Thank you to everyone who joined in last week's Flavor of The Week, Berry Blends.
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.
This week's flavor is: Kiwi
Past FOTW posts can be found here
Prepare yourselves, next week's FOTW will be: Pineapple
The week after that will be: Blackberry
The week after that will be: Cucumber
The week after that will be: Peanut Butter
The week after that will be: Coffee
The week after that will be: ??? You tell me. Please take this opportunity to suggest one that interests you (or send me a PM to do that). Otherwise I'm going to pick something like passionfruit or papaya just because I feel like doing Ps. Edit: More P's from /u/tranceinate: Pistachio, pandoro, panetonne, pumpkin, pasta, paprika, parfait, pastry, pesto, pickle, potato, praline, pretzel, pulled pork, pizza, pancake, pie, pie crust, pie filling, peppers, plantain, pudding.
I finally can contribute to one of these... albeit in a super simple way!
I've only really started to take baby steps into coming up with my own mixes. As I work my way through the seemingly endless numbers of 10ml samples sitting in the backlog... there are a couple that are dead simple shake and vapes that I really enjoy. I make 60-120ml at a time of each (along with /u/coop34 's Kiwi Bourbon recipe) and vape that through the week when I'm not tasting samples.
I will confess that I came up with the percentages largely based on how I saw the flavours being used by others, and made a couple of extremely minor alterations. But I love these as they are so I stopped messing with them. My intention is to go back at some point and incorporate into more complex mixes.
Anyway... enough rambling.
Kiwapple
4% FA Kiwi, 4% FA Fuji
Kiwappleberry
4% FA Kiwi 4% FA Fuji 6% TFA Strawberry (Ripe)
Note: I have a PG sensitivity, so I am mostly mixing max VG using 100% VG nic base. These percentages may need to come down for those of you adding PG.
I have recently done both of these at 70/30 and 80/20, where PDO is used in place of added PG over and above the flavours. At 80/20 these percentages were fine. At 70/30 starting to get a bit strong.. but still very good and not overpowering.
Edit - formatting.
The Fuji doesn't overrun the Kiwi?
So... I'd say that I definitely lose the ability to distinctly taste kiwi. In that sense, I guess so? But similarly... I have a hard time at this ratio distinctly tasting apple too... it sort of comes out as all 1 flavour that is both but neither distinctly.
Does that make sense or is it coming out as gibberish? =)
kiwi frost : http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/1092484/kiwi+frost
2% Cotton Candy (10% EM/Ethyl Maltol) (TPA)
3% Kiwi (FA)
0.5% Koolada 10% (TPA)
5% Spearmint (FW)
Flavor total: 10.5%
Made around 300ml of this so far and still can't really get enough. cotton candy can be dropped completely, i just like it a bit sweeter than it is. I'm open to improvements.
nothing really special about it. just a standard sweetmint kiwi. tastes great immediately. kiwi fades a bit. after a week or so.
add your favorite strawberry for some fun or replace kiwi with it entirely.
plays nice with pear, apple, strawberry, biscuits, cereal, cactus, mints. probably more, this is just what i've tried.
Seems to taste best between 3 and 4%. any higher tastes way too green, like the skin instead of the fruit.
> Seems to taste best between 3 and 4%. any higher tastes way too green, like the skin instead of the fruit.
Exactly my experience with FA Kiwi. Between 4 and 5% is the difference between being civilized and taking the time to peel the kiwi and just biting right into it fur and all like a beast. Which I do, with actual kiwis. Sometimes I even eat the little butts on either end. But that doesn't mean I want to vape them.
> still can't really get enough.
What is it about FA Kiwi recipes being so addictive, like one of the nominees for recipe of year, /u/Coop34's Kiwi Bourbon? Is it just that perfect balance between tart and sweet that it strikes?
You uncivilized crude beast. I bet that you also plunge your marshmallows directly into the fire, eating black ash and all. How Texan of you.
Thanks for the mention!
Won't deny being an uncivilized crude beast in so many ways. So. Many. Ways. However, my friends have all been subjected to legendary rants against the heathens who "roast" marshmallows that way instead of getting them to perfect golden brown. And as for the boorish kiwi consumption technique, I learned that a long, long way from Texas. In New Zealand, actually. Some locals told me that's the way Kiwis eat kiwis. Whether they were telling the truth or merely pranking a Yank, I don't know, but I've eaten them that way since. Funny story, one of my ex-wives cited it as one of the reasons for our divorce. She said she was so glad she would be free from ever having to watch me eat a kiwi like that again.
Remember when I posted Coop's Kiwi Bourbon to ATF because you weren't a full-on ATFer yet? If that becomes my highest-rated recipe, which is entirely possible based on the rate that it's being rated, we're not friends anymore.
WHOLE KIWI EATERS UNITE!!!
FA Kiwi has opened up quite a few fruit forward recipes that I would have never entertained. It adds so much deliciously tart juiciness that other fruits lack. Pair it with a bit of cactus and shit becomes wetter than Flower Tucci (NSFW if anyone is deciding they need to google her).
I made some of the Kiwi Bourbon...anyone know how it holds up to a long steep? I have way too many flavors to try and I'm afraid it is going to be resting on the shelf for quite some time before I get to it.
Edit: realized I hadn't remembered the correct recipe til I went to ELR to grab the link. Corrected recipe below. Originally had Shisha Strawberry and Kiwi one percentage higher than what I remember. http://tjek.nu/r/8kNp.
Finally, Kiwi! I created a recipe that I absolutely adore where FA Kiwi is the star of the show. Please meet "Prickle Berry":
Cactus (INW) .5%
Marshmallow (FA) 1%
Lime Tahity Cold Pressed (FA) 1.5%
Lime Tahity Distilled (FA) 1.5%
Strawberry Shisha (INW) 3%
Kiwi (FA) 4%
It's a juicy, limey, kiwi-y, fruity type vape that I find delicious. Folks who don't like lime might shy away from this one. I will sometimes sub the Cold Press for TFA Key Lime. The star of the show is the Kiwi, but is followed by a blast of limey deliciousness. The tangy lime balances the sweetness of the kiwi and strawberry but be warned, this is a sweet juice. I'm not a big fan of candy vapes but this borders somewhere between a candy and juice recipe. Since it's creation, I've always kept a bottle on hand. Hope you enjoy!
Will definitely giving this a go as it sounds up my alley.
I am out of strawberry sisha, however. Was thinking of subbing 1% TFA Strawberry and 2% TFA Strawberry ripe...thoughts? I also have CAP Sweet Strawberry...maybe 1% of each of those?
That's an excellent question. Shisha strawberry is a pretty potent flavor and maybe someone else with a better idea of flavor substitutions could weigh in here. I find TFA Strawberry and Ripe Strawberry to be way less potent and CAP Sweet Strawberry to be of low to medium potency. If you want more of a candy flavor, maybe do 3-4% CAP Strawberry by itself. If you want a more juice-like profile, then I'd try 2% each of TFA Strawberry and Ripe Strawberry. Whatever you end up doing, I'd love your feedback on it!
What set-up are you vaping that on and what's your PG/VG ratio, please?
The reason I'm asking is because that combination of ingredients looks divine to me, but the percentages of each look high for my taste. I'm wondering if I cut them all by about 1/4 if I'd experience the same deliciousness you are, or if the combination of ingredients is such that it does some magic and percentages that look too high to me on paper actually work together in yummy ways.
Totally. I've been mixing this at 70-80% VG. Setup is a Limitless Plus with a 3 mm 7 wrap kanthol Clapton (can't recall the gauge). It's about .2 ohm build. I use a Tesla Invader 3 cranked about half way up. The unit doesn't give wattage or voltage, unfortunately. Maybe my tastes are muted but I started with lower percentages and finally settled on the current mix. I'd love to hear suggestions!
It looks especially like too much Kiwi and too much Shisha to me. But then if those came down the others (especially lime) would seem high in comparison. I thought maybe you were max VG-ing or not sub-ohming but since neither of those are the case, I dunno. Eyeball test says to just reduce everything by 25% across the board, keeping all the same ingredients and ratios, but I have learned that my eyeballs can be wrong. Guess I'll just have to mix it up and see. Do you have a link for ATF or ELR?
TFA Kiwi Double: too candy-ish for me. Probably would work well if you're going for a candy blend.
FW Kiwi: my favourite Kiwi. Tart with the perfect amount of sweetness. Goes well with strawberry. 4% and above
FA Kiwi: better than TFA's version. From my experience it's very weak, and almost nonexistent after a steep. Used above 4%
Might as well just post my Kiwi Redbull recipe in here, cause why not? It's not the best, but it does the trick for me. I probably would leave out TFA Champagne so it doesn't get as dry, because I don't think it really gives it that carbonation placebo that I was going for, but I'm going to post the full thing.
Kiwi Redbull
MFG | Flavor | % ---|------|- TFA | Champagne | .5 FA | Fuji Apple | 1 FA | Kiwi | 3.5 FA | Mad-Mix (Mad Fruit) | 4.5 FA | Meringue | .5
I added the Fuji to back up the Kiwi, because in the Redbull flavor I feel like it has some green apple, or at least a sour-y apple taste to it. The meringue is just for some added sweetness. Again, probably need to drop the Champagne altogether, I don't think it does much here.
Have you seen [this post] (https://www.reddit.com/r/mixersclub/comments/5967g8/effervescence_and_you_wip/) on the carbonation effect by my archrival /u/ConcreteRiver?
Also worth taking a look at /u/apexified 's Starlight III which I've mixed and never rated based just because I can't taste the strawberries worth a damn. I can definitely say the carbonation is really nice and the FW Pink Champagne doesn't interfere with the Kiwi much. I get some errant grape in that pink champagne but that should play really well with the apple you've got in there.
Hmmm very interesting, I had not seen it. I know there was a thread on here a few months ago where it was basically a role-call for people that had used it but didn't get carbonation. I had heard it worked, but in my uses it just seemed to dry it out and make it super harsh, not sure if it was just the recipes I was using it in, but I'm pretty sure it was the culprit. It's definitely a good read though, glad somebody put forth the effort for the search for fizz.
Kiwi Double, TPA: Candy kiwi, but no natural kiwi taste to it at all. It's also too sweet for me, even as a candy flavor.
Kiwi, FW: I see a lot of good reviews and recipes of this, but I just think it tastes like vaping straight up glue. No kiwi flavor, not much sweetness, no juiciness and a lot of tartness. But I don't get any kiwi notes from this at all.
Kiwi, FA: My favorite of the bunch. Sweet, but not overly sweet, slightly tart, with some sourness to them. This tastes like a perfectly ripe kiwi to me, or as close as I can imagine one to get with artificial flavorings.
ECX has had MF (re-branded as Lotus) on clearance for $3.99. One of the flavors I picked up was Kiwi. I have, so far, only tested this at 1%. It is a very realistic tasting kiwi (fuzzy skin and all). It has a perfect balance of sweet and tart. By just reading the couple of reviews on ECX, it sounds like .5% is where this flavor shines and might not get as much of the skin.
u/ID10-T suggested I had to pick up FA Kiwi and try u/coop34 's Kiwi Cheesecake. I skipped single flavor testing and mixed up a 50ml bottle (which is the most I ever make for a first run). This stuff is crazy good! I haven't been able to put it down all morning. It has also reminded me to take a step back and try keeping things simple. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a 3 flavor recipe so much. Well done u/coop34 and my hats off to you! Kiwi Bourbon is next.
I also need to put out a PSA on FLV Kiwi. DON'T! JUST DON'T!. I'm not sure what they were going for but this doesn't taste anything like Kiwi, imo. Well maybe, if you were playing fetch with your dog and he was an asshole. Instead of bringing it back. He went and buried it in the backyard, only for you to find it a week later and bite right into it.
Ive wanted to purchase FW Kiwi but I've kept away from from it as i was led to believe it contained sugar syrup (20-30%) what are your views on vaping this one, is it as bad as the FW Yellow cake fructose (20-30%)
only FW Kiwi Natural has sugar syrup in it. the other fw kiwi everybody uses is not on the list. http://juic.org/flavors/concerning-flavors/
Green's Gurt (70VG/30PG)
Steep time - 10-14 Days
Company|Flavor|% :--|:--|:-- FW|Apple (Green)|1.75% FA|Cream Fresh|1.5% CAP|Creamy Yogurt|2% FA|Fuji Apple|0.5% CAP|Greek Yogurt|3% FA|Kiwi|1.5% Total| | 10.25%
This is a recipe I played around with for a long time. My brother was a big fan of the Schwartz and wanted some kind of yogurt that involved Green Apple and Kiwi. This is simple enough and the kiwi backs up the green apple quite well. Give it a try sometime.
Thank you for the recipe!
You're welcome! I mostly just lurk on here trying to suck in as much knowledge as you guys are contributing but I try to chip in every once in a while. I love threads like these because it inspires me to try new flavors I may have not used before. Hopefully somebody has fun with this one and maybe makes their own tweeks :).
I posted this in the Jan recipe thread, but might as well include here. I was getting tired of all the winter bakery mixes I was playing with so I decided to test out some melon/cactus/kiwi blends.
Flavor | Brand | Percentage ---|---|---- Kiwi | FA | 2 % Melon | INW | 0.5 % Dragonfruit | TPA | 0.5 % Cactus | INW | 0.3 % Koolada 10% | TPA | 1 drop per 10 mL
Nothing really ground breaking and most of the flavors are well respected in their own right, but this quickly became an ADV. Not sure how it will taste after a long steep, but I really enjoy it straight off the scale.
The kiwi comes through on the inhale and the melon leaves a nice round finish. It is especially enjoyable after a full tank of heavy creams/bakery juices as it seems to pop even more.
Edit: updated with ELR link.
Only four ingredients (plus one additive) and I'm still missing something. What's that INW Melon like?
Haha, I feel your pain. Seems like every recipe I stumble upon I have all but one flavor.
INW Melon is a pretty delicious canary melon stand alone. I have a single flavor tester at home and will add some more notes after I can drip it a bit. I plan on picking up a few other melon-friendly flavors to create a nice rounded juicy melon vape as I really love a good melon from time to time (useless factoid: my first juice I ever had was a melon based fruit juice that got me off cigs for a long time).
I'll update this comment with tasting notes this evening.
Edit:
Inawera Melon Tasting Notes
Setup: Derringer RDA, Single 7 wrap 26g 3mm Kanthal Clapton @ 1.08 ohms. 42w power, Koh Gen Doh cotton wick.
Testing: INW Melon @ 1% 70/30 VG/PG, Steeped 0 days.
Flavor Description: Sweet cantaloupe, honeydew blend. Definitely tastes the most like a canary melon than any other type of melon that comes to mind. No rind to speak of and is quite juicy on the inhale and exhale.
Off-flavors: Not much at 1%; however, I plan on upping the percentage to 2% to see if this changed. Can be a bit cloying/candy-like if dripped too heavily/vaped for an extended period.
Throat Hit: Minuscule throat hit, but could be due to lack of steeping.
Uses & Pairings: I would be happy to vape this as a single flavor in the 1-2% range if dripping. Might need to up the percentage a tad if using a tank (maybe 2.5%), but the sweetness might also increase.
As far as pairings go, subbing/adding this into melon mixes could help add juiciness as well as a bit of sweetness to drier/rind-ish tasting melon flavors. From personal experience, it goes very well with FA Kiwi and INW Cactus (see "Mellow Kiwi" above).
Notes:
S&V concentration testing:
-
1% is an extremely enjoyable lighter canary melon flavor when dripped. A bit airy, but very low sweetness/candy.
-
2% is sweet, with almost no rind to speak of. Full on canary melon flesh when dripped. Pleasantly juicy as well. This would be my choice as a stand alone percentage.
-
3% smell becomes pretty intense and has a slight sharp peppery note to it (kind of off putting in other words). Taste is candy-like and almost overly ripe. Honey dew is definitely coming through and the flavor seems a bit heavy. Still no throat hit and I wouldn't mind this as a stand alone at all if using a tank. Definitely a bit too sweet to vape for too long on my RDA.
Second Opinions:
Singing the praises on this one.
u/JohnLaCuenta believes it to be a honeydew forward type of melon.
Cap Kiwi scares me on smell alone
After reading CR's flavor review of it I'm not in any hurry to have anything to do with the stuff.
Strawberry Kiwi Mint With Eucalyptus with mint would be cool
Anton Apple (INAWERA) 0.8%
Cactus (INAWERA) 1.5%
Kiwi (FA) 3%
Kiwi (FW) 1.5%
Strawberry (Ripe) (TPA) 5.5%
here's the original recipe: http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/556516/Kactus%20Kiwi
but i wanted to lower the cactus und add more tartness
That looks like a yummy take on strawberry-kiwi. How long do you steep it?