Howdy Mixers!
Here go again. /u/RamboUnchained is the MVP of the August Challenge for providing the only reasonable response to that challenge, and will be contacted about a small token of appreciation.
The purpose behind this monthly clone challenge is always to gather the community behind an effort to clone just one juice.
The subject of this month's challenge is....
#Amalfi by Bigglesworth Labs
This was requested by /u/BlameReligion, who noted that "It's described as an almond cake with a slight note of apricot jam layered in." and pointed out that when one attempt was made about a year ago, "A guy from Bigglesworth labs said he made some headway in one trick they performed."
The request was seconded by /u/guruofganja, who called it "Hands down one of the best juices ever made" and added that he's been mixing that clone "and while it's not the same, it gets somewhat close."
Usually I post some youtube reviews here but ECR for the most part seems to love Amalfi and if you want to read about it without leaving reddit, check out these Google Search results
Don't forget to make use of the valuable resources in this subreddit, including flavor reviews and flavor of the week posts.
Please respond with recipes for Amalfi by Bigglesworth Labs, ideas about how to start an attempt to clone that flavor, your own delicious almond cake with apricot jam recipe or thoughts about such recipes, general thoughts about having a monthly clone challenge, hate mail, love letters, lewd artwork, dirty limericks, comments, questions, concerns, anything remotely on topic. Thank you. Love you all.
Totally not my bag, but.... almond cake makes me think JF Yellow Cake + INW Marzipan is a starting point. Maybe some FA Amber with a apricot to bring it a bit closer to jam? Never came across apricot before tho, so that's a stretch.
I second the liquid amber, that jams anything to jimmy jam. Apricot is a good mix and probably has white peach or a stone fruit blend that helps apricot not be so ..overpowered, leading to a vomit taste equivalent to vaping tomato sauce
I was thinking a light plum might not be misplaced... apricot isn't something I have strong memories of IRL, but I think I remember it not being terribly unlike plum... just drier. Of course, given all the chemicals I've ingested (most intentionally) over the years, I don't know how much I trust that vague memory.
I think a lot of the fruits that I have vaped, some have been my first experience too. Never had dragonfruit or apricot before, and just had an apricot for the first time. I wanna say it reminds me of a peach, though I did try a cumquat overseas at the factory/business that grows cumquats, maybe?? haha
/u/project_twenty5oh1 help us out bro.
Oof, this is a tough one. As for clues, I'll say it has like something like between 10-15 ingredients (I don't remember any more) and IIRC it's around 15% flavor.
I'll say there are duplicates of certain flavor types, to create more layering, but you guys already know about that technique.
I don't think any single flavor in the mix was over 2%. I think the lowest amount of any single flavor in there is .1%.
I would suggest focusing more on the almond aspect. Amalfi was originally meant to replicate the almond cake flavor in an Italian Rainbow cookie, and nailing that specific sweet almond flavor is tough.
Enterprising mixers can search for a thread where I asked for "almond paste, not marzipan" on this subreddit many years ago. That's where I started, and went from there.
Edit: I just read the OP a little closer, and noticed that thread I was talking about is already there lol. Very interested to see what people come up with!
> Enterprising mixers can search for a thread where I asked for "almond paste, not marzipan" on this subreddit many years ago. That's where I started, and went from there.
JuiceDB reports 48 reviews, and 3 similar recipes
https://www.juicedb.com/juice/16136/amalfi-by-bigglesworth-labs
Almond cake with a hint of apricot jam. I wanted to make something that represents a part of my heritage, and almond cake (really almond paste) has been among my favorite dessert flavors I've ever tried. I feel I've captured the essence of that flavor in Amalfi.
VG/PG: 80/20, 70/30
The most accurate/useful/interesting comment are all the same one:
"On the inhale I am greeted with a nice warm almond and a soft cake flavor. The almond flavor lingers and is supplemented with a sweetness; not cloying or overpowering, but just the right amount for me. The apricot is subtle, but definitely noticeable, and it compliments the other flavors nicely forming a complex melange. The flavor of almond cake sticks around after the exhale and leaves me wanting another vape immediately. This is a hard one to not chain vape, and it makes me grateful I have a setup that can handle constant use. The sweetness in the vape doesn't taste like typical artificial sweetener, rather it seems much more organic and just like on the aroma it reminds me of honey. It definitely gives it the sort of sweetness you'd expect from jam or preserves; it's a fruity sweetness rather than tasting like added sweetener."
It's most critical is:
"I'm serious...I wanted to puke. I realized it might have been mixing with another juice, or maybe it just wasn't working well with my atty, so I tried it out in other atomizers and builds, and mostly got the same thing. Eventually, I started to taste the almond and apricot, and even though I kept getting that bile sensation like I was about to vomit, the cake is very overpoweringly sweet. So it became this weird mix of puke and overly sweet dessert. I know a lot of people like this, so I'm sorry, but it disgusted me. I almost couldn't keep it down."
It's critical makes me think that its the apricot used. I've used apricots in pursuit of another vape recipe and I used too much or didn't let it steep and it made me want to vomit.
Time frame, flavors that were out over 2 years ago, (over 2 year being that the oldest comment on JuiceDB was 2 years ago, and the home website earliest comment is 5.26.2016)
Similar juices:
Dark by Predator
Omit 2nd flavor due to same manufacturer by Amity by Bigglesworth Labs
Titan- Blue Dot Vapors
https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/48608 courtesy of /u/ID10-T
I'd be happy to help more but i'm currently evacuated due to the hurricane
Meh, I'll give this one a go. Seems like an interesting profile and I'm pretty sure I have everything needed to take a stab at it.
For real? Or you just made this comment to see if your new flair was working yet?
- 2% TFA Apricot
- 1% FA Liquid Amber
- 1.5% FA Peach White
- 2% FA Marzipan
- 1% FA Almond
- 1% FW Hazelnut
- .1% FA Hazelnut
- .25% TFA AP
- 1% CAP Vanilla Cupcake
- 1% TFA Vanilla Cupcake
- 1.5% FA Cookie
- 1.5% INW Biscuit
- 1% TFA Vanilla Swirl
- 1% TFA Greek Yogurt
- .5% TFA EM
This is gonna be my guess here. I think I've had this a while ago. Everything seemed layered like crazy, which is always fun. I probably put too much in it. The Greek yogurt, I doubt its in there, but I get some sort of tang out of it that I cant seem to place, and I feel the Greek Yogurt does that.
I'm missing a couple of things but i'll save this to try later. After vaping 30 ml this is what I came up with, but I'm not nearly as experienced as other mixers:
- 2% FA Almond
- 2% FA Armenia (Apricot)
- 1.5% FW Yellow Cake
- 1% TFA EM
- 1% FW Hazelnut
- 0.5% FA Liquid Amber
- 2% INW Marzipan
- 0.5% INW Shisha Vanilla
Just looking at yours over mine I definitely want to try a few different things. When I tried mine after 24 hours I think we might be going off track with the Liquid Amber though, it just doesn't seem like it fits well with the original.
Also I definitely get a jammy note from the apricot in the original, is that why you used FA Peach White?
- 1.2% INW-Biscuit
- 2% FW-Graham Cracker
- 1% INW-Custard
- 1% TFA-Van Cupcake
- 2% FA-Almond
- 2% INW-Marzipan
- 1% FW-Hazelnut
- 2% FA-Apricot
- 1% FA-Amber
- .25% FA-White Peach
This gives you an end result of almond paste infused with fruit. The tiny bit of peach really takes the fruit aspect in the right direction, but the cake aspect is lacking. I tried upping biscuit, but the base tasted too dry. By itself the almond base is comically sweet and almond-forward, but after mashing it with the other bases the almond chills a bit and the sweet is fused with the fruit, which should be good. I have a couple variations of this steeping right now.