I've vaped Amalfi for over a year as an ADV and decided I would try to make something close to it. After a few months and many attempts this is the closest I've got, for the most part I'm ready to move on from this project.
This juice was good as a shake and vape but didn't taste anything like i wanted at first, after a 4-6 week steep it got closer to Amalfi but it still isn't quite there.
flavor notes: as a shake and vape the cake is sweet but wasn't a match to the real thing, the almond is strong but not over powering, the apricot was subtle. after 6 weeks the juice changes entirely, the cake base is mellow with a slight nuttiness. the apricot really shines through and in my opinion becomes the star of the show, its sweet with a very slight tangy feel.
##Amalfalike Flavoring | Percentage :--|:-- Almond (FA) | 3% Apricot (TPA) | 1.5% Biscuit (INW) | 2% Yellow cake (FW) | 1.5% Cookies (FA) | 1.5% Vanilla bourbon (INW) | 1.5% Custard (FA) | 2.5% Vanilla Swirl (TFA) | .5% Ethyl Maltrol (TFA) | .5% Marshmallow (FA) | 1%
i never had the juice but the owners dad gave me a few soaps for christmas and amalfi is def my favorite smells great
Interesting! You've definitely made some headway in areas. You have discovered at least one of the tricks I pulled on this one :)
I know the cake base is off, I don't think there is YC in amalfi but I do think custard may have a big role in the mix. What I know for certain is that Amalfi is more complex than it seems. I'm glad you found it interesting :)
Could you tell us what the max amount of flavorings are in the mix? ;) But its also your masterpiece, so you're not expected to say anything!
You mean total percentage or number of different flavors?
/u/HBWSucks weren't you working on this a few months back?
Yeah, this is my new account I lost my old password when I changed devices and had no email attached. I haven't attempted cloning the juice for months now, I have a good feeling that INW marzipan is what you're looking for. I'm going to start working on cloning this again when I get back from work in a few weeks.
i think you might be on the right track with INW biscuit but not at 2%. the cake part of amalfi that i taste is on the lighter side where as inw biscuit at 2% is... i don't know. i've never seen actually seen a recipe that uses it over 1%. ATF says they're out there, but i haven't come across one yet.
I agree, the cake in amalfi is very light. The cake in my mix is a bit heavy and sweeter. I have several other iterations using INW biscuit at 1% but they haven't turned out as close. I really hope someone will play around with this and post results, I've pretty much thrown in the towel on this one.
TFA Vanilla Cupcake at 4 - 6%, or TFA VC at 4% with CAP VC at 2% to bolster the cake properties. He doesn't use YC.
Might want to consider some liquid amber. I only tried a few drips of it but it tasted pretty jammy to me and liquid amber usually does the trick in that department
I'll have to add that to the list of things to buy. I've never heard of it thanks for sharing.
Yes, I think liquid amber is inside too. I saw Jay inquiring about replicating apricot jam a long long time ago (back when he was still developing Amalfi.) Someone recommended liquid amber to him back then too.
trying out this mix
Flavoring | Percentage :--|:-- Marzipan (INW) | 1% Almond (FA) | 2% Hazelnut (FA) | 1% Fresh cream (FA) | 1% Apricot (TPA) | 1.5% Biscuit (INW) | 2% Vanilla cupcake (CAP) | .5% Cookies (FA) | .5% Vanilla bourbon (INW) | .75% Custard (FA) | 2.5% Marshmallow (FA) | .5% Vanilla swirl (TFA) | .5% Ethyl maltrol (TFA) | .5% Acetyl pyrazine (TFA) | .5%
i thought i had vanilla cupcake (TFA) but i only have DX i guess i accidentally ordered it, decided to use CAP vanilla cupcake instead
iteration #5 reduced marzipan to .5% i prefer this mix. The marzipan has a creamy taste that can get overwhelming after awhile, reducing brings the almonds out.
the mix as it stands
Flavoring | Percentage :--|:-- Marzipan (INW) | .5% Almond (FA) | 2% Hazelnut (FA) | 1% Fresh cream (FA) | 1% Apricot (TPA) | 1% Biscuit (INW) | 2% Vanilla cupcake (CAP) | 1% Cookies (FA) | 1.25% Vanilla bourbon (INW) | .75% Custard (FA) | 2.5% Marshmallow (FA) | .5% Vanilla swirl (TFA) | .5% Ethyl maltrol (TFA) | .5% Acetyl pyrazine (TFA) | .5%
Personal note: iteration 6 and 7 brought up the vanilla cupcake to 2.5% and cookies to 2%
iteration 6 is ruined do to adding to much vanilla bourbon
got around to trying this a day later.
the marzipan made a huge difference, it has a very familiar taste. I'm going to tone it back to .75% and up the percentages that make up the cake base, maybe that will blend it together better.
vanilla cupcake 1%
cookies .75%
vanilla bourbon 1%
familiar but still a big difference imho. somehow I managed to bring out the apricot too much maybe by adding a bit of Liquid amber. Not sure.. at least I am trying to fish in your area currently to bring this forward :D
PS: INW Marzipan smells sooo delicious...
PPS: Amalfi has some tanginess in it that I am missing
Yes there is definitely a big difference. I'm thinking that the marzipan can stay at .75% but the vanilla cupcake and cookies need to be increased to bring out the cakey taste. I'm also getting a strong apricot so I'm going to decrease it some. I'm not sure how to make the apricot tangy, but now that I'm thinking about it, it only became tangy for me after vaping amalfi for awhile.
Also thank you for trying this and expressing your opinions, much appreciated.
Edit: I changed the VC to 1%, cookie to 1.25% and apricot to 1%
I think this is a good change right off the bat the cake is coming through, the apricot is toned down quite a bit it reminds me of Bigglesworths other juice Amity.
self note this is iteration #4
How did this turn out? From my experience FA Hazelnut is super strong. 0.2% is usually enough for a good hazelnut flavour! 1% has always taken over my mixes. If you get the chance pick up FW Hazelnut. It's a nice creamy hazelnut and it may work better for Amalfi.
Edit. I also don't think there is 12-17 different flavors like he said, but if there is this juice is pretty much impossible to clone :(
I've never tried Amalfi but I've been interested in the flavour profile. I think you've made a good start! I'm gonna try it with just the first 4 flavours but cut back the almond and the biscuit, while also raising the yellow cake just a touch. May try it with TFA Toasted Almond too. I also gotta get some amalfi... kinda hard to get in canada. Edit. Maybe also try it with 0.5% Acetyl Pyrazine
You should definitely try the real thing. I know shopmvg.com has it and they ship international. Thanks for the kind words.
This was my last attempt- after only 2 weeks steeping, it's starting to convince me, all except that the apricot note is a bit brighter in mine.
TPA Almond - 2%
INW Apricots - 1.25%
LA Apricot - 1%
TPA Vanilla Cupcake - 4%
FW Tres Leches - 1.5%
FA Liquid Amber - 0.3%
FA Torrone - 0.5%
TFA Marshmallow - 1%
TFA Strawberry Ripe - 1.5%
I'll go ahead and mix your's up and report back! Thanks!
I think OP is on the right track with TFA Apricot and FA Almond.
This is awesome that you're attempting to clone this juice, I'm working abroad ATM and I get home in 6 weeks and I would love to help you clone this juice I'll pm you later on with what I can contribute when I start working on it. I would suggest picking up some INW marzipan I do believe that it's an important ingredient, FA marzipan wasn't working for me because of that cherry hit but I'll try using both again in my next batches it's been months from my last attempt and I'll need to order some more Amalfi
Edit: and I'm sure this is absolutely no yellow cake in it.
Hey man- this is way out in left field, but I'm pretty sure we've chatted a few times over in the Adirondack sub (or at the very least Im pretty sure Ive seen you around there), so I figured I'd ask. Since I've never tried Almafi, I'm wondering if you've tried Stellar from ADK? If so, is the Almond flavor anything alike in the two juices?
I'm asking because my dream is to come up with something close to Stellar. Since I'm no expert at this DIY thing I'll take any leg up I can get. Thanks
yes I'm a member in that sub, haven't been active there in a long time. I have not tried stellar. the best way I can help is to describe the almond taste in amalfi, which is pretty spot on to real almonds, not toasted or candied, it's a smooth almond flavor with a crispness to it. after looking up stellar it looks like something I would like. I'll have to try it out sometime.