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Advice on bringing berries "forward".
submitted over 8 years ago by CryingMinotaur

I've been at the DIY game for a couple of months now. I've put together a recipe for a blueberry cheesecake, and while tasty, I want the berries to come out on top a bit more, or be more at the front if that makes any sense. I dont the think adding more berries to the mix is the answer here and I'm looking for suggestions on making these flavours behave the way I want them to. Here's the recipe:

Bavarian cream (tfa) 3% Blueberry (wild) (tfa) 8% Strawberry ripe (tfa) 6% Vanilla bean ice cream (tfa) 2.5% Sweet cream (tfa) 3% Graham cracker (tfa) 2%

The sweet cream has the sour/cheesy notes and the Graham cracker really comes through on the exhale but the berries, while noticeable, are a bit too subtle.

Thanks in advance.

Comments
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10 points
 
by RearEchelonover 8 years ago

You've got 24.5% flavoring. That's way too much for a sub-ohm vape. If it were me, I'd cut the Graham cracker to 1%, the creams to 2%, the blueberry to 5% and the strawberry to 3%.

6 points
 
by l33ftyover 8 years ago

I second this. Cut all your creams in half. The berry flavors being used arent particularly strong on the pallete

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

Ok, this makes sense to me I'll give it a shot.

3 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

It's actually less than this. I have a spreadsheet i made that decreases the flavours proportionately based on a factor of my choosing. I'll try this advice though when I get more blueberry, as I'm all out.

6 points
 
by CheebaSteebaover 8 years agoFrugivore

Lemons can be great for making berries "pop"; they typically go well with dairies but with butyric heavy dairies maybe not. Also some sweetener will really bring out the berries a lot more over those heavy creams. Another suggestion would be some dragonfruit but IDK if it will fit this profile.

Hope this helps!

5 points
 
by mlNikonover 8 years ago

This may seem counter intuitive but try lowering the percentages of the berries. Too much flavoring will mute itself. Less really is more.

5 points
 
by Cocky1976over 8 years ago

Could the Bavarian cream be muting the berries? I read it's kind of heavy on ethyl maltol which itself can mute some flavors.

3 points
 
by circuitj3rkyover 8 years ago

Try using multiple kinds of the berries. Each of the companies hit a different note amd i find to get am authentic lasting taste you need to mix a few together. Someone mentioned the holy trinity of blueberry, fa bilberty, tfa bkueberry extra and fw blueberry. Likewise there are multiple good strawberries, rf sc strawberry, cap sweet strawberry, tfa strawberry ripe, jf sweet strawberry, etc. Need to find the ones that work. Usually the berry blends that most people use are "good enough" but need tweeks to get to where you want it to go.

2 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

I was sort of thinking this as well. As soon as I get each order I feel like I need more flavours immediately! My library is expanding quickly but I worry I'm not "mastering" the flavours I've got already.

Guess I'll start compiling another list. There's so much information to digest.

2 points
 
by circuitj3rkyover 8 years ago

Im in the same boat. It seems every time i order i get what i see a ton of peoppe using, then fall down deeper into the rabbit hole and find more and more must have flavorings and god i think I'm up to 75 flavors now and am compiling what i want to grab next time. DIY is a hell of a drug.

3 points
 
by CausticCloudCreatorover 8 years ago

I would seriously consider a stronger blueberry or adding a tiny bit of FA bilberry. TFA bb versions are awfully weak, especially against all that cream. I would also lower some of the Bavarian cream and sweet cream.

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

I know what you mean. The tfa blueberry has a very authentic blueberry taste, but there are holes in it, parts of it are missing. If I was cooking up would add lemon juice or some other acid to brighten it up.

2 points
 
by EarnestAccordover 8 years ago

With Blueberries being such a relatively deep/dark berry flavor often an additional top flavor needs to be added. Dragon Fruit is a good suggestion, though I've only used it with Strawberry & Apple. I would also try a Raspberry flavor too. I'd ideally use FA Raspberry, it has a very thin top note that is a personal favorite when I want to push my Blueberry higher. You could try a real small % of INWA Raspberry too. I've not experimented with this specifically but, know it works great with Apple. Hope this helps

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

The only raspberry I have is TFA and it's awful, tastes like robitussin or something. I'd like to find a great raspberry.

2 points
 
by HocusKrokusover 8 years agoHis Bearded Holiness

Strawberry (Ripe) also contains a fair amount of ethyl maltol, which is definitely causing some muting at that percentage. Consider swapping it out for INW Shisha Strawberry or at least TPA Strawberry regular. I agree with @rearechelon on cutting the creams in half, and would even argue that there's merit to cutting the whole thing in half, then making a few small additions or changes once you've got all that EM dialed back.

1 points
 
by DIY-Eliquidover 8 years ago

What pg/vg you mix this? Have you ever tried 50/50 or 60pg 40vg?

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

75/25 VG/PG. I really don't like much more Pg than that.

1 points
 
by BLKR32over 8 years ago

I know you mentioned not adding any additional berries, but have you tried the holy trio of blueberry in place of just the bb extra?

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

What is this holy trinity you speak of?

1 points
 
by BLKR32over 8 years ago

Fa Bilberry 0.5% Fw Blueberry 3% Tpa blueberry extra 4%

I sometimes bump up fw/tpa by 1% depending on the mix

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

Cheers, thank you.

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

Thanks everyone! Great advice.

1 points
 
by RamboUnchainedover 8 years ago

Small amounts of Lemon and Dragonfruit are great for blending berries and making them "pop". I also have heard of people using small amounts of .9% saline solution to bring fruits forward, but I've yet to try it myself.

1 points
 
by CryingMinotaurover 8 years ago

I think I got a 3ml dragon fruit sample with my last order I'll give it a shot. Are we talking <=1%?

1 points
 
by RamboUnchainedover 8 years ago

Yeah. .25-.75% max

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