As always, the purpose of this thread is to gather the community to explore a category of flavor and its many uses. And it's also to have FUN!
Post recipes containing this week's Flavor of the Week, as the star or in a supporting role, with or without development notes. Talk about other people's recipes that use it. Compare and contrast different manufacturers' versions of the FOTW. Ask for help using that flavor in general or to achieve something specific, offer advice, brainstorm ideas, consider substitutions, suggest pairings... really anything at all as long as it's on topic.
#**This week's flavor is... Licorice and Anise
How did that get to be the FOTW?
It was requested! If you're not interested in the upcoming FOTWs, please take this opportunity and comment to request one that interests you (or send me a PM to do that).
Past FOTW posts can be found here
The NOTED podcasts, which are basically video FOTWs, are listed on this sheet, maintained by /u/apexified
Next week's flavor will be: Exotic Spices and Spice Blends
The week after that will be: Plum
The week after that will be: Pineapple
The week after that will be: Mixed Drinks
The week after that will be: Passionfruit
The week after that will be: Rice & Horchata
The week after that will be: Guava
The week after that will be: Cinnamon
The week after that will be: Pudding
The week after that will be: Cucumber
The week after that will be: Dragonfruit & Starfruit & Snakefruit
The week after that will be: Lychee
The week after that will be: Grapefruit
The week after that will be: Apricot
The week after that will be: New World-brand Strawberries (TFA, CAP, FLV, WF, LB, PUR, etc)
The week after that will be: Old World-brand Strawberries (FA, JF, INW, etc)
The week after that will be: Far East-brand Strawberries (FE/SC, HS, HC, VT, etc)
The week after that will be: Energy Drinks
The week after that will be: Sugary Candy (Pixie Sticks, Sweet Tarts)
The week after that will be: Eggnog
The week after that will be: Red Licorice & Swedish Fish
The week after that will be: Pound & Butter Cake
The week after that will be: Sponge & Fluffy Cake
The week after that will be: Chocolate Cake
Last year I picked up 5 different licorice flavors for a shoot-out and vaped them back to back. Here's the notes all in one place since they kind of overlap.
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FA Black Touch
(Lost the notes, sorry! But's a great old-timey euro-licorice flavor. A must have licorice.)
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FW Black Licorice at 5%
No good flavor reviews really. Starting at 5%. Vaping around day 12 in the Pulse 22. Getting a musty mildew taste off note. Smells like black ju-jubes. Vape doesn't taste nearly as licoricey as the knuckle test. Good amount of throat hit, say 5/10. Somewhat dry. Seems like a good flavor. Low sweetness. A touch weak at 5%. TPA Absinthe at 3% is about as strong and sweeter.
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TFA Absinthe at 3%
Vaping at day 14 in the Pulse 22 at 30W. Black licorice flavor. Very little booze flavor, if any. Tastes "black", not green like absinthe. Strong black ju-jube, or maybe more like a black wine gum. Less throat hit than FW Black Licorice, probably 3 or 4 out of 10. Can't taste any forward herbal notes, they are subtle and in the background. Slight saline note on the tip of the tongue in the vapor stream. Sweeter and not as dry as FW Black Licorice. Slightly on the candy side. No real creamy quality. No cooling sensation for me, at least not with the Pulse 22 at 3%. Most of the licorice taste on the exhale. Thinking that these licorice flavors would help tame a shitty perfumey blackberry. Might go well with apple. I like this flavor quite a bit. For a solo flavor I would bring it up and try 5 or 6%.
Vaping the 10ml down to dry wicks and then dripping the last of the FW Black Licorice for comparison: musty mildew note is back immediately. Sweetness seems about the same now. FW has a touch more of the "black food coloring" taste. FW also has more of a dry gummy texture left on the tongue afterwards. It's not that pleasant. It is harsher and has more throat hit but I also mixed it at 5% vs 3% here for TPA Absinthe. Now I feel that gummy texture on my front teeth a bit.
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TFA Horehound at 4%
At 4% this flavor is very hard to taste anything other than a light menthol with a very subdued "herbal mashmallow" something in the background. It smells of licorice but I don't get much, if any, anise on the vape. Some people describe horehound as a root-beer type of flavor but I don't get that either. The herbal backnote is subtle enough that even describing it as herbal could be misleading. It's almost a neutral grain type of flavor, or perhaps a mild chamomile tea. Slightly woody and smooth/creamy. I've been thinking it would pair nicely with apple and help boost the pulpy part. Zero throat hit on this flavor. Medium wetness and sweetness. No mint. Just menthol. No boozyness. This flavor should be a great mixer for fruits and tobaccos. At 4% here the menthol is on the lighter side, even in this airy RDA. Could probably go up to 7% in a tank before it starts getting too cold.
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FA Anise at 2%
Vaping at day 15 in the Pulse 22 at 30W. I had high hopes for this one but I don't like the vape that much. There is an unwanted off-note much like FW Black Licorice. Not a mildew note in this one but more of a woody or seed-like back note. Sort of reminds me of toasted coriander seeds when making goulash. Or maybe like sunflower seeds. The black licorice taste is there in the same profile as TPA Absinthe and FW Black Licorice but it does not come through very strong in the vape at 2%. I would not comment on a creamy quality if I had not read previous reviews - it just doesn't seem too creamy as this strength. In fact I get the opposite of creamy with this flavor and I definitely get touch of heat/spice that lingers even after the exhale.
So that's it for the licorice SFTs now. My 2 favorites are FA Black Touch and TPA Absinthe, followed by Horehound (menthol), then FW Black Licorice and this FA Anise coming in as a tie for last place.
That woody note is what green aniseed (anice verde) tastes like in seed/tea form. Two major flavors in Italy for teas are liquirizia (licorice) and anice (anise); both are for digestion and both taste damn similar to the naked palate.
Interesting, I've never seen an anise seed - except maybe inside an Italian sausage. In this case the woody note isn't an off-flavor then, but if you're going into it expecting a straight up licorice flavor then I suppose it is.
Still tinkering with anise and absinthe to see if I can make a good double Apple hookah flavor.
Mate, sounds like VT Shisha Double Apple would be right up your alley. If I had to describe it to someone I'd literally use your wording - 'make a good double Apple hookah flavor'. It's anise city up in there.
My go to Anise concentrates have always been FA Anise, TFA Absinthe II and DV Absinthe. FA Anise for that creamy anise, TFA Absinthe for a bit of a boozy after note on the anise and DV absinthe gives me ~~a~~ woody notes.
FA Anise 2% ( I like it strong)
CAP Double Apple 5%
FA Fuji Apple 3%
Simple Apple Shisha - works for me :)
Been tinkering a lot with FA Black Touch the last couple of weeks, best mix I have come up so far is something that resembles the black/yellow candies in "Licorice Allsorts".
0.75% FA Black Touch
1% FA Marshmallow
3% FA Lemon Sicily
Unfortunately I don't have FE Lemon or INW Lemon Mix which I'm sure would be awesome here. Also FA Raspberry pairs real good, but I don't have anything great to share here yet.
I wonder if I would like licorice allsorts. So far my only experience with licorice is black twizzlers and black jelly beans.
Anyway, I think probably Lemon Mix doesn't taste like what you imagine it tastes like. FE Lemon would likely be closer to what you're looking for.
FA Raspberry?? Are you trying to make those raspberry and black licorice skull candies?
Allsorts is prob a good "stepping stone" into licorice as there is quite a few different variants, some with mint, some with fruits/coconut, and some other wierd stuff.
YES! That is exactly what I've set out to do. The only "candy texture" flavor I have atm tho is CAP Jelly Candy, and that didn't work out at all as it seems to have a very wierd fruity flavor in itself. FA Raspberry and FA Black Touch works well in that sense though, since the raspberry is very sweet and candy-like almost, so by just mixing those two gets you relatively close flavor wise, but still missing that texture. I'm thinking about getting CAP 27 Bears/Fish to play around with. You got any ideas on what could work?
Best recipe I’ve found using TFA Absinthe. Credit to u/RuntDastardly. https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/4ct1mz/goddamnit_you_guys_listen_the_glaistig_a_recipe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app
Apologies for the link gore. I’m vaping this right now and it’s still the bomb.
One of the first DIY juices I made was 5% TFA Absinthe. Five years later I’ll still whip it up in a lazy pinch. It cracks polycarbonate tanks but since I haven’t had one in years that’s no issue.
|Flavor Facts - Licorice| |---| |Noted - Licorice on YT| |Noted - Licorice on DoD| |Licorice Recipes on ATF| |Licorice Recipes on ELR|
A Compilation of Flavor Facts can be found here
|Flavor|Company|Review|ATF|ELR| |---|---|---|---|---| |Licorice|Capella| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Licorice|Decadent Vapor| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Black Licorice|Delosi|by PerrenialPhilosopher|On ATF|On ELR| |Black Licorice|Flavor West| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Black Touch|FlavourArt| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Licorice|Inawera| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Licorice|LorAnn| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Licorice|Natures Flavors| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Black Licorice|One on One| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Licorice Torpedoes|One Stop DIY| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Black Licorice|Real Flavors| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Licorice|Solub Arome| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Black Licorice|Vape Train| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Capella|by ConcreteRiver| - - - |On ELR| |Cool Anise Bliss|Capella| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Aniseed|Chef's| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Aniseed|Decadent Vapor| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Aniseed|Duo Mei| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Flavor Monks| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Flavor West| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|FlavourArt|by wh1skeyk1ng| - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Inawera| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Aniseed|Inawera| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Cherry Anise|Inawera| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Aniseed|Jungle Flavors| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Medicine Flower| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Molinberry| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|One on One| - - - | - - - | - - - | |Anise|Solub Armoe| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise (Star)|The Flavor Apprentice| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Anise|Vape Train| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Absinthe|Chef's| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Absinthe|Decadent Vapor|by ConcreteRiver|On ATF|On ELR| |Absinthe|Flavor West| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Absinthe|Solub Armoe| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Absinthe|The Flavor Apprentice|by wh1skeyk1ng|On ATF|On ELR| |Absinthe II|The Flavor Apprentice| - - - |On ATF|On ELR| |Sweet Blend|Capella| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Drop|Flavor Monks|by ConcreteRiver| - - - |On ELR| |Jagerbomb|Flavor West| - - - | - - - |On ELR| |Shock|Molinberry| - - - | - - - |On ELR|
I'm about to attempt to put 15 of these into my facehole and make notes on them, wish me luck.
That title gore...
Flavor gore deserves title gore
One of my all time favorite flavors.
Anice/Anise/Aniseed/Sambuco
Spaniards drink Anis, Italians drink Sambuca, and Colombians drink Aguardiente (guaro).
FA Anise: a creamy Aniseed that isn't too harsh.
TFA Absinthe: licorice for the most part, cousin to aniseed in flavor.
Best anise flavored recipe ever is Subliminal. http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/229746?
I subbed CAP VC for VTA Warm Custard and FA Vanilla Classic with great results (no D/A/AP).
I haven't tried that ecto-cooler/uzzo colored absinthe flavor by Decadent Vapors, but I heard it's great.
I did mix up a tobacco anise recipe a few weeks back - it's an acquired taste. Anise flavored liquor is always in my glass, so I'm a big fan.
The sole reason for those is to weed out the people who want to get wrecked as fast as possible and willing to tolerate a lot to do so. Because the taste is horrid.
Sip it slow and enjoy the flavor. Colombian aguardiente is fire. You can get it red (con azucar) or blue (sin azucar). On the rocks is delicious. Italian sambuca is the same, except it only comes with sugar. Mixed with espresso is the tits.
/u/kittybit8 how many of these flavors have you tried?
I think it's safe to say - not even nearly as much as you probably.
But I have dipped my toes into Cap Licorice and a few of the anise flavors.
I hear that FA Black Touch is great though!
No love for the red licorice? Only 3 that I know of.
Are you wanting to see a red licorice/swedish fish week?
Never thought of Swedish as licorice but yea that would be great.
It's pretty similar stuff -- kind of waxy, chewier than gummy, red fruity candy -- just in a different shape. Like, which has more in common, black licorice and red licorice, or red licorice and Swedish fish? Black licorice and red licorice, or black licorice and black jelly beans?
Can we have a week of tomato? I accidentally bought 30ml of ripe tomato 🤣 have a tomato / Zen garden juice steeping rn.
I’m sorry that happened to you but no. I consider FOTW to belong to everyone and so it’s sort of against policy to just flat out refuse a request (which is how we wind up with licorice week), but there aren’t enough tomato flavors to make a whole week out of tomatoes.
Back when I was producing Awesome Box #2, Delosi accidentally sent me a gigantic bag of 10ml black licorice, and they are just sitting here in a cool dark closet, waiting for the apocalypse.
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Send your info to support@alltheflavors.com or @Flavorists on facebook, and I'll mail them out until I run out of them!
I’m from the UK and we like our liquorice strong and black. I used to love the selection boxes of liquorice with the different shapes like pipes with little hundreds and thousands on the bowl and the bootlaces etc,I would love to try to recreate this flavour but I have just bought the FW Black Licorice after reading some good reviews,reading the comments above it looks like I should have gone with the FA version instead. I have heard that the Americans don’t like the European variety as it’s too strong and many of the reviews are written by Americans so I am at a loss in which way to turn for advice. I love this FOTW by the way,it’s really an education,thank you.
I think, after trying a bunch of licorice flavors, that the one you want is either FA Black Touch or the new CAP Licorice. Maybe both. Definitely not FW or any others.