#Hello Mixers
I'm looking for groups of beginner friendly concentrates. Specifically ones that are easy to work with, can be used later on as an expert and are very dynamic.
##The Example
CAP Sugar Cookie
- Very dynamic - in that you can use it as little as .5, up to 10 or even 15% and get a good flavor.
- Very useful - In that you can use it in toooooooons of different flavor profiles and it's right at home.
- You can make a standalone or use it as an accent, or a supporting role. Top note. Very easy to use!
This is very open ended and more of the idea is to open up further discussion. So please if someone posts one, tell them what you think and ask questions.
Thank you everyone! You're a fantastic community.
Please help out by giving your personal favorites and the opinion on them. Thanks!
#:: THE LIST ::
SEE ALSO:
- Catalog of Concentrates That Add Texture
- Catalog of Concentrates That Add Sweetness
- [Catalog of Concentrates That Mature/Steep Quickly] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/5nrggz/making_a_catalog_of_concentrates_that_maturesteep/)
- Catalog of Concentrate Starter Kits
- Catalog of Beginner-Friendly Concentrates
CAP Sugar Cookie, CAP Vanilla Custard V1 for sure. Here is a recipe to go with that: Simple Sugar Cookie. Even if they mess up and add too much or two little of either or both ingredients, that's going to taste good. Also both ingredients are super versatile and can be used in so many other things.
TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Mixes wonderfully with almost everything. Sure, there's that pepper-tasting issue, but might as well find out early on if you are or aren't one.
TFA Strawberry and TFA Strawberry Ripe. Similar to the pepper-tasting deal, there are strawberry non-tasters. Might as well figure out early if that's going to be an issue for you.
I have to disagree with my friend /u/RamboUnchained about the TFA Acetyl Pyrazine and TFA Sweet Cream simply because when I think of beginner stuffs, I want them to be able to make measurement errors while they're first getting used to mixing and still get decent juice. Not that they aren't perfectly good ingredients, but it doesn't take too big of a whoopsie with those two to wind up with corn chips and toe cheese.
Lmao I suppose you're right. Not everyone is gonna logically think "if he says a drop per 10mL then that's all I really need." It'll be more along the lines of "if a drop per 10mL is good, I bet 5 drops would be even better." And I didn't think about ye ole toe jam effect associated with sweet cream. I've taken it up to 5% without it though. Idk how I forgot cap sugar cookie. I have it in more recipes than I feel comfortable admitting. And I use the cookies and cream recipe as a base for at least 3 other recipes lol.
I'd swap TFA VBIC for CAP VBIC since it doesnt have the pepper notes. You can also add
- TPA Acetyl Pyrazine 5% (a drop per 10mL goes a long way)
- CAP Sweet Strawberry (Not horrible if you over-squirt)
- TPA RY4 Double (decent standalone and can be taken to infinity and beyond %wise)
- TPA Vanilla Swirl (Has vanillin and a short steep for guys that don't want to wait 2 weeks for their creams to come to life)
- TPA Sweet Cream (Short steep and adds good density/mouthfeel to your juice)
One could make 3-4 solid recipes with the concentrates I've listed here. And if you add in what EdibleMalfunction and ColonBlow said, that's a solid first concentrate order IMO. 10 flavors and a bunch of recipe possibilities.
I see where you're headed!
But instead of a "what set of flavors a beginner should get?" I was going more for setting a experience requirement on flavors so to speak.
So for something crazy hard to use like........ hmmm, TFA Yam! It's an odd flavor, has weird flavor properties, gonna have to think and strategize to use it well in a good recipe.
I would consider that an "Advanced" flavor.
AP, Sweetener, Ethyl Maltol, I would consider "Moderate". TFA Sweet Cream "Moderate"
Vanilla Swirl, Sweet Strawberry, & Vanilla Swirl I 100% agree "Easy"
So basically I think I didn't communicate well enough where I was headed.
It’s funny but not that easy for someone (like me) shifting from tobacco line to creams, custards and fruits. It’s like a massive shift from 2-3% to supermassive black hole of %s. I can’t even mix strawberry and vanilla swirl😂 It takes tons of time to figure out a reasonable ratio to start with. (Don’t downvote me, I’m a noob DIY’er🙂)
I find that there are some flavors that sort of hold up if severely overflavored, like INW Raspberry at 5%, the flavor holds strong, but tastes a bit more balanced at a reasonable percent like 2%. A very strong flavor able to use it down to like .25%, but still okay at higher percents.
Then you have concentrates like TFA Sweet Cream, where if it's even slightly too much flavoring it really kills the entire recipe by turning it into sour cheese soup flavor.
This is more a way to find concentrates which have have a high chance of ruining a mix.
Ahhh I gotcha. I'm gonna have to give my inventory another glance. When I first started, I was only mixing other people's recipes and learned to adjust them to taste, so I never really started with a clean slate so to speak. I know I have some flavors that I can make work in just about any recipe, but I can't think of any others off of the top of my head.
No TPA cheesecake Graham crust? That's right up there with the cap sugar cookie in my opinion. Versatile enough to be in a ton of recipes and flexible with the percentage used. You would almost have to triple the recommended amount to ruin a recipe.
CAP NY Cheesecake 6- 7%. Add any fruit + sweetener = commercial cheesecake recipe.
CAP Sugar Cookie 3 - 5%. Add any fruit + sweetener = commercial cookie recipe
CAP Vanilla Custard 2 - 10%. And any fruit + sweetener = commercial custard recipe
CAP Cinnamon Danish Swirl 3 - 5%. Add any fruit + sweetener = commercial cinnamon pastry recipe
CAP Creamy Yogurt 4 - 6%. Add any fruit + sweetener = commercial yogurt recipe
Does the NY Cheesecake have strong crust notes? I got Graham Cracker Clear FA or TFA and that's all I could taste. It was revolting lol.
This thread is a great example of the difficulty for me in DIYing... the only flavor mentioned that I would ever use is Lemon Sicily. (Which I do have, oddly enough.)
When you say that, what do you mean?
Can't stand Strawberry or Vanilla or custard. Don't like vaping baked goods. That basically covers everything mentioned as 'beginner friendly'.
Well that's why I'm actually asking here. The usual "standards" here might not be for everybody and that's why I want a wide range of very easy to use concentrates. Because as it stands right now, unless you're very familiar with the scene you really never know which concentrates are a bear to use (TFA Blackberry), which ones are totally unusable (TFA Honey), and which ones are easy peezy and leinentte (INW Raspberry, INW Cherry).
Any that you would recommend to a new user?
Not too great at descriptions but I'll give it a bash.
TFA Bavarian cream: a bit cream, a bit custard, not distinctly either, great for accentuating both.
Inawera strawberry: quite realistic with a sweet jam/syrup thing going on. Great for pairing with bakery flavours.
TFA blueberry extra: not really authentic but a blueberry most will recognise. Great starter as a dominant fruit flavour. Sweet and a little tart at times.
TFA dragonfruit: pulls fruits together. Adds a deep base to berry flavours.
TFA lucky leprechaun: versatile cereal. Pairs with most things; fruit or bakery.
As mentioned in the FOTW, FLV tobaccos are very beginner friendly.
Red Burley is great standalone, and easy to work with if an earthy Tobacco is your goal.
Probably most versatile is Cured. Mix with vanilla and caramel? Sure. Mix with nuts? You bet. Mix with Red Burley and some oak or other woodsy flavors? Do it. Want some fruity tobacco? Pick a fruit and mix that shit. Want it simple and by itself? Enjoy. Just starting out and all you have are some syringes? A few extra drops won't hurt. Got some experience and starting to do some more complex recipes? You'll need to order another bottle because you're out now, and you know just the place for it.
Not my favorite, but I won't deny it's good and easy and there's a reason a lot of people like it.
For Flavorah Flavors I would add FLV Wild Melon (Great with any Melon recipe), FLV Cream, FLV Boysenberry (perfect dark berry), FLV Mango (Life Changing for some), FLV Milk & Honey, and FLV Sweet Coconut (one of the best coconut flavors out there).
FLV Tobacco - Red Burley, Native Tobacco, Kentucky Blend, Virginia Tobacco, Cured Tobacco, and Turkish
I want to add a few to the list here.
TPA Gummy Candy
TPA Sweet and Tart
You can add those to basically any fruit and get a pretty good vape out of it. They were both staples for me when I was starting out. Still enjoy them.
2...4...6% in a mix. No problem. 12% standalone? Sure.
TFA Honey?
In all seriousness though,
-
CAP Vanilla Custard V1
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TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
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FA Lemon Sicily or CAP Italian Lemon Sicily
One thing I haven't seen in this list that I'm curious about... how about booze? I keep meaning to get some, but I never remember which varieties are best to work with. I can easily get white rum flavor (mixed with cherry cola. Just add cola to 1% LA Cherry) but a dark rum, a spiced rum (which would also work for Brio) a bourbon, a Scotch base (I'd need to add a few things to get a Single Malt flavor but I'm sure I have the right options, other than a heavy peat smoke) a beer? How about liqueurs like Amaretto, Sloe Gin, a Schapps base, a brandy or cognac? Any of these sound like a 'beginner friendly' flavor? I think TFA Irish Cream works easily enough for a beginner, but I haven't tried it at extra heavy levels.
These are great points. I feel as though there is a reason that not a whole ton of alcohol vapes don't get used much around here.
I mean you got ones like TFA Kentrucky Bourbon which I would describe as a "Moderate" or "Medium" difficulty flavor.
I'm still working on a system to most help new mixers get started with confidence. Right now it's all so shamblely all the new people hit the same walls everytime because it's such a hard process to get started buying what you need to get started.
Then theres the moderate problem where a person who is fairly into mixing, but not by a ton, they start buying waaaay too many flavors with no regard to knowing if it's a decent flavor, if it's easy enough t work with, or how useful it is. So they end up with hundreds of different flavors. That's an additional problem I'm hoping I can help alleviate with just more well organized and understandable information.
They most useful information would be the following: a spreadsheet listing every flavor, and approximate usage ranges (as single flavor and as supporting notes) where such information exists. A flag for flavors that are not recommended (TFA Cat Piss comes to mind) and flavors requiring making a dilution (TFA Cinnamon Spice, for example) would be handy.
I think most of the difficulty in using 'difficul' flavors is guessing (or taking the manufacturers advice) on how much of a flavor to use. Yes this information can be tracked down for many flavors, although finding it can br challenging, especially if one wants to research a large number of flavors to decide what to get.
Here's my current plan of attack.
Have a nice spreadsheet style list of every flavor, along with approximate usage ranges. Then a flag for a difficulty rating, Easy, Moderate, Advanced, Unusable. Along with Easy*, Moderate*, Advanced*, Unusable*.
*meaning contested.
Flavors requiring a dilution would be advanced.
My priorities are set as follows.
- Create page for each concentrate with manufacturer set.
- Have official images to represent those concentrates.
- Have difficulty set for each concentrate.
- Have percentage ranges set for each concentrate.
- Have Flavor Properties filled in for each concentrate.
- Fill content of the flavor pages listing other information like usage, pairings, related flavors, safety information, volatiles, etc.
TFA French Vanilla Creme for me. I use it so much, it's insane. Sometimes I just don't want that malty flavor that comes with a lot of vbic or van swirl flavors, and FVC is a perfect substitute. It's mellow and smooth and adds just enough vanilla to a mix to make a difference but not take over everything as well as adding that creamy body to the mix. It's a pretty forgiving flavor, simply works well with basically everything. Use on its own as an accent note in the background or pair with another cream for a fuller blanketing profile.