Lemon, oh how I love all of your ways... except for the pledge smell and taste.
I've tasted and sampled a variety of lemon products from most of the big time aroma distributors. I've only got room for one, but I decided to go with Flavour Arts, Lemon Sicily.
Why you ask? Versatility.
Straight out of the bottle, it's strong. It has a touch of pledge smell, but a bit of air and that smooths right off. Lemon Siciliy has a bit more floral essence, almost like a mix of a juicy lemon flavor with some of the oily zest mixed into it. I buy it in 240ml or bigger bottles, even though I only use a touch here and there.
I'm not here to help you decide on a lemon flavor of choice though. I'm here to tell you why you should be buying in bulk, premixing different flavor bases, and mastering lemon.
When I receive my shiny, large, industrial container of lemon, I immediately break it down into multiple bottles. I'll tell you what they are, and why.
- straight lemon, no additives
This is a common known fact. Straight lemon in small amounts (.5-2%, depending on your brand) makes fruit pop. Strawberry not quite there, add a touch of citrus. It also enhances chocolate flavors, and anything rich, but you must use a very small amount.
- Lemon + Sour
1 part lemon to 3 parts sour at 10% dilution makes this zesty lemon into a gorgeous, sour, the lemon-you-put-in-your cocktail sort of lemon. The sour adds a roundness and balances out the floral properties of the lemon sicily. I find this is what most think when they think lemon, but without the pledge smell or taste.
- Sparkling Lemon
I premix 1 part lemon to 3 parts TFA Champagne type. It imparts a touch of effervescence, very reminiscent of a starting-to-go-flat Sprite flavor when mixed with lime. I use this to impart a unique texture in some juices, and in others, to mimic a lightly carbonated soda.
- Lemon Cream
I mix 1 part lemon to 1.5 parts TFA sweet cream, with one 1/10 part LA marshmallow. This will perfectly replicate a lemon cream filling, commonly seen in oreo-style cookies (hydrox I believe they call them.). You must use a heavy dose of this to get the cream filling feel though.
- Lemon + Honey
Have a great honey recipe, but find it ends up either flat, or sickly sweet? Mix 1 part lemon to 3 parts honey (I use TFA) for a more rich, earthy honey flavor, completely balancing out the sweetness.
After some very non-scientific testing, I've found that I can mix the same recipe with straight ingredients, or with my pre-mixed base steeped for only 1-2 days, and the presteeped base makes almost any of these flavors instantly ready to vape.
I've spent a long time fine tuning these pre-bases. If you use other brands, you may have to use some research and development time to get the ratios exact, but these will be good starting points for you.
Thank you thank thank you! I hear you have one of the best lemon cream cookies out there so I know that you know what you're talking about.
Lemon Cream Cookie? I'm listening...
TFA Honey, really? I thought everyone was saying this was so bad that none can stand to vape it. Thanks for the info and knowledge!
IT smells like week old pampers and pizza vomit after a night of drinking combined. But, once you smooth it out (and use it in small quantities) it's a decent representation of earthy honey.
rotf... nice description. I hate the fact that I would know that smell. Something I wish I could have left buried in the back of my mind. haha I have a bottle of it and I remember adding a few drops to something a long time ago and how quick that stuff went down the sink.
Would you say I could do the same with say BlackBerry TFA (my FAVORITE fucking berry) and sweet cream/fresh cream to make a berry cream base?
Absolutely.
If you already have a recipe you like, you can use the blackberry to cream ratio as a guide.
Make a small sample and let it sit for a few days then mix it solo at a few % and see how it tastes.
It can only make it better.
For the lemon cream, I do not have LA Marshmallow because i haven't had a lot of luck with marshmallows in general.
However, I do have TFA & CAP marshmallow, what would you recommend?
I haven't used Any other marshmallow. I do know that LA is pretty potent I would run a test of both in a small amount and see how it comes out. I'm betting they are pretty similar.
What concentrates will kill off the Lemon? I know I can make a mix and add a touch of say INW Lemon Mix to brighten it up. That stuff almost takes over the recipe for me. Do you just dilute it usually?
I've never used INW lemon, so I don't know it's tendencies.
The reason I went with flavor art is its citrus with some of the "herbal" feel of the zest&pith of lemon. In low %'s it enhances fruit and bakery, in high% it tastes like real lemon.