What I did is got flavors that you can't find in the US and a few of the FA flavors I believe are new, to the point where on ATF/ELR I'm one of 3 people who have 1 or 2 of these flavors which means I'm on to something or on something.

I skipped INW's Anise & FA Black Jack as River was dead on and it looks like they struck out on them. I didn't get FA's Anise or Black Fire because I can get them locally although I'm not sure if Black Fire and straight FA Black licorice, sorry.... the Black Liquorice flavour they have are the same thing.

So I kicked ass and got at least on paper some solid anise/licorice/Absinthe flavors with a few known home runs. Here's the list with the descriptions:

• Decadent Vapo(u)rs - The famous Absinthe. Or at least famous on Noted as /u/CheebaSteeba mentioned it 3 or 34 times but thanks to him I learned about it and it was the first thing in my cart because I got the TPA version which is a total disaster. https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/5snr4p/dv_absinthe/ - Apparently /u/concreteriver isn't a real man and can't handle it, which is highly ironic :-)

• DV Black Licorice - A bitter-sweetshop blend of over 20 herbs and spices, with top notes of fresh aniseed. Not a lot of info on this but it's a safe play and I bet my life it's better than the FW version I have.

• FA That's Nice: Anise: This was a long time in the development stage, but now it is perfected for you to savour. The aim was to create an Aniseed flavour with a difference, one with a dark chocolatey, lush, subtle background that allows the clear, distinct flavour of the Aniseed and mint to take prominence but without being overpowering or lost amongst competing flavours.

• FA Pernoir: Pernoir is probably my favourite blend, bringing together the iconic French flavour of Aniseed and the spicy sharpness of Licorice. Two strong flavours such as these might normally vie for supremacy, but this daring blend brings out the very best of both, resulting in a flavour to savour.

• DV Mentholyptus: An infusion of powerful menthol and aromatic eucalyptus with a hint of aniseed, for a hit that is deeply invigorating and satisfying. - This is the better looking older brother who gets all the chicks compared to INW's version.

• TFA Absinthe II: Absinthe II is a less flammable version of our popular “Absinthe” Flavor. Same great taste, without the shipping restrictions. - I.E we fucked up on V1.

• Flavour Junkie - Clear Storm: A sub zero blast of berries, aniseed, eucalyptus and menthol. --- It's supposed to be almost a 1:1 clone of the popular but expensive T-Juice Red Astaire.

I'm not going to do the played out Anise and Black Currant or Current + FA's Forrest fruit mix as that's been done to death even though I know dark fruits are a great affinity. My main thing is to work it into a lot of fruity mint iterations, especially FLV Creme De Menthe as that's the main flavor I've been working on currently as it moved up to #1 on my queue when I re-discovered how absolutely amazing that flavor is.

I'm not really a big dessert guy at all, however I do Ice creams (no TPA/CAP/FW VBIC) and I don't mind a small % of MB Glamour chocolate as an accent, not the star. I'm not trying to go straight mint either as I think a fruit element and or vanilla/cream/IC/Pudding is needed, especially raspberry's which I'll throw in a few of my main combos. Then work around affinities with something like FLV Creme, LB VIC, FLV Creme De Menthe, FLV Sweet Coconut, HS Bananna, WF Banna Puree etc..

Apple, Coconut as an accent or potential primary as everybody in the UK knows the candy allsorts. Hell, even bump up Bilberry a bit and work it with the almighty BB Trinity. Other affinities are Figs, Banana's especially using it in an ice cream/toffee/pudding mix, Pears, Apricots, Puddings, Vanillas, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, chocolates.

And then my favorite profile if done right is mints so I'll be breaking out the INW mix and Natural Mint (best in the world), FA/CAP peppermint/Spearmint. Wintergreen is not a mint. One issue that people have is how to balance it out so it doesn't blast you in the gut because these flavors are no joke and can easily overtake a mix to the point where it would make Pink Guava its bitch. That's what I'll have to work on and cutting it with mint will help with just that because: Trans-anethole, the principal flavor compound in anise, star anise and fennel, is 13 times sweeter weight for weight than table sugar.

• A study in 1998 by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago concluded that of a range of scents, women found a combination of cucumber and a licorice-flavored candy the most arousing. ---- Cap Cucumber just went into my cart on bullcity and overnighting it too, Labor Day sales be damned.

I'm one of the 50% who happen to love Black Licorice. However I have an eclectic trio of licorice, anise, absinthe that are the same profile but are different. I don't have a lot of experience mixing them except for sub-par FW Black Licorice and TPA absinthe, so if anybody has any insight I would appreciate it.

For example I see most mix black licorice and anise together without fault (e-l-r though) and I don't know when that's appropriate or when licorice should not be used at all and stick with anise or absinthe only. I'll probably pick up FA's Anise/Black Touch which is a true creamier anise and not as eccentric as the others so it will help in the future.

Here are two beta versions that I made and with only a few days steep that is turning out to be pretty decent and only better with upgraded flavors so that along with 25% off of Chefs pushed me deep down the rabbit hole. I was planning on going there to pick up some Holy Vanilla, FE Sweet Rice so I can try Shyndo's Mango Sticky Rice, and maybe a few others, but it didn't quite work out that way, but we all know how that goes.

Creme De Licorice

• (FW) Black Licorice 2%

• (MB) Creamy Vanilla 1%

• (FLV) Creme De Menthe 1.5%

• (INW) Mix Mint .25%

• (LB) White Chocolate Peppermint 3%

Black licorice coconut (Allsorts)

• (FW) Black Licorice 4%

• (FA) Coco' (coconut) .5%

• (TPA) Marshmallow 1%

• (FLV) Sweet Coconut 1.25%