I find recipe juiciness to be a really important part of making my vaping experience a happy one. For me, any potential ADV needs to be juicy. Although, there are hard nuts to crack *queue the bad-guy music*. Chocolate vapes tend to be dry. The solution often seems to be to add a cream. Are some creams better at adding wetness to a vape? Has anyone found something else that works with chocolate? FA Pear rarely fits the profile - FA Apricot has the potential to add in unwanted flavour, or to take it in a direction you didn't want to go. Bubblegum recipes are in the same boat, it's super easy to end up in Dry Mouth City. There's a multitude of flavour profiles where dryness can be a problem. Hoping we can create a cool shady oasis, nay a burgeoning river of knowledge, to bring much needed relief.
I've gone through my inventory on ATF and picked out the following flavours that I use to add juiciness to a mix (some work better than others):
- INW Cactus (no offence Kactus Krew but I am not a fan of floral vapes so I don't use this much, and never above 0.25%)
- FA Pear (the God of Wet and my go-to, works in many different recipe profiles)
- FA Apricot (only found out about this one recently)
- CAP Cucumber (edited in after OP - thanks Coccobill)
- CAP Hibiscus (edited in after OP - thanks mlNikon)
These ones to a lesser extent:
- Some milks/creams (eg FA Cream Fresh)
- FA Citrus Mix
- TFA Jackfruit
- TFA Citrus Punch
- INW Two Apples
- VT Mango Juice
- FA Fuji
- INW Pineapple
- VT Persian Lime
- LA Lemonade (I think?)
TLDR: I love a juicy vape. How do you add juiciness to a mix? How do you make a tacky dry-mouth mix wetter?
I never understood the love for cactus either. Even in miniscule amounts all I can taste is aloe and that's not for me. I really tried to like it because it really does "wetten" things up but I just can't get past the taste. I think I may be super sensitive to it.
If you've gotten too much burn cream with aloe in your mouth it could be more memory association than taste itself.
honestly I haven't used much aloe in my life but have smelled it, and to me it tastes exactly like aloe smells. but that is a fair point, I could be expecting aloe so my brain gives it to me. placebo can be a hell of an effect lol. either way I just can't do it, I really tried.
I'm with you, the juiciness and texture of a vape are critical, optimally every vape should be juicy/moist and smooth, I can't stand dry and harsh flavors. Some type of cream/custard or a "moisturizer" usually ends up in every recipe.
From my notes for enhancers:
Moisture
INW Cactus
FA Pear
CAP Cucumber
RF SC Sweet potato
Sweetness
FA Caramel
TPA/FW Brown sugar
FA Pear
FA Lychee
Thickness/mouthfeel
CAP Vanilla custard v1
FA/CAP Marshmallow
FW Tres leches
FA Oba oba
CAP Butter cream
Emulsifiers
TPA Dragonfruit (fruits/berries)
FW Hazelnut (creams)
I'd suggest you get at least CAP cucumber in your arsenal, it's a pretty good sub for INW cactus with a slightly less aggressive flavor profile. Some EM/sweetener also works in some cases to smooth out the rough edges.
I would add FA Meringue to the sweetness list
And TFA Vanilla Swirl to 2 of the other lists LOL
This is a great list. I think Cap Hibiscus should be added. It gives your mix a syrupy type of texture. Great for slushes and whatnot.
> Cap Hibiscus... It gives your mix a syrupy type of texture
Thanks Emily. So would you say CAP Hibiscus does a similar job to FA Liquid Amber (although obviously with a different taste)? Slushes - that does sound interesting... is it 'florally'?
I have been trying to figure out which cucumber they use I my favorite juice "Cathedral by Redwood" I wonder if this Is it. I have a few cucumbers but no success with them. I'll check this out. Thank you.
JF Lemon Juicy?
Yes good idea - I will add that to the current shopping list mate. There's only one place in Australia that sells JF stuff as far as I'm aware, so hope they have it. Funnily enough their initials are also JF (JuiceFactory)!
In fact, citrus concentrates in general seem to be a good way to juicy up a mix. Now that I think about it, all of my ADV's have some form of citrus in them.
Some people use dragonfruit but I hate the flavor profile. It tastes nothing like actual dragonfruit. :/
I just got INW Aloe in today. Doesn’t smell quite as potent as Cactus, but I haven’t tested it yet solo or in a mix. I’m gonna get a test going and I’ll report back here with what I find.
Mixing a Tobaccaloe? :)
Obviously the thought has crossed my mind ;)
I made that tester last night, and the taste is definitely something familiar, but I can’t quite place it. Probably just tastes like an aloe drink, but I’ve only ever had one of those like once, so it’s not a familiar enough taste. Definitely not as potent as Cactus. I mixed it at 1.5% and it didn’t taste like straight soap, so that’s s good sign I think.
I’m not familiar enough with fruity flavors to know which ones are notorious for being dry, but I think I’ll try to find a recipe that uses Cactus and swap it with the aloe and see what happens. Not sure how it would work with a chocolate.
I'm curious if pH/alkalinity plays a big factor in 'juicy' as well? I remember many years ago tasting a weak base and weak acid, the weak acid made my mouth lining feel almost attacked while being sour and causing my mouth to water, while the weak base made my tongue feel like sandpaper and dried up.
I've used citric acid or sour additives, or various citrus flavorings (lemon sicily, lemon and lime, grapefruit etc) in very low amounts to alleviate the base feel in some of my mixes to great effect. On the flip side, I've had a few juices (so far I haven't made one that has wandered this far into acidic territory) that taste great and are mouth watering, but make my mouth feel chewed up like I've gone to town on one of those giant bags of sour patch kids or something... but not dry.
I tried making my own malic acid solution for sour to really get my fruits to pop. Didn't help and just gave me a sore throat. For the best. Can't imagine my teeth would have survived long.
TFA Boysenberry is super juicy, especially on the exhale. Can seem a little cloyingly sweet in some blends but I'm loving it a lot. I prefer TFA blueberry as a well rounded juicy flavour that's not too sweet but boysenberry is way more juicy.
Great post! Nothing to add here other than I’d like to make a short series out of this when I get back from vacation next week. A part of my beginner series. I hope you don’t mind if I steal your format!