(I apologize from the outset if this is too sprawling, but here goes...)

Royer-DK is an RY4 inspired dark tobacco juice with a mild caramel and vanilla body that subtly balances the acidic spicy top notes of cinnamon and bourbon. It is quite robust but it manages to retain enough elegance of flavor to keep you guessing what it is that's so familiar yet foreign.

This following may sound cliché but since I made Royer-DK I've become quite aware of a significantly twofold nostalgia - one is the memory brought on from the smell of this juice as it is very reminiscent of the thick pungent pipe tobacco smoke that would creep and cloak my grandfather as he sat in his armchair reading of an evening. And the other is that my grandfather was a tobacco farmer in Motueka, N.Z and grew exclusively for Phillip Morris. This farm is where my mum spent her entire childhood and she would often climb up on top of the tobacco bales in the drying shed and just lay there in the warmth with her cat and the smell of drying tobacco; her childhood was a carefree one. She died 12 months ago from smoking-related illness...

So... bit of a backstory to give context to this juice; it's relevance to me because of the aroma, but also the irony of it all... Life can be funny sometimes and you can either choose to laugh, or just become more entangled and neurotic...

Anyway, back to the juice: I'm not big on tobacco vapes and admit to knowing shit-all about them, and I never really understood their attraction. However the flavor profile of tobacco vapes, particularly RY4, seemed to exhibit a certain sophistication that I'd, either not experienced, or was willfully ignorant toward such that I might never have understood the attraction - an attraction that most certainly goes far beyond simply being a replacement crutch for the real thing.

But in all honesty, I'm new to this so really have no idea if this is a good tobacco vape or utter crap! I really like it and haven't been able to vape 'normal' juice flavors for about three days now so make of it what you will... I will say I this much though: I do know a bad tobacco vape - I've made quite a few - this is not one of them, plus I now know more than the 'shit-all' I did before I pegged this one. I think I have done that so if any of you make it please tell me what you think.

I know, I know, TFA DK Tobacco @ 5% may seem high considering it's a dark and strong tobacco flavor but there is no RY4 here to provide the main body with stronger tobaccos added as complimentary flavors. Furthermore, that there is no RY4 premix to provide the other two RY4 components (i.e, caramel and vanilla) the ratio of flavors have been adjusted such that the whole thing provides a well rounded flavor profile, but also tweaked to prevent the DK from exerting an overpowering boldness. At 5% the DK Tobacco really does sit well (originally it was at 5.5%, but I cut it back thinking it a bit too excessive to post). I imagine less DK will change the profile completely and it could risk just tasting like over baked sweet bread.

Steeping: In short, I'm a non-believer and think it (with a few exceptions) an immeasurable tradition based on foo, but to each there own and I'm not criticizing anyone who does steep - I've simply found no real evidence for the benefits of steeping (or otherwise for that matter) that does not have a glaringly inherent bias of some kind. So to anyone who wants to down-vote me based on that comment, knock yourself out: I don't give a shit!

Anyway, I microwave all my mixes for 5-7 seconds then shake the living shit out of them before repeating that two more times and letting the contents settle somewhat. Forced homogenization done this way works well because both VG and PG become much less viscous with increasing temperature and this allows all the liquid components to properly amalgamate while also evaporating some residuals like ethanol, etc. Do let this one sit for several hours to a day if you've added the vinegar because PH sensitive reactions occurring so some things may need a little time to stabilize; just don't add vinegar then leave the mix for months as this is likely to kill the flavor due to severe and prolonged oxidation.

PG/VG ratio: Best at 50:50 (the less VG the better here) because;

1. the PG throat hit feels more realistic and is a nicer experience, and
2. with less VG to compete with the PG is better able to act as flavor carrier.

• TFA DK Tobacco 5%
• TFA Acetyl Pyrazine 0.7%
• INW Shisha Vanilla 0.85%
• FA Vienna Cream 0.7%
• TFA Caramel 0.7%
• FLV Fire Cinnamon 0.7%
• INW Nougat 0.35%
• TFA Bourbon 0.17%
• Apple cider vinegar* 1d/10 ml

Note: *The apple cider vinegar may be left out if desired.

Edit: I mistakenly said Philip Morris when I thin I meant Rothmans, but either way they are all the worst that humanity has to offer - this applies equally to the subservient scientists who work for them (monkey blast).

The tobacco plant has much to do with life, not death and most people don't know this: the tobacco leaf is used as a culture medium for growing deadly pathogens: the Ebola vaccine was cultured on tobacco leaf!