I feel like where I'm a relative DIY newbie, I am often discounted, and honestly, you are right, but, I've made this amazing thing that kind of kicks outside the box, and I wouldn't normally make a big deal of it, except that this is kind of delicious. I'm absurdly proud of this recipe.
I feel like people might enjoy this, so, I wanted to share it in a bigger way. I've already posted to the March monthly thread, but, I'm sure it was lost in the shuffle. But, like, please, try it. It's SO yummy. I really think you might like it.
The Glaistig : http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/451453/The+Glaistig
2% Absinthe (TPA)
0.5% Blackcurrant (FA)
1.5% Cactus (INAWERA)
7% Forest Mix (Forest Fruit) (FA)
0.25% Mixed Mint (INAWERA)
0.25% Raspberry (INAWERA)
Flavor total: 11.51%
Flavor Notes: FA Absinthe: I have a weird relationship with this and Chartreuse. As a pro-level drinker, I've had some ugly run-ins. My steep time might reflect that. I think I said I was unable to touch this until a month's steep. I'd like to revise that to a week. When I originally mixed this, I couldn't even stand the smell of it until a month later. Then I vaped it. It was so GHATdamn good that I blew through it with alacrity, so I mixed up 30mls, and found a 7 day steep more than adequate. And, thank ghad. Because I couldn't be without this in my daily rotation.
FA Forest Mix, FA Blackcurrant: These are the berries that make the recipe what it is. They're wet and dark and pulpy, and you will love them in this mix.
INW Cactus, INW Raspberry: The Raspberry punches up the Forest Mix nicely. It makes it razzy & juicy. Good stuff! The Cactus keeps it all wet & sexy, and guarantees you'll have a nice hit.
INW Mixed Mint: Seriously; don't worry about this. I know you don't like menthol/mint, but, trust me, It's not a taste so much as a sensation. It cools the whole mix and makes it palatable at this percentage. You won't even taste it. Trust.
Steep Time: Honestly, give it a week. 5-10 days, and it will be amazing. That's way better than my original 30 day steep. The Absinthe needs time to chill out. Other than that, it's perfect.
Mix this up and tell me what you think. I'd be thrilled to have your notes. You "cactus is pure perfume" people especially. Catus is SO good! Please agree with me that this is awesome!
Opens thread
>2% Absinthe (TPA)
Nope. Sorry, I'm out. Black Licorice is the devil.
Couldn't possibly agree with you more, which is why I have such a hardon for this recipe. It's that good. Try it. Seriously.
The only thing that stands out to me as odd is 7% forest fruit, but, it's not the first time I've seen someone use it like that.
I still haven't ordered it, so, wth do i know? Recipe looks good, man.
It goes kinda Grape big league chew once you go over 4% if you let the perfume steep off
I have 0 of these flavors, but when people post flavors notes like this it helps me decide what to buy next order so thanks!
I think I need to try this. I fucking love anise.
I love absinthe so I'm excited to check this out. I'll have to throw absinthe in my next order. Will probably be a good month before I'm able to vape this (order + steep), but I'm throwing it in my calc with link so I can remember to give you feedback. Nice write-up!
7% Forrest fruit? At the point I think its getting muted. I've never used it about 4.5 in a mix and that's very strong
So I made this a few days ago because what the hell, I don't mind anise at all. And I have to say, it's actually pretty damn good. I'm going to lower the cactus to .75% and the Forest Mix to 5% next batch. Maybe it's because my expectations were pretty low but I'm really enjoying it. It's a very nice break from the norm, well done man!
Awesome! Glad it exceeded your expectations.
The last time I mixed some up for myself, I kinda' made a HUGE batch, but, once I've put a significant dent in it, I'm going to try your edits. If you beat me to it, I'd love to know how your version turned out.
Thanks for the kind words!
Made this with some subs. Swapped FW Absinthe for the TFA at the same percentage. Swapped TFA Blueberry Extra for the Black Currant at the same percentage. Dropped Forest Fruit to 5%. Added NN Blueberry Mojito at .5%. Everything else was the same. Tastes a hell of a lot like blue razz slurpees. Also reminds me a bit of Hawk Sauce.
I suspect the TFA Absinthe is stronger than the FW Absinthe, because I barely get any of it in the final mix.
So, while I didn't really make your recipe I do want to thank you for the inspiration.
Thanks for the feedback! I don't have FW Absinthe, because I wasn't 100% on-board with Absinthe to begin with, so I just bought 10ml of the TFA fearing I'd never be brave enough to use it, so I honestly couldn't tell you which is stronger, only that I barely taste it in this either, so you're probably closer to my recipe than you think. :-)
I don't have NN Blueberry Mojito, but I do have TFA Black Currant, and I was thinking of working it into the recipe too, so I'm glad you beat me to it. What did you replace with the Black Currant, though? Because I didn't have Blueberry Extra in my recipe.
Everyone seems to unanimously agree that my Forest Fruit is way too high, so the next time I mix it, I'll drop it down to 4.5%-5% and actually let it steep for a week, because the last time I tried it at 5% I only let it sit overnight and that absinthe was way too up in my face. Maybe my impatience was the problem.
Anyway, thanks for the notes, and let me know where you used Black Currant, if you have the chance!
I used TFA Blueberry Extra at 0.5% instead of FA Black Currant. I picked Blueberry after doing a google search on substitutions for Black Currant and found this website about berries and their substitutions. I don't have Black Currant, so I wanted to substitute something for it.
The reason I added NN Blueberry Mojito was to synergize with the Blueberry Extra and the INW Mint. It also adds a tiny bit of lime.
Oh, right! Doye! I think I was confusing TFA Black Currant (which is already in the recipe) for TFA Blackberry, which is not. Sorry, my bad!
Hmm... I don't think a touch of lime would be entirely unwelcome in this recipe at all, now that you mention it. Damn, might have to pick up Blueberry Mojito now.
So I just got this mixed up, and it's pretty darn tasty! At shake-n-vape stage I'm getting mostly the mint, but I assume that may calm down as it steeps. That stuff is surprisingly strong! I think the berry blend in here is really nice and there's just this subtle undertone of absinthe -- I really hope it becomes more noticeable after a steep. It's funny, I don't really notice the cactus but I can see it giving a more juicy aspect to the berries and lifting them up a bit.
Overall, so far I'm quite pleased with this; will be tough to let it steep. Congrats on making the first mint/menthol forward vape I've thoroughly enjoyed.
As a side note, I started switch vaping between The Glaistig and my FA Aurora tester to confirm my guess if it would work well in here, and from what I can tell it definitely does. If you make more cocktail mixes like this I think you would enjoy this flavoring.
I will be sure to provide additional notes after the recommended steep.
Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it! I think if you want the Absinthe to be more forward, you'll have to knock the Forest Fruit down to about 4-5%. This explains why I had Forest Fruit up so high in the first place. My first version had it at 5%, and it was too much Absinthe for my tastes.
Also, you're right about the Cactus. Some might see 1.5% as alarmingly high, but in this context, it really shows off all that Cactus can do.
I remember I was looking at the listing for FA Aurora when BCV got it in stock, but I couldn't find any reviews or tasting notes on it, so I decided to hold off for the moment. Might have to put it back on my Wish List, though, if you think it'd work here!
I'm going to be revisiting this again, probably a lot, as I have a few more flavors I want to work into it, and changes to make so, I'll keep you updated if anythhing interesting develops. In the meantime, thanks again for the notes, and, if you have any other ideas, I'm thrilled to hear 'em.
EDIT: Also, as for the mint, you could probably drop that down to 0.12% and still "feel" it more than taste it, but, I think you'll find after a steep that at 0.25% the mintiness of it fades into the background and meshes with the Cactus to be a cooling sensation, much like Koolada, but with a more herbaceous touch.
Awesome! Really looking forward to the steep then. Might try a mix in the future with the % adjustments you recommended depending on how the steep is. I think this is a really good combination of flavors. Here are my notes on FA Aurora so far, I still need to do a lot of experimentation with it.
I have a lot of experimenting to do but it seems like the best purpose for this is like a nice refreshing lime-y finish to a cocktail. My go-to cocktail is ice, gin, limeade, tonic water; It kind of reminds me of that after all the ice has melted and it's gone flat (if that helps you picture it at all). I still have a lot of messing around to do with it, but it seems like a finish to a cocktail recipe is the obvious place to take it. I mixed this solo at 4% to test it out, and it seemed like a nice spot for it solo. It's definitely a lingerer though, and I feel will still stand out in a recipe at much lower %s (.5-2%).
Ah, a Gin Rickey, one of my favorite cocktails, too, actually! Someone else recommended lime, and I was going to add in a touch of INW Lime (or INW Catctus-Lime, which I bought for some stupid reason, even though I already have both of those flavors, not my smartest move), but, Aurora sounds like a more intriguing option!
Would you say Aurora has anything like the juniper taste of gin in there? I have FA Gin, too, but haven't done a single tester of it yet, so I haven't used it in anything, but, again, these are all really intriguing possibilities that I hadn't even considered.
This might be a great time for me to finally explore All The Flavor's "collaborate" option, actually! I'll add this recipe there and drop you a link when I do.
>I feel like where I'm a relative DIY newbie, I am often discounted, and honestly, you are right, but, I've made this amazing thing that kind of kicks outside the box, and I wouldn't normally make a big deal of it, except that this is kind of delicious.
This sentence.