Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's Flavor of The Week, Tea.
As always, the purpose of this thread is to gather the community to explore a flavor and its many uses. And it's also to have FUN!
Post recipes containing this week's Flavor of the Week, as the star or in a supporting role, with or without development notes. Talk about other people's recipes that use it. Compare and contrast different manufacturers' versions of the FOTW. Ask for help using that flavor in general or to achieve something specific, offer advice, brainstorm ideas, consider substitutions, suggest pairings... really anything at all as long as it's on topic. And if this week's flavor doesn't interest you, take this opportunity to suggest one for the week after next that does (or send me a PM to do that).
This week's flavor is: GUAVA
Past FOTW posts can be found here
Prepare yourselves, next week's FOTW will be: CHOCOLATE
Guavas I have tried:
FW Guava. It found this one to be sweet, inaccurate in a just sort of generic tropical melon sort of way, weak, and a little harsh at higher %s.
CAP Sweet Guava. I think this flavor review covers CAP Sweet Guava extremely well. The recipes people have used it in that I've tried have been outstanding. I haven't come up with anything of my own with it yet, but that's only because I'm taking a break from the Pina Colada genre: Guava Colada is definitely on the to-do list.
SC Guava: The LA Watermelon of Guavas. Beyond guava nectar and into candy territory. Sweet, wet, juicy, smooth, mouthwatering. Lovely standalone flavor but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Maybe try plugging it in as a sub for LA Watermelon, TFA Grape Candy, FW Hard Candy, and such flavors and see what happens.
FLV Pink Guava. Does this count as guava? I don't think so. It tastes like grapefruit to me. A wonderful grapefruit flavor for sure, but not guava, IMO.
I must admit that I'm not in the FLV Pink Guava = grapefruit camp. I actually do taste guava... but perhaps in the "guava nectar" sense. I'm an old fart and remember going to the Asian market as a child with my parents and them buying us kids cans of this Guava Nectar drink. Its consistency was thicker than a juice, was ultra-sweet, and tasted like... well, I guess like guava! I haven't eaten a fresh guava before, but I always remember Guava Nectar = guava, and FLV Pink Guava = Guava Nectar. I can't, for the life of me, taste grapefruit in Flavorah's Pink Guava!
I should've added a disclaimer that I've never eaten fresh guava either. Your admission is very interesting! It makes me wonder whether there's a difference between Asian guava and Caribbean guava.
I love guava nectar (it makes an awesome addition to a margarita) and to me, CAP Sweet Guava comes very close to that Goya guava nectar I get from the ethnic aisle, Hispanic subsection, of my local grocery store. FLV Pink Guava does kind of taste like that with the sweet, nectary aspect, but to me it also carries an even stronger bitter note something that's missing from Goya guava nectar but very present in any grapefruit anything I've tried. It tastes like a super-sweet Rio Star red grapefruit to me. My senses read it as grapefruit so strongly that it sets off an irrational alarm bell that says maybe you shouldn't be vaping this with certain medications, better check the warning labels. Is there something bitter in an Asian guava that isn't present in the Latin American variety? If so, that could totally explain why some people like me taste it as a grapefruit flavor while you are just reminded of your Asian market guava nectar drink.
FLV Pink Guava. Is guava cream nothing offensive or harsh about it, not very realistic. I’d describe it as guava juice mixed in PG.
CAP Sweet Guava. Is closer to fresh fruit with hints of tropical acidity. It comes across to me as a nectar or jammy fruit flavor. I do get some of grassy or green flavor at the beginning like ConcreteRiver said when mixed as a single flavor.
DiyFS Green Guava. This is the closest to the real fruit IMO. They took the whole fruit blended it up and steeped it in PG. You get hints of it’s green peel along with tropical acidity (that is also found in Mango and Pineapple) followed by ripe Guava. It is not as grassy or sweet as CAP. It has a slight throat hit 3/10, just a tingle at the top/back of your throat. After vaping for a while that goes away.
If someone is looking for a guava that is closer to the real fruit DiyFS is the place. Other flavors that fall under "Real Fruit" that I'd recommend are Yellow Mango and Green Apple.
FA Guava... All peel all the time. Weird as all hell. I'm sure there is a beautiful use for this somewhere, but if you just want guava fruit flavor this isn't what you're looking for.
Here's my "Sweet Guava Goodness" Recipe
I've wanted to try FLV Pink Guava for a while, but CAP Sweet Guava is so damn good. I just haven't had much experience with it other than this recipe. I've tried it with different melons, and it was pretty good, I'm going to have to play around with this a bit.
That looks super tasty! I want to turn it into a smoothie AND play around with the possibilities of "delicious mango goodness."
I haven't really tried it as a smoothie, but I'm pretty sure it will be good. Just a little cream to thicken the fruits. My friend likes the mango more than the original with banana, I'm going to have to mix him a couple bottles today. It used to be one of my ADV, but now I mainly just vape whatever project I'm working on to spark some inspiration.
The only two Guava's I've tried are FLV Pink Guava and TFA Guava. They are definitely on opposite sides of the "must have" spectrum.
FLV Pink Guava -- an exceptional flavor, bright, delicious, somewhat citrusy and floral
TFA Guava -- Cat Urine.
Both are very strong and I wouldn't recommend bringing them above 1% and 0.5% respectively
Older DIYers and those who've done some homework know about TFA Guava, but this sub as grown quite a bit with new mixers, so I'm very glad someone came along to warn them about that one. TFA Guava sounds like a great way to get a bunch of SWATted up cops battering down your door; probable cause to assume you're either operating a meth lab or have exceeded your municipality's feline limit. I believe mine is four cats and four dogs but not to exceed a total amount of six cats and dogs; it's called the "crazy cat lady ordinance."
Have you tried actual guava or guava nectar to compare to FLV Pink Guava?
Lol that sounds like a really good rule to have in place. I haven't had Guava/nectar to compare, but this local Frozen Yogurt place I frequent -- I've talked to the owner and I know that he uses actual ingredients in making his yogurts when he was telling me about how he comes up with the stuff -- and they had a Pink Guava sorbet and it tasted pretty damn close to FLV Pink Guava
CAP Sweet Guava is a sweet canned guava nectar that is pretty good if you're wanting a syrupy sweet guava. It's actually so sweet and maybe even overpowering that when I try to blend it with other fruits, it's really distracting. There's also a bubble gum note I get from this flavor when used at 3-4% plus.
Here is my Guavaberry recipe that I do enjoy from time to time. Since CAP Sweet Guava is on the verge of being too cloying, I wanted to match it with some dark fruits and a bit of tang. Now, this is not my best work, but it's a start that could turn into something fantastic as I work more and more with fruit only recipes since they are not my strong suit.
Since making that recipe, I have made a few watermelon bubblegum recipes and I just now realized that I need to try to make a guava bubblegum since I get bubblegum notes from CAP Sweet Guava. Guava bubblegum sounds bomb!
Guavaberry looks delicious and thank you for sharing it here. Are you going to use an actual bubble gum flavor like FW Bubble Gum + CAP Sweet Guava to make guava gum or emulate a bubblegum texture using other flavors?
If you have the flavors to make Guavaberry, give it a shot. Like I said, I'm really trying to work on fruit only profiles and I'd like to get some feedback.
I'm going to use FW Bubblegum and CAP Sweet Guava together. I figure I can just start with 4% of each and see what happens then take it from there. Do you have any other suggestions?
I'm missing the Watermelon Candy but when I eventually pick it up I'll be looking for something to do with it and won't forget Goldbones' Guavaberry.
I don't have a great concentrate suggestion but maybe try or at least eyeball hard this recipe by /u/ConcreteRiver and see if you can figure out what makes it so bubblegummy. It's definitely not just the bubblegum notes from CAP Sweet Guava. Obviously there are things there (Pink Guava, Hops) that you don't want or don't want at that high a % in your guava gum, but some kind of bubblicious magic is going on with that stuff.
Absolutely spot-on Ruthless - Slurricane clone
- CAP Juicy Peach 5%
- TFA Papaya 6%
- TFA Guava .01%
I'm not exaggerating about the TFA Guava. In a 30ml batch and put in about half a drop guava, max. If you mix up a smaller amount you will almost certainly put in too much guava.
If you like Slurricane then you'll like this, it's really quite good. I've vaped it back to back with the authentic and they are indistinguishable. Every decent DIYer should have CAP Juicy Peach and TFA Papaya in their arsenal. Personally I love TFA Papaya for its syrupy sweetness, it works well at any percentage up to 5-6% in anything tropical.
CAP Juicy Peach is also very versatile, quite bit more bright than TFA Juicy Peach but I rarely use it at this high of a percentage. Funny thing is without the tiny bit of TFA Guava the peach/papaya combo falls pretty flat.
TFA Guava doesn't smell like cat piss to you? I've never tried it in such low levels, but man...that shit reaks.
Hahaaaa I was trying to see who else thought guava smelled like cat piss, glad I'm not alone. That's the actual fruit by the way not just the vape juice. Go to the store and buy a cheap ass box of passion orange guava juice, ripper open, and take a with. It's just cat piss.
That's how I found this sub. On a super fun note, store-bought flavors from when we first started vaping till now ... I pretty much can't find a flavor that's not a Banger anymore because the market was so saturated, all that's left is the best ones in store.
God remember going to a store, not being able to try the juice, paying $30 for it taking it home and it tastes like shit? So glad that done.
The Funk by Chrononaught
| MFG | Flavor | % | | :-- | :--: | :--: | | CAP | Sweet Guava | 4.25% | | CAP | Sweet Tangerine | 3% | | TFA | VBIC | 2.5% | | FA | Lemon Sicily | 1.5% | | FA | Lime Tahity Distilled | 1% |
"This is more or less based off of a Tropical Orange-Guava Punch, which calls for orange sherbet, guava nectar, and lemon-lime soda."
That looks yummy! Are you using the cold-pressed or distilled lime to make it?
I have a basic tfa guava which I enjoy
TFA Guava 4%
TFA Peach DX 6%
60/40 PG / VG
I take it your senses don't agree with opinion that TFA Guava tastes or smells like cat pee? I've never tried it, I've only read it enough times here that I've never been tempted to try it.
Below 1% it is an okay flavor. To me the taste of it is very exotic but the scent of the vapor is what smells like a mix of sweaty socks and cat piss. It is truly an odd flavor. It goes from being a background piss note to a take over the whole mix within just a few drops.
I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Let me start by saying this is always in rotation, as it resets my taste buds so I can taste the other juices more clearly. The TFA with CAP in combination keeps the authentic (Caribbean guava) tanginess. You could drop the TFA by .25%
TFA - Yes, it smells like cat piss, but tastes great. I don't dare go higher than 1.5%.
CAP - Way too sweet on it's own. Misses some tang, hence the combo. Like John said 'syrupy sweet'.
The recipe: StrawberryGuava
Ingredient|% :---|---: Guava (TPA)|0.75 Marshmallow (TPA)|2 Strawberry (TPA)|6.5 Sweet Guava (CAP)|2
Strawberry on the inhale, guava on the exhale. Marshmallow for mouth feel.
CAP Sweet Guava and some kind of strawberry seem made for each other, as long as there's something tangy to cut into the sweet. Have you tried this same combo with anything besides TFA Guava to provide that?
I feel the two gives me a more realistic Guava, plus do you have any idea how long it's already going to take me to finish 30ml of TFAs.
Did some googlefu on Guava drinks and found these combinations, many of which I'll end up trying.
- Guava And Ginger
- Guava And Lime
- Guava And Watermelon And Lime
- Guava Passion Fruit And Pineapple
- Guava And Coconut
- Guava And Jackfruit
- Guava Pineapple Orange Lime
- Guava Pineapple Hibiscus Lime
- Guava Rum Lychee Coconut
- Guava Rum Cream Lime
- Guava Lemon Raspberry
hahaha yeah, I know that experience of using something in part because you have a lifetime supply in 30ml. Looking at you, TFA Blackberry.
All of those combos look like winners to if if done right, but how did your googling not turn up the most classic guava thing of all, Passion Fruit, Orange, Guava?
I haven't had it in a long long while, but I used to be a fan of Mount Baker's Guava. It was really good and the first juice to ever give me that realistic fruit impression. I've never had a guava so I can't comment on authenticity but it is a really enjoyable standalone. I don't know what they use but it might be FlavorWest since they do a lot of FW standalones.
Someone with a rum flavor needs to try something like this:
6-8% CAP Sweet Guava
2% TFA Lemon Sicily
?% Rum
.5-.75% Spearmint
It's a cocktail I've seen before, but the only booze flavor I have is Kentucky Bourbon and it doesn't do it justice. It's vapeable, but not delicious. If I get a Rum flavor soon I'll be sure to explore this recipe a little more.
Hey now, I've got all of those. I'll mix it up in a few days, and get back.
That high % sounds sickly sweet for the Guava.
I'm pretty new to mixing so it might be, but I tend to like sweeter and the Lemon Sicily balances it out a little bit. It wasn't overly sweet with the Bourbon, just didn't taste like a cocktail I'd drink again
TFA Guava is insanely concentrated and when it's too strong it's definitely got that cat piss vibe. I diluted mine 1:50 and use .2 mils of that mixture per 30 ml bottle.
I got a recipe called Staid Memories that uses Fa - Guava.
The name has no true meaning, plus I don't really do guava, nor really know what true guava taste like to be honest. With that being known.. here you go.
Fa - Guava - 1.5%
Tfa - Key lime - 3%
Tfa - Orange cream - 2%
Inw - Shisha strawberry - 1%
Tfa - Strawberry - 3%
Cap - Sweet strawberry - 2%
The guava, is the main note in my opinion, very unique, earthy, not bitter or anything off-putting.
The strawberry trio, plays very nicely with this guava and adds the sweet and sort of sharpness I wanted in this mix.
The orange cream, fits perfectly with this guava flavoring. I find it helps smooth out the edges between the guava and strawberries. The cream side of this concentrate doesn't really shine (although solo it never does fully, imo) but I feel as tho it does have a big role in balancing this mix.
The key lime, this.. this is kind of the star of the show, sitting in the back just making everything better with its presence. I'm don't mind the mix without it, but once I added it, I could never go back. It's such a different note from the rest of the mix, but it fits very well. I tried a couple lemons and a few bakery notes but finally settled on this lime. It adds that background "omg, wtf is that" kind of note. In a good way.
This is a shake and vape. I don't steep many "fruit exclusive" juices as most tend to die down after a couple weeks. So my knowledge of its flavor past 3-4days is unexistent, as I only mix it when I want it, in small batches.. (10-30ml)
Anywho, hope this helps anyone use up the Fa - Guava they might haven't have used up otherwise. :D
Do you know how cap orange creamsicle compares to tfa orange cream?
Thanks for offering people a way to use up any FA Guava they might have collecting dust!
Despite what is known about fruit juices fading, you should really try setting aside a small batch of this for about 10 days and seeing what happens. I've had Orange Cream's creamy side come out and do magical things after that long.
Hey, ID10-T. Ive had some success mixing 5% FW Guava, 5% TPA Papaya, 5% TPA Mango, and 5% TPA Vanilla Swirl. Not a bad vape. Creamy fruit. FW Guava by itself is nasty, but mixed with a cream, and about a week or two steeping, and the floral taste goes away.
With Papaya's wonderful but very assertive flavor and Vanilla Swirl which makes pretty much anything better in the mix, I can imagine that's not a bad vape at all. I might need to give that a shot, since I have this FW Guava that I really don't know what else to do with. Thanks!