I'm putting together a list of flavors for my first DIY order. I'm keeping the order somewhat low by just buying what I need for some of the popular clones on this sub. I don't intend to get too experimental for a little while.
But a friend asked if I could try to replicate Altoids Tangerine Sours, cos that's what he used to use a lot to help him not smoke some years ago. Says he hasn't had anything close to it in a vape.
Any ideas what flavors/ingredients would be a good idea to experiment with?
Thanks in advance!
Something simple would be Capella Sweet Tangerine, a peppermint/spearmint/wintergreen flavor (I think peppermint is the flavor I associate with Altoids).
optional would be a tiny bit of citric/malic acid.
I asked him, and apparently there was no mint in them. Just a quite sour citrus candy. So the acids would be used to make it more sour, if I understand correctly. But I would imagine there's a limit to how well that works with vapor, or am I wrong? I've never really had anything all that sour tasting, myself.
Citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid(sp?) can all be added in moderation to make a juice more sour. However, to the best of my knowledge, there are limitations and you don't want to add too much of any of these to your juice or it can begin to gunk coils or mute flavors, etc.
It is difficult to make a sour juice, period. But there are many citrus flavors that carry a serious tang that might help you in your search. Lemonade is tangy, I hear that FE lemon is like a citrus slap to the face, and lemon Sicily is also potent.
I would avoid using citric or malic acid in your juice. They really didnt do anything for me but add an odd chemically taste that muted flavors. I would use lemon in place of sour.
The only thing that I can add is that you'll never be able to get any mix as 'sour' as the candy itself, however you can mimic the orange flavor really close I'm sure. Capella's Sweet Tangerine as /u/joesphaa suggested is a good place to start. FLV Orange Citrus, FA Mandarin, Citrus Mix, and Orange are pretty solid too for 'filling' out the orange notes. Lemon would definitely help get it closer to a more sour flavor as well.
I don't like being the debbie downer but I've tried to make an extremely sour juice and it didn't go the way I originally thought. However, I'm not a pro by any means so there may be a way, I just haven't found it.
The problem is that most candies like these and more on the extreme end like sour patch kids, etc. is the fact that the punch comes from the citric acid, that the candy is surrounded by, directly hitting your tongue.
It's more passive when it comes to vaping because you're essentially vaporizing the juice first and even if there's citric acid in your mix, it's still not the same effect when you taste it.
Would a very small amount of INW Raspberry help with a bit of sourness? It's way to prominent at 0.5, so maybe 0.2 or so? Haven't tried it that low, but its a thought.