Ok so there have been posts kind of addressing this but not really in depth. I think this would be a good topic for discussion for the more beginner and intermediate mixers or even people who don't have the time or money to test and compare a flavoring that is made by multiple companies. I've read posts that have basically said that a certain flavor is better from company A rather than company B. What I want to find out is why company A's flavor is better, what notes does it give off that B doesn't, and since taste is subjective is B's flavor good for anything. I'll kind of start it off with how I think this thread should go. I see a lot of recipes that use TFA Bavarian cream. I've never used this flavor, I only have Cap Bavarian cream. Cap Bavarian cream to me is very over powering and seems to take over recipe i use it in when used over like 1-1.5% I don't think it's a bad flavor it just has too much to it where i find it hard to use it in recipes without it overpowering or barely noticeable. How does TFA's differ and what makes it what it is?
That's basically what i'm looking for, I'm fairly certain if I searched every single flavoring comparison i'd be able to find it but i don't have the time to do that and i'm sure that many people do not either. I'm hoping that flavors that are super common like TFA strawberry, strawberry ripe, and Cap sweet strawberry don't go in here at all. flavors that are used and are relevant. Sorry if this is confusing at all and i hope this thread can be useful, but if not, and this is just a bad idea feel free to remove it mods, or downvote it to hell people!
EDIT: changed aren't to are
>I'm hoping that flavors that aren't super common like TFA strawberry, strawberry ripe, and Cap sweet strawberry don't go in here at all
I'm just curious why you say these flavors aren't super common. At least a third of my regular recipes use one or more of these flavors.
In a different post I was asking for a substitute for a chocolate I was using. I got several good suggestions and one in particular that was very special. Someone suggested I check out Flavorah's site for a substitute.
Flavorah responded and told me to try their chocolate Dutch or mocha. And if I would put it in the notes that they sent me they would give me a free sample of both to try. As the recipe I'm using this in is a coffee flavored juice I am going to order the coffee flavor and in the notes put the mention for the sample flavors that were suggested by Flavorah.
The point of all this is I have tried Capella's Cappuccino and Kona coffee flavors and didn't like them. In the recipe I'm using I'm using Flavor West Cafe coffee. It has a very robust flavor and I felt it was perfect for the recipe I'm making. Capella's Cappuccino is to weak and it gets lost in the mix. Kona didn't taste like coffee at all. Flavor West Cafe coffee is a robust coffee flavor and when used in percentages of less than 3% it is perfect. It is not bitter and yet it still has that flavor you get from a good cup of coffee from a Starbucks. It does not get lost in the mix even when you use less than 3%.
So as soon as I get the coffee and the chocolate dutch and the mocha I will let you know if it is worth using as a substitute for the Hangsen Australian chocolate and also if there coffee flavor is a good substitute for Flavor West's Cafe coffee.
Mind sharing that recipe? I recently picked up FW Cafe Coffee. Haven't messed with it much but standalone it tastes like those Japanese canned coffee you get from the vending machine.
As soon as I get the recipe a little more perfected I will be posting it. I want to include a complete breakdown of all the flavors and why I used them. I'm doing this recipe with the assistance of a friend and when we both agree it's ready then we will post it. I also want to include what the good substitutes are and how much of them to use.
With coffee flavors I have found if you don't include other flavors with it the taste is not really on point. When you add something else as an enhancer or a behind the scenes flavor it makes the coffee give a suggestion of a real cup of coffee. In this case I'm using the chocolate as an additive flavor and it not only gives it that nice smoothness but it allows the suggestion of a real cup of coffee to come out.
I've been looking to make a German chocolate beefcake for a while yet I'm not sure of the chocolate I should use, I'll have to check some of those out!
The Hangsen Australian chocolate is a fine milk chocolate flavor. In the recipe I'm making I used 4% but the coffee flavor was so strong that it overpowered the chocolate. So I reduced the coffee flavor from 3.5% to 3% and increased the chocolate to 4.5%. It's steeping now but I tried it as a shake and vape and it was very good. There are other things in the recipe and when I get it all done I intend to post it along with some notes on the site. The only problem with the chocolate is they only sell it in 10ml bottles. I make 120ml bottles and add nicotine when I fill up my 30ml bottles.
I have a rather complicated system I use for my juices. I have 6 30ml bottles that have the flavors I'm currently using. I have 6 other 30ml bottles that are steeping and 12 120ml bottles that I have everything mixed except the nicotine and they are steeping as well.
While I'm using the first 6 bottles of juice the other six have had nicotine added and are steeping for a week. When the first 6 are used up I start using the other 6 bottles of juice and fill the first 6 from the 120ml bottles add nicotine and let them steep for a week. In this way i'm able to make all 12 juices I use regularly. I rotate them like this and get 6 different flavors every week. Every two weeks I have had 12 different flavors of juice to vape and that is just right for me.
Sometimes I make a separate flavor that is not part of my regular 12 flavors just to see if there is something I want to switch out. It took me quite a while to develop this system but it works for me.
This is why the 10ml bottles of the Hangsen Australian chocolate doesn't work for me. I would need several 10 ml bottles of this chocolate to keep my system working properly.
I either google search this subreddit to see what people have put, or go to http://e-liquid-recipes.com and look up the flavors and read the notes section.
For example, I wanted a cherry candy flavor, so I looked up all the cherry flavorings, read their notes, and wound up with FW Wild Cherry because it's supposed to be the closest to cherry candies. And they were right, it's pretty close to a cherry candy flavor.
It's in the wiki.
It got abandoned but it's a good place to start.
That's really useful to bring back! I was kinda looking for comparing them 1 on one though