I haven't yet got my hands on TFA's Hawaiian Drink but have been trying to build a recipe off the basic components of Hawaiian Punch. So far this is where I'm at but after about 10 5mL tests could use some suggestions on where to take it next? There's something powdery and almost a bit cheesy about the recipe I have. It's similar to Hawaiian Punch but still off. Have tried adding EM and INW Cactus to give it some sweetness and "juiciness" but Cactus dominated even at 0.25% and the EM just kind of muted things. It's got a tartness but could be brighter still. Also know that Hawaiian Punch supposedly has Papaya in it but not a huge fan of papaya flavor so I don't have any. Suggestions on a good Papaya flavor would be cool too.
Apricot (FA) 2%
Fuji Apple (FA) 3%
Lime Tahity Cold Pressed (FA) 0.5%
Orange (FA) 3%
Passion Fruit (TPA) 1%
Pineapple (INAWERA) 0.25%
Sweet Guava (CAP) 0.25%
I think strawberry ripe would be more fitting than dragonfruit believe it or not. It to has loads of ethyl butyrate which is one of the primary molecules in pineapple flavorings.
That's pretty interesting. I kinda had a gut feel that strawberry in general would round out the mix but wanted to see if I could tweak what I 'know' is in the drink first. But strawberry ripe isn't the one I would have thought to add!
I've actually been working on this same thing, as an effort to create a homage to Bombies' Tiger Style, which to me tastes like a Hawaiian Punch type flavor. In my opinion, the key is Cap Sweet Guava. It's a great flavor, and using more of it will add the sweetness and juiciness you're looking for. Also, a hint of koolada will help the "pop."
I also am not a big fan of strong pineapple flavors and I don't want the pineapple to stick out, so I sub TFA Dragonfruit instead of using an actual pineapple, per /u/fizzmustard's realization that Dragonfruit and Pineapple contain overlapping flavor molecules.
Here's my latest recipe (still a work in progress, but I'm getting close):
Ocelot Style
Cap Sweet Guava 4%
TFA Dragonfruit 2%
TFA Apricot 2%
FA Fuji 1.6%
FW Papaya 1.75%
FA Passion Fruit 1.25%
FA Orange 1%
FA Lime Tahiti Cold Pressed 0.4%
TFA Koolada (10% dilution) 0.4%
FA Liquid Amber 0.4% (optional, I think I'm going to eliminate this next round).
Awesome! Thanks for this. I was kinda keeping the Guava in the background since when I taste Hawaiian Punch it's the Passion Fruit that I taste more than anything else. They are actually pretty complementary flavors tho. I have been mixing Sweet Guava on the low side since it gets kind of candy like but that's probably desirable if you are imitating a sugar filled red colored fruit juice. INW Pineapple was kinda walking all over my mix so the dragonfruit note is super helpful. Is FW Papaya the one? Currently don't got no Papayas.
To be honest, I only ordered FW Papaya because I was making an order off E-Cig Express with Hawaiian Punch in mind, and that was the only decent-rated papaya flavor they had in stock. I am not a papaya expert by any means, haha. I wouldn't say that it's a great flavor, but it does definitely add something to the mix that isn't there otherwise. But I think it's a background flavor. My last revision had FW Papaya at a higher percentage, and that seemed off so I reduced it this time around.
Also, to be clear, FW Papaya and FA Passion Fruit are more similar to me than any of the other flavors in my mix. So much so that I've been adjusting the concentrations of those two together, treating them as if they were two different versions of the same flavor. Based on that, I'd suggest that you might be able to get away without using any papaya flavor.
Just mixed this up minus the Papaya, Koolada, and Liquid Amber. And subbed the Passion Fruit for TFA cus that's kinda all I got at the moment. Definitely sweeter now and pretty tasty. Also feel like the surrounding flavors pull out the depth of the guava. But almost feel like I want it to have more lip smack tartness? CAP Guava definitely being a bit of an attention hog but convinced it should be raised at least a bit now.
Tartness is tough, in my highly limited mixing experience. You could try a little sour/malic acid... I've also had good results in other contexts using a little Cap Harvest Berry to add tartness. It's a super tart flavor and at a low percentage the berry aspect shouldn't be too noticeable. I might try that myself, actually.
Dont put a lot of trust in TFA Hawaiin Drink either. At least that was mine and my son in laws impression, and I think he will vape any damn thing:)
Edit: TFA Papaya is pretty good, strong too.
Cant help too much with the recipe but TFA passion fruit isn't the best, FA and CAP have better versions, both good, just different to each other.
If you're talking about TFA Hawaiian Drink - I wouldn't rush into it, I've got some and didn't think too much of it. It's tropical punch-y but also pretty boring, might make for an OK base but definitely needs some other stuff in it to boost it up.
I'll be watching this thread closely. Man, I loved MBVs Gwar Bloodbath, really need to get another bottle as I'd probably ADV it if I could clone it.
Dude! Me too. I am wracking my brain over here. Was kind of sketched out by the bright red color but part of me thinks there's something psychological about it that made it extra tasty. Also it was pretty tart so I think I might try adding some extra acids of some sort.
Yeah, I agree regarding the colour. Appearance definitely makes a difference, look how much effort a good chef puts into the presentation of their meals. Colour and appearance even comes into beer and wine and tasting. You see it before you smell/taste it and first impressions matter.
Could have some acids in there but I don't remember it being too harsh on coils. Wouldn't hurt to try though. Could possibly be the pineapple in it, I find that pineapple can give the impression of sourness.
Might have to order some more and have a shot at cloning it. I haven't had it since the Gwar line first came out. I'd hope that it's all FW to make cloning easier but I have a feeling they use different suppliers for the Gwar stuff.
also remember it being somewhat of a coil gunker so probably judiciously sweetened with something. Kinda wonder if it would safe to assume since MBV's DIY service uses FW that their in-house flavors would be all FW?
OK, maybe it was shitty on coils, haha, has been a while. Yeah, wouldn't surprise me if it had a decent whack of sweetener in it actually.
I dunno if it would be all FW. The Gwar line did seem to be slightly better quality than the rest of MBVs juices. I guess that could be because they spent a bit more time with the recipe creation though. One of the MBV staff has also said on Reddit that not all their concentrates are FW, whether that's true or was to throw people off is anyone's guess.
Just a couple of possible ideas- maybe try a plain apple instead of Fuji, FA Apple would work. I am wondering if the Fuji would be too strong/tart. The apple would just need to round off the mix, I'm thinking. As apple is very common in almost any fruit juice, so you don't need to taste it. Next, try Lemon ... just a couple of drops total. This will brighten the fruits without changing the recipe completely.
Last night I made up this recipe and im vaping it right now
Inawera Pineapple 4%
FA Orange 1%
FA lemon Sicily 1%
FA Forrest Mix 1%
It has a tropical taste to it. Its actually really sweet and the orange comes through quite nicley without overpowering everything. I thinking if you were to try this you could add some passion fruit or apple or even strawberry. I know FA passion fruit isn't very sweet but very realistic it could pair with this to counter some sweentness and round out this recipe.
maybe try some FA pear for sweetness. Pear is used to sweeten a lot of juice drinks. I use it in fruit mixes for that purpose.
Hmm don't got FA Pear but do have TFA and LA. Out of those two LA probably would be better in this mix cus it's got a syrupy green apple flavor to me. TFA Pear is just a whore.
I got FA Fig tho that's pretty peary and sweet as fudge
I'll throw in my 2 cents, I was in a frenzy to clone gwar bloodbath, what I did was look up all the fruits in Hawaiian punch, (apple apricot, guava, orange, papaya, passion fruit, and pineapple). I used
- TFA Apple
- TFA Apricot
- CAP Sweet Guava
- FA Orange - 1%
- TFA Papaya
- CAP Passion fruit
- TFA Pineapple
All at 2% and it turned out pretty good, close in flavor but definitely lacking. I haven't tried tweaking the percents but I'll probably try again soon now that I have FA Fuji and FA Passion fruit, and I'll definitely try replacing some or all of the pineapple with dragonfruit.