So grains was a fun flavor list week.... moving along.
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: Almond (and Amaretto and Marzipan)
How did that get to be the FOTW?
It was requested. If you're not interested in this FOTW, please take this opportunity and comment to suggest one that interests you (or send me a PM to do that).
Past FOTW posts can be found here
Next week's flavor will be: Jackfruit/Dragonfruit
The week after that will be: Frostings/Icings
The week after that will be: Waffles/Pancakes
The week after that will be: Stones
The week after that will be: Apples
The week after that will be: Aromatic Tobaccos
The week after that will be: Non-aromatic Tobaccos
The week after that will be: Tobacco Additives
The week after that will be: Marshmallows
The week after that will be: Champagne
The week after that will be: Cake/Pandoro
The week after that will be: Blue Raspberry
The week after that will be: Maple
The week after that will be: Fig
The week after that will be: Hazelnut
The week after that will be: Persimmon
The week after that will be: Pumpkin
The week after that will be: Dairy: Milk/Cream/Whipped Cream/Butter
The week after that will be: Banana
The week after that will be: Vegetals
The week after that will be: Gummy Candy
The week after that will be: Lemon
The week after that will be: Caramel
The week after that will be: Lime
The week after that will be: Cereal
The week after that will be: Orange
The week after that will be: Cheesecake
The week after that will be: Cherry
The week after that will be: Cookies/Graham Cracker/Pie Crust
The week after that will be: Coconut
The week after that will be: Custard
The week after that will be: Peach
The week after that will be: Raspberry
The week after that will be: Sweeteners
The week after that will be: Cinnamon Pastries
The week after that will be: Vanilla
The week after that will be: Canteloupe
The week after that will be: Honeydew
The week after that will be: Watermelon
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).
I have to admit that I'm disappointed at the lack of a flavor pun, but I guess Almond my own business on this one.
yaaaaasss
I think I just found my new pun writer. The pay sucks but welcome aboard!
Good luck coming up with one for Jackfruit/Dragonfruit next week.
After recently trying Vurve's Vanilla Almond Milk, I'm definitely more curious about almond than ever before. That juice is just so, so good!
I have FA Marzipan. Would it be a 1:1 sub for the INW Marzipan. Average mixing quantity is 1% for the FA and 0.5% for INW on ATF.
I've never tried another Marxipan besides INW, mainly because I can't stand marzipan (the food). Only bought the INW for the recipe and somehow it works. I don't overtly taste it, but I can tell it's doing something for the flavor. That recipe is so perfect I'd be Leary to dub anything at all. Maybe an expert can comment on the difference between INW & FA...
Let's talk about almonds and things that are made from almonds.
I don't have much variety of experience with almonds. FA Almond pretty much satisfies my need for almond flavor. It seems nearly perfect. Works in all kinds of recipes just like almond extract. Even has an almond feel to it, that wonderful crunchiness that a nut should have but also the kind of creaminess inside there that you expect from the source of ~~nut juice~~ almond milk. Can give something special to a recipe as low as 0.5% and is all the almond you need for something like a macaron at 2%.
Marzipan is supposed to be almond paste, right? INW Marzipan just tastes like a cherry with a very light almond nougaty background to me. Because of the shared volatiles between cherry/almond flavors, FA Marzipan maybe has some cherry to it as well, more for some folks than others, but I mostly just get delicious Jordan Almonds out of it. It's been said that FA Torrone should be mentioned along with almond-related flavors, IDK. It's nutty in both senses of the word but is it specifically almondy?
With Amaretto, which beverage ingredient I adore, I haven't yet gotten any further than Head In Clouds' Disoranno recipe, which is all-FA (of course), 0.75% each, Almond, Marzipan, Vanilla Bourbon, and Caramel. I thought it tasted pretty good but fell short of the profile. But that's easier to say than it is to fix. I might try to do that this week for FOTW. Thinking it needs a bit of an alcohol bite (FA Whiskey?) and that the vanilla belongs but could be better (might this be a job for Holy V?).
I plan to broaden my almond horizons this week by trying TFA Almond Amaretto, TFA Toasted Almond, and one I'm especially excited about, Baker's Flavors Almond (things don't always vape the way the smell in the bottle but if this one tastes anything like it smells, I'll probably write a flavor review that's just like squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and omg omg omg omg over and over).
Odd. I don't recall getting cherry from INW Marzipan... Just tastes like a sweet almond bakery thing. Lol
> FA Almond pretty much satisfies my need for almond flavor.
Yeah exactly, same for me.
And mostly I only take 3% almond, add 0,5% FA Honey and make cat piss clouds. Tastes good, smells terrible.
Does FA Almond have a bad "room note" I haven't noticed or is that all from the honey?
Oddly, FA Almond doesn't taste like an almond to me. It's a hyper sweet light cream? I never have gotten much nut taste out of it. .5%-2% is my experience with it. Great flavor though, I have enjoyed quite a few mixes with it. Apparently my taste buds don't work right...
In fact, FLV Biscotti is the only flavor that actually tasted like almond to me. Granted, I haven't tried that many almond flavorings. Some people say it has coffee accents but I got almond. This seems like a kind of niche flavor. Flavorah recommends adding a few drops of this with FLV Cookie and some other flavorings to "dry them out". I haven't gotten around to trying it yet but hopefully I'll remember soon. The flavor profile is incredibly dry, twice baked, top notes with a dry almond flavor in the background. It is incredibly strong and not forgiving at all. The flavor seems like it would be good for adding in a bakery note along with a touch of almond with just a few drops.
Judging by my limited experience with the flavor few people are going to have much use for it but I felt it was worth mentioning as it is an interesting flavor.
Thanks for sharing this. Now I have to see if I'm an FLV Biscotti almond-taster, too. There's definitely some variance when it comes to almond flavors. INW versus FA Marzipan for example. Some people swear one is cherry and the other is almond paste and vice versa, some say both taste like cherries, others say both are marizpans.
What do you think on the FLV Biscotti, 0.25%?
It's a really aggressive flavor, once you put too much in it's too late. The flavor doesn't calm down much either. 1 drop per 10\ml might be a good starting point with it. You can always add a couple more drops if you're not getting enough of the flavor.
FA Marzipan definitely has some almond and cherry in there according to my taste buds, but they're completely surrounded by this borderline sickly sweet confection sugar flavor. It wouldn't satisfy an almond or cherry craving. Sweet tooth, it would satisfy.
FA Almond sounds like what you would need to add to your recipe to not only get almond flavor, but just as importantly get nut texture. Well crafted nut juices (hehe) are divine.
I think I have a pretty bad sweet tooth. But it's for the kind of sweet in that FA Marzipan and not the kind of sweet in sucralose overload juice.
I tried Almond Amaretto many times in other recipes just because I love the flavor and needed an excuse to vape it, but wasn't until this FOTW that I decided to make and post a recipe that justify using it.
FW Almond Amaretto is a liquor by it self and tastes great but I think it works better when you pair it with bourbon, whiskey, RY4 kind of creams, caramel, and some fruits like blueberry, peach and specially orange.
This recipe is still a work in progress but I think it is almost there and is a good use of Almond Amaretto that could be useful to try other similar mixes.
Sunset Girl
https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/56725
3% | (FW) Almond Amaretto
2% | (TPA) Black Tea
2% | (FW) Blood Orange
1% | (TPA) Peach Juicy
4% | (CAP) Pink Lemonade
Hope you enjoy it!
Chinese Almond Cookie
0.5% FA Almond
0.5% CAP Sugar Cookie
8% OoO Vanilla Wafer
Tastes like the store bought Chinese almond cookies that are sold at my local grocer, without the dollop of chocolate on top. It's basically a soft sugar cookie with the added flavor of almond. Very simple but very good.
I don't have a ton of experience with almond flavorings. I've used TFA Toasted Almond and it's okay and is what it is supposed to be. FA Almond is a good straight up "raw" almond flavor. INW Marzipan is a lovely almond flavor, good to mix in bakery recipes for an almond note.
Not a whole lot of experience with almond, but I've tried TFA Toasted Almond (long before I ever did single flavor tests or took notes,) CAP Toasted Almond, and RF SC Almond. I like CAP Toasted Almond. It's a tad bitter and probably more toasted than it is almond. I like it though. Don't use it as much as I used to. RF SC Almond is decent as far as I can tell. Seems a bit better for fruit stuff. Sweeter than the toasted almond. INW 3 Five has a hint of almond to me. It's maybe like Almond, pistachio, and peanut. I'll have to take a bit more time to figure that one out. Seems like a pretty decent additive for tobaccos. Real strong though. .25% is enough to get a little bit of nutty taste.
Do you have a recipe that shows how you use that CAP Toasted Almond with (I'm assuming) tobaccos?
Here is one of them:
Ghost On Ghost
TFA 5% AP- 1%
TFA Brown Sugar- 1.5%
INW Black for Pipe- 2.5%
INW Captain Jack for Pipe- .5%
TFA Coconut Extra- .5%
TFA Kentucky Bourbon- 2%
FA Oakwood- 1.5%
CAP Toasted Almond- 1.5%
Basically a tobacco infused Castle Long Reserve clone. Needs about a month to really get good. I need to mix some up and try to forget it for a few months to see how it is after an extra long steep.
I used to use it in my old ADV, which wasn't very good, and I don't think I've got it written down anywhere, but it had Bavarian Cream, French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Toasted Almond, and Graham Cracker Clear all at 2%, and I just rotated different tobaccos on top of that. Mostly SC Blended, but there was a bit where I tried to make FA Desert Ship work with a tobacco absolute. Might be worth a revisit now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing.
Also just remembered it's in this one:
Hollywood Calls
INW 555 Gold- 1.75%
FA Black Fire- .5%
FA Glory- 1%
TFA Graham Cracker Clear- 1%
FA Latakia- .5%
CAP Toasted Almond- 1.5%
TFA Toasted Marshmallow- 1%
Would probably be better without the Latakia and Black Fire. Haven't tried to revise it because I got a little burnt out on this one just like the other.