So I'm fairly new to this whole DIY Juice stuff, I've made some decent flavors using Delosi (Flavor Envy), but found their fruits are pretty weak and I need to use around 10-12% to get much out of it. Overall though, their flavors are pretty decent and besides the strength there really are no complaints I have about them. I am going to start replacing them with different flavor sources though.
I've looked at the first order flavor list, and I'm looking for more in depth analysis or just see what you guys like to use. Also looked at the flavor reviews, but I've seen posts where people say they pretty much only buy FA, or TFA, or CAP, its always so back and forth. I've seen many reviews for some FA fruits, such as the Bilberry, Banana, and the Raspberry where people say that it tastes really good, like the real thing and you don't need much to fill out the flavors and instead of alcohol-y taste, its fairly pure. A friend has told me that their fruits are pretty meh but their creams are good. He insisted that TFA and CAP fruits are better, along with an amazing CAP vanilla Custard, which I'm not really doubting that last part. I know most of it is up to personal preference, and there's different bananas, like Ripe Banana, Banana Cream (which I'm tempted to get), different strawberries, but what are your opinions on which fruits are better in general? Like closer to the real fruit flavor, because I'm sure if I got straight Banana (FA) flavor, I could mix it up to mimick the Banana Cream (TFA) to an extent, but maybe I'm wrong. I'm definitely going to get some cheesecake graham crust, and vanilla custard v2, but I'm just curious on the fruits aspect. Also I'm not really looking so much to clone juices as to just make my own personalized flavors, or make whatever people request/give ideas for. Like I've been trying to get a Banana Coconut Cream Pie flavor, but I'm not sure if I'm tasting an off tasting banana or coconut, could be a flavoring issue (not enough of one, too much of other) and I'm definitely going to run more test bottles through, like an only banana one and work up from there.
I know some flavor companies will have their shining stars when it comes to fruits, custards, cheesecakes, etc but I'm really just curious. Forgive me if my post is sort of out of place, but I figured I would just start a new thread to see who would bite. I guess if you could answer along some sort of line of your company preference (heavily favored or if it's pretty split up), and any other info/advice you'd like to add, maybe how long you've been mixing also or your personal experiences.
FA banana is banana runts. TFA and CAP are cheaper than FA, not better. You won't be able to use other flavors to emulate TFA banana cream, or LA banana cream; they're quite unique. You won't find a real banana flavor, but you can attempt to emulate one using LA banana cream with either TFA quince or INW rhubarb.
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TFA has some of the best fruits IMO. Their strawberries are must-have, and their other fruits are really great for the price. I rank them 4th for fruits
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FA fruits are better. Their creams are also fantastic. Third place for them for quality, bumped up to second place since HS doesn't have as large a selection of fruits.
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CAP makes good creams and pastries, their fruits are truly meh. Whatever last place ends up being, I put CAP fruits there. More expensive than TFA, and not nearly as good. Their creams are almost all must-haves' though.
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INW makes the best fruits, hands-down (IMO.) Realistic representations, complex profiles, and really clean flavors. Quite expensive, but worth the investment if you know how to use them.
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HS makes great fruits, second only to INW (IMO.) Another more expensive manufacturer, and harder to get. Third place due to limited fruit selection, second place when speaking only of quality.
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FLV makes good alternative fruits.(candied, jams, etc.) They aren't ranked because their fruits are all so unique, and must-haves for the fruit lovers.
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MF(Lotus) makes some great fruits, but require venting or a long steep to remove the EtOH in them(they aren't pure aroma as some claim, considering most aroma molecules are in powder form when synthesized/extracted.) Due to their difficulty of use, they aren't ranked either. Buy them after you've learned more about what you're doing and better understand the differences in potency of flavors.(and how to detect flavor potency before mixing.
See, most of the comments I saw on the FA banana said it doesn't taste like runts at all, but thank you for this post very informative. I guess it really comes down to personal preference, but I'll definitely have to check out INW, FLV sounds pretty interesting too. I guess I just need to gain some more experience by just actually getting them and playing around with them. Really appreciate it though, definitely gonna save this post for reference when making my next purchases.
Any tips on figuring out flavor potency before mixing? Because I hate going back and adding more flavor when I could've just done it from the beginning. Are there just certain flavors that are generally going to be more potent than others? Or is there a special attribute like stronger sweetness smell or something?
See, skiddlz doesn't know Jack when it comes to bananas, unfortunately.
NudeNics Banana Cream Pie is the most realistic, & imo the best, banana cream on the market. MF Banana is the most realistic banana on the market. CAP banana is straight runts whereas FA banana is laffy taffy.
LA & TFA are unique banana creams, LA is a pretty good candy banana & tfa is "more" realistic, but has an odd taste & burns at higher wattages in addition to being weak.
You're my friend, so I can ban you without any other mods caring. Talk shit about my banana knowledge again,
It's kind of a learned trait; figuring the potency. It involves knowing the manufacturer, knowing the norm for the flavor, and recognizing the amount of EtOH in the flavor. For instance: FA, INW, and HS are all fairly potent; INW even moreso, And banana, coconut, citrus, coffee, and menthol flavors are all very potent. You would then smell for ethyl alcohol in the flavors(most of these flavors are all so notoriously potent DUE TO being suspended in an EtOH-PG solution), resulting in INW Lemon being used at <.5% in a mix to impart the full lemon flavor without overpowering everything else. Just a matter of knowing a lot of shit.
Capella sweet strawberry is a favorite of mine, but I have not check if INW has a strawberry and how that compares. Also, I have seen a lot of positive reviews of Flavor West's Yellow cake and I agree with the herd. Otherwise I avoid pretty much anything from flavorwest.
Thanks for the heads up with the rhubarb and quince. Saving your post.
I like to do my research on ELR. I did a write-up post with how-to over here