This a a pre-release flavor, which was provided to me solely for the purposes of review.
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.16 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FLV Vanilla Bean, .25, 1, and 3%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 8 days.
Flavor Description: A spicier realistic vanilla bean flavor that works like straight vanillin.
Solo, there's basically no body to this. A majority of vanillas on the market have some sort of heavier base to them, usually some sort of cream. This really doesn't. It also doesn't have a thicker vanilla extract kind of base like FA or TPA Vanilla Bourbon. Mechanically, it's functioning pretty much like vanillin. It's just boosting existing vanilla flavors and giving a sort of ethereal vanilla top note to things.
I've mixed this up with INW Custard, mostly because I like it and it doesn't seem to require much of a steep. I've used 1.5% solo INW Custard, and then samples with 1% TPA Vanillin and 1% FLV Vanilla bean.
Testing the custard solo, it tastes like it should. Rich vanilla, heavier eggy note, and a bit of butter to it. The vanillin brightens up the vanilla in there substantially but it feels a bit one-dimensional and artificial.
The FLV Vanilla Bean brought in a bit more nuance and the vanilla top note has a spicier, more complex vanilla to it. Fairly robust tasting vanilla bean with a bit of earthiness to it as well. It's a very accurate straight from the vanilla bean flavor.
If you ever used whole vanilla beans when actually cooking custards, the effect is really similar.
Based on this (admittedly slapdash) testing, I'd venture to say this really is going to work a lot more like a fancier, more nuanced version of straight vanillin.
Off-flavors: I mean, it's not a solo flavor, or even a solo vanilla component. It's going to enhance and brighten your vanillas more than anything else.
Throat Hit: Nah, but there isn't much body here to actually hit your throat.
Percentage testing: I'm not really sure solo testing is all the useful here because of the way this flavor is working. I have my tests down at .25%, 1%, and 3% and none of them really feel like a full flavor. I taste basically nothing at .25%, 1% does have some vanilla notes, but it's very aromatic and there's almost no base. 3% is picking up some bitterness and sourness and feels overblown. I will say tasting the steeped version at 1% and a fresh mix at 1%, this doesn't seem to have much of a fade-out, which is a concern with more ethereal flavors.
Based on the INW custard test, I'd probably be using this as that vanilla top note around .25-75%.
Uses & Pairings: Again, there's a whole group of people doing this beta testing and sharing notes, so half of this is ripped off from other people's usage ideas.
This is going to work really well to enhance the vanilla in custards, creams, and ice creams. It should work to make the vanilla that's already present in most of those kinds of concentrates a bit more lively, while adding depth and complexity to the mix. Personally, I find using vanillin to do that always ends up tasting a bit like soft serve ice cream, while this is more complex and feels more realistic to actual vanilla bean. Wayne of DIYorDIE fame/infamy used it in a live mixing recipe and if I had to guess it's sitting on top of the milkshake base there just reinforcing all that vanilla in the VBIC, Meringue, and Graham Cracker.
Thadentman also used it in a posted a root beer float recipe using this, FLV Root Beer, FW VBIC, and CAP whipped cream. Again, it's going to be enhancing all of those vanillas. I'd think this would have some use with root beer outside of just a float though. The way that vanilla bean lands this would have serious potential with root beer, cola, ginger ale (shoutout to Kopel), and other soda flavors to lend that same kind of effervescent sparkling top note of vanilla you get from a soda.
Since this doesn't have all that cream base baggage, this could be used with drier, crisper bakeries and tobaccos to get vanilla notes into something where you don't want to mess with the texture.
I have no pricing information on this, but I'm thinking you may have to gird your wallets based on how nuts vanilla pricing in general is right now.
Just wanted you to know, and I think I speak for most of the community, I REALLY appreciate all of your reviews. I know a lot of them don't get a ton of discussion or comments but they are extremely useful for me.
Thank you, I'm glad people get use out of them. It's gotten crazy trying to keep track of the hundreds and hundreds of available concentrates, and I think reviews at least help to give people some direction on which way to go with specific profiles.
I do not understand how you have time to SFT all these flavors. I bet it would be hard to keep track of! Are any sent to you for free?
I've got a fairly open schedule and decided to make it a priority. Each one of these ends up taking about 30-60 minutes worth of actual work and I usually vape these for a chunk of the day before sitting down to write. I wanted to be a better mixer, and just basically started from the bottom with understanding flavor. I end up getting a lot out of doing this level of testing, and committed myself to putting out a year of reviews. I'm pretty sure I'm running 1 day behind, but it'll be a year on October 27th.
I received the full flavorah line after I had bought about 30 of them, which has been awesome. This pre-release stuff has just started coming in too, and should end up being an additional 28 flavors. I've probably recieved about 15 flavors from BCF for free, and maybe another 15 from specific donations from other people. Outside of that, I generally pay for my flavors. It usually isn't too bad, I'm just buying the smallest available sizes on 98% of stuff. I think i figured out that I was still spending less in a month than I was vaping through before I switched to DIY.
Thanks for the notes.
I'm super hype on this flavoring. While it doesn't have any body to it, I think that helps the profile stand out from a ton of others. There's a certain type of sparkle to the top vanilla note that just works so well with other creams, or bakeries. Here are the notes I have on it thus far.
FLV Vanilla Bean
SOLOED: 3% MIXED 1%:
Flavor Profile: One of the most vibrant and bright vanilla's I've used. There's a specific type of brightness that shines through the top of the recipe I've mixed it in. Sorta like TFA Vanilla Swirl, just more saturated in its vanlila bean note. It's not creamy - per se - but more smooth and silky.
Boosters: Mixing this with TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream seems to create a beautiful vanilla ice cream. If TFA VBIC is Edy's icecream, than TFA with FLV Bean is Hagendaaz. I can see this lighting up any cream it touches. Can't wait to see how this does in a Custard.
Cons: Not much. I'm not getting too much fading, which I was a bit worried about. It hasn't been too long though. Everything seems to be working as expected
I'm really hoping this is on the affordable end of things, because I'd love to see this get wide use. This one feels a bit special.
I hope it is priced in line with most other offerings from them, but if it is a bit more, I still see it being worth a couple bucks due to its versatility in bakery/creams. As a low percwntage additive, a 30ml bottle should stretch a fair distance.
Maybe Im a wishful thinker, but I feel like Im saving so much DIY, I can drop a few dollars here and there for the good stuff.
Thanks for yet another great review! Always like seeing new info on bakeries and creams! Much appreciated!
Hey, you're welcome. I may just be a sucker for novelty but I really like going over new stuff. It's certainly a bit more exciting that combing through a bunch of older stuff looking for something awesome that somehow missed the hype train.
TFA/TPA Vanilla Bean ice cream notes:
Although I have never tried flavorah VBIC I have alot to say about TFA VBIC. Vanilla bean ice cream by tfa is actually not too bad as a standalone and is actually one of my best sellers on campus. After much trial and error I have come to the conclusion that the simpler recipes are the ones that truly shine. I find mixing more than three flavors usually introduces problems like unexpected flavor changes over 4-6week periods. I think alot of this is lost on the community because few people actually report back after 4weeks.
Mixing: I use typicially between 4% and 6% and in conjunction with just one other ingredient, often fruit. I might add a secondary vanilla cream note like vswirl (tfa), fresh cream (FA), marshmallow (FA) or Bavarian cream (tfa) in a lesser concentration (±2%).
Standalone: 8-10% At about 8% the VBIC becomes very strong, almost bitter like OP mentioned, however this becomes less apparent over the course of 2 weeks, but apparent immediately. When I sell 120ml I usually throw in a 30ml freebie of this consisting of 10% of vanilla bean ice cream because although strong it heavily compliments other juices and is less noticeably powerful when mixed with other ejuice. I often sell two packs of 60ml bottles that compliment each other and vanilla Bean pairs nicely with virtually any fruit flavor and most bakery flavors as well which is the majority of what I sell.
Just an FYI this FLV Vanilla Bean is not meant to be ice cream. It's more of a vanilla bean additive, like you would use in cooking.
Fair enough, I never really think of it as much of an ice cream anyways because well, the texture and everything is missing in an ejuice. When I think of flavor extracts I don't expect them to taste like what's on the label, I think of it as an additive for what it's used in. For example cookie extract is often missing those egg notes because the flavor extract is supplementary to everything else in the food application.
Just banging out these flavor reviews! Much appreciated Concrete! You are such a valuable part of this community! One day i hope to develop my pallet and join you and give back to this community with some flavor reviews!
Yeah, thanks for reading. Seriously don't hesitate on contributing flavor reviews. I stand by my assertion that I don't have a great palate, I just got used to writing about what I taste.
Maybe I will give it a try sooner than later. Just don't want to mislead people with my lack of testing knowledge. Also need to work on putting what I am tasting Into words. But I'm writing notes like a mad man as I mess with flavors ext so I should be better as time passes :)
I've had my own fits about pushing people towards/away from flavors, but I usually don't publish anything I have serious issues with like strawberries. And ultimately, the YMMV thing is very much implied. My main goal is to give people a little direction if their looking for specific profiles. I try to cover my ass a bit with second opinions where applicable, which eases some of the worry a bit.
Wow... I really love all of your flavor reviews on here and youtube, (I have watched hours and read a ton of them) they are so damn precise and extremely helpful. Even if I haven't had that flavor in real life, I can visually see it and feal it in my mouth type of feeling of how it would be. Thank you so much. I been searching like crazy for a precise mix to make a Thick and creamy vanilla milkshake, even like a McDonald's vanilla milk shake would be great. I have a question (maybe you or someone else can help, like I said I looked quite a bit all over and can't find that specific type of a Mcdonald vanilla milkshake. What vanilla would I need to make it and percentage?? I understand if you don't wanna give it out.... thanks for any info
Flavors I have are Bavarian Cream (TPA), Fresh Cream (FA), Vanilla Custard v1 (CAP), Whipped Cream (TPA), Marshmallow (FA)
First off, thank you. It's still weird for me to be doing youtube stuff but I'm glad that it ends up being useful for something other than just me ranting about stuff.
In terms of a mcdonalds milkshake, I'm pretty sure it will all be in the vanilla. When I think of a mcdonalds milkshake, It seems really closely related to soft serve. No dark, spicy vanilla. Just big bright commercial vanilla and a really light dairy note.
I don't have a canned recipe sitting around, so I'm totally spitballing here, but I'd be looking towards INW Shisha Vanilla and TPA Vanilla Swirl. Something dumb like 6% Vanilla Swirl, 1.5% Shisha Vanilla, and then maybe some of the Fresh Cream to loosen it back up. The Vanilla Swirl and the Shisha Vanilla both have tons of body and that bright soft-serve vanilla type.
Depending on how much vanilla you'd actually like, you may also look into adding some TPA Ethyl Vanillin. It'll really punch that vanilla right into your face. If it ends up being too dry, even with a bit of Fresh Cream, you could start adding in TPA Whipped Cream until it feels loose enough. I'd probably give it at least 4-5 days between tests though. The texture in all of those flavors need some steep time to thicken up.
But that's specifically for a fast-food style milkshake.
Wow... that is awesome that you.know that off the top of your head like that. Your like a walking flavor book, lol... thanks for the advice... I'll try that for sure... I wasn't even thinking of all that.. I was thinking a type of vanilla bean ice cream with some fresh cream and whipped cream.
I don't know of all the flavor profiles yet..(I have a long ways to go) lmao... thank you so much, it must took you awhile to know as many flavors as you know.... keep up the awesome flavor reviews... thanks again
Yeah, no problem. I like vanilla quite a bit and have tried to nail down how dark vanillas work versus that kind of mcdonalds milkshake / frosting type vanilla works. I also struggle to just not add a ton of vanilla swirl to my recipes because I absolutely dig the texture it gets.
People tend to go straight to VBIC with milkshakes, and it's just too rich for most commercial milkshakes. It's like trying to make a milkshake with a stick of butter blended in. It can work okay, but it doesn't do a soft-serve base at all.
But, I hope that ends up leading somewhere decent, and if not, Vanilla Swirl and Shisha Vanilla are both great.