeak mentioned Liquid Amber. Adding it as an optional flavor as I'm trying to figure out if it makes a huge difference. It definitely seems a little smoother and theres a tiny floral note. I'd have to let it sit for a night again to tell I think.
"Overlord" here. Removing this post because you obviously have not done ANY homework ;)
One suggestion I have when you think you have the right taste, but the flavor % is really high: make a base of just the flavorings, then try that at different concentrations. I've found on more than one occasion that cutting the overall % in half can result in a better juice.
Fantastic notes :) I really hope you manage to nail it.
Have you ever tried FW lemonade? I use a little bit of it in my own sloppy sherbert recipe, and I think it could possibly be in shurb. It's a lemon flavour that's pretty well all high notes, so I find it pairs really well with fruits.
Thanks!
No, I haven't. I've tried the Pink Lemonade though. I'll definitely give that a try when I make another order.
Awesome! I actually mistook you for the guy who posted his obsession with shurb a while back, but I'm curious if you saw his notes? Here they are.
Awesome post! Seems a lot of people are using INW ingredients now. It's probably time to hop on this wagon
I've had some for a year+ now but very rarely use them. They're all very very very good but I don't think you could just throw a mix together and say "let's toss some Inawera stuff in there" because it would throw it all off or overpower everything else.
All the fruit ones I've tried are very realistic though! I've always said that I think Adirondack uses INW fruits for their stuff.
Either way, definitely worth checking out.
Looks tasty, thanks for sharing your process too. I mixed a shurbish attempt not long ago with INW rasp concentrate and FA lime cold pressed (what I had) and it didn't seem right. I did put some liquid amber in it, and that was familiar. Have you tried adding liquid amber?
Liquid amber seems to make a difference. I added about 2% and didn't think it did anything, but after a few minutes of tasting I noticed it seemed a bit.. smoother? Which is weird. But it helps, I noticed the fruits were a little too harsh on the first try. Its also got a very faint floral note which seems really familiar like you said.
Thanks for the reminder! I'm definitely going to keep experimenting with it.
Would TFA lemon-lime work instead of INW Lemon Mix?
It's definitely FA Orange/Mandarin combo not CAP Sweet Tangerine in the real deal. Will have to try the raspberry substitute and I think INW Lemon Mix is probably a good guess although I'm not sure accurate, I can kind of see it working.
Really? Awesome, good info thanks! The INW Lemon Mix is a tough one.. I personally get a hint of both lemon and lime in Shurb and like vaperous said, the FA limes just didn't seem to work in here. I'm not sure if its the correct one but its still a tasty addition either way.
try MEDICINE FLOWER @0.1% undiluted, or @ 1% diluted in PG @10%
if you have earl grey from tfa use @ 1% for a hint of Bergamot, which is a citrusy but non lemony sour note
I do have some bergamot which was discussed in vaperous' thread as a possible addition. I might try it at some point. It's really strong and sharp even at low percentages so I don't think it's in there. Would still like to try though.
Medicine Flower probably wouldn't be my first guess, they weren't very popular yet for DIY when JTJM started out, but it still sounds like a really nice lemon so I'll have to try it out. Thanks!
Why oh why is there 7%EM?! unless I missed it, didn't see you talk about that.
Edit oh duh, purple think the original is a ton of EM. Any reason you didn't go with 6% or less?
I used vaperous' as a base for mine and I think his EM percentage was spot on. Lowering it definitely made it a little less Shurb-y.
Shurb definitely has a ridiculous amount of EM. Like an "EM with a hint of fruit" type deal.