There have been a few posts on here about Pink Spot and how to recreate them. I'm aware they're see as quite low-rent, jam-packed with sweeteners and often requiring 30% flavouring to work well. Despite this I'm a massive fan - nothing else is quite as satisfying and reminiscent of childhood sweets. Don't get me wrong, I like all the max VG, 6 week steep custard/yoghurt stuff too, but Pink Spot suits me for that quick 50/50 15w 1.2ohm vape.
It's common knowledge that they're heavily based on Lorann flavourings so over the past year or so I've built up a large collection of both brands, with the aim of breaking Pink Spot into their component LA parts, plus trying to make new flavours that would suit Pink Spot fans. I'd like to use this thread for a discussion board for other people who love these kind of flavours, want to create similar recipes, and maybe recreate them using LA in case their supply runs out or for price reasons. Here's a few notes on what I've found so far.
Arguably the best flavour is Watermelon Wave. It's very very sweet, with a vague hint of synthetic watermelon. It shouldn't be that great, but it is. It's clearly based on Watermelon LA. I think it's something like 30% Watermelon LA with a sweetener, and I'm fairly sure it's Sucralose, at around 1-2%, maybe higher.
Similarly, Juicy Watermelon is another great one. Definitely based on Watermelon LA, same 30% but in this case I think it's 1-2% EM.
It gets confusing as Pink Spot have recently started pushing the colourless versions of these, and deep down I know it's psychosomatic but I can't shake the feeling that they DO taste different. The colourless Juicy Watermelon now tastes much more like Watermelon Wave. And this baffles me. If anyone has tried the colourless and colour versions and agree/disagree, please let me know.
Raspberry Lemonade - another great Pink Spot flavour. I've got a great copy by doing a simple Raspberry LA at 10% with Lemonade LA at 10%. This isn't perfect and needs honing but it's a good starting point. An even better version uses One On One Lemonade at 10% instead of the LA version.
Hubba Bubba Grape. It's Grape LA (the thick purple fluid) and I'm quite sure it's Bubblegum LA but not sure of the %s. I'm going to experiment later, starting with 20% Grape LA and 5% Bubblegum. (Grape Cotton Candy is clearly Grape LA and Cotton Candy LA but again I'm unsure of the %s, and as this one is inferior to Hubba Bubba Grape I'm going to leave it.)
Pink Spot (the actual flavour). This is my Holy Grail. My joint favourite with the Watermelons and I simply cannot distinguish the flavours. It's quite tart but the only tart/sour LA flavour I've found is Guava, and this doesn't taste right. I'm guessing it involves Raspberry LA and maybe watermelon at low rates but there's at least two other flavours in there that I can't work out. If anyone knows please say so! UPDATE: Just checked the Pink Spot site and it says "Pink Spot e-Liquid is a tempting fusion of raspberry, pineapple, and citrus". I'll need to find a source for Pineapple LA, and work out what the citrus is - I'll find Orange LA and try that.
Blueberry Mojito - I'm not a fan at all, indeed I find it revolting. However someone once posted the clone on this subreddit, so it's worth posting for completion purposes. It's Blueberry (LA) at 5% and Key Lime (TPA) at 6%. Yep, no mint. And it's worth noting that Pink Spot apparently use Key Lime TPA in a bunch of their flavours. It's possible this is one of the ingredients in the Pink Spot juice.
Gummi Bear - A massive favourite with my friends. Very sweet, and I'm certain it contains berry-based LA flavours, such as raspberry, blueberry, possibly strawberry, and something else - maybe a small amount of Pomegranate LA?
Which brings me onto something I recently came up with. Raspberry LA and Pomegranate LA make a perfect combination. Very very sweet, so this will burn through coils quickly but if you're in the mood it's perfect. Try 15% Raspberry and 10% Pomegranate.
Pink Spot sell a lot of their concentrates. So far it seems the majority (Watermelon Wave, Pink Spot, Gummi Bear, Hubba Bubba Grape, Juicy Watermelon) need to be mixed at 30%. Curiously, Fire & Ice (another great one, very popular with many of my mates, but equally loathed by many) is mixed at just 8%. Any higher is painfully harsh on the throat. Obviously Fire & Ice is likely to be a mix of Menthol LA and Cinnamon LA but I've not tried this yet.
Other decent Pink Spot flavours I've tried are: Blu Spot (a blueberry based version of Pink Spot), Black Mamba ("a fierce blend of blackberry and cranberry flavors with a splash of citrus"), Rip Tide (v popular from what I've read online, fruit with a hint of menthol), Retro Punch (loved this when I first tried it but the second batch of concentrate tasted very different and not nice at all - need to try this again), Dutch Apple Pie/Banana Nut Bread (surprisingly good cakey/dessert flavour).
Cola LA. I've not tried the Pink Spot as it isn't easily available where I live (UK) but it will use this. It's a thick gloopy liquid, similar to the grape but very difficult to work with. It needs some form of sweetener and perhaps another flavour (Lemonade LA?) to dilute it. I'm working on this and will post any useful results.
Tutti Fruitti LA. A very Pink Spot flavour. Needs 1% EM to take out the harshness but a great tangy flavour.
Cranberry LA. Unusually I bought a concentrate which has this mixed ready with Raspberry LA. It smells great and has a nice tart, almost dry sensation to it, but so far I've found it destroys coils almost straight away. Cranberry LA must react badly with cotton as after just an hour or so of vaping it starts to taste burnt. I've got straight Cranberry LA but I'm wary of using it. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I'd also like to try a Cherry LA, Bubblegum LA combination. I've got both Black Cherry LA and Cherry LA but I'm fairly sure they're different, with Cherry LA having the most appealing aroma. Again, I'll post my findings soon.
Another one I'm working on is a kind of tropical fruit LA mix. I've got Peach, Mango, Apple and Guava which could make a nice combination. Coconut LA is amazing, and mixed with some Bavarian Cream LA could make a great cocktail base.
And that's my lot so far. If anyone has any advice or similar recipes please contribute! These flavours aren't for everyone and I admit they're more suited for beginners - particularly as they only require 2 or 3 different flavours - but out of the hundreds of juices I've made and tried, these are the ones I always go back to.
Ahhh a fellow European :D As far as I have heard, my favourite Pink Spot flavor Rip Tide is made of Blue Raspberry, Strawberry and menthol (maybe with a little bit of grape). There were rumours, that the old blue version, was made with blue raspberry by Fairies Finest.
Ok that's interesting, I'll give that a whirl. Is Faeries Finest anything like Lorann? I've not tried their flavours yet. Where did you hear this btw?
I have never tried Faeries Finest. They are only available via amazon.com and refuse to ship overseas. I'd highly recommend to google them first, especially on facebook. Search for "Faeries Finest sucks". There was a time when they took the money without sending the products. Many people were really pissed off. Not sure if they are better now.....
Oh forgot to mention where I heard this. A few years ago, Pink Spot refused to sell their flavours and liquids to shops in Germany. So we tried to clone their flavours. Especially Rip Tide. The only flavour that came close in color and taste was the Blue raspberry by Faeries Finest. It even had the typical blue.
If you're talking about pink spot based in las Vegas, I think their actual pink spot flavor has some pineapple in it. I haven't looked too into it, so I cant tell you what kind/% though
Nvm, just saw your edit on that flavor.
Blue spot is pretty much pink spot with a bit of blueberry flavoring in there too
I've just ordered Pineapple LA today, and that combined with Raspberry LA should be a good starting point. Hopefully it'll be Key Lime TFA that provides the citrus as I can't find an orange, or any other citrus based LA flavours. I think Blu Spot replaces Raspberry LA with Blueberry LA but not certain yet!
just curious, since you mentioned pink spot pushing new colorless flavors, have you noticed any color change to a banana-containing recipe? i just received 30mL of LA Banana Cream for my 'Nana Cream clone and this bottle is clear, while the previous bottle was yellow.
Yeah, I think they're eradicating the food colouring from all their range. I can understand why as many people are squeamish about it but a small part of me thinks that this has somehow affected the flavour. Personally, I'm not concerned about vaping food colouring and I did quite like the bright colours of both LA and Pink Spot juices. I'd love to hear from other people if they can sense any change in taste - all the evidence says it's all the mind but I'd like confirmation!
very interesting! i remember when i first started vaping a few years ago, PS gummy was one of the first flavors i tried and i was totally floored. i might need to take a crack at cloning it since it was so good
The only flavor that I really liked was the Honey Cured Tobacco, and the french vanilla wasn't bad either.
Pink Spot was INSANELY popular back in 2011-2013, but with the introduction of APV and devices that put out much more flavor, people started to stray away from Pink Spot.
You can get great flavor in an Ego-Twist with a T3S or a CE4, but putting pink spot on a subtank or dripper? You're bold.
They are actually one of the most expensive companies to order juice from, comparing with some of the higher end juice brands. As far as I know, very few stores continued to carry pink spot due to this reason.
if you search the web long enough, you'll find that pinkspot had some shady business going on, we would constantly get bottles that came pitch black and others that would be crystal clear, even with the same expiration date.
Otherwise, I wish you good luck on your search to recreate some of their flavors :)
Oh I agree totally, I'd never sub ohm Pink Spot but it tastes so great and vibrant in a Aspire Triton (or mini Nautilus) using a 1.2 - 1.8 ohm coil. And yes, it's very expensive, especially considering the amount needed to get the best flavour - 30% is outrageous compared to the 3% needed from the average Flavor Art concentrate!
I've not tried the Honey Cured Tobacco as I'm not keen on tobacco flavours. I've avoided vanilla as I prefer that kind of flavour mixed with many other flavours in a sub ohm vape - though the Dutch Apple Pie by Pink Spot is surprisingly good for a pre-mixed 60/40 juice.
I can't get enough of these flavours though, and while I do think progress is good, the vaping world's current focus on sub ohm is neglecting some really decent juice from yesteryear. Not to be down on sub ohm, like I said above I do like it but it only makes up about 25% of what I vape. I'd also argue that for beginners, jumping straight into a sub ohm vape can be overwhelming, and this kind of juice is better for converting smokers. I cover this briefly in an article I wrote recently for Vaping360.
Do you have any links to the stuff about shady business deals? I have heard a few other rumours on here - I think one redditor actually worked for Pink Spot for a time, and didn't have anything positive to say about it. It's a shame but not wholly surprising in an industry as new as this.
And receiving bottles that were pitch black? That's truly disgusting!
I agree with the flavor coming out good on the cooler coils, there was a time where you could use cardo tanks or 808 to get an extremely rich flavor from anything with cream in it, cardos and 808's were never user friendly and have been phased out ever since.
As far as some of Pink Spot's lesser moments - the ex- pinkspot worker was the main source for the information, I have no idea what happened to that post. I've been into vaping for 4.5 years, been working at a local B&M for over two, we carried pinkspot for about 3 of those years. Inconstancy was huge, rotating stock was even harder to do when old bottles look like they haven't been steeped when new ones come in looking completely black. They do use actual tobacco in their tobacco flavors, one of the reasons why it tasted very much like the real thing. We couldn't order any with zero milligram. For most people, they wouldn't know or care about pink spot's shady history, but for people who worked in the industry and had to see first hand, they'll know. As far as concerns for their customers when we complained about some of the issues, they didn't care.
Their flavors are very good though, I actually posted a picture some years ago on when I put 18mg French Vanilla in a Russian 91% on a Nemesis. In this industry, juice companies get phased out very quickly nowadays. It's mostly trends and a race to start one.
This makes me think my recent bad-tasting batch of Retro Punch was probably one of these duffs. I'll have to try that again.
Are most e-juice tobacco flavours synthetic? I've heard lots of good things about Pink Spot's Swagger but never tried it. I did buy a bottle of the flavour to make for people but haven't used it yet.
I'm a bit of a nerd about all this stuff but I'd love to know a proper behind-the-scenes account of Pink Spot, or indeed any juice company. I imagine the early ones made a fortune, purely from being first on the market. Wonder what a Pink Spot sales graph looks like over the past five years too.
15% raspberry and 10% pomegranate? No wonder why it is a coil killer.
I would kill to get a recipe for their sub zero. I haven't been able to find right combo and shipping the concentrate to the states is too much.
What's Sub Zero like? And they're based in Las Vegas so shipping shouldn't be so bad within America.