First, I'd like to start off by thanking the members of this community. I was a new vape enthusiast, complaining about the prices of juices, when I saw this sub linked in /r/electronic_cigarette, specifically someone mentioning /u/fizzmustard clone of 'nana cream. I was enticed, began reading, and made the plunge. I read and mixed and kept doing so.

Cloning my favorite juices has taught me a couple of things, so I wanted to share my thoughts with this community and offer (what I believe to be) a viable clone for a complex and delicious juice by none other than /u/_Bombies .. A Real Nightmare.

Without further delay, here is the recipe I have:

(Cap) Dutch Chocolate Mint - 4%

(LA) Mint Chocolate Chip - 2%

(TFA) Double Chocolate (Dark) - 1%

(TFA) Fudge Brownie - 2%

(TFA) Mild Black - 2%

(CAP) Root Beer - 2%

(FA) Cookie - 2%

(TFA) Graham Cracker - 3%

(TFA) Smooth - 1 drop per 5 mL

I use this sort of bottle for drops, as a reference

I'd like to say that I know that this is not a perfect 1:1 clone. I will outline in my notes how I know it is not perfect. My hope is that people enjoy it, expand upon it, discuss it and make some progress from where I currently am.

Now to Cloning Notes

Us humans have five main senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. We may think the juices speak to us, but they don't. We'll leave sound out of this one. Same with touch, as most juices are just sticky. That leaves us with sight, smell, and most importantly, taste.

Utilizing these three senses is critical, in my opinion, when trying to exactly clone a juice. I'll talk about how I have used them on my journey to clone A Real Nightmare.

Sight: This wasn't too difficult to figure out, it seems to be a less darkened chocolate color. Many combinations will get us here, so I've used this sense as a sort of last check. My recipe looks to be the same color as the real deal, which doesn't mean a whole lot, but it helps when trying to perfect a clone.

Smell: This is where it gets interesting. I was certain that the mint chocolate flavor of ARN was a combination of Dutch Chocolate Mint and Double Chocolate (Dark). But when mixed, the smell wasn't quite right when compared to the real deal. I then smelled Mint Chocolate Chip (LorAnn's) and I could smell it in there. So I started adding small amounts until I got to a taste that I believe was right. Next is the cookie-like smell, almost a muffin, that I get from ARN. /u/deadnugent posted a recipe including graham cracker and mild black by TFA, and some great discussion took place there. As you can see, both of these flavors appear in my recipe. However, the first thing that came to mind every time I smelled it was cookie. Some sort of cookie. After spending some time reading about cookie flavors, I picked up what seemed to be the best: FA cookie. This is one place I believe I'm close, but I'm wrong. The taste seems quite close, but the smell is not quite right. It's not quite cookie enough. Many variations of FA cookie, TFA graham cracker and TFA Mild Black were tried, and I'm left with the recipe I've given above. I also use TFA fudge brownie, as it adds a subtle chocolate flavor but helps a lot with with the cookie/ muffin smell I mentioned above along with the taste.

Taste: This is what is most important after all, isn't it? This is what we are ultimately going for. ARN is undoubtedly a very, very complex juice. I may very well be going overboard with the amount of ingredients and thinking, but I can't see this as being a two or three ingredient recipe. An awful lot is going on. There's a thin mint cookie at the front and center, with some slight tobacco and (what I believe to be) root beer on the exhale. I've messed around with TFA mild black quite a bit, and it's my favorite TFA tobacco to use. I get a little bit of a biscuit/ cookie/ graham cracker from it, hence my belief that it is in the real thing to some extent. Comparing my clone to the real deal, I believe there is something else in there, adding to the tobacco. Perhaps a tiny amount of another tobacco, or different tobacco entirely that is quite close to TFA's Mild Black. I believe I'm close, but it's not quite there. I'd like to say the same for the root beer. I think CAP's root beer tastes great and I love it in my clone, but I believe it's either the wrong root beer, or there's a missing ingredient that alters the root beer's flavor a bit. Either way, I believe I'm wrong here somewhere. On to the chocolate. I wholeheartedly believe the CAP's Dutch Chocolate Mint is the dominant chocolate and mint flavor here. I think it gets help from other chocolate flavors, but it's definitely king. I played around quite a bit with LA's Mint Chocolate Chip, as well as TFA Double Chocolate (Dark) and other mint flavors like Mint Candy or CAP's peppermint, and eventually came to the mint chocolate base that is listed in my recipe. If someone else believes I'm dead wrong or comes up with something better, then fabulous. Again, my recipe is not perfect, but I think it is close enough to mix and enjoy as a very close alternative.

IN CONCLUSION

All in all, cloning juices has taught me an awful lot. This is the first clone of a popular juice I've made that I think is close enough to warrant it's own post for discussion. Again, I'd like to thank this community and everyone who contributes. At the end of the day, if you've made a juice you enjoy, damn anyone else who thinks otherwise. Cheers!!

• Furyxus

Coming Up Next

• Kiss the Ring

• Product X

EDIT 1: Fixed a few formatting errors.

EDIT 2: Fixed ecr link