After being successful at making my favorite fruit mixes, I wanted to embark on another adventure. Tobaccos. I tried different companies. I even tried NET's, but liked some of Flavourart ones, so I bought a bunch of them that I liked the description of. This is all personal opinion and development I want to share with the community if someone is interested. I keep the description simple. All FA tobaccos are on the aromatic side, no perfume of chemical smell or taste. They are basic as singles, but realy shine mixed up. I will go as far and say that FA tobaccos are made for mixing them. But, some are bases.
Setup during testing: Hadaly RDA. 26 ssL - 24 awg kanthal, 6-8 wraps 0.5-0.7 ohms at around 4.2-5 volt. Muji cotton. VG/PG base: 70/30 2mg nic.
This is the flavors I liked the most, and they seemed to mix really good together.:
FA Virginia (base) Shines at around 3%. Slightly sweet and dark leaf. Some hey. I found this one better for a base flavor than as a part of mix.
FA Shade (texture) Shade is soft and slightly wood/leaf with vanilla and creamy texture. Best for softening up mix. 0.5% to 1.5 % / -2-5% in mix it's start to take over other flavors.
FA Dark Vapure (texture) At around 1%. I prefer this one for mix because it's very smoky and creates a good "kick". It taste like burned, so don't use too much of it. It has good aroma, though, and make a tobacco flavor that taste too much coffee, nutty, spice or licorice have these characteristics in the background rather in front. This one has become essential to my tobacco mixes. Without, I feel the mixes become too much bitter or taste like other darker flavors I mentioned. Something that I feel also with NET's although NET's is more organic and natural-bitter tasting. I like dense and smoky round leaf, slight hit of sweet and aroma more than bitter, oily and sour.
In the end, with tobaccos it is that dark and leafy natural tasting aroma, complex smoky spice/hey in back that one is after, not coffee, spicy food or a too sweet or oily. Dry and moist is two good textures to look after.
FA SOHO (base)
5%-6% Single flavor and that's it. Good on it's own. Even better as mixing base 3%-5%. Too mild food-like and nutty for me, so I usually use Dark Vapure with it. Creamy coffe and almund in the back. It's simple and popular, but not really that leafy. Become darker in a mix so it's perfect for a base.
FA 7leaves Ultimate (base/texture)
One word: licorice. But also leafs. Yes, there is this rainbow of leafes in this one. Some hey. It's on the harsher side than mild like Shade and SOHO. Very good together with Virginia and Shade to soften up that licorice taste. It's also spicy and with Dark Vapure and Desert Ship creates that magic complex tobacco.
FA Desert Ship (texture)
I started to use this one in fruits, so learned quickly how this one works. Preferably use it only with other tobaccos. Spice and caramel-sih. Maybe even too much. But, this is a mixing flavor. Tasty alone at 2-2.5% but needs loonger steep. I'm impatient and want a good mix, that become even better over time. In a mix no problems. It creates a good complexity in the back of a tobacco. It's soft so it works just perfect with Shade at one or two drops in 5-10ml
One tips is to start with a base flavor and build around it slowly. Or, if you use a RDA, mix all single flavors 5ml at recommended % and drip-mix.
Other notes: -A tasty af shake/vape is a good steeper. -A bad tobacco blend shake/vape does not fix itself in steep. -FA MTS wizard stays in my box unfortunately it mutes complexity.
Hope sharing this will inspire or help someone mixing FA tobaccos. Follow me at http://e-liquid-recipes.com/?filter=91893 for more developments.
Awesome reviews! Just one question, I noticed there wasn't much coverage in tobaccos that pair well with fruits. In your experience working with FA tobaccos, what did you find most optimal to pair with fruits like dark berries?
Thanks thedirtyprojector, appreciate to share my notes on FA Tobaccos! This one is really difficult because of the makeup of Tobaccos is more spice. Aromas are also chemical based as you know. So small changes can make sour socks, instead of a mouthful. lol. But in my experience, if it goes with licorice, almonds and coffe irl, go for it. Like 7leaves and SOHO. Maybe FA Shade would work good alone with one fruit, but it will become vanilla fruit. FA Desert Ship is more spicy/caramel. FA Cuban Supreme is more coffee/wood like. Slight sweets like Blackberry, Blackcurrant and Forrest Fruit are the only ones that used in very small percentage doesn't overwhelm the tobaccos. I only managed to make one that I like "Blackcurrant Dark Green" that has FA SOHO as main flavor, where I used one-two drops of Blackcurrant in 10ml (0.25%). So the fruit is on exhale way, way in the back, like a real moisty fruit tobacco. It's because the best fruits IMO are so tart or have other characteristics. Now I prefer full separation of the two, because I'm finding that dryer tobacco texture is really nice. Try mix a fruit mix with over five flavors and you will understand how different they react than Tobaccos. Even mixing fruits alone is difficult. One mix can be so strange, then lower two fruits to another layer and it becomes complex and tasty. What I prefer is Tobacco mixes very well dry, and Fruit mixes light, tart and aromatic with floral notes. Actually, maybe florals would mix good with tobaccos, so it becomes more like hits of spice at very low %.
I have a lot of FA tobaccos and don't like them at all. I steep tobaccos for a long time and generally don't touch them for at least two weeks. 70pg 30vg 6mg nic and use mainly KFL+ and Lemo 2. I mix FA tobaccos at 3-5%
Soho is pretty good 15-20% I get some baked pumpkin flavor from it. I don't buy it too often because I'm not ok with using the recommended 20% of flavor in diy.
Glory is OK. Same base as Desert Ship, with strong peanut flavor, and possibly some AP.
Withou peanuts, you get Dessert Ship. It is heavy, sweet and spicy, not in a particularly good way. Ginger and lemon strong on exhale.
7 Leaves. I don't get liquorice at all. I've used to buy this liquid when I started to vape, so I mix some occasionally. It has really strong perfumey taste. I get some black pepper and sweetnes, but basically, it's like vaping Trussardi. FA Royal uses the same base but without the perfume. It tastes like black pepper and cream.
Shade, Latakia, Perique Black and Virginia, are the next group of too similar tobaccos. That kinda grassy chemical flavor is the base for all of them. Shade has some burnt sugar added, PB god knows what, someting metallic tasting, Latakia has some smokines and Virginia has this thing that tastes like raw potato smells. Sounds gross and it is, but it's the best of this group.
20% of FA is a lot... However, I will say that I've tried most of their tobaccos and didn't care for them either. I love Royal... That's about it. (Haven't tried Shade but I've heard good things about that one and Soho)
That is what FlavourArt recommend for Soho. I know 20% is insane for other FA aromas.
Shade is not bad, in fact I've wwnt through 300mls of it and thought it was great. It still is for a couple of puffs but idk it somehow knocks out taste buds for me and all I can taste is bland sweet slightly chemical flavor.
I do not get a ginger and lemon taste from Desert Ship at all. Testimony to the fact that taste is highly individual to experience and palate. Flavourart works with people with very advanced flavor palates for their flavors. 7leaves is not perfume at all to me, their all more on the aromatic and creamy side. Compared to other companies I tried. Pepper is maybe what is licorice to me! I agree with that one. Shade metallic tasting? what? FA Virginia is very good for me too, and more hey and leaves than "raw potato". Maybe bec. I don't even know what raw potato smells like I'm sorry. lol. I use SOHO at 5-6% and it works for me. Don't like to use too much % flavor, or too strong. My RDAs have very accurate and concentrated flavor. With some RTA's I would think that higher % is needed. Also flavor do actually change on some attys, from intense to more mute. Try to blend them up, and see what happens, as to the main point of my review. Like some people like NET's, but for me it's just too harsh, gunky, bitter sour ect... and not creamy/smoky/dry softer like these aroma flavors. Next FA I have to try is FA Latakia is it's smoky for sure. Ive also looked at FA Oriental, FA Black Fire and FA Perique Black, but not tasted them yet.
I think there is a big hint of nostalgia to what we expect from a tobacco flavor, but we will never get that taste of dry combustion. Dry and smoky with slight creamy is actually textures pretty close, even better, but it's those of-notes that are hard to handle. A little more spice and certain florals at very low % in the mix may take those away, if you get the balance right on them.
Perique Black is metallic, not Shade. It was a comment on how those four flavors use the same base and different notes. To me they taste too similar, and I wanted to point that out. If somebody likes any of these flavors they would probably like others and vice versa.
20% is the FA recommendation for Soho. I use other tobacco flavors 3-5%.
>-A tasty af shake/vape is a good steeper. -A bad tobacco blend shake/vape does not fix itself in steep.
I tend to disagree with you on this. I've experienced quite a few that start off tasting like piss but are much much better after a steep. Most notably the INW tobaccos.
It's just my personal experience with Flavourart mixes, like I said. But sure Tobaccos do taste better after time. Don't have to much experience with INW tobacco. Maybe they have chemical taste in beginning? Usually it's like that when flavors have a perfume smell they steep it out. FA is very different. Some smell almost nothing, but is more aromatic.
I just shaked & vaped
FA Burley 2%
FA Clove 1%
FA Black Fire .5%
and wew lad, it's good...curious how it steeps.
Ey! sounds really good, and smaller %. Guess it's smooth, wet spice/cream, slight bitter aromatic and some dry/smokey with FA Black Fire. Clove is a good idea because it's a spicy, and fits tobaccos. Interesting direction. Maybe even FA Oak Wood would fit, as could be added at low % for more complexity? FA Burley is definitely a flavor I need to try. How bitter is it alone compared to mixed?
This was actually my very first time ever making a tobacco mix! Didn't try the burley by itself..I was hoping to get some tobacco flavors that reminded me of pouch rolling tobacco and this Burley is like that. Not too dark, not too light. Pleasant and very intriguing to my senses.
I haven't heard of Oak Wood, but Black Fire actually has a really high quality burning wood smell and taste IMO. Very interesting.
These FA flavors are awesome!