So this begins with many months of vaping /u/fizzmustard Mustard Milk (the dikealicious version). Even if I wasn't prone to vaper's tongue, so much Mustard Milk was enough to burn me out on the flavor for a while.
I've been obsessed with cooking/baking since I was a kid, so I decided to apply some of the methodology I use when experimenting in the kitchen to DIY juice.
I'll walk through an example to explain what I mean: Let's say I make an entree that my wife and I really like. The entree is pan-fried chicken breast in a curry sauce with basmati rice. Very simple recipe, totally satisfactory. But something simple and delicious like this will eventually get stale. So, we mix it up. Lets say I make a small change like using skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breast for some extra flavor. Or I could sub out the curry sauce and make a teriyaki-honey sauce instead. There are an infinite number of sides that I could exchange for the rice; glazed carrots, mango chutney, etc..
So that's the methodology. But there are a few things you should remember when you are modifying recipes.
Percentages: Flavor manufacturers tend to keep the strengths of their flavors pretty similar. You can pick this up just by browsing recipes here on the sub. For example, you will notice that TFA flavors are regularly used at ranges from 5% to 10% while you will rarely see anything from FlavourArt go over 4%. Why? FA's concentrates are more..er.. concentrated. So if you're trying to take a Strawberry Milk recipe and turn it into a Blueberry Milk recipe, look at the original strawberry. Lets say the original features TFA Strawberry at 6%, subbing in TFA Blueberry Wild/Extra at 6% would be a safe starting point. However, if you wanted to use an FA Blueberry flavor, you would need to drop the percentage.
Pace Yourself: Change one thing at a time. Don't take a complex recipe like /u/enyawreklaw Cereal Milks and change 3 flavors and adjust 2 percentages. Because when it inevitably tastes like feces and regret, you won't know what the offending alteration was.One thing at a time.
Also, do yourself a favor and go watch the DIYorDIE videos that /u/enyawreklaw puts out. The man does the lord's work.
Okay, as promised, here's a recipe.
Mix together a 50%/50% solution of TFA Strawberry and TFA Strawberry (Ripe)
Ranger
8% TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
6% TFA Strawberry Solution
3% TFA Marshmallow
Good approach and notes, but as a side observation to your recipe, I have to mention..if you're using a 50/50 mix of Strawberry and Ripe, using 6% of that solution has the same result as using 3% of each. No need to complicate things.
Very true. It's just for convenience, like a mini base. Since I make this stuff a lot lately, it saves me having to find and open two bottles.
By the way, I made your Unicorn Milk clone the other day, having never tasted OG Unicorn Milk. I think I may dislike CAP Sweet Strawberry, because it did not taste good to me after 2 hours in a 150F slow cooker steep. How do you steep your batches of this stuff?
Honestly, just time. I gave up on "speed" aging months ago. To me, it just seems to dull everything. I usually make a 120ml divided up into 4 30ml bottles and carry one around after a week or so. It seems to do best after two weeks.